“On the sixty-fifth anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian revolution, we remember the brave men and women who fought to defend their liberty on the streets of Budapest and around the nation,” US state department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement on Saturday.
“Their passion for freedom was realized in 1989, when Hungary embraced democracy. We mark this solemn anniversary together with our partner and NATO Ally,” the statement said.
Edward “Ned” Price, spokesman for the United States Department of State Photo: Wikimedia Commons / U.S. Department of State
Hungarian-Americans “have strengthened the connections between our two nations,” the statement said, adding that ties were enriched by those who fled their homeland after the revolution to build new lives in America.
“As we mark the one hundredth anniversary of diplomatic relations between Hungary and the United States this year, moments like the 1956 revolution stand out for their clarity and impact. The revolutionaries of 1956 still inspire those who hold freedom dear,” the statement concluded.
Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary held his speech at Erzsébet Square and commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet terror in 1956, as well as the 15th anniversary of the 2006 events under the government of the opposition politician, Ferenc Gyurcsány.
Events of 2006
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, alluding to clashes between Fidesz supporters and riot police in 2006 on the anniversary of the 1956 revolution on the spot in Budapest where he delivered his speech, said that 15 years ago “tear gas grenades” had been on one side and “a cheated and humiliated nation” on the other.
Speaking at a ceremony held at the intersection of Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street and Andrássy Street, the prime minister said: “Fifteen years ago, at this very time, here on the corner of Andrássy and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky streets, the past and the present confronted one another.”
“On one side were tear gas grenades, rubber bullets, plain-clothed unidentified police and water cannons,” Orbán said. “On the other side stood a cheated and humiliated nation which … was yet again forced to listen to the fact that they had been lied to morning and night.”
“On one side was a power that had cheated with hundreds of tricks … and on the other were desperate people lined up behind the giant letters of Freedom.”
Viktor Orbán’ speech at the 65th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 at Erzsébet Square Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
“Today we remember that moment when the Hungarian nation in a matter of moments found itself,” Orbán said. In that moment, “the name Hungarian became worthy of its great old fame,” he said. “The new generation of communists in 2006 wrangled with this Hungary again,” Orbán said.
He said the Socialist-led government had entered into power by telling lies. They deceived people by promising tax cuts before hiking taxes and introduced a fee for hospital visits and made utility prices skyrocket, he added.
The previous government scrapped the 13th-month pensions and family benefit schemes, and “pushed hundreds of thousands of families into the trap of currency loans in cahoots with the international banks”, Orbán said. “They sold off the entire country — everything, including its international airport and national utility and public service providers — to foreigners,” he said, adding that the next step “after bankrupting the country” was “to put the IMF’s leash around our neck”.
“And when we raised our voice against it all, they responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and an attack by police mounted on horses. They shot people’s eyes out and beat unprotected women and elderly people with rubber batons,” Orbán said.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, addressing a crowd commemorating the 1956 revolution in Budapest said that it had taken “years to clear up the havoc the left-wing government left behind, but we have succeeded in putting Hungary back on its feet”.
“Mercifully, in the meantime, national unity has endured and workers, engineers, farmers, small and medium-sized firms, scientists, teachers, nurses and doctors have cleared the ruins,” Orbán said in his speech.
“We have created a million new jobs, got rid of foreign currency loans, cut taxes, and next year the minimum wage will be higher than the average wage during the time of the [former governing] Socialists.”
The national wealth, he added, had grown one and a half times since Fidesz’s time in power. “We taxed multinationals, protected families, and now utility bills are the lowest in Europe,” he said.
The prime minister said Hungary was now giving both the elderly and young people their due, with the phasing in of the 13-month pension and the tax break for young workers being introduced next year. Further, families raising children are getting this year’s taxes returned to them, he noted.
Viktor Orbán’ speech at the 65th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 at Erzsébet Square
Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
Viktor Orbán’ speech at the 65th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 at Erzsébet Square
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Viktor Orbán’ speech at the 65th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 at Erzsébet Square
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Hungarian identity
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in a speech commemorating the 65th anniversary of Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising in Budapest, said Hungarians “on this day are saluting the wonderful day when we showed the world who we really are”.
“There are moments in the life of nations when everybody suddenly feels that enough is enough; things can’t go on the way they have done,” Orbán said at a junction of Andrássy Avenue and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street.
“We have to decide, and that decision will show who we really are. It will transpire for a whole nation what that nation is worth. Whether a nation remains silent or goes out to protest, whether it reconciles itself with the situation or rises up against it, whether it looks to one side or stands up straight, or whether it retreats or takes up the fight,” Orbán said.
Referring to 1956, Orbán said: “We Hungarians took the right decision: we protested; we stood up straight and rose up and fought [against Soviet rule]”.
That meant taking a stand for freedom against captivity, independence against occupation, and Hungarian patriots standing against Communists, Orbán said.
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at Erzsébet Square
Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at Erzsébet Square
Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
Viktor Orbán’ speech at the 65th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 at Erzsébet Square
Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at Erzsébet Square
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
LGBTQ issue
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in his speech said: “We’re stopping overbearing LGBTQ propaganda at the school gate”.
Orbán said it was high time for Brussels to understand that in the end “not even the communists got far with us.”
“We’re the sand in the machinery, the spanner in the works …” “We’re David who Goliath is best off steering clear of,” he said.
“We’re the ones who in ’56 poked global communism in the eye and the ones who knocked the first brick out of the Berlin Wall,” Orbán added.
The prime minister said Hungarians were still confronting those who insisted that Hungarians had been wrong, only to be proven right in the end. He said Hungarians would be proven right “a third time” following their stance on the issues of public utility bills and migration.
“There will be a referendum and we will protect our children,” Orbán declared. “Hungary will be the first country in Europe to stop overbearing LGBTQ propaganda at the school gate.”
Hungary’s PM added, that: “The left wing, however they disguise themselves, are still the same left wing”.
Quoting from the Gospel of Matthew, Orbán said: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing … by their fruit ye shall know them. The good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the bad tree bringeth forth evil fruit.”
He said the left wing “starts off by telling lies, carries on with violence and then leaves everyone bankrupt.”
Orbán insisted that Hungary’s left wing was backed by international forces so massive that “only millions of Hungarians joining together can defeat it”.
“The real challenge, and even a threat, is the international forces — the money, media and the network behind them,” Orbán added.
The prime minister urged the crowd to count on each other. “This is our strength … no amount of dollars or euros in the world can take this away from us,” he said.
The prime minister concluded: “We have come, we have seen and we will win again. The Lord looks upon us and Hungary above all! Go Hungary! Go Hungarians!”
Supporters of the pro-government Civic Union Forum (COF) and associated COKA foundation gathered to hold their Peace March to mark the anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 revolution.
The march started from in front of the Budapest University of Technology on the Buda side of the capital on Saturday.
COF-COKA leader László Csizmadia told participants at the start of the event that “we are ready to protect Europe’s Christian-Jewish civilisation”.
Participants lined up behind a giant banner with an image of former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, a photo of the mounted police attack on demonstrators in 2006, and an inscription “never again”.
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
The crowd was scheduled to walk over to the Pest side and of the city and join central commemorations addressed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán later in the afternoon.
“Never again Bolshevism, never again Communism, never again Nazism,” Csizmadia said, addressing the crowd, adding that “we don’t want either extreme liberalism or the decadent ideology of an open society”.
He called on participants to remember the heroes of 1956, the “victims of Kádár’s retaliation” and also to remember “how the Gyurcsány regime desecrated the anniversary of the revolution in 2006, when the streets of Pest were stained with blood”.
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Liberty Bridge
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Budapest University of Technology
Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
On the subject of relations with the European Union, the COF-COKA leader said Poles and Hungarians could do without “friendly fire”, adding that the peoples represented a Europe of nations and had no need for an empire.
Members of COF-COKA’s Italian and Polish partner organisations also appeared in the procession. Many of the participants carried national and Szekler flags, while some wore traditional Transylvanian folk costumes.
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at Erzsébet Square
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Freedom March for the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at Erzsébet Square
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Details of the events of 2006 were projected onto a video wall along the route of the Peace March and a water cannon truck was also exhibited to recall the way the crowd was dispersed by police at the time.
When the front of the procession had reached the venue of the central commemoration on the other side of the river, the tail end of the march was still at the assembly point, next to the University of Technology.
To commemorate both the fallen and living heroes of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution against the tyranny of the Soviet regime, the Canadian side of Niagara falls was lit up in the national colours of Hungary.
The Consulate General of Hungary in Toronto wrote the following on their Facebook page:
The world’s most famous and iconic waterfall was illuminated with red-white-green colours to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
The Hungarian Chamber of Commerce in Canada and the Consulate General of Hungary in Toronto welcomed a special guest of honour from Hungary: Ferenc Dancs, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hungary paid his tributes to the heroes and heritage of the 1956 Revolution.
Hon. Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of the Government of Ontario, H.E. Mária Vass-Salazar, Ambassador of Hungary in Canada and Valér Palkovits, Consul General of Hungary in Toronto and Sándor Balla, Chair of Hungarian Chamber of Commerce in Canada also participated at the ceremony.
The Embassy of Hungary, New Delhi, and Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Centre Delhi jointly organized the Freedom Run 2021, remembering “The Heroes” of “Hungarian Revolution” of 1956 and to commemorate the sacrifice of the Heroes of freedom.
The event was very well attended by a large number of people.
To commemorate the sacrifice of the heroes two races of 10 kms and 5.6 kms were held besides a walk of 2.3 kms for those interested in walking.
The races and walk were flagged off by H.E András László Király, Ambassador of Hungary in India and Ms. Marianne Erdő, Director of Hungarian Cultural Centre, Delhi.
Ms. Orsolya Bernat, wife of the Ambassador was also present. She encouraged the participants. Later on, the winners were felicitated. An exhibition of rare photographs and posters pertaining to the 1956 Revolution was also put up.
The remembrance of Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising of 1956 tells Hungarians that they must continue to fight the political players of the past who are attempting to make a comeback as well as those trying to exert political control onto the country from the outside, Finance Minister Mihály Varga said at a commemoration of the outbreak of the revolution on Friday.
“The oppressors initially misrepresented the events of 1956 and then stayed silent on them for more than 30 years,” Varga said. “These are well-known leftist solutions.” The minister said remembrance of the revolution must also encompass knowing the truth, adding that “even after all these years we still have more to do in this area.”
“The new generations must also be told about those who sided with the oppressors in 1956 and we must prevent the return of their followers,” he said.
1956 commemoration speech of Miklós Soltász and ceremony in Budapest
Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
1956 commemoration speech of Miklós Soltász and ceremony in Budapest
Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
“The heroes of 1956 wanted a Hungary in which Hungarians have control of their own fate, where the thousand-year past, the shared history, language and religion connects all Hungarians and shapes a strong nation,” the minister said.
“The heavy sacrifices of 1956 will only have meaning if the values that can make us a successful nation are also represented in actions,” Varga said.
At another site, the state secretary for church and minority relations said at a commemoration of Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising of 1956 in Budapest on Friday, that though most of the communists of 1956 are now gone, their descendants and spiritual heirs “live among us”.
“They’re the ones who 15 years ago desecrated the commemoration of the revolution’s 50th anniversary,”
Soltész said at Bem József Square near Margaret Bridge, referring to protests against the Socialist-liberal government in the autumn of 2006 that lead to clashes between protestors and police. “They’re the ones who never apologised for the disgrace of 65 years ago or that of 15 years ago.”
1956 commemoration speech of Miklós Soltász and ceremony in Budapest
Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
1956 commemoration speech of Miklós Soltász and ceremony in Budapest
Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
Soltész said it was up to young people to prevent the spread of neo-Marxist ideas.
Addressing the young people in attendance, he said they must not allow “others to decide on the future of our countries, nations and families”.
Most of those in attendance made their way to Bem József Square as part of a traditional torchlight march proceeding from the Budapest University of Technology.
In Hungary’s 1956 revolution against Soviet rule, the ones with the power to act were those who “remained free” under the oppression forced upon them by a dictatorship, the family affairs minister said at the start of state commemorations marking the 65th anniversary of the revolution’s outbreak in Budapest on Friday.
Addressing a commemoration and wreath-laying at a memorial near the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Katalin Novák said “it was the tragedies often tainted with blood in Hungarian history that led to 1956; the thousand-year period of Christian Hungarian statehood that had existed before 1956 gave Hungarians the strength and inspiration in the [1956] events which were a turning point that gave the nation its heart and posture”.
Katalin Novák’s speech at the commemoration ceremony of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution Photo: MTI/Bruzák Noémi
“We, Hungarians, carry the ever-lasting desire for freedom in our genes, just as we also carry with us the harsh reality that we can only rely on ourselves”, Novák said, adding that there had not been others for Hungary to count on in 1956.
“And today, Hungary still only has but a few true allies among European leaders,” she said.
“Today few have the courage to stand up for the truth and talk straight, few dare to make firm decisions and only few stand up for the cause of freedom if they are constantly attacked for it,” Novák said.
Katalin Novák at the commemoration ceremony of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
“But the Hungarian experience is that walking away, making false compromises and refusing to speak the truth will not lead to a happy, fulfilling life. We must be able to protect freedom because there are efforts guided by misconceptions and certain ideologies to stifle it.”
“We are 1956, we, Hungarians. We have not changed. The more cowardly half of Europe keeps forgetting the essence of its own existence: the concurrent realisation of internal and external freedom,” Novák said.
Hungary’s national flag was hoisted in front of the Parliament building on Saturday, in a state commemoration marking the anniversary of the anti-Soviet revolt which started on October 23, 1956.
The ceremony was attended by House Speaker László Kövér, government members, leaders of the military and state organisations, and diplomats.
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Budapest
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Budapest
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Budapest
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
During the day, a series of commemorations will be held across the country to pay tribute to heroes of the failed revolution and freedom fight.
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Budapest
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Budapest
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Budapest
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Budapest
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
State commemorations in Budapest will continue at the corner of Andrássy Avenue and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Road, to be addressed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The opposition will hold a commemorative event near Heroes’ Square, at the far end of Andrássy Ave.
The national flag was also hoisted in many cities around Hungary, for example in Debrecen:
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Debrecen
Photo: MTI/Balázs Attila
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Debrecen
Photo: MTI/Balázs Attila
Commemoration and flag hoist of the anti-Soviet revolution on October 23, 1956, Debrecen
Photo: MTI/Balázs Attila
Hungary and Israel’s excellent ties are based on common interests, according to diplomats attending a reception in Jerusalem to mark the 1956 revolution.
Staff of the Hungarian Embassy in Tel Aviv travelled to Jerusalem to attend the event alongside prominent Israeli politicians, public figures and representatives of the local Hungarian community.
Reuven Rivlin, Israel’s former president, told MTI’s correspondent at the event that he attached “great importance to the fight against anti-Semitism in Europe and Hungary”. He said Hungary had made progress in this area. “But there is still work to be done,” he added.
Hungarian Ambassador Levente Benkő said the Old City of Jerusalem was an apt venue for the occasion, being the city of the three monotheistic religions.
“We’re hosting the reception here for the first time — but not the last,” he said, noting Hungary had been the first European country to open a trade and diplomatic mission in the city to further develop rapidly developing economic ties.
Benkő highlighted the “important strategic alliance” between Hungary and Israel, saying Hungary could count on Israel as the most secure point in the Middle East.
Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians fled oppression after the 1956 revolution and about 20,000 settled in Israel, he noted.
Omer Bar-Lev, Minister of Homeland Security, represented the Israeli government at the event.
On the occasion of the Hungarian National Day on October 23, there will be 400−450 events at several venues in the capital and across the country this Friday and Saturday. The traditional torch-lit march from Budapest’s Technical University to Bem József Square will take place on Friday afternoon. According to tradition, the national flag will be hoisted in a ceremony in front of the Parliament at 9 am. In addition, several marches and demonstrations will be held in several locations in the city centre.
October 23 marks the anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 uprising against the Soviet rule. At the press conference held on Tuesday, Zoltán Kovács, State Secretary for International Communication and Relations, said that this year, the commemorations of the 1956 Revolution and War for Independence will already begin on 22 October. He also added that
this year, Hungary commemorates not only the 65th anniversary of the revolution but also the riots and atrocities that took place on the 50th anniversary.
Commemorative events
Central events will start at 2 pm on Friday at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, writes Index. After the wreath-laying ceremonies, representatives of the Rákóczi Association will also join the commemoration, and they will march together to the ceremony at the Technical University.
The traditional torch-lit march to Bem József Square will start at 4 pm.
The commemoration at Bem Square will begin at 5 pm. There will also be light shows both on the evenings of 22 and 23 October.
On Saturday, according to tradition, events will start in the morning at Kossuth Lajos Square.
The national flag will be hoisted with military honours in a ceremony beginning at 9 am in front of the Parliament.
People can visit the Grand Staircase, the Dome Hall, and the Hungarian Crown in the Parliament building free of charge between 10 am and 5 pm. The House of Terror Museum can also be visited free of charge, and candles will be lit along the walls of the museum during the day. Commemorations will also be held at Plot 301 in the New Public Cemetery, writes MTI.
According to Index, the Peace March of the pro-government Civic Union Forum and the related CÖKA Foundation will begin at the quay in front of the Technical University at 2 pm. At 3:30 pm, the commemoration will continue at an unusual venue.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will deliver his speech at the intersection of Andrássy Avenue and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street where commemorations were marred by violence 15 years ago.
The opposition Democratic Coalition, Jobbik, LMP, Socialist, Parbeszed, and Momentum parties, together with the new MMM movement, will also organise a joint event on 23 October which will take place at 4 pm on the corner of Andrássy Avenue and Dózsa György Street. Péter Márki-Zay, the opposition candidate for prime minister, Péter Jakab, András Fekete-Győr, Klára Dobrev, and Gergely Karácsony will all deliver a speech. The Peace March of the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party will begin at 11:30 am at Oktogon. The Our Homeland Movement will also hold a commemoration at Corvin alley from 3 pm.
According to epidemiologists and the operative board, the above-mentioned commemorative events can be held safely, without restrictions. Zoltán Kovács also added that
the restrictions introduced due to the coronavirus pandemic will not apply to the state commemorations and cemetery visits on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.
According to BKK, due to the events connected to the National Holiday, temporary traffic restrictions and roadblocks can be expected between October 20 and 24 in the capital.
On Friday, the restrictions will mainly affect Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street and the route of the traditional march
(the quay in front of the Technical University – Szent Gellért Square – Szent Gellért Quay – Döbrentei Square – Várkert Quay – Ybl Miklós Square – Lánchíd Street – Clark Ádám Square – Fő Street – Jégverem Street – Bem Quay – Csalogány Street – Nagy Imre Square – Fő Street – Bem József Square).
On 23 October, József Attila Street, Károly Boulevard, the intersection of Andrássy Avenue and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street, the section of Andrássy Avenue between Kodály körönd and Dózsa György Street and a part of Erzsébet Square will be closed.
There will also be roadblocks in the surrounding streets. The following route will be closed between 2 pm and 3 pm: the quay in front of the Technical University – Szent Gellért Square – Liberty Bridge – Vámház Boulevard – Kálvin Square – Múzeum Boulevard – Astoria – Károly Boulevard – Deák Ferenc Square – Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street. The restrictions will also affect the traffic schedule of public transport.
Who inspired the statue of a naked, young boy, and what is the story?
Budapest is not only full of beautiful spots and parks where you can have a rest or admire the breathtaking view of the city, but many of them have a mysterious story or a glorious history. The Péter Mansfeld park in Buda on the Rózsadomb (Rose Hill), close to Margaret Bridge, is one of these places.
Apart from the beautiful panorama, the park has a surprising feature. There is a 4-metre-tall granite memorial with a bronze statue inside. The statue is of a naked, young boy, Péter Mansfeld.
source: Helló Magyar
Who was Péter Mansfeld, why is the park named after him, and why is he depicted naked?
Mansfeld was born in Budapest in 1941, right in the middle of the Second World War. His father and his grandfather were deported by the Soviets to do forced labour. Although his father made it back to his family, he was broken, started drinking, and the parents split up.
In 1956, when the revolution against the Hungarian People’s Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies broke out, Mansfeld was only 15 years old.
Despite his young age, he joined the uprising, where his diligence earned him a position.
Up until the invasion of Budapest by a large Soviet force on November 4, he worked with the freedom fighters. After that, hoping for a new uprising to start, he collected weapons to have an arsenal ready. He also stole cars and committed several crimes with his friends.
With the fall of the revolution and the end of all his activity, he became an enemy to the political system.
After kidnapping a policeman to acquire his weapon, Mansfeld and his friends were all captured. In prison, they tried to break him, but he held on and did not reveal the identity of his friends.
He was accused of numerous crimes: the organisation and setting up of a confederation against the democratic state and the People’s Republic, hiding explosives, hiding weapons and ammunition, stealing, robbery, aggression against the authorities, a violation against personal freedom, and so on.
He was sentenced to death.
Not long after his 18th birthday, Péter Mansfeld was hanged.
Ironically, it happened on the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, on March 21, 1959.
The park and its territory named after Mansfeld, where his statue stands today, goes way back in Hungarian history. As Budapest100 writes, already at the end of the 17th century, a chapel stood here, which was later reconstructed and extended. Unfortunately, it took serious hits during the Second World War, and the city decided to demolish it rather than rebuild it.
Thanks to a civilian movement, the statue of the youngest victim of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution was inaugurated in the park in 2006.
Finally, in 2009, it received its current name.
Péter Mansfeld was an iconic figure of the country since the Communists tried to use him in their propaganda as a negative personage, someone who broke out the uprising. After the regime change, his name was cleared, and today, he is remembered as the person he was: a hero of the Hungarians.
source: Helló Magyar
The huge, granite monument of 295cm x 400 cm x 302cm is the work of Péter Mensági. The statue of Mansfeld is made of bronze, writes hellomagyar.hu.
Hungary’s national flag in front of Parliament was hoisted and then lowered to half-mast with military honours on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of November 4, 1956, when the anti-Soviet uprising was crushed.
The ceremony, marking a national day of mourning, was attended by Tibor Benkő, the defence minister, and Ferenc Korom, commander of the armed forces.
Kossuth Square, Budapest, Hungary. Hungary marks 1956 anniversary, national day of mourning. Photo: MTIKossuth Square, Budapest, Hungary. Hungary marks 1956 anniversary, national day of mourning. Photo: MTI
Hungarian President János Áder lay flowers of commemoration at the tomb of Hungary’s martyred PM Imre Nagy in eastern Budapest’s Rákoskeresztúr cemetery.
Budapest, Hungary. Hungarian President lay flowers of commemoration at the tomb of Hungary’s martyred PM Imre Nagy in eastern Budapest’s Rákoskeresztúr cemetery. Photo: MTIBudapest, Hungary. Hungarian President lay flowers of commemoration at the tomb of Hungary’s martyred PM Imre Nagy in eastern Budapest’s Rákoskeresztúr cemetery. Photo: MTIBudapest, Hungary. Hungarian President lay flowers of commemoration at the tomb of Hungary’s martyred PM Imre Nagy in eastern Budapest’s Rákoskeresztúr cemetery. Photo: MTI
The public has been invited to light candles of commemoration at the House of Terror Museum during the day and in front of St. Stephen’s Basilica in the evening.
Was there a secret underground prison in Budapest? Did a small Hungarian village really declare its independence? What happened to the man who won the pools on the day of the Revolution? Here are some of the most popular legends as collected by Promotions.
The secret prisons under the capital
Probably the most-talked-about legend of the ’56 events was that the government had secret underground prisons where revolutionaries were detained. The prisons were believed to be under what is II. János Pál pápa Square today.
The reason people were inclined to believe this is that the square (called Köztársaság or Republic Square at the time) was home to the building that housed the Hungarian Working People’s Party, “which had become a symbol of terror in the post-WWII era”. The fact that construction works for M2 metro line were taking place in the vicinity did not help matters, either.
The village that declared its independence
Kesztölc is a small village in Komárom-Esztergom County in northern Hungary, with a little more than 2,000 inhabitants today. Legend has it that in 1956, the village had its own uprising against the Communist regime:
with a tank set up just outside the village (some believed it was acquired from the Soviet troops in exchange for some pálinka), the villagers declared the independence of the Republic of Kesztölc.
As Promotions writes, even though the locals did express their discontent a couple of times (the establishment of collective farms, for example, brought difficult times to many families), today we know that the “revolution” was probably nothing more than government propaganda to paint a ridiculous picture of the villagers.
Whether true or false, the story continues to enrich the lives of Kesztölc’s inhabitants today. It has become a very important pillar of community spirit; a few years ago, they even commemorated the events by building a tank with straw bales.
The village of Kesztölc today Photo: www.facebook.com/Kesztölc-Község-Önkormányzata-111683473810754
The mysterious pools winner
This story, which has since been adapted to a novel and a movie, is about a certain Béla R., who was lucky to win the pools jackpot, but not so lucky in that he was supposed to pick up his prize on the day of the revolution.
According to the novel (which also has fictional elements in it), to protect his money (around EUR 1,780), Béla took it “to a place where everyone could see it”, and so it was guarded at a local tavern. Then, during the revolution, the place was destroyed by a Soviet tank, and the family disappeared, too.
There have been several attempts to find the family and discover what happened to the money. Even though Urban Legends did manage to get in touch with the son of the pools winner, he would not disclose any information. What we know today is that Béla R. died in 1994, four years after the change of regime.
János Pölöskei was nine years old when the Revolution broke out on October 23, 1956. They lived near one of the hotspots of the events, not far from the Köztársaság (Republic) Square where the headquarters of the Hungarian Communist Party was.
Index.hu says that they did not talk about politics at home, but he knew that his parent’s small enterprise was nationalised and they lived together with the family of Béla Dálnoki Miklós, a former Hungarian PM. He had an older brother who was beaten by agents of the State Protection Authority after he tore down some communist posters and his deed was reported to the police by one of his classmates.
On October 23 he said to his mother that they should buy a lot of bread because there would be war. He grabbed his father’s Primus camera and took a lot of photos during the days of the revolution. He says that everything was like the world war about which his parents and grandparents were continually talking about.
After the Soviet invasion
they lived in the basement with his family for more than a week
and Pölöskei was right – they really needed the bread he talked about on October 23. But afterwards life went on, and though some of his classmates were missing, he told that everybody was given chocolate which came as the support from Switzerland.
His photos were never published because he hid them in a book but below you can check them:
Source: János Pölöskei/Fortepan
The ruins of the Rákóczi street 74 where the fight was hard even after the Soviet troops crushed the revolution on November 4.
Source: János Pölöskei/Fortepan
People were trying to get through between tanks on the corner of the Rákóczi and Osvát streets.
Source: János Pölöskei/Fortepan
Passer-by in front of the ruins of the József promenade 81.
Source: János Pölöskei/Fortepan
On the left, the headquarters of the Hungarian communist party which was besieged by the revolutionary army on October 30. The crowds attacked the building because, allegedly, the State Protection Authority tortured there some people. Even though even Mr Pölöskei heard voices from the building then, nobody could yet find the secret tunnels connecting the building with the Kerepesi cemetery.
Source: János Pölöskei/Fortepan
József boulevard 86 near the legendary Corvin-köz where a group of revolutionists fought even days after the second Soviet invasion of November 4. Even this photo was probably taken after November 4.
Source: János Pölöskei/Fortepan
Tramcars burned down on the József boulevard that were used as a barricade.
Source: János Pölöskei/Fortepan.hu
Rákóczi street. It took years until all damaged buildings were rebuilt.
Source: János Pölöskei/Fortepan.hu
Ruins, passerby and a Soviet tank on the corner of the Rákóczi and Osvát streets.
Source: János Pölöskei/Fortepan.hu
The junction of the József promenade and the Üllői street. On the left, buildings of the legendary Corvin-köz while on the right, the Kilián barracks. The fight was long and bloody there; some of the buildings of the neighbourhood still have bullet holes on their walls.
Want to see more photos of the revolution? Click HERE. Are you interested in the melodies of the 1956 revolution? THIS is your article.
The Hungarian flag was hoisted in front of Parliament and lowered to half-mast on Monday morning, to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of Soviet forces crushing the 1956 uprising.
Defence Minister Tibor Benkő attended the ceremony.
Throughout the day, the public can light candles at the House of Terror museum and visit plot 301 in the Rákoskeresztúr cemetery, where revolutionaries were buried in unmarked graves during the retributions following the uprising.
A memorial concert will be held in the St Stephen’s Basilica in downtown Budapest in the evening.
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
November 4 was declared a national day of mourning in Hungary in 2013.
Defence ministry state secretary Szilárd Németh told an event presenting a film about Maria Wittner, who was sentenced to death for her involvement in the 1956 uprising before the sentence was commuted to life, that “the foreign army” which entered Hungary to crush the uprising in 1956 never managed to put out “the flame of freedom-loving Hungarians”. Referring to the opposition, he said: “We are free now but a pack of hyenas is still in action”. Today’s opposition, he added, were “enemies of freedom”.
“The communists have avoided being called to account for their sins and they are still trying to return to power,” he said.
The green opposition LMP party told a press conference marking the anniversary that even if the current situation of the country was not comparable to 1956, a parallel could be drawn because “the current government also acts in line with the interests of large external powers”. Former communist leader “János Kádár used Soviet tanks at the time to rule and [Prime Minister] Viktor Orban uses the Russian nuclear train”, party co-leader László Lóránt Keresztes said.
The government serves Russian, Chinese and Turkish interests, he insisted, adding that LMP had submitted proposals to stop the Paks nuclear power station expansion and the Budapest-Belgrade train line construction projects.
A memorial concert will be held in the St Stephen’s Basilica in downtown Budapest in the evening.
November 4 was declared a national day of mourning in Hungary in 2013.
Hungarians in 1956 made the same demands they had made before, in 1848, Árpád János Potápi told a gathering of hundreds of people including political leaders of the local Hungarian community.
They demanded what the Hungarian nation had always wanted: to shape their destiny freely, independently of the leading powers, he said.
“Although the revolution in 1956 was suppressed, it was still 1956 that brought about 1968 and 1989, too,” said Potápi.
Katalin Novák, state secretary of the human resources ministry, said in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár), in western Romania, that 1956 had set high standards for the Hungarian nation which she said must be met time and again today and in the future as well.
Szilárd Németh, state secretary of the defence ministry, said in Subotica (Szabadka), in northern Serbia’s Vojvodina, that “the example set by our heroes and their courage tell us that if we, Hungarians, join forces we can accomplish great things together”.
“We can only preserve the values of our thousand year old past, our Christian faith, national culture, mother tongue and Hungarian identity together,” he said.
The second biggest Hungarian city, Debrecen, played a very important role in the outbreak and the victory of the October 23 revolution of 1956. After the Soviet troops arrived, however, the reprisal was brutal in the city.
Levente Püski, a teacher of the History Department of the University of Debrecen, said on a conference that Debrecen played an important role in the antecedents and the outbreak of the 1956 revolution. For example, just after the Petőfi Circle consisting of university students was formed in Budapest, in Debrecen, students in higher education formed a similar association, haon.hu reported.
Püski added that in Debrecen,
the same events happened on October 23 as in Budapest, only earlier.
For example, in the capital, mass demonstrations started only in the afternoon while in Debrecen, they did in the morning. In front of the university, more than a thousand university students and teachers demonstrated against the brutal Communist regime. Furthermore, they wrote down and printed out their demands almost immediately.
Because of that, at 3 pm, almost 35 thousand people gathered together in the main street of the city, also including thousands of local workers, and their
demands were similar to the ones written down in Budapest.
These were: the immediate retreat of the Soviet troops from the country, re-establishing the independence of Hungary, disbanding the hated State Protection Authority, and using only national symbols instead of Communist ones. Since Transylvania is closer to Debrecen than to Budapest, they demanded the improvement of the living conditions of Hungarians under Romanian Communist rule that doubled their suffering, too.
Levente Püski said that the
first shots were also fired earlier than in Budapest.
Since local leaders of the Communist party wanted to stop the marches demanding change, they mobilised local agents of the State Protection Authority. They started to fire with dummy bullets first, but finally, they used live ammunition, because of which two protesters died and many suffered injuries.
After the victory of the revolution, local Communists wanted to become a part of the new democratic leadership, but they were rejected. So, they simply disappeared from the public life of Debrecen. Thus, while in Budapest, there were many fights even after October 23,
in Debrecen, the transition happened peacefully.
New parties were founded, and most people thought in the first days that they should create a kind of democratic socialism. However, later, they started to abandon the Socialist attribute from the name of every newly-created institution, and what remained was only “democracy” and “democratic.” The same happened in the neighbouring towns and villages, too, after October 23. People living there demanded lower taxes and the redistribution of the land.
When the Soviet troops arrived
on November 4, there was no resistance in Debrecen
because everybody believed that nobody has a chance against the biggest and strongest army in the world.
The reprisal was brutal in the city and the neighbouring towns and villages; there were three big lawsuits.
If you want to read about how Hungarians celebrated the 63rd anniversary of the revolution today, click HERE, HERE,HERE, and HERE. HERE you can read about the commemoration of the Hungarian community of Washington. And finally, HERE is an article about the melodies of the 1956 revolution.
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony on Wednesday said that his programme will be one of “clean air, pure hearts and clean hands”, in his commemorative speech on the anniversary of the 1956 anti-communist uprising.
Karácsony, who was elected on October 13, called on Budapest citizens to make the city the greenest, most liveable city in central and eastern Europe. Achieving it will require more humanity and solidarity, creches and CT machines but “fewer evictions and stadiums”, he said.
Speaking in the courtyard of City Hall which was opened to the public on Wednesday, Karacsony said
voters “took back the city” at the local elections to give it back to its citizens and not to monopolise it.
Budapest isn’t simply the community of its 23 districts but also the capital of the country, and should become a place “all Hungarians consider their own”, including those who did not vote for change at the local elections, he said. “Winning their trust is going to take a lot of work,” Karácsony added.
The mayor said Budapest should also become a “beacon of freedom, equality and fraternity”, adding that the new leadership would have to set an example in honesty, fairness, openness, tolerance and humanity.
In 1956, the people wanted a city and a country that turns towards the West, he said. That will was drowned in blood in 1956, he added.
Karácsony called on citizens to “take back their dreams”.
