anniversary

Commemoration of the 1956 revolution in Munich

Munich (MTI) – The opening of the border in 1989 and the protection of the border today are two sides of the same coin, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a speech on Monday in Munich at a commemoration of the 1956 revolution held in the Bavarian Landtag. “Then we acted for Europe’s freedom and today we are protecting it,” he said.

Bavarian-Hungarian friendship is special and unique in Europe, Orbán said. “This friendship forms a huge arc; we undertook bad things and good things in the course of history, but now we are progressing on the right track because we have undertaken a joint goal of creating a secure, free, peaceful and blossoming Europe,” the prime minister said. “This aim is a cause for pride and is worthy of the legacy of the 1956 freedom-fight,” he added.

Orbán said that by virtue of its geographic position, Hungary is thrust into the “mainstream” of “European battles” once every thirty years. “This is how it was in 1956, in 1989 and in 2015-16 when we had to seal the border to stop the migration wave from the south.” He said Hungary had never “asked” for these “tasks”, but they were rather placed before the country “by fate”. “Hungarians never ran away, never backed down; they fulfilled their duty,” the prime minister said. Orbán said Hungary will cope with its tasks even if it is “being attacked from behind by those whom we are protecting”.

Orbán said his own generation had always dreamed of reuniting Europe so that their children could live in a free world and enjoy a higher standard of living. Hungarians had also dreamed the “European dream” of peace, security and prosperity, which was why Hungary joining the EU was a natural step, he said.

Today Bavaria and central Europe make up one of the strongest regions in the world, Orbán said. And it is their joint responsibility to develop and prosper as “Europe’s engine of growth” for the good of the European Union as a whole, he added.

He said the only way freedom could have any meaning was if “we put aside our petty goals, overcome our fears and take action”. To do this, one must have courage, Orbán said. Europe now faces a situation in which “we cannot cowardly look away”. The EU is in trouble, he insisted, adding that the bloc faces nothing but unresolved problems, unanswered questions and disputes. But there are no common answers to these, he said.

The prime minister said the EU could not expect others to resolve its problems, insisting that Europe must take control of its own fate. Changes are needed “if we are to preserve Europe and the European dream,” Orban said. The only question is whether Europe has the “courage” to enact “meaningful changes”, he added.

He said reforms were not enough to change Europe. Europe must renew itself and the changes must come from within, Orbán said. “We cannot allow European unity, for which we have sacrificed so much,” to fall apart due to “ideological” reasons, “financial interests” or bad decisions by politicians, he said.

He noted that after the Soviet intervention in the 1956 revolution, 60,000 people had gathered for a march in Munich to silently commemorate the Hungarians who had fallen in their struggle for freedom. Once the “brutal Soviet communist retaliation” had crushed every form of resistance, many Hungarians emigrated to the west where they were helped by the Bavarians, Orbán said. The Hungarian refugees waited patiently for the authorities to rule on their admissions, he noted. Many Hungarians were taken in and went on to become law-abiding and hard-working German citizens in Christian Bavaria, the prime minister added.

Hungary is a one thousand-year-old Christian state that has always been “the land of freedom fighters” that does not tolerate oppression, invasion or dictatorship, Orbán said. Hungary will always be “on the side of European freedom” in the future, too, he insisted.

He said that the military intervention by the communist regime in the 1956 revolution was a “defeat” for all of Europe. Europe can only be free and strong if it is united, Orbán said, arguing that it was this approach that had led to the idea of the European Union.

Orbán said the reunification of Germany had made the EU a world power. Germany supported the central European countries which were then able to join the EU, ushering in the heyday of the bloc, Orbán said.

Photo: MTI

October 18, 2016

1956 programmes at the Hungarian Opera House until 4 November

The 60th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution is commemorated by a series of events at the Hungarian State Opera. Beside opera world premieres, ballet performances and symphonic concerts, exhibitions, international guest performances and an open day at the Opera House awaits audiences.

László Seregi – Aram Ilyich Khachaturian: Spartacus– ballet in three acts
14 October 2016 | Opera House
(Further performances until 4 November)

Einojuhani Rautavaara: The Mine (Kaivos) – world staged premiere
Judit Varga: Love– world premiere
Director: Vilppu Kiljunen
Conductor: Tibor Bogányi
Premiere: 21 October 2016 | Opera House
Further dates: 27, 29 October, 3 November 2016

Cziffra 1956 – Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra concert
Celebration speech delivered by János Áder, President of Hungary
Conductor: Balázs Kocsár
Piano solo: János Balázs
Concept: Szilveszter Ókovács
22 October 2016 | Erkel Theatre

Gipsy Heroes of 1956 – digital exhibiton and screening
22 October – 4 November 2016 | Erkel Theatre

Revolution, Black and White – József Ferenc Ács memorial exhibition
23 October – 18 November 2016 | Erkel Theatre

Tamás Novák: Kádár’s Last Speech – documentary play
World premiere: 23 October 2016 | Opera House, Underground Trapezium Room
Further dates: 25 October – 4 November 2016

56 Drops of Blood – revolutionary musical
Director: János Szikora
23, 31 October 2016 | Erkel Theatre

Citizens of Kassa – Freedom Gala
Guest performance in Košice
Conductor: Máté Hámori
23 October 2016 | Grand Theatre of Košice

UN Day Gala Concert
Concept: Katalin Bogyay, Ambassador of Hungary to the United Nations
Soloists: Andrea Rost, Boldizsár László
Conductor: Kálmán Szennai
24 October 2016 | UN General Assembly Hall, New York

Frigyes Andrássy: Weeping of the Winter Night
Musical history lesson about the revenge taken after 1956
Conductor: János Kovács
Director: János Tóth
3, 4 November 2016 | Jókai Street Orchestral Centre

1956 Requiem
Verdi: Requiem
Soloists: Klára Kolonits, Atala Schöck, Stuart Neill, András Palerdi
Conductor: Daniele Rustioni
4 November 2016 | Erkel Theatre

October 18, 2016

The heroes of 1956: The girl, who was already dead when her photo went around the world

On the 13^th of November, 1956, a red-haired, freckled, quilted coated, 15-year-old Hungarian girl looked at the readers of the Danish Billed Bladet from the cover, with proud defiance in her eyes. She held a Russian cartridge-disc rifle in her hands. The photo of Erika Szeles went around world press. According to szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, many people looked at the photo as the symbol of the Hungarian revolution, the symbol of courage and hope. But no one knew that the girl was already dead when her photo was published on the cover of the Danish newspaper.

The revolutionary girl was shot to death on the 7^th of November, when she was trying to help the injured in a Red Cross armband. The bullet came from a Soviet rifle and hit Erika on her neck. But who was this girl? A Danish man and the fact-finding Hírszerző portal, which doesn’t exist anymore, found out about her life a few years ago.

The photo that went around the world was made by Danish journalists. Paul Raae and his photographer, Vagn Hansen got to Hungary in the autumn of 1956 with a lot of luck as they didn’t have any permission to enter the country. They joined a Red Cross convoy with their small Volkswagen, so they were among the firsts to get to Budapest. The Danish were shocked by what they saw.

Paul Raae reported with aghast astonishment on how the crowd rushed at the State Defence Authority with bare fists. They saw a girl who jumped in front of a Russian tank to stop it. They also took photos of victims, revolutionaries, youngsters and the elderly. They were at the Üllői Road, near the Kilián barrack, and at the Köztársaság Square.

Meanwhile, they met Erika. The famous Danish photographer, asked by Hírszerző, remembered the moment precisely, even decades later. “I accidentally managed to take a photo, which went around the world and became the symbol of the revolution. I saw a beautiful, bloused and armed girl with a serious look on her face, and I convinced her to pose for a few photos.”

This serious looking, beautiful girl was born in the 13^th district of Budapest. Erika was three years old when she lost her father due to the war. She was brought up by her mother. She studied cookery and worked in the Béke Hotel in the autumn of 1956.

She often visited her uncle’s literature club. Endre Bondi was known as a conductor, composer and writer. “The 15-year-old girl joined our word-fencing with surprising maturity. She had an opinion about the debates in the Petőfi Club, and she hoped for a democratic revival with fire in her eyes” wrote journalist Tamás Földes about the girl.

When the revolution broke out, she joined the rebels on the side of her friend, who was 3-4 years older than her. It might have helped in the making of the photo that Erika probably spoke a few words in Danish, because she spent some months in Denmark at the end of the 1940s. She got there with the help of a society called Red Barnet, which helped poor kids after the war.

Szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu writes that, a few days later, Erika changed her rifle to a white gown and a Red Cross armband, to help the injured on the streets. She was just helping the injured when a Soviet soldier attacked her. He rifled a series of shots that killed the girl immediately. According to her death certificate engrossed by the hospital of Péterfy Sándor Street, she died from a neck shot.

Henning Schultz was also 15 years old when Erika’s photo was published on the cover of Billed Bladet. He was deeply affected by it and sometimes wondered how great it would be to visit Hungary and find the girl, whose name he didn’t even know back then. People simply called Erika “the cover girl”.

50 years passed and the retired geographer started a quest after the girl. He planned to find the heroic girl and give her three copies of the Danish Billed Bladet which he set aside in 1956.

He first started looking for information on internet forums but he barely found anything. So he travelled to Hungary and looked up the Hungarian National Museum’s Historic Picture Gallery to ask for help. He talked enthusiastically about the girl who he and his friends once admired so much.

“We all came to love her and thought that she was very strong, brave and pretty” said Schultz. But his trip wasn’t successful. He contacted several Hungarian magazines to publish the photo so that someone might recognize Erika. Finally, Magyar Nemzet did so, but it didn’t bring a breakthrough.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/song-commemorating-60th-anniversary-1956-revolution-released-video/” type=”big” newwindow=”yes”] Official song commemorating the 60th anniversary of the 1956 revolution[/button]

So Schultz gifted the newspapers to the Hungarian National Museum in 2008. He also settled for the museum to receive the signed copies of photographer Vagn Hansen’s twelve ’56 photos, which were exhibited later.

However, the quest wasn’t completely unsuccessful. Schultz found a Danish article from 1981, in which a ’56 refugee, József Árki told that he went to the same cookery school the 15-year-old girl went to.

Hírszerző dealt with the story of the famous photo and eventually one of the journalists of the portal, Adél Tossenberger, found out Erika’s surname based on Henning Schultz’ and Tamás Földes’s recollection. She then found the grave of the girl, who died a hero’s death at the age of 15, in the Kerepesi cemetery.

“My dear little girl, my Erika, never to be forgotten, 1941. I. 6. – 1956. XI. 7.” as her epitaph says.

Photos: www.szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu

Copy editor: bm

October 17, 2016

Four parties sign declaration in honour of 1956 commemorations

Budapest, October 17 (MTI) – A statement signed by four of the five official parliamentary parties on the 60th anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Soviet 1956 revolution calls for joint commemorations on the October 23 holiday.

Speaker of Parliament László Kövér initiated the joint statement, “asking every Hungarian to bow in honour to the victims and heroes of the revolution together, wherever in the world they might be”, a statement from parliament’s press office said on Monday.

The document was signed by ruling Fidesz and the allied Christian Democrats, the opposition Jobbik and the opposition green LMP parties.

The Socialists refrained from signing, saying the declaration could be signed under normal circumstances but “the reality today” was different.

The declaration states that the 1956 revolution and freedom fight is one of the most important and elevated moments of the history of the Hungarian nation.

“Sixty years ago the nation united to shake off the shackles of an oppressing power and pay testimony to a free and democratic Hungary,” the document said.

October 17, 2016

Series of events to commemorate 1956 anniversary in Berlin

Berlin, October 17 (MTI) – The 60th anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution will be commemorated in a series of events in Berlin this week.

Commemorations will formally start in the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin (CHB) cultural centre on Monday evening with the presentation of video interviews that Hungarian documentary filmmaker Reka Pigniczky made with Hungarian freedom fighters and witnesses who emigrated to Germany after 1956.

The videos provide an overview of the unfolding of events in 1956, the retaliations and the future of some 200,000 Hungarians who made a home in their new country.

Starting on Tuesday, CHB will host a two-day international conference on changes that took place in the post-Stalinist era in central and eastern Europe and the fallout of 1956. Speakers include Elmar Brok, head of the EP’s foreign affairs committee representing the German CDU party, CDU lawmaker Hartmut Koschyk and Lothar de Maiziere, the last prime minister of former East Germany, among others.

On Tuesday evening, a commemoration will be held in the Berlin Concert Hall, to be addressed by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble and Hungarian Human Resources Minister Zoltán Balog. Afterwards the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will give a concert.

Between October 24 and 28, videos will depict the events of 1956 at ten venues in the German capital.

October 17, 2016

President Áder commemorates student heroes of 1956 in Szeged

Budapest (MTI) – President János Áder attended a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of Hungary’s higher education student federation MEFESZ in Szeged, in southern Hungary, on Sunday.

Referring to the failed anti-Soviet revolution of 1956 in his address, the president said that “Szeged students had not been born to be revolutionaries, still, they became heroes”.

Áder said that the young participants in the uprising had originally sought to address issues around their courses and demanded such changes as fewer classes of communist ideology or no Russian language. Soon, however, “it became clear that the whole system needed to be changed,” he said.

“They sought withdrawal of Russian troops ‘temporarily stationed’ in Hungary; they wanted free and democratic elections. They longed for [national] independence because they saw what subordination was doing to a nation,” Áder said.

Áder spoke highly of MEFESZ, noting it was the first organisation to have been set up by the students themselves rather than central power. Members of the new organisation set out from Szeged to other cities and “wherever they spoke to the people, the audience responded with a thunderous reaction: it is enough!”, Áder said.

The president also paid tribute to the teachers who supported the revolution “risking their careers, the achievements of their whole lives” and those that were imprisoned after the uprising was stifled. “The truth then spoken restored the dignity and self-esteem of the whole nation,” Áder said.

Photo: MTI

October 17, 2016

Good Friday to become non-working holiday

Budapest, October 14 (MTI) – Good Friday is to be declared a non-working holiday in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced at the 1956 memorial meeting of the synod of Hungarian Reformed Churches on Friday.

Orbán said next year’s 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation in Europe would be the right time to help believers celebrate Good Friday by declaring it a non-working holiday.

On the subject of the 60th anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising of 1956, the prime minister said, “the cold reality of dictatorship grinds up human dignity, usually leaving emptiness and decreased vigour in its wake.” But in 1956 “our heroes won because… they made us proud”, Orbán said.

Concerning Protestantism, the prime minister said it was a “crucial component of modern European democracy and culture”. He added that “once again it takes courage to tell the simple truth that modern European culture and today’s civic way of life owe their existence to Christianity”.

Today “they not only want to cut our roots in the European political arena, they also seek to change the soil which has nurtured Europe and often we do not have the courage to say so,” Orbán said.

In his address, the prime minister paid tribute to the Protestants who had participated in the revolution, and highlighted pastor Lajos Gulyás, who risked his own life to prevent chaos and more killing after the Mosonmagyarovar volley on October 26, when an enraged crowd of locals was about to lynch members of the militia.

“The example of Protestant martyrs of 1956 is the past that lives with us – a part of the history of the nation and of the Church,” Orbán said.

October 14, 2016

Reformation Year – Memorial Committee holds session in preparation for jubilee celebrations

“The Reformation Memorial Committee held its autumn session on Thursday morning in the Parliament Building, chaired by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán”, the head of the Prime Minister’s press Office told Hungarian news agency MTI.

Bertalan Havasi told the press that the working meeting represents a milestone in preparations for the 500th jubilee of the Reformation, and the planning phase will now be followed by the realisation phase. During the meeting, Church and Government leaders reported on their plans thus far and on opportunities and challenges relating to the important anniversary.

At the meeting, Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog, the Committee’s Executive Chairman, stressed: “The Reformation, which began 500 years ago, is an event of historic cultural significance. During the Reformation Year, we will be commemorating this important source of Europe’s spiritual and emotional renewal. We are not celebrating in opposition to some other religious community, but are expressing our appreciation of the value that the Reformation gave to the Hungarians and to Europe. Hungarian bible translations reinforced national cultures and consciousness, and accordingly have contributed to the survival of the community during the course of several historic crises. The Reformation is a power that has given Hungarian families, Hungarian settlements, the Hungarian peoples and the Hungarians of the Carpathian Basin vital values”, he said.

“During the session of the Memorial Committee, Hungarian Reformed Church Bishop István Szabó and Presiding Bishop of the Hungarian Evangelical Church Péter Gáncs spoke about the effects of the spiritual, cultural and social process that began 500 years ago, and about the appreciation and enrichment of its values. Bishop László Fazekas from the Slovakian Reformed Christian Church reported on the rich programmes and commemorations planned by cross-border Hungarians, while Pastor Zoltán Vas from the North-American Hungarian Reformed Diaspora informed the Committee about similarly extensive plans overseas”, Mr. Havasi informed the press.

reformation - Orbán Viktor; Bogárdi Szabó István — Photo: Károly Árvai/kormany.hu

“At the event, Ministerial Commissioner Károly Hafenscher highlighted the fact that the Committee had funded 552 programmes and projects during the past two years, and will be supporting a further 400 projects in addition to the major events planned for 2017. The aim of the cultural, artistic, scientific and community programmes is the worthy celebration of the 500th anniversary. The programmes funded and realised by the Committee will appear in the small villages and big cities of the Carpathian Basin alike, reaching out to all generations. The official opening of the Reformation Year will take place on 6 January in Budapest’s Palace of the Arts”, he continued.

The Memorial Committee was set up to prepare commemorative events during the 2017 jubilee year celebrating the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. The Committee’s inaugural meeting was opened in Parliament in January 2014 by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. At the time, the Prime Minister declared that the Reformation had given Hungary a national treasure that belonged to everyone, regardless of religious denomination.

Augustinian Friar and university professor Martin Luther, who began the Reformation, nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517.

October 14, 2016

25th anniversary of the founding of Swiss food giant Nestle’s Hungarian subsidiary in Hungary

Budapest, October 12 (MTI) – Economic relations between Hungary and Switzerland are mutually beneficial, a foreign ministry state secretary said at a conference marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Swiss food giant Nestlé’s Hungarian subsidiary in Budapest on Wednesday.

More than 300 Swiss companies are present in Hungary employing 40,000 people, Lászlo Szabó said at the Food4Talk conference. Bilateral trade turnover increased by 10 percent last year, he added.

Over the last 25 years, Nestlé Hungaria has continuously developed its business, introduced innovative technological solutions and created new jobs, Szabó said. The company also provides more and more export opportunities for Hungary, he added.

Nestlé is also finding ways to produce healthier and more nutritious products, he said.

Nestlé Hungaria managing director Jean Grunenwald said the company has invested over 100 billion forints (EUR 327m) in Hungary. Nestlé is a key player in Hungary’s food processing industry, he said, adding that the company’s plants in Budapest, Bük, Szerencs and Diósgyőr provide jobs for 2,400 people.

Nestlé Hungaria had net revenue of 126.8 billion forints last year, a 7.5 percent increase over its 2014 revenue.

October 12, 2016

Crimes of Communism Foundation, KAS organise conference on 1956

Budapest (MTI) – Hungary’s Crimes of Communism Foundation and Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) organised in Budapest on Tuesday a conference on the aftermath of communist totalitarianism.

In his opening address, Frank Spengler, the head of the Hungarian office of the KAS, said that it was important to address the aftereffects of communist rule, not least because it helps show young people today the extent to which the dictatorship invaded people’s lives and destroyed families and the overall burden it placed on public life.

But over time, the people living under communist rule developed survival instincts that allowed them to “outsmart the state”, he said. As a result of this, post-communist societies tend to have a deep distrust of the state and state institutions and are generally deeply skeptical of party-based democracy, Spengler added.

He said that if the revolutionaries who took part in the uprisings of 1953 in East Germany, 1956 in Hungary, 1968 in Czechoslovakia and 1980 in Poland had not been as brave as they were and had not made as many sacrifices as they did, the reunification of Germany and the integration of Europe would not have come as quickly as they did.

In a letter addressed to the conference, human resources ministry state secretary Bence Rétvári said the heroes of Hungary’s revolution had aimed to achieve national independence, end the constant presence of terror and establish a Christian and democratic Hungary. Coming to terms with the past is not an easy thing to do and Hungary can learn a lot from Germany in this respect, the letter said.

“The message of the revolution and freedom fight of 1956 is that we can only count on ourselves if there is trouble. No one else will defend our country for us,” the state secretary wrote.

October 12, 2016

CoE opens Polish-Hungarian exhibition on 1956

Budapest, October 10 (MTI) – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe opened a Polish-Hungarian exhibition on Monday dedicated to the memory of the heroes of Hungary’s anti-Soviet 1956 revolution.

After attending the opening in Strasbourg, head of the Hungarian Parliament’s foreign affairs committee Zsolt Németh told MTI by phone that the sacrifices made in blood by the victims of revolutions and communist systems had not been in vain, given the victory of the democratic transition in 1989.

Titled “Executed cities. Poznan – Budapest 1956”, the exhibition was opened on the first day of the Assembly’s week-long session. Nemeth said at the event’s opening that Europe had “a totalitarian past which it must face up to.”

October 10, 2016

Orbán, Polish president to address 1956 national holiday

Budapest, October 7 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Polish President Andrzej Duda will address the October 23 national holiday commemorations in Budapest, Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog said on Friday.

The organisers aim to soft-pedal state protocol during the events, and the spotlight will fall on invitees who stood up for the Hungarian cause during the 1956 anti-Soviet revolution.

Out of 13.5 billion forints (EUR 44m) budgeted for the 60th anniversary year celebrations, 7.7 billion forints were allocated for tenders, of which 4.3 billion forints have been spent, he noted.

The government has also earmarked funding for the publication of 155 books about 1956, 280 commemorative events and 52 movie scripts. So far a total of 355 municipalities have received funding for their various events, he added.

The minister said the events would also aim to present the message that Hungarians are a free people and were the first to express their desire for freedom during the era of Soviet rule.

Balog stressed that the upcoming anniversary would likely be the last round-number anniversary on which survivors of the revolution will be able to share their stories.

He revealed that Stanislaw Tillich, minister-president of Saxony, and Marek Kuchcinski, Poland’s parliamentary speaker, are scheduled to take part in a festive session of parliament on October 25.

The revolution will also be commemorated in capitals throughout the world with conferences and exhibitions.

Mária Schmidt, head of the House of Terror Museum and government commissioner in charge of the 1956 memorial year, said the anniversary would showcase the heroic accomplishments of those who “had not prepared to become heroes … but were faced with a choice … and made a decision to fight for freedom and independence”.

Government spokesman Zoltán Kovács said it was a “dirty” move to try to conflate the mass migration waves of the current decade with the plight of Hungarian refugees in 1956. He said drawing parallels between the two situations demonstrated a lack of knowledge of history.

October 7, 2016

Hungary commemorates 1849 martyrs – Photo gallery

Budapest, October 6 (MTI) – Hungary’s flag was hoisted then lowered to half-mast in front of Parliament in a state ceremony on Thursday, to mark a national day of mourning in memory of martyred leaders of the 1848-49 freedom fight.

Commemorations in Budapest

The ceremony was attended by President János Áder, diplomats, representatives of state agencies and political parties.

On October 6, 1849, thirteen officers of the Hungarian military were executed in Arad, now Romania. On the same day, count Lajos Batthyány, prime minister of the first Hungarian government, was executed in Pest, in Austria’s retaliation for the revolution and war of independence.

Later in the day, Áder attended another commemoration at a primary school in Ócsa, outside Budapest, and said that developments in 1848-49 were “the purest source of national identity”.

Defence Minister István Simicskó attended a commemoration at Batthyany’s tomb in Budapest’s Fiumei Road cemetery, and referred in his address to the revolution and freedom fight as events creating a unified nation. He said one of the morals of the failed fight was that “national endeavours cannot be prevented by way of armies, retaliation, or foreign powers”.

Budapest’s Fiumei Road cemetery – Hungary commemorates 1849 martyrs, Photo: MTI

Budapest - Batthyány Eternal Flame Photo: MTI/ Noémi Bruzák — Budapest – Batthyány Eternal Flame, Photo: MTI/ Noémi Bruzák

Budapest, Batthyány Eternal Flame - US Ambassador Colleen Bell, photo: MTI — Budapest, Batthyány Eternal Flame – US Ambassador Colleen Bell, photo: MTI

Commemoration in Arad

Photo: MTI

October 6, 2016

The last sentences of the 13 Martyrs of Arad

The 6^th of October marks a sorrowful day in Hungarian history. In 1849, the thirteen generals of the revolution were executed in Arad, while Count Lajos Batthyány, the first Hungarian prime minister was executed in Pest. All executions were ordered by Austrian General Julius Jacob von Haynau. The 6^th of October is the day of the 13 Martyrs of Arad, a national day of bereavement.

Last year we published a historic overview of the day in a detailed article and we recommend reading it before getting down to this article, which is a compilation of the last words, sentences of the 13 Martyrs of Arad. We want to commemorate the historic generals with the last sentences, collected by ilovehungary.eu, they said before their execution.

Károly Leiningen-Westerburg: “The world will come to its senses when it sees the work of hangmen.”

János Damjanich: “We overcame death because we were ready to cope with it anytime.”

Ignác Török: “I’m soon going to be standing in front of the most divine tribune of God. My life is only a tiny burden, but I know that I’ve always served Him.”

Lajos Aulich: “I’ve served and served, always served. I’m going to serve with my death as well. My beloved Hungarian nation and home, I know you understand this service.”

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/166-years-ago-the-cruel-reprisal-of-the-hungarian-revolution-of-1848-1849/” type=”big” color=”teal” newwindow=”yes”] 166 YEARS AGO: THE CRUEL REPRISAL OF THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION OF 1848-1849 [/button]

Károly Vécsey: “God gave me my heart and soul which always burned for the service of my nation and home.”

Vilmos Lázár: “Who is responsible for the fate of the Hungarians? The soul of apostles became Apostles at the feet of Christ’s cross and Hungarian souls have to become revolutionaries at the feet of gallows.”

Arisztrid Dessewffy: “Yesterday heroes, today martyrs… This is what the service of my home commands.”

Jószef Nagy-Sándor: “How awful it would be to think of evanescence now if I hadn’t done anything in my life. I submissively curtsey in front of my God for making me a hero, a true person, and a good soldier.”

General Vécsey kisses the hand of the executed Damjanich

Károly Knézich: “How interesting it is that Judge Haynau and I are both Christians. Only the devil could’ve mixed the cards this way.”

József Schweidel: “Today’s world is the world of the Satan, where honour is rewarded with gallows and betrayal is rewarded with power. Only a real revolution, the world’s new revolutionary humanity could sweep away this damn, maladjusted world.”

Ernő Kiss: “My God, will the youth of the modern age be true humans? Glorious saints of the Árpáds, watch over the Hungarian youth so that their hearts will be Christ’s and their life will be their homeland’s.”

György Láhner: “Christ’s cross and the gallows are related. And my sacrifice is so small compared to the divine sacrifice.”

Ernő Poltenberg: “We are here due to the furious revenge of our enemies.”

The Kárpátia band made a dramatic music video of these last sentences titled “By the right of the last word”:

Copy editor: bm

October 6, 2016

Hungarian embassy in Washington DC launches film festival on 1956 revolution

Washington, DC, October 5 (MTI) – The packed out screening of a documentary dubbed Journey Home marked the launch of a film festival at the Hungarian embassy in Washington, DC, in honour of the 1956 Hungarian revolution, late on Tuesday local time.

Journey Home is a documentary by two sisters, Réka and Eszter Pigniczky, about their father László Pigniczky, who was a freedom fighter in Budapest in 1956. The film follows the sisters over a two-year period, as they take their father’s ashes from Pennsylvania to Hungary and research their father’s story in 1956.

Tuesday’s screening was also attended by Eszter’s mother, Katalin Vörös.

The film was made ten years ago and fetched an award at the Hungarian film festival. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution, it will be screened for Hungarian communities around the US in the weeks ahead, including in San Francisco and Cleveland next week.

Other films to be screened at the embassy in Washington DC during the festival will include Freedom Dance, Ticket to Freedom, Freedom’s Fury and Torn from the Flag.

[button link=”https://vimeo.com/rekapigniczky” type=”big” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Watch more videos from Réka Pignicky[/button]

October 5, 2016

Coco Jambo welcomed the 10-years-old AHU at the Oktoberfest

Globoport.hu writes that Oktoberfest’s Paulaner tent was all about cold beer and the African feeling. Everyone celebrated the African-Hungarian Union’s (AHU) 10th birthday.

Bavarian folk wear and African drums – they don’t have a lot in common, do they? The African-Hungarian Union managed to combine the two on Saturday at the Budapest Oktoberfest. The 10-years-old AHU finished its birthday programme series with the beer festival.

The union didn’t rest at Oktoberfest, they were all about propagating Africa being the developing continent, which will soon be a significant economic engine of the world. Of course, they did this in a fun way: Cameroonian, Senegalese, Tanzanian bands, family programmes and drummers entertained the audience of the festival.

But the main attraction was undoubtedly the German band, Mr. President. The Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Budapest, Johann Marx welcomed the organisation before the big hits intoned.

Sándor Balogh, the president of AHU, greeted singer Abebe Dánial “Bebe” as a goodwill ambassador and the singer of Mr. President as an honorary member of AHU. The president also outlined the main goals of the following 10 years: “After the support programmes till now, we’re now looking for the options of cooperation, to bring workplaces, health centres and a sport school to Africa.”

After asking Sándor Balogh about his favourite Mr. President song, which is Coco Jambo, the anticipated concert and the birthday party finally started, naturally, with a birthday cake.

Photos: www.globoport.hu

Copy editor: bm

October 3, 2016

The African-Hungarian Union is 10 years old – VIDEO

Sándor Balogh, a businessman committed to Africa, and ten other private individuals, founded the African-Hungarian Union exactly ten years ago. Thanks to their persistent alliance they managed to achieve successes in several fields, which secured the Union’s place and also made a strong legitimacy. Celebrate by watching their birthday video!

Photo: www.ahu.hu

Copy editor: bm

September 29, 2016

1956 Memorial Park for ‘Pesti srácok’ opens in Budapest

Budapest (MTI) – A memorial park opened on Friday to honour the young freedom-fighters of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, known as “the boys of Pest”.

Opening the park at Budapest’s Mihály Horvath square, in the eighth district, Mária Schmidt, co-chair of the memorial committee for the 1956 anniversary, said the goal of the commemorations this year was to “remember and help those remember who had never lived in a dictatorship”.

“The freedom-fighters were everyday people who had become heroes,” Schmidt said, adding she would like people to learn the names of the heroes. She added that the commemorations on the 60th anniversary of the revolution should be about freedom and national cohesion.

Photo: MTI

September 24, 2016