The era of terror: the story of the Hungarian orange

There were several weird time periods in Hungarian history. However, none of them was as weird and brutal as the short reign of Mátyás Rákosi. The economic policy of the general secretary was, to say the least, peculiar. During the rule of the Stalinist regime, many perished, but not only because of the political purges. After the second world war, Hungary had to endure the amok of the great leader.

The Rákosi era has been defined between different periods. In narrow terms, it lasted from 1948 to 1953, but in wider terms, it lasted from 1945 to 1956. Either way, the few years under the regime are remembered as a time of terror. This was the time when the country became a police state, where disappearances were widespread. Internment camps were established where political prisoners were taken for forced labour. Among these, the most famous is probably Recsk. But torture, imprisonment and terror were rampant in the country. Still many terms from this era live with us to this day.

The country of steel and iron

Rákosi cannot be described as the brightest even among dictators. The original plan was to make Hungary the country of iron and steel. There was a slight problem with this. Hungary had no iron ore nor coal, just the two ingredients required for the production of the desired materials. After the treaty of Trianon, Hungary had to switch to light industry and agriculture because of the lack of resources. It was very profitable but for Rákosi, heavy and military industry seemed to be more important. This was such a ludicrous idea that even one of the leading Soviet politicians, Anastas Mikojan made remarks on the inefficiency of this economic policy.

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Hungarian orange

HVG.hu made a summary of the time when Hungarian agriculture became the focal point of the economy. Rákosi must have realised that heavy industry might not be the most suitable for the country, so he started thinking about the crops that could be planted. The 50s brought a rapid rise in agricultural production, but without much yield. Agriculture only works if you use crops that are suitable for the climate. Now citrus, banana, rice, cotton and several other extraneous products are not the best choices in Hungary.

The agricultural reform caused lasting damage to the environment which can still be felt today. Rice requires a lot of water, which needed canal systems that were built by prisoners and had terrible quality. In autumn, women were sent out barefooted into the cold and flooded rice plains to harvest. This caused many sicknesses and illnesses among the populace. Child labour was also very common, but in the fields, they could not even receive proper catering. Children slept on the floor, in better cases they had hay mattresses, but the accommodations did not have heating in late autumn. Food was always late and too little. Bathing was not possible and there was not even drinking water, so they rather switched to wine. Again, these were not even enemies of the state, but just regular workers and their terrible conditions.

The subjugation of the environment was present on multiple levels. An agricultural country, like Hungary, had to import cereal because the lands were used for futile experiments. Nowadays, we think of this era as laughable, but in reality, it was a horrific time which led to much suffering. But the famous line from the movie titled The Witness made this time unforgettable.

“The new Hungarian orange. It is a tad more yellow, a bit sour, but it is ours.”

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Source: HVG.hu