On 23 October 1956 the Hungarian people, especially the student population, rose in revolt against the oppressive regime imposed on them by the Soviet Union. The rebellion was put down in a brutal manner by the Soviets. As a result of this military intervention, hundreds of thousands of Hungarians were obliged to flee their country. Some of them came to Turkey, and 500 were housed in a camp belonging to the Turkish ‘Red Crescent’ (Kızılay) organisation in Pendik, an outer suburb of Istanbul.
The celebrated photographer Ara Güler visited this camp with the intention of creating an article about them, and the resulting piece of photo-journalism appeared in Hayat magazine on 29 March 1957. In addition to interviews with camp residents and first-hand accounts of their plans for the future, it contained his photographs of scenes from their daily lives.
An exhibition about these self-exiled Hungarians, entitled Küçük Macaristan (‘Little Hungary’) and scheduled to run until 12 February 2027, is opening at the Liszt Institute in the Hungarian Cultural Centre in Kâgıthane, Istanbul on 22 October. This exhibition, the result of a collaboration between the Foundation for the Preservation of the Gül Baba Heritage and the Consulate-General of Hungary, contains 23 photographs kindly provided by the Ara Güler Museum in Bomonti, Istanbul, enlarged reproductions of pages from Güler’s article in Hayat magazine, and information about the camp from the archives of the Turkish ‘Red Crescent’.
Liszt Institute
Hungarian Cultural Centre
Gürsel Mah.
İmrahor Cad. No: 23 B Blok
34400 Kâğıthane
Istanbul
Tel: +90 212 314 21 42
The Liszt Institute, situated in Polat Ofis B Blok, Kâğıthane, is open Mondays to Thursdays from 09:00 to 17:00 hours.
Fridays: 09:00 to 14:00.
Saturdays by appointment only. Closed on Sundays.
Email: macarkulturmerkezi@mfa.gov.hu
