Hospital in the Rock

[1] Károly Szendy, the mayor of the Hungarian capital, ordered the construction of an emergency hospital and reinforced bomb shelter under Buda Castle.

Its primary role was to provide general emergency care for injured civilians, later on they treated soldiers as well.

[1] The hospital was without food or medicine at some points during the siege, with staff having to recycle supplies by taking them from corpses and sterilizing them before reuse.

[citation needed]The facility had its own generators, so they could X-ray patients even during the siege of Budapest, when it was impossible in other hospitals.

[1] After that, the hospital functioned as a prison for a short period[4] before being re-purposed as a nuclear bunker, but one dedicated to keeping 200 doctors and nurses safe and available to treat the wounded.

[1] Between 1958 and 1962, the hospital equipment was upgraded to take account of the risk of a chemical or nuclear attack.

[citation needed] The hospital became part of the civil defense infrastructure and was classified as "Top Secret".

Only members of John's Hospital – doctors and nurses – were assigned as staff to survive a nuclear strike.

Nobody ventured to close the hospital so the maintenance of the civil defense places was handled secretly during the rule of the Hungarian Communist Party.

[2] Old equipment that was left over from its operational days is available for sale, including stretchers, gas masks and civil protection uniforms.