Boros Géza: Statue Park - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2002)

The endless promenade dedicated to the ideas and events of the labour movement

Gyömrő cemetery and reburied near the pedestal of the monument. In line with Soviet requirements, Mikus prepared a dual-figure statue featuring the mortally wounded soldier and his comrade.

The monument was erected in 1949 on the scene of the incident at the end of Vörös Hadsereg útja (today Üllői út), outside the village of Vecsés. The statue was not allowed to remain standing there for very long as it was blown up during the Revolution of 1956. The monument on display in the Statue Park was made as a replacement in 1958. Seizing the opportunity, Mikus discarded the original, hurriedly prepared, artificial design, and created a new, single-figure composition adopting a pose similar to that of the Ostapenko monument. However, this did not do very much to improve the aesthetic qualities of the statue. In comparison with its twin made by Jenő Kerényi, this envoy seems all the more like a lifeless waxwork figure.

4I. Statue of Captain Ostapenko (Jenő Kerényi, 1951)

In compensation for the fiasco of the Steinmetz competition, Jenő Kerény was commissioned to sculpt the monument of the other Soviet military envoy, Captain Ostapenko. Waving a white flag, Ostapenko approached the Hungarian-German positions from the southwestern side of the Soviet blockade to communicate the demand for surrender. On his way back he was caught in artillery fire and

Captain Ostapenko by Jenő Kerényi (1951) and Captain Steinmetz by Sándor Mikus (1958)

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