I could not have been more wrong about the light bombing or fighting around Budapest during WWII. While most of the war may have been fought in other areas, Budapest saw one of the most ferocious battles that lasted over three full months. Fighting was intense, done in urban areas, on the island in the Danube River, and perhaps most violently, up on Gellert Hill which the Waffen-SS troops defended until the bitter end. The toll was shocking: 100,000-160,000 dead Soviet fighters, up to 180,000 trapped Axis fighters, 110,000 of which the Soviets say they imprisoned. Even worse was after the capture of Budapest, the Soviets forces unleashed an orgy of violence. At least 38,000 civilians killed, most from starvation. And most disturbingly, the mass rapes. Numbers range from 5,000-200,000, but generally 50,000 is believed to be the number of women of all ages raped repeatedly by the Soviet forces. They were indiscriminate in their barbarity, even taking women from neutral countries' embassies, including staff from the Swedish legation.
After the Siege of Budapest, 80% of the buildings were destroyed, and all five bridges across the Danube were gone. Up here on Gellert Hill there are plenty of small reminders of the horrors of war, including these bullet holes and marks that now bear witness above a restaurant and cafe.
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