Recski Nemzeti Emlékpark is one of Hungary's most haunting memorial sites — the location of a brutal forced labour camp that operated between 1950 and 1953, holding around 1,500 prisoners without trial. Known as the 'Hungarian Gulag', it is a place that leaves a lasting impression on every visitor.

The memorial park sits in the green Mátra Hills, about three kilometres southwest of the village of Recsk, at an elevation of roughly 400 metres, near the old quarry on the slopes of Csákány-kő hill. The surroundings are quietly beautiful — rolling forested hillsides that turn golden in autumn and offer cool, dappled shade in summer. This peaceful natural setting makes the history feel all the more powerful and sobering. The site is accessible year-round, and the contrast between the tranquil landscape and the stories it holds is something you will carry with you long after leaving.

• From Recsk village — follow the local road southwest for approximately 3 km from the village centre; an easy walk of around 40–50 minutes on a flat road.
• By car via road no. 24, then take the municipal road towards the park; parking available on site.

• The site preserves a reconstructed prisoner barracks, a watchtower, and a section of the original barbed-wire fence.
• The memorial park was inaugurated in 1996, dedicated to the survivors and victims of the camp.
• The reconstructions were completed based on survivor testimonies and surviving photographs.

In May 1951, a prisoner named Gyula Michnay managed to escape all the way to Vienna and read the names of 600 fellow prisoners on Radio Free Europe — the moment the outside world first learned this camp existed. The mass grave of those who died here has never been found.