Hospital in the Rock
The Hospital in the Rock Nuclear Bunker Museum (Hungarian: Sziklakórház Atombunker Múzeum) is the name given to a hospital created in the caverns under Buda Castle in Budapest in the 1930s, in preparation for the Second World War.[1]
In the 1930s, the hospital system was connected to the main tunnel system by manual labor. The main system had been in use by various inhabitants of the castle for many years, and was said to have been part of a penal system in centuries past.[2][3]
The hospital saw its most heavy use during the 1944–45 Siege of Budapest, where it processed the wounded and the dead. The dead were sent out of the hospital at night and buried in bomb craters.[1] The hospital was without food or medicine for some points during the siege, with hospital staff having to recycle supplies by taking them from corpses and sterilizing them before reuse. Eventually, horses were brought in and killed at the facility for food.[1] The facility was designed to treat 60–70 patients, but at one point it was being used to treat 600 wounded soldiers.[2]
After the siege, the hospital was only used once more in 1956 in response to the uprising against the Soviet rule.[1] After that, the hospital was repurposed as a nuclear bunker, but one dedicated to keeping 200 doctors and nurses safe and available to treat the wounded. Nobody ever took up residence in the bunker, except for a caretaker and his wife. Because of this, the hospital museum now has a collection of anti-radiation kits, as well as some Soviet spying equipment, on display.[1]
In recent times, the hospital has been made into a museum, complete with waxwork recreations of hospital treatments and day-to-day scenarios during the siege.[4] Access to the museum is limited to guided tours.[2] Old equipment that was left over from its operational days is available for sale, including stretchers and civil protection uniforms.[1]
Brief History
1939-1945
The Hospital in the Rock lies beneath the Buda Castle. Under the Castle Hill there is a 10 km long cave and cellar system. Before the outbreak of World War II a major part of the cave system was reinforced in order to have a cave system that could function as a shelter in case of bombings.
The first district and the Castle were the governmental district those times so the mayor of the capital, Dr. Károly Szendy ordered the construction of an Emergency Hospital under the Castle. The facility was adjusted to the cave system due to cost-effective reasons. The construction was held between 1939 and 1944 at a quick pace until the Emergency Surgery Hospital of the Capital opened its gates in February in 1944. Its primary role was to provide general emergency care that was available for civilians and soldiers who got injured through an air raid. The chief nurse of the Hungarian Red Cross, Countess Edelsheim-Gyulai Ilona (the widow of István Horthy, late son of the governor) was there at the time of the opening and then started working as a nurse. The hospital was assigned under the supervision of John’s Hospital and Dr. István Kovács, assistant professor and head surgeon became the director of the Hospital. He was working with approximately 40 doctors in turns. Many volunteer nurses of the Red Cross assisted in medical care, for example Countess Alice Cziráky and Countess Ilona Andrássy. Despite the hospital was planned to serve 300 people, 650-700 patients were there during the siege of Budapest so it became extremely overcrowded. Some patients could not be placed in the hospital so they were laid down on stretchers and pallets. Death rate was excessively high due to equipment and drug shortages.
Both civilians and soldiers were treated here, thus there was a separate ward for women.
German soldiers also got a treatment there depsite they mostly stayed in their own part of the cave system. Those Swabian Hungarian soldiers who were forcibly conscripted and got into the Waffen-SS groups were also cured in the hospital. The facility had its own generators, so they could x-ray patients even during the siege of Budapest while it was impossible in other hospitals. At least 30 laborers worked in the hospital. They were not deported by nazis thanks to the command of the local commissioner of police. They were dressed up as Hungarian surgeon cloth so they could work undisturbedly.
Doctors saved thousands of lives of civilians and soldiers. On the day of the break-out the patients left the hospital. Others were continuously transported home or other overground hospitals from the Hospital in the Rock that was working until May 1945.
Delusion: Soviets did not use flame throwers in the hospital. This misincomprehension comes from the fact that there was a separate part in the cave system for German soldiers that operated as a hospital. Those soldiers who were unable to move were killed with flame-throw by Soviets. Soviets said they did not want to see any soldiers in the Hospital in the Rock, so soldiers were dressed up as civilians. Consequently, nobody died in the Hospital in the Rock.
1946-1952
Most equipment were carried away so some wards went into private hands. Vaccine producing for the prevention and treatment of the typhoid epidemic for Yugoslavian export started and later ended in 1949. The hospital was classified top secret institution at the beginning of the 1950s and codenamed LOSK 0101/1. The classification was cleared in 2002. Under the Cold War threat a new ward was constructed and the medical and mechanical equipment was upgraded.
1956-1957
The hospital was opened one day after the outbreak of the Revolution in 1956 despite the fact that it was not really capable for operation. Six boys and one girl were born in the hospital through those devastating times when it was a shell-proof facility.
After the suppression of the Revolution the hospital functioned as a prison hospital for a short period. Convalescents were transported by the end of the year and sentenced to prison except for Endre Bácskai who escaped. They were released in 1963 after 7 years under amnesty.
1958-1962
Between 1958-62 the hospital was expanded so that it could have functioned in case of a chemical or nuclear attack. The Hospital was equipped with its own 25 m3 water tank. An internal ventilation system and a poison gas filtering system was installed in case of a chemical attack. Two Ganz Diesel engines were built in in order to power electricval generators. The modern machinery made it possible that Hospital could have been working in case of a chemical or nuclear attack. Labourers who were not able to find a job were employed because it was extremely hard to work in the cave. Excellent engineers such as István Bakonyi contributes to the planning and supervision. The Szabó (Taylor) family lived here as wardens.
1962-2007
The hospital become part of the civil defense infrastructure and classified as top secret. Only members of the John’s Hospital – doctors, nurses – were assigned as staff to survive the a nuclear strike. People inside the hospital could probably have survived for 72 hours after a chemical or nuclear attack. Then, according to the plan, there should have been 3 week partial period quarantine. The hospital was equipped with ventilation fans equipped with poison gas filters. The facility became obsolete at the end of the 1960s because of the fast development of technology.
The Szabó Family were replaced by the Mohácsi family in 1967. They lived in a lodging in the foreground and maintained the hospital until 2004. Mr. Mohácsi was a mechanic: he checked the equipment daily and aired the place. Mrs. Mohácsi did the cleaning every second week of 2,400 square meters and made 200 beds. Nobody ventured to close the hospital so the maintenance of the civil defense places was handled secretly during the rule of the Hungarian Communist Party. The costs were hidden in the budget of the John’s Hospital. The members of the John’s Hospital came here for yearly practice until the middle of 1980s obviously maintaining secrecy.
The facility was occasionally used by the Krétakör Theatre between 2004 and 2006. On the European Heritage Days in 2006, the hospital could be visited. Modernization and resoration started only in 2007.
The Museum
The detailed exploration and research has been continuing since 2007 up to nowadays: we are striving to demonstrate authentic representation, taking genuine memories and eyewitnesses’ recollections as a basis. Thanks to the initiation of the Institution and Museum of Military History and with the involvement of several organizations, the facility could be visited by the help of the Hospital in the Rock Public Benefit Nonprofit Company.
The Hospital won the Certificate of Excellence Award on Tripadvisor each year since 2012. The Hospital in the Rock Nuclear Bunker won the Travelers' Choice Award in 2015 and 2016 and became the most popular Museum among Hungarian museums.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Masters, John (May 15, 2011). "Budapest's Hospital in the Rock stops time". Canwest News Service.
- 1 2 3 Jennifer Walker, for CNN (June 24, 2014). "Underground Budapest: Caverns, churches and Cold War bunkers". Event occurs at 5:59 AM GMT. CNN. CNN. Missing or empty
|series=(help) - ↑ "A City Thrill Round Every Corner". The West Australian. Seven West Media Limited. October 12, 2013. p. Travel: P21.
- ↑ Whitley, David (April 1, 2012). "20 reasons to visit Budapest, Hungary". The Sun-Herald. Sydney, Australia: Fairfax Media. p. 14.
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