I love the courtyard of a late 19th-century apartment house located at Havas utca 2 in the 5th district of Budapest. The architect is unknown, and the house was completed in 1896. In 1960, a floor was added to the house, which is why the 5th floor looks different from the others. This house is mentioned in an article written by István György about the lives of Budapestians hiding in basements during the siege of Budapest in 1944/45 (Népszabadság 04/03/1959).

The journalist reports that many inhabitants of the house were killed during the war. Two girls were murdered by Arrow Cross militiamen, and a doctor was killed by a bomb exploding nearby. The most famous inhabitant of the house was Ilka Pálmay, a renowned opera singer who performed in Budapest, Vienna, and London, and who was known as Countess Kinsky after marrying Austrian Count Eugen Kinsky. Ilka Pálmay died of smoke inhalation in early 1945 when a fire broke out due to the ongoing fighting.

Nevertheless, István György writes that there were also moments of happiness in those dark times. For example, a young couple met in the basement, and they managed to find a priest who came to marry them.