The Children’s Republic of Gaudiopolis : : The History and Memory of a Children’s Home for Holocaust and War Orphans (1945–1950) / / Gergely Kunt.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Central European University Press eBook-Package 2022
• VerfasserIn: Kunt, Gergely,
• MitwirkendeR: Lo Bello, Maya J.,; Suleiman, Susan Rubin,
• Place / Publishing House: Budapest ;, New York : : Central European University Press, , [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (248 p.)

Gaudiopolis (The City of Joy) was a pedagogical experiment that operated in a post–World War II orphanage in Budapest. This book tells the story of this children’s republic that sought to heal the wounds of wartime trauma, address prejudice and expose the children to a firsthand experience of democracy. The children were educated in freely voicing their opinions, questioning authority, and debating ideas. The account begins with the saving of hundreds of Jewish children during the Siege of Budapest by the Lutheran minister Gábor Sztehlo together with the International Red Cross. After describing the everyday life and practices of self-rule in the orphanage that emerged from this rescue operation, the book tells how the operation of the independent children’s home was stifled after the communist takeover and how Gaudiopolis was disbanded in 1950. The book then discusses how this attempt of democratization was erased from collective memory. The erasure began with the banning of a film inspired by Gaudiopolis. The Communist Party financed Somewhere in Europe in 1947 as propaganda about the construction of a new society, but the film’s director conveyed a message of democracy and tolerance instead of adhering to the tenets of socialist realism. The book breaks the subsequent silence on “The City of Joy,” which lasted until the fall of the Iron Curtain and beyond.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- The History of Child Rescue in Budapest -- A Christian Orphanage with Doors Open to All -- Gaudiopolis: Democracy as a Game and the Game of Democracy -- Immortalizing Orphans and the War in a Communist Propaganda Film -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Sources and Bibliography -- Index