The Holocaust Memorial Centre

Having seen much of the beauty in this fabulous city, we decided that we ought to learn more about the Holocaust here. With this in mind, on Tuesday we headed not to the Jewish Quarter, but to the very ordinary district of Ferencvaros where a centre was opened in 2004 to mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust in Hungary. It was positioned here rather than in the Jewish Quarter to emphasise the fact that it was not just Jewish Hungarians who were victims, but gypsies, homosexuals, political opponents and those with disabilities.

The building itself is modern, although in a really fitting way: it doesn't look out of place surrounded by these much older buildings. Most of the museum takes place underground and takes you chronologically from the initial stages of rights deprivation right through to the death camps. It is an excellent museum, very thought provoking as it follows the fates of various families throughout the various stages. Harrowing to go and see, but was much more meaningful to me than my visit to Auschwitz had been, I guess because it was able to be personal whereas at Auschwitz, there just isn't the time or space to do so. What is amazing is the so-called Auschwitz album. Although there were never any pictures taken past the selection process, SS photographers did take photos of everything up until this point, that it survived is equally incredible.

The museum was also fascinating because it gave an interesting impression of Hugary as a country which still has difficulties with its Roma population. There is still I think quite a lot of tension between this community and the rest of the country which was reflected by the exhibition, as although it tried to be unbiased it wasn't quite as detailed as perhaps it might have been. This could be down to the fact that there aren't as many detailed records, but it still left both of us with the view that this is a group which is always at risk of being persecuted.

The exhibition finishes in a stunning 1924 Leopold Baumhorn synagogue, which is my favourite. It is gloriously painted in white, turquoise and gold and is a perfect location for the experience to draw to a close. The most moving thing was a set of perspex seats which formed half the seating in the synagogue on which there were photographs of various victims of the Holocaust.

After a reflective cup of tea, we headed back to the hostel for a quiet night in. Both of us were very glad we went.