War in Budapest, first-hand.
I greeted Mária on the occasion of her 90th birthday — may God grant her many more years in good health!
During the Siege of Budapest, she was only eight or nine years old. She lived in Rákospalota with her parents and siblings, but as the front drew closer, they moved to Vörösmarty Street to stay with her grandparents, believing that in a family house they would be executed more easily than in an apartment building, in a crowd.
When they heard the whistling of the bombs, they felt relief — because it meant they were not falling on them.
They were locked in a cellar for as long as three weeks. There was no light, food consisted of a quarter slice of dry bread, and water came only from a dripping tap — so everyone stood in front of it all day.
A tank crashed into the house. They had to listen to the cries and then the death of a dying German soldier above them. When they were finally able to step out into the street, they were scab-covered, lice-infested, and desperate.
Once, word spread that people could eat from the carcass of a horse lying in the street. So her siblings went with a knife and a basket and brought back the horse’s head — eyeballs included. That was dinner that day.
After this, Mária was sent to the countryside, placed from village to village with families who temporarily took care of her — as much as that can describe the life of a barefoot child whose feet were pierced and bloodied by the ground.
Her brother was seized by soldiers and locked in a wagon; he was saved only because their mother’s desperate screams distracted the soldiers long enough for him to pry up a board and crawl out beneath the train.
They had nothing. For a very long time. Terrible poverty, fear — Mária cannot even imagine what her parents must have been thinking.
The war, the bloodshed that raged in the very Budapest streets we all know, still lives among us. In the memories of the elderly who survived it. Let us speak with them. Let us listen to them.
Mária also has her own opinion about today’s pro-war leaders. She asked people at least to care about the lives and future of their families. There is no greater treasure than peace, and war is closer than ever. Let us believe a lady who has lived to such a beautiful age and survived war and revolution.
Let us listen to our reason and say no to war.
🟠 Personalization of Historical Trauma – “War in Budapest, first-hand”
📌 Technique: personal testimony + historical authenticity framing
👉 The story of a 90-year-old survivor gives moral legitimacy to the message.
👉 The phrase “first-hand” immediately shuts down debate: this is not an opinion, but “lived truth.”
🎯 Goal:
- To invoke moral authority
- To emotionally embed a present-day political message in past suffering
💥 Effect:
The audience is not reading a political argument, but a survivor’s testimony — which reduces critical distance.
🟠 Trauma Stacking (Fear Stacking)
📌 Technique: shocking detail + sensory imagery
- the whistling of bombs
- three weeks in a cellar
- a quarter slice of bread
- a horse’s head, with eyeballs
- the cries of a dying soldier
👉 The details do not primarily inform — they create emotional overload.
🎯 Goal:
- To provoke anxiety
- To imprint war as an absolute evil
💥 Effect:
The audience does not evaluate current political questions — the word “war” automatically connects to the described horrors.
🟠 Moral Transition to the Present
📌 Technique: implicit analogy
“Mária’s opinion about today’s pro-war leaders…”
👉 No specific names are mentioned, but a connection is created between:
- the horrors of 1945
- today’s “pro-war leaders”
🎯 Goal:
Anyone who holds a different position today is implicitly placed in the shadow of past tragedy.
💥 Effect:
Instead of political debate, a moral judgment is formed.
🟠 Peace as the Exclusive Moral Position
📌 Technique: moral high ground + binary framing
“There is no greater treasure than peace.”
“Say no to war.”
👉 The issue becomes not geopolitical strategy, but a moral choice.
🎯 Goal:
- To monopolize the “peace” position
- To frame the opponent as pro-war
💥 Effect:
Anyone who disagrees with the narrative is implicitly “not on the side of peace.”
🟠 Appeal to Authority (Age-Based Authority)
📌 Technique: longevity authority
“Believe a lady who has lived to such a beautiful age…”
👉 Long life is presented as moral credibility.
🎯 Goal:
To avoid rational debate by appealing to emotional respect.
🧩 Summary – What Is This Text Doing?
This is not simply a historical recollection, but:
personal trauma →
emotional overload →
moral framing →
present-day political positioning
The horrors of the past are used to legitimize a current political message.