The opposition parties on Wednesday marked the 63rd anniversary of the Hungarian anti-communist uprising of 1956 in Budapest.
Socialists
The opposition Socialists called it an important message of the uprising that “no nation can live under oppression; democracy, the freedom of the press, the dignity and moral posture of the nation are not given values but ones to be earned again and again”.
Socialist board head Ágnes Kunhalmi said at her party’s commemoration in central Budapest that “1956 has brought people back to politics”, adding that at the recent municipal elections “masses rose against [PM Viktor] Orbán’s oppressive, totalitarian regime”. At the local elections, the opposition “succeeded in preventing Orbán’s system from turning into an open dictatorship”, she added.
Kunhalmi insisted that building a “fourth republic” in Hungary would be a difficult task for the country’s “democratic forces” because ruling Fidesz has “by now lost all its moral foundations” to embark on such a venture.
LMP
The green opposition LMP party held its commemoration at the Budapest statue of Peter Mansfeld, the youngest freedom fighter executed after the revolution. Co-leader Janos Kendernay said the revolution of 1956 also had a message to the advocates of green causes and those in power today.
“There are revolutionaries even today who are raising their voice against economic and social injustice . and waging a non-violent fight against the omnipotent economic and political power-holders, the elite,” he said.
“These young people take to the streets to express their concern over climate change and prevent that its burdens be borne by the poor and the helpless,” Kendernay said.
Jobbik
Tamas Sneider, the conservative Jobbik party’s leader, said at the party’s commemoration that
the need for an independent, free Hungary was the true message of 1956. Today, the fight is against “a similarly exploitative, corrupt, Bolshevik-like regime”, he said.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán looks at Russia not only as an economic opportunity but also as an ideological ally, Sneider insisted. Jobbik’s voters “do not want to be serfs to Eastern despots or to Western capitalists,” he said.
Liberals
The Liberal Party said in a statement that “we are guided by the values of the revolution and freedom fight and of Hungary’s transition to democracy 30 years ago, and fighting for a free, diverse and European Hungary”. The party said they would like to see “a Hungary where all people have equal rights, the press is free, there is room for genuine debates and dissent is not denounced at all”.
We challenged ourselves to find out how many people we can ask ‘What do Hungarians celebrate of the 23rd of October?’ in 30 minutes. Enjoy this short video about the results!
Ferenc Gyurcsány, head of the leftist Democratic Coalition, has called for building a “colourful, patriotic opposition” embracing “leftists, centrists, liberals, greens and right-wingers, too”.
Speaking at his party’s commemoration at a monument to martyred 1956 Prime Minister Imre Nagy, Gyurcsány said that the opposition should be integrated by the ideals of a strong federation of European nations, as well as restoring the rule of law in Hungary.
The opposition should strive for a country in which “the independence and freedom of individuals is respected, and that freedom serves as a basis for a strong nation”, he said.
Referring to government members, DK president Gyurcsány argued that “those stealing public funds are not politicians but criminals”. The opposition needs to promote “decent politicians that serve the voters”, he added.
Criticising the government for its foreign policy, Gyurcsány said that
“those seeing eye to eye with Turkish President Erdogan and the genocide among the Kurdish people agree with Russia occupying Hungary and stifling its freedom”.
Hungary’s national flag was hoisted in front of the Parliament building on Wednesday, 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.
During the day, a series of commemorations will be held across the country and in Hungarian communities abroad to pay tribute to heroes of the failed revolution and freedom fight.
In the evening, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will speak at the Academy of Music, while the traditional “Freedom concert” will conclude the events at the Millenaris Park.
Budapest, Hungary. Hungary’s national flag was hoisted in front of the Parliament building, Kossuth square, photo: MTI
63 years ago, Hungary rose up against one of the most oppressing and brutal empires of the world. On 23rd October 1956, students and workers, men and women, old and young people of Budapest and other cities in Hungary grew tired of tyranny, intimidation, and repression under the Bolshevik regime of terror. Let us introduce you two of the most emblematic pieces of music of the glorious and tragic Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight against the Soviet Union.
On 23rd October, the first armed conflict that broke out the revolution was at the radio station of Bródy Sándor Street – revolutionists managed to capture the building after a bloody fight with heavy losses. They wanted to transmit their demands on the radio, but the station was ruined and unusable. The fighters had to improvise, so they set up a mobile radio truck at the Parliament and used to broadcast news, messages, and information to support the revolution.
Between the news programmes of the channel, they needed some kind of an intermezzo of music to fill in the breaks. They found old vinyl records in the building of the parliament, including
a masterpiece of Ludwig van Beethoven – the Egmont Overture.
This piece of music became the most emblematic melody of the 1956 Revolution as it was played several times on the radio during the fights.
Another well-known tune of the revolution was composed by an Italian artist, Pier Francesco Pingitore. This song with the title “Avanti Ragazzi di Budapest” is very popular in Italy as it has also become the march of a football team, S.S. Lazio.
It expresses the atmosphere of the revolution very effectively. Even if the Italians did not experience the brutality and terror of the fights, this song reveals how they saw those crucial days and shows how much they respect the heroic bravery of the Hungarian revolutionists. You can find the English translation of the text here.
You can read more about the international reactions to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight here. You can also read about how the Soviet army put an end to the revolution in November 1956 here.
The 1956 Hungarian uprising against communist rule shows Hungarians’ resilience against the influence of foreign interests and power, former prime minister Péter Boross said at the start of the revolution’s commemorations on Tuesday, in front of a memorial near Budapest’s Technical University.
Older generations have a duty to pass on that awareness to the younger generations, Boross said.
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
Speaking at the university, Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics said Hungarian youth “drove the first nails into communism’s coffin” in 1956. Those serving the communist party were wrong in thinking they had forever ruined Hungarians, he said, and this mistake “shook the whole regime”, he said.
Commemorations continued with the traditional torch-lit march to Bem square, where concerts conclude the day’s celebration.
Budapest, Hungary. Traditional torch-lit march in Budapest 1956. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Traditional torch-lit march in Budapest 1956. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Traditional torch-lit march in Budapest 1956. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Traditional torch-lit march in Budapest 1956. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Traditional torch-lit march in Budapest 1956. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI
On October 23, the national flag will be hoisted in a ceremony in front of Parliament at 9am, ahead of day-long programmes on Kossuth Square and other venues. The traditional “Freedom concert” at the Millenaris events venue will conclude the commemorations in the evening, more details HERE.
Hungary’s revolution of October 23, 1956 was commemorated in a ceremony in the US capital on Monday.
“We Hungarians, a people of freedom being of a small country but a great nation, dared to say from time to time: enough of tyranny; and we dared to confront much stronger powers than us,” László Szabó, Hungary’s ambassador to the US, said at the ceremony held in the Kennedy Center.
In 1956, he noted, Hungarian people made a stand for freedom “in the face of hundreds of thousands of occupying Soviet soldiers and dreaded communist militants”.
Szabó said 1956 laid the foundation for a change of regime thirty years ago. At the time, a young lawyer who is now Hungary’s premier was one of the first to demand the withdrawal of Soviet troops and the country’s democratic transformation, he added.
Referring to accusations that Hungary is friendly with Russia, he noted that Russian soldiers had helped the Habsburgs to crush Hungary’s fight for freedom in 1849, and in 1956 Hungarian freedom fighters were crushed by Soviet troops.
Whereas Hungary needs Russian energy imports, this does not equate to eternal friendship, he added.
Meanwhile, Szabó presented the Golden Cross of Merit, awarded by President János Áder, to the founder and curator of the Árpádhon Museum of Hungarian Settlement in Louisiana, Alex Kropog and his wife, and to Kinga Révész, president of the Hungarian Science Club in Washington.
October 23 will be commemorated in the next few days in other parts of the US, too.
On Sunday, Hungarians living in Southern California and Los Angeles held commemorations.
Tibor P Nagy, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs at the US Department of State, and Thomas B. Modly, Under Secretary of the Navy, attended the Washington commemoration.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Sunday lay flowers of commemoration at the tomb of Hungary’s martyred PM Imre Nagy in eastern Budapest’s Rákoskeresztúr cemetery, marking the 30th anniversary of Nagy’s reburial.
Hungary’s flag was raised and then lowered to half-mast with military honours in front of Parliament on Sunday to mark the 62nd anniversary of the crushing of the 1956 revolution and freedom-fight.
The Hungarian government in 2013 declared November 4 to be a national day of mourning.
Kossuth Square, Budapest – Hungary marks the anniversary of 1956 Soviet reprisal
Kossuth Square, Budapest – Hungary marks the anniversary of 1956 Soviet reprisal, photo: MTI
Kossuth Square, Budapest – Hungary marks the anniversary of 1956 Soviet reprisal, photo: MTI
Addressing a commemoration event at the Rákoskeresztúr Cemetery, where victims of the Soviet retaliation after the revolution are buried in unmarked graves, Justice Minister László Trócsányi said November 4 was “a national day of mourning but also a day of progress”. The heroes and martyrs of 1956 must be remembered and thought of with gratitude, the minister said in the cemetery’s national park of mourning.
“1956 spoke to the conscience of Europe and the world,” Trócsányi said. “Nothing has moved the conscience of the free world as the Hungarian revolution.”
“October 23, 1956 was borne out of hope, and this is what was killed on November 4,” the minister said.
During this period, Hungarians lived in greater fear and hopelessness than in 1945, he said. On October 23, the “nightmare” came true and many Hungarians were forced into hiding or had to flee, Trócsányi added. “An entire generation disappeared, among them many talented people.”
Budapest, Hungary – marks anniversary of 1956 Soviet reprisal
Quoting Hungary’s constitution, Trócsányi said Hungary’s freedom was rooted in the 1956 revolution. He added, at the same time, that freedom was “not an accomplished fact but rather a process”.
The minister later attended the unveiling of a memorial plaque honouring Jenő Fónay, a 1956 freedom fighter and founder of the National Alliance of Hungarian Political Prisoners (Pofosz). Trócsányi praised Fónay, noting that he was sentenced to death twice in 1956, but was pardoned just as he was about to be executed. He said Fónay had gone on to play a “historic role” in the period of Hungary’s transition to democracy by founding Pofosz and helping to organise the reburial of martyred Prime Minister Imre Nagy in 1989.
Memorial plaque honouring Jenő Fónay, photo: MTI
Fónay was deputy commander of a resistance group based at Budapest’s Széna Square during the revolution. He died in 2017.
Finance Minister Mihály Varga also marked the national day of mourning at a commemoration event in Budapest’s second district, saying that Hungary was a free and independent country today thanks to the struggles of the heroes of 1956. The heroes of 1956 wanted a Hungary that was independent of empires, could stand up for itself and was free to decide its own fate, Varga said.
“We must believe in the Hungarian nation and look towards the tasks of the future with a healthy self-confidence,” he said. “This is the self-confidence that those who believe we shouldn’t make our own decisions want to tear down.”
“For us, Hungarians and Hungary’s interests come first,”
Varga said. “This is why we protect our national independence and the free and safe lives of those who live here.”
“Next spring, we, too will have to stand up for the Europe of free and strong nations,” he added.
[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/this-is-what-happened-on-november-4-putting-an-end-to-the-1956-revolution/” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED ON NOVEMBER 4, PUTTING AN END TO THE 1956 REVOLUTION[/button]
Mourners on Sunday are invited to light candles in memory of the victims of the revolution at the Heroes’ Wall next to the House of Terror museum.
Budapest, Hungary – marks anniversary of 1956 Soviet reprisal
A protocol-free commemoration is also being held throughout the day at plot 301 of the Rákoskeresztúr Cemetery.
President János Áder
St. Stephen’s Basilica
St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest
St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest
THE END OF HUNGARIAN UPRISING – 4 NOVEMBER 1956
On November 4, 1956, Soviet tanks rumbled through the ancient cobblestone streets of Budapest, crushing a true “people’s revolution” that had wrested control of Hungary from Soviet stooges and thugs, read more HERE.
The 4th of November is here, a day of mourning for Hungarians, as we remember all the brave men and women who fought in the 1956 Hungarian uprising. This was the day Soviet tanks invaded the capital and started the retaliation.
On November 1, Imre Nagy declared Hungary’s neutrality and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. No one expected that, just a few days later, Soviet troops would invade and crush the revolution.
Minutes of the day
4:15 am
In 1956, November 4 fell on a Sunday. Soviet troops started a general attack on Budapest and other major cities at 4:15. The troops consisted mostly of Soviet soldiers originating from the Asian parts of the Soviet Union. Most of them had no idea where they were or who they were fighting against. Hungarians stood their ground for a while, despite the early hour of the day.
5:20 am
Imre Nagy makes a speech on the radio that is repeated several times in the next hours.
“This is Imre Nagy speaking, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Hungarian People’s Republic. In the early hours of this morning, Soviet troops started an attack on our capital with the obvious aim of overthrowing the legal and democratic Hungarian government.
Our troops are fighting. The government is in place. I am making this fact known to our people and the whole world.”
The speech was broadcasted in several foreign languages, too.
7:14 am
In the name of Imre Nagy’s government, the Soviet troops are asked not to shoot. The request is made in Russian, too.
“Let us avoid a bloodbath. Soviets are our friends and shall remain so.”
7:57 am
Éva, the wife of writer Gyula Háy, asked for help from writers and intellectuals all over the world in the name of the Hungarian Writers’ Union. Her message was repeated in German, Russian and English, too.
“Help Hungary! … Help us! Help! Help!”
This was the last message heard on the Independent Kossuth Radio. At 8:07, the radio’s broadcast stopped in the middle of a music number.
6-8 am
Imre Nagy receives political asylum in the embassy in the old Yugoslavia, along with about 40 other people. Meanwhile, István Bibó, the only member of the government who stayed in the Parliament, wrote a proclamation. In it, he declared that Hungary has no intention of following anti-Soviet policies, and refuted the accusation that the uprising was fascist or in anti-communist sentiments. He also urged Hungarians not to recognise the occupying Soviet forces or a puppet government. He ended the proclamation thus:
“I ask the great powers and the wise and brave decision of the United Nations in the name of the freedom of oppressed nations … God save Hungary!”
Seeing how the Soviet troops outnumbered the Hungarians, there was no attempt at an official armed resistance. It was the growing numbers of freedom fighters who tried to stop Soviet powers.
Noon
By noon, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Interior and the Budapest Police Headquarters are all under Soviet regulation.
Around 1 pm, the Moscow radio announced that “The Hungarian counter-revolution has been crushed.”
Later that day, Kádár’s government contacted the UN and asks for the Hungarian question to be removed from the agenda.
Freedom fighters were determined to fight the Soviets. Concentrated groups kept up the fight in various points in the capital as well as in the countryside on the 5th and 6th of November, too. The freedom fighters of Csepel fought the longest. Their resistance was crushed on November 11. After this, János Kádár gave his first radio speech as the new prime minister, in which he declared the revolution to have been crushed.
On the 4th of November, 135 Hungarians lost their lives in Budapest. Between October 23 and January 16, 2652 people died while 19 226 people got injured. According to UN data, the retaliation of the uprising took 453 lives, while some Hungarian sources say it was around 230.
To commemorate the Hungarian Revolution’s 62nd anniversary, the movie The Unburied Man or in Hungarian A Temetetlen Halott was screened at Cairo’s Balassi Intézet on 30 October.
Entry was free and the movie was subtitled in English for those who did not speak Hungarian.
The movie is a Hungarian-Slovak-Polish drama, released on 21 October 2004, directed by Márta Mészáros, and based on the life of the former Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy.
Imre Nagy, who was interpreted in the movie by Jan Nowicki, was the first political leader to become a symbol of a national revolution. As Nagy was against the Stalinist monopoly, he got off from the Warsaw Treaty and called for democracy based on a pluralist party system.
A very touching scene was Nagy’s execution. Afterwards, when he died, his eyeglasses dropped indicating his death. This scene for an Arab spectator could be linked with Omar El-Mokhtar’s execution scene that appeared in the movieLion of the Desert. When El-Mokhtar –interpreted by Anthony Queen- was hanged up, his eyeglasses fallen indicating he passed away.
The drama’s events moved Hungarian and Egyptian attendees to the extent that some were cheering and some cried.
Hungarian diplomatic mission in Egypt, whether the embassy or the cultural center, remarkably utilized thcentre Revolution’sutilisedniversary to spread the Hungarian culture in Cairo.
Two days after, on 22 October, the Hungarian embassy in Egypt celebrated a reception “The National Day of Hungary”. From Mezőtúr came Szivárvány Zither Orchestra. With their traditional costumes, the band opened the gate to the attendees to discover the Hungarian folkloric culture.
Last but not least, on 30 October, A Temetetlen Halott was screened at Cairo’s Balassi Intézet.
Expressing the significance of these events, Hungarian Ambassador to Egypt this is what the Hungarian Ambassador to Egypt Péter Kveck told Daily News Hungary “For Hungarians Culture is our Life.”
In his address at the ceremony, Áder referred to the uprising as “the fight of a small nation of 9 million against the largest military power in the world”.
After the revolution was stifled in blood, “undisguised dictatorship returned to stay for decades”, Áder said, adding that “many died in the fights, tens of thousands were then imprisoned, hundreds hanged, while nearly 200,000 people fled the country.
On Monday, the last day of his Florida visit, the president opened the 50th annual conference of the American-Hungarian doctors’ federation.
In his opening address, Áder spoke highly of the federation and said it had “grown from a group of friends into a respectable and influential professional organisation”.
The significance of the 1956 Hungarian revolution is undeniable. Besides reading about the memories and recollections of those who lived through the events, it is fascinating to look at photos and compare the past to the present. Thanks to Marc Redmond photo artist, we can do just that and get lost through the pictures in the Budapest then and now.
Recently, we have reported about several aspects of the revolution, since the anniversary has just passed. There were strong international reactions already at the time, coming from Elvis Presley or the Time magazine, just to mention a few. The Cairo Symphony Orchestra also expressed solidarity with Hungarians during a recent concert. Now, we turn closer to home and look at some of the important Budapest locations of the revolution.
Móricz Zsigmond Circus (Móricz Zsigmond körtér)
Móricz Zsigmond Circus then and now Photo: facebook.com/pg/redmondmarc
During the revolution, this square was one of the most important centres of resistance among civilians. Some sources say that the biggest confrontations here took place between 24-26 Octobre and 4-5 November, just after each time the Soviet troops arrived. It is a crucial location as tanks approached the bridges of Budapest on a nearby road. Many of them were stopped here by civilians.
Móricz Zsigmond Circus then and now Photo: facebook.com/pg/redmondmarc
On 27 Octobre, resistant groups were forced out of the area. However, they later returned. It is said that people protesting in the area were not punished, because they were difficult to identify.
Astoria
Astoria then and now Photo: facebook.com/pg/redmondmarc
The area of Astoria, a major intersection on the Pest side, also became a crucial location of the revolution. On 25 Octobre, a massive crowd managed to hold up a tank here, giving people hope that the revolution would win. People climbed onto the tank, putting up the Hungarian flag on the side, and celebrated their believed victory. Some say that they talked to the Soviet soldiers and even put a rose into the barrel. Unfortunately, later, a bloody retaliation took place on Kossuth Square.
Kálvin Square Photo: facebook.com/pg/redmondmarc
However, some of the Soviet soldiers took allegiance with Hungarians and shot back. They were severely punished at the end of the revolution.
Kilián Barracks
Üllói Road Photo: facebook.com/pg/redmondmarc
The Killián Barracks, located at the intersection of Üllői Road and Ferenc Boulevard, was one of the strongest centres of resistance. In fact, many saw the building as a symbol of the resistance. A sort of hospital was set up in the basement of the building. While light injuries were tended to on the spot, more serious issues were dealt with here. Some operations were performed as well, in the dining area.
“The heroes of 1956 fought for a free, sovereign and independent Hungary, a country that stands independent from empires; they gave their lives for an independent Hungary that can stand up for itself and decide its own future,” Gergely Gulyás said at the memorial on Széna Square, an important site of armed resistance.
“The message of 1956 is that Hungary is capable of changing the course of history if it takes its own fate into its own hands,” he said at the 1956 memorial.
Photo: MTI
Hungarians are not the type to gamble, they do not gamble with their country, but if necessary they can fight when there is no hope, although they prefer to have heroism and common sense on their side, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a state commemoration of Hungary’s anti-Soviet uprising of 1956 in front of Budapest’s House of Terror Museum on Tuesday.
Orbán said “the freedom fighters of 1956 had made a sensible decision”.
The Soviets withdrew from Austria, the Hungarian communists were focused on each other and the free West was urging Hungarians to rise up and promised help, Orbán said.
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
“On one side there was the hopelessness of certain decay and on the other the once-in-a-lifetime last chance,” the prime minister said. “They had to try and they did. The only way we Hungarians know how. With death-defying bravery, by putting our bad disputes behind us, in complete unity and with a pure heart.”
The foreign minister expressed gratitude “to every hero of 1956” for their role in ensuring that Hungary “can today enjoy freedom”, in a video message addressed to Hungarian communities beyond the borders and Hungarian diplomatic missions.
Hungarian people in 1956 said no to tyranny and dictatorial rule, as they also said no to intimidation, Péter Szijjártó said in his message.
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
“They said it was enough of others wanting to decide Hungary’s future and dictating how they should live their lives in their own country,” he said.
“The Hungarian nation is a nation of freedom fighters. This was shown in 1956, too, when Hungarian people had enough courage to rise against a vastly superior force and, despite the absence of the much awaited help from abroad, they fought until the end for Hungary’s freedom”, Szijjártó said.
“We Hungarians will never accept that others should decide about our future. We owe that to the heroes of 1956,” the minister said.
The co-leader of green opposition LMP said at the party’s commemoration of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising that the freedom of Hungary is threatened time and again but Hungarians will not allow their rights, “voice and thoughts” to be stifled.
Photo: MTI
Speaking at a memorial of the revolution, László Lóránt Keresztes said that “those who opposed the regime thirty years ago have become soldiers of treason, theft and destruction”. “They have learnt and implement everything they used to fight against,” he said, adding that “the unnamed operators of the Communist regime now sit among the ranks of [ruling] Fidesz”.
The leaders of the country boast of patriotism but in reality are reinstating the Communist regime they grew up in, he said. The incumbent “Bolshevik-type” government has brought a “grievous tragedy to our nation,” the emigration of several hundreds of thousands of Hungarians, similarly to the situation after the revolution in 1956, he said.
Hungary must however “step into the 21st century” and “remove the thieves betraying and robbing our country.”
Today’s youth has to use knowledge and information instead of weapons, although the ruling power is trying to strip them of those tools, Keresztes said.
“The message of 1956 is to fight constantly for what we believe in and for those we love,” Keresztes said.
Keresztes laid a wreath with his fellow co-leader Márta Demeter at the mural commemorating Peter Mansfeld, who participated in the revolution at the age of 15 and was executed shortly after turning 18
The opposition Socialist and Párbeszéd parties laid a wreath at the statue of Hungary’s martyred Prime Minister Imre Nagy in Budapest.
Párbeszéd co-leader Gergely Karácsony told reporters after the wreath-laying ceremony that Nagy had “restored people’s faith” that Hungary could become an independent country of freedom and equality where workers could control their own factories and where freedom and equality were compatible values.
Photo: MTI
Socialist Party leader Bertalan Tóth underlined the importance of values that keep society together, adding that patriotism, which he said was one of these values, had been at the core of Nagy’s message. Nagy traded his past beliefs for the hope of the future and supported the revolution, giving his life for freedom and his country, Tóth said.
Karácsony and Tóth said their parties will do everything in their power to ensure that Nagy’s statue stays in Vértanúk Square in central Budapest.
The executive deputy head of the leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) said at the party’s commemoration of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising that the fight in 2018 was being fought for the same goals as the revolution had been:
for the rule of law and an independent, democratic state.
Csaba Molnár, who is also an MEP of the party, spoke to the press after laying a wreath at the statue of Hungary’s martyred prime minister Imre Nagy in Budapest. He said Nagy and his companions had wanted freedom of the press, religion and association.
Photo: MTI
The same freedoms are missing today, Molnár said. “There is no freedom of the press, freedom of association and the Hungarian people’s fate is decided in Moscow meeting rooms,” he insisted.
Molnár said DK “has declared its resistance” because they believe in the same values as the heroes of 1956: “we cannot let a small group rob the people of freedom for their own interests.”
Molnár accused ruling Fidesz of wanting to remove Nagy’s statue from the vicinity of Parliament, “after having erased his memory from the official historical remembrance.”
DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány told the party’s commemorative event that the reason DK had been established on October 23rd was to demonstrate that its founders were on the same side as Nagy.
One cannot be “a little bit in the opposition or very much in the opposition,” Gyurcsány said. In line with the essence of democracy, “it is not possible to stand close to [ruling] Fidesz or very far from Fidesz, only against Fidesz,” he added.
DK identifies with a European, civic and constitutional standard in line with which those in the government should be branded “crooks” without hesitation because “they are indeed crooks in a political and also a criminal sense,” he added.
Last but not least, conservative opposition Jobbik rejects all compromise with the “regime” of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and will continue its fight to overthrow it, party leader Tamás Sneider said at an event commemorating the anniversary of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising.
“The greatest thief in the world” is building Bolshevism in Hungary, he told the event held in front of the Hungarian Radio building.
Photo: MTI
He cited several parallels between events during the Communist era and the current period, including the emigrants who left Hungary after 1956 and those that have left in recent years to work and live abroad.
Sneider said that just as the Communists had been subservient to the Soviet Union, the current prime minister was also “the most devoted servant” of Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
He said the current “regime” would not soften and only those should join Jobbik who are willing to participate in the tough fight to overthrow it.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 is an event of crucial importance for Hungarians, as, during its thirteen days, the nation united as one force against the Soviet Communist regime. However, the neglected nation’s uprising has had its impact on the whole world.
Elvis Presley
There is an Elvis Presley square and park in Budapest (near the Buda-end of Margaret bridge) in honour of the late singer’s efforts to help Hungarians who suffered heavy losses during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Presley appeared on Ed Sullivan’s talk show on 28 October 1956, where the host and the singer both drew attention to the bloody revolution that was taking place in Budapest.
The ‘King of Rock and Roll’ asked American citizens to aid Hungarians in their hardship, eventually raising over 52 million dollars by the end of 1957.
Time Magazine named the Hungarian Freedom Fighter the Man of the Year for 1956, featuring not a photo, but an artist’s depiction of three Hungarian freedom fighters. The article accompanying the photo tells the story of the three men.
Photo: time.com
Camus & Sartre
A strong reaction was invoked in the great French philosophers too – Albert Camus criticised the West’s lack of action when it came to intervening in the Hungarian-Soviet conflict in an essay entitled The Blood of the Hungarians. Jean-Paul Sartre expressed his disappointment and outrage regarding the Soviet measures in the article Le Fantôme de Staline.
Worldwide sports events
As to show their support of the Hungarian revolution and their dismay of the Soviet side,
Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland all boycotted the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
A year later, Norway declined the invitation to the Bandy World Championship over the presence of a Soviet team.
The United Nations
The United Nations even created a board dedicated to investigating the circumstances of the revolution in January 1957. The Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary interviewed 111 Hungarian refugees, reviewed documents, newspapers, radio transcripts, photos, films that were created during the revolution, along with the written testimony of 200 other Hungarians.
Music – Italy and Finland
Two famous songs were written on the occasion and dedicated to the bravery of the oppressed Hungarians: one of them is from Italy, bearing the title Avanti ragazzi di Budapest (Onwards, boys of Budapest) and the other is from Finland, entitled Unkarin Vapaus (Hungarian Freedom).
The Hungarian girl who fought for freedom
On November 13, 1956, the Danish Billed Bladet featured the photo of Erika Szeles on its cover. The red-haired 15-year-old Hungarian girl was holding a Russian cartridge-disc rifle in her hands, with a look of determination and proud defiance in her eyes.
Her story, however, is quite tragic: by the time her photo spread around the world, she was already dead, shot on the 7th of November.
Italy, Alberto Moravia
A famous Italian writer, Alberto Moravia, suggested to the whole world that those streets where there were Soviet embassies, should be renamed ‘the streets of butchered Hungarians’.
Featured image: www.facebook.com/pg/magyarforradalom1956
Katalin Bogyay, Hungary’s permanent representative to the United Nations, yesterday, hosted a banquet lunch in honour of former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York to thank him for releasing the UN’s documents on Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet revolution.
As an expression of Hungary’s gratitude, Bogyay presented Ban with the symbol of the 1956 Memorial Year, the “Cry for Freedom” statue designed by Israeli sculptor and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Hedva Ser.
Ban has a personal memory linked to the 1956 Hungarian revolution. As the member of a student council, he and other students submitted a petition to the UN Secretary-General at the time, Dag Hammarskjold, urging that Hungary not be left alone.
In 2016, the United Nations approved the release of its classified documents on the revolution for research purposes.
Both happened in October and November of the same year. In the former, the influence of Great-Britain and France on global issues weakened significantly while Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser strengthened his positions. In the latter, the Soviet Red Army restored the communist rule in Hungary by killing thousands of young Hungarian freedom fighters and making hundreds of thousands flee their homeland. But what is the link between them? Read more HERE.
Both happened in October and November of the same year. In the former, the influence of Great-Britain and France on global issues weakened significantly while Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser strengthened his positions. In the latter, the Soviet Red Army restored the communist rule in Hungary by killing thousands of young Hungarian freedom fighters and making hundreds of thousands flee their homeland. But what is the link between them?
Egypt to become the leader of the Arab World
In late October and early November of 1956, all the front pages of the important newspapers were covered with two country names: Egypt and Hungary. From a global point of view, Hungary was the less interesting: after defeated and devastated in WWII, it became a Soviet satellite state with almost no freedom. In contrast, Egypt lead by the ambitious President Gamal Abdel Nasser was competing for the leadership of the Arab World. In fact, Nasser seized control over the country in 1952 after a successful military coup.
Short after that, Nasser began to
balance between the communist and capitalist great powers.
For example, in 1955, he signed an arms deal with Czechoslovakia (which meant the Soviet Union). Furthermore, he strongly supported the Algeria rebellion against France while he expected American money for his Aswan Dam project. His most important aim was to become the leader of the Arab World and consequently, one of the leaders of the non-aligned countries. Meanwhile, Great-Britain (and France) tried to maintain its positions in Egypt and principally near the Suez-canal through which 2/3rd of the oil used in Europe was shipped to the Old Continent.
Nothing but promises
In Hungary, important changes happened after Stalin’s death in 1953. To cut a long story short, Mátyás Rákosi, the hated leader of the Hungarian communists was dismissed and his successor,
Imre Nagy installed reforms
regarding the devastated economy and oppressed public life. However, after a change in Moscow, Rákosi’s circle gained power again, but the Hungarian society strongly resisted and made him resign in July 1956.
The statue of Joseph Bem where the revolution started
Consequently, students, journalists and writers became more active and critical in politics. The situation escalated and on October 23 transformed to revolution. The freedom fighters – most of them under 30 – wanted
to establish a country free from the Soviet Union and following its own interests.
Of course, they immediately asked for help from the United States and the European great powers; however, they received nothing but beautiful promises.
Yalta rules
Just months before in Egypt, Nasser declared the nationalization of the Suez Canal which, of course, seriously harmed British interests in the region.
Thus – after secret agreements – Israel, Great-Britain and France invaded Egypt. The former occupied the Sinai Peninsula while the two latter the Suez Canal between October 29 and November 5.
The United States was afraid of Egypt falling into the hands of the Soviets thus; it tried to end the military conflict as soon as possible. Doing so President Eisenhower declared that he does not regard the new Hungarian political leadership as a potential ally to the United States and
he does not want to give military support for Hungary.
This meant that the United States will not break the Yalta agreement in which Hungary was declared to be a Soviet sphere of interest. Of course, Great-Britain and France concentrated on their wars in the Middle-Eastern region. Hence, even though Radio Free Europe broadcasted day and night that the American help is on its way, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev could easily organize the invasion of Hungary which started on November 4.
Soviet tanks on the streets of Budapest.
On the other side of the world Egypt was militarily defeated, but politically Nasser was victorious while Great-Britain and France suffered a terrible defeat regarding their reputation because of their aggression and secret diplomacy. Meanwhile, Hungary was occupied again by Soviet forces which resulted in the
fleeing of approximately 200,000 people.
For example, Ferenc Puskás, member of the Golden Team of Hungary remained abroad while his four-year-old daughter and his wife managed to escape only in December after many unsuccessful attempts.
President János Áder laid flowers of commemoration at the tomb of Imre Nagy, Hungary’s former prime minister and other martyrs of the communist retaliation after the failed anti-Soviet revolt of 1956, at the Rákoskeresztúr cemetery on Saturday.
Nagy, Hungary’s legitimate head of government in 1956, was executed on this day 60 years ago. Pál Maléter, defence minister in 1956, journalist Miklós Gimes, and József Szilágyi, the head of the prime minister’s secretariat, were also executed. Géza Losonczy, minister of state at the time, died in prison in 1957.
Nagy and the other martyrs, buried in unmarked graves after their death, were reburied on June 16, 1989.
President Áder commemorates martyred 1956 PM Imre Nagy
Leaders of the opposition Socialist and Párbeszéd parties commemorated Nagy marking the 60th anniversary of his execution.
Socialist board head István Hiller and Párbeszéd co-leader Gergely Karácsony laid wreaths at the martyred prime minister’s monument in central Budapest.
Karácsony, in his address, referred to the “re-awakening forces of tyranny” and said that “the republic and freedom must again be defended against those powers”. He accused ruling Fidesz of plans to remove Nagy’s statue from the vicinity of Parliament and said that it would be equal to “removing his spirit”.
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
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Head of the Prime Minister’s Office opens conference on post-1956 trials
Gergely Gulyás, head of the Prime Minister’s Office, on yesterday opened a conference presenting a new database of trials that took place after Hungary’s failed anti-Soviet uprising of 1956, in Budapest.
“We require the knowledge of how the dictatorship functioned and must know who and on what basis made decisions about people’s lives,” Gulyás said in his opening address.
“Though we are often dissatisfied with the situation of the rule of law, we must appreciate the progress that has been made in this area since Hungary’s change of regime,” he said.
The independence of the judiciary must not be harmed in any way, Gulyás added.
The database was compiled by the National Remembrance Committee.
As its first step in documenting the post-1956 retaliations, the committee collaborated with the Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court, and the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in publishing the details of 231 people sentenced to death, several hundred investigators, prosecutors and judges on the website perek56.hu.
The green opposition LMP party held its commemoration at the Budapest statue of Peter Mansfeld, the youngest freedom fighter executed after the revolution. Co-leader Janos Kendernay said the revolution of 1956 also had a message to the advocates of green causes and those in power today.
Entry was free and the movie was subtitled in English for those who did not speak Hungarian.
