Fifty years on, revolution still divides Hungary (50th Anniv. Revolt Against Soviets)

Yahoo News and Reuters ^ | October 20, 2006 | By David Chance and Gergely Szakacs

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Fifty years on, revolution still divides Hungary

By David Chance and Gergely Szakacs

Fri Oct 20, 7:41 AM ET



Freedom fighters sit on top of a tank with a revolutionary flag in Budapest at the time of the uprising against the Soviet-supported Hungarian communist regime in 1956. Hungary will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 uprising on October 23. The picture was taken in the period between October 23 and November 4, 1956. (Laszlo Almasi/Reuters)

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The diary of Gyula Csics for October 23, 1956, starts with a 12-year-old boy tending his grandfathers' graves and ends with him listening to the sounds of a revolution which briefly freed Hungary from Soviet rule.

Csics, now 62 and chief librarian in the county of Tatabanya, wrote in his diary that he went to bed to the sound of 200,000 people calling "let's pull down the Stalin statue."

The next day he woke "to the crackling and rattling of gunfire" as Hungarians rose against their oppressors.

Fifty years on and in the wake of the worst anti-government protests since the end of communism, Hungarians cannot agree on the legacy of 1956, and so there will be two celebrations.

The official one for heads of state will be in Budapest's imposing Heroes Square where a huge abstract monument which has offended some survivors will be unveiled.

A second will be held by some freedom fighters and the opposition, near to the national radio station, the scene of heavy fighting in 1956.

About the only thing Hungarians can agree on is that the revolution, in which at least 2,600 of their countrymen and 600 Soviet troops were killed fighting, was spontaneous.

It made THE country live again briefly, after emerging in 1945 from the terrors of home-grown fascism and German Nazism only to enter the grasp of brutal Soviet rule, where it remained for 33 more years.

Grainy black-and-white footage of the revolution shows men, women and children taking on the mighty Red Army, halting and destroying tanks in the streets of Budapest.

"You could feel it in the air that it was something truly mighty. You just could not ignore and not understand what was happening," Csics told Reuters.

"I am proud that 1956 took place and I am proud to have been Hungarian when it happened."

NO MIDDLE GROUND

For Csics and many of his 10 million fellow citizens, the 16 years of democracy and five free elections since the end communism in 1989 have been confusing and disappointing.

Even though Hungary has now been reunited with western Europe, joining the EU in 2004, many say there has been no closure and that this is impeded by the governing Socialists, the direct descendents of the communists.

Viktor Orban, the leader of the main opposition Fidesz party, who shot to fame at the reburial of Prime Minister Imre Nagy, executed in 1958 for his role in the uprising, conjured images of the communists creeping back in the 2006 elections.

No one has been put on trial from the brutal state security apparatus, which executed 200 people in the aftermath of the uprising, some of them children held in jail until they were 18 and old enough to be killed legally.

There has been no publication of secret police files from the communist era; a drip of names into the media of those who worked in the secret police includes former Socialist Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy who left power in 2004.

In the foyer of the Socialist headquarters, there is a plaque whose dedication reads: "To the martyrs who died defending the building from counter-revolutionaries."

The plaque has been covered, but not taken down.

SYMBOL OF REVOLUTION

Fidesz with its brash nationalism and anti-communism has sought to appropriate the revolution for itself, to the outrage of the left, liberals and some on the right.

Many of its supporters sought to cloak the protests of the past month in the legitimacy of 1956, bearing the symbol of the revolution, the Hungarian tricolor with the communist symbols cut out.

Fidesz harps on about themes of freedom and liberty, seeking to bring its vision of the revolution into everyday life, but many say its rigid and dogmatic approach does not represent what the people fought for in 1956.

The memory of Nagy, the communist who bowed to the people's demands for freedom and paid with his life when the revolution was crushed, is troublesome for the right which says there is no such thing as a reform communist.

So is that of Janos Kadar, installed by the Soviet Union and initiator of a brutal crackdown who was general secretary of the ruling Communist Party until 1988.

Kadar did not tolerate dissent, but freed the economy so that Hungary became known as the "happiest barrack in the camp."

While Hungary's democracy appears vibrant with voter turnout of more than 70 percent, far more than in most ex-communist states, newspapers are polarized, parochial and partial and the political debate rarely gets beyond shouting loudly.

"Freedom in 1989 came a bit too late. By then, people had forgotten what freedom meant and perhaps even what democracy meant," Csics said.

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BBC

Hungary protesters in stand-off

October 20, 2006



The protesters have set up a tent in the square

A police deadline has passed for far-right protesters in Hungary to leave an area outside parliament ahead of a high-profile national anniversary.

Major events are planned in the square on Monday to mark 50 years since the Hungarian uprising against Soviet rule in 1956 was brutally suppressed.

International dignitaries are among those due to attend the ceremony.

Those occupying the square want Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany to resign, after he admitted lying to voters.

The police had set a deadline of noon (1000GMT) on Monday to clear the area.

Negotiations

The protesters have set up a tent, kitchen and mobile toilets in Kossuth Square.

They range in number from a few dozen to several hundred depending on the time of day.

Soon after the deadline passed, police spokesman Laszlo Garamvolgyi told the French news agency AFP that negotiations with the protesters were continuing.

"There is still a chance that we can resolve this peacefully and come to a consensus," he said.

Earlier he said police might have to resort to force to clear the square, AFP said.

Police have said the protesters will be allowed to stay if the tent is removed, only 100 protesters remain for the anniversary ceremony and they agree to being searched ahead of the event, the agency reported.

Prime Minister Gyurcsany's admission that he had lied about the state of the economy sparked three nights of rioting in September.

Since then, several groups have continued protests demanding the government's resignation.

The main opposition Fidesz party has also organised rallies outside parliament, but has decided to use a different location for the period of the anniversary events.

It has said it will boycott official events at which the prime minister is speaking.

In the 1956 national uprising, the then Prime Minister Imre Nagy led demands for a Soviet withdrawal, but thousands died when Soviet forces crushed the rebellion.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Hungary protesters in stand-off

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Never forget.

FreedomFighter 56.com

56 Stories

Imre Farkas

Miracle of October 27 – The Vác Prison Break

On that day the dream of 1200 political prisoners held captive in the infamous Political Prison of Vac came through. I was serving the sixth year of my life imprisonment, which had been commuted from a death sentence for “anticommunist activities, Western connections and conspiracy and treason against the People's Democracy and the Soviet Union.” Among the 1200 prisoners were about 500 with life sentences.

In the morning of October 24th the guards didn't wake us at 6 AM as usual and later told us that the prison factory would not operate that day. The cell doors were locked all day. First we were happy that we didn't have to work, but later we became suspicious. We felt that something was happening which would decide our future. In the evening of October 25th an AVO officer distributed cigarettes among the prisoners, saying “Men, everybody is entitled to one pack.”

We couldn't believe our ears - he called us “men.” After so many years of humiliation, torture and suffering, we were suddenly treated as human beings by our captors?

The next day we were allowed to walk in the prison yard. All the usually bloodless, pale faces were glowing with excitement. From snippets of overheard conversations we managed to put together that there was a revolution going on in Hungary! The people, in whose name Moscow's lackeys committed all the atrocities, the people said “enough!” and revolted against the Communist regime.

We couldn't sleep all night. Then came the morning of October the 27th. During the last 3 days tremendous tension had been building up in all of us. We rushed to the windows and saw that the red star - symbol of the Soviet tyranny - had disappeared from the caps and uniforms of the guards. Instead they wore the red-white-green national colors.

We started to sing the National Anthem, and somebody recited the “Nemzeti Dal” by Petofi. We reached the limit of our patience and shouted: Let's break out! With our iron bedframes and every other possible means we hammered on the cell doors and succeeded in breaking them open. In 20 minutes everybody was out of the cells.

We agreed that we would not harm the prison guards, regardless of how cruel they had been during the past years. Nobody touched them. We were proud that our liberation was free from vengeance and retaliation. We had to decide how to break out of the prison complex through 4 consecutive heavy iron gates leading to the main street of the town of Vac.

Some people suggested negotiating with the commander of the Security Police, but about 50 of us, the younger ones, insisted on going all the way. We were unsure how the armed Secret Police troops would act who guarded the prison from outside, but we took the risk. We started toward the iron gates and with the help of some friendly, non-AVO guards we broke open the last iron gate. Outside the gate several thousand people, the inhabitants of Vac, were waiting for us, crying and embracing us. The people, in whose name we were sentenced, were welcoming us.

We sang the National Anthem again. Suddenly, in this emotional moment, shots of automatic weapons rang out. The crowd tried to disperse quickly but some fell already dead or wounded. The Secret Police, the AVO men were shooting at us from the roof of the prison building.

We ran as fast as we could, still in our prison uniforms. As we ran through streets, backyards, over fences, the people were throwing civilian clothes to us. An old man gave me his only top coat; children brought their parents' jackets.

One of the most poignant scenes was when a little boy about 8 years old, ran to me and said :"I can't give you anything else, but here, take my comb, you might need it!”

In a few days, on October 30th I arrived to Budapest and after 5 & 1/2 years if confinement was finally reunited with my wife!

Imre Farkas

Sentenced to death for anticommunist activities, Western connections and conspiracy and treason against the People's Democracy and the Soviet Union, Imre Farkas arrived with his wife Lily to the United States on Christmas Eve, 1956.

With a Rockefeller Foundation sponsorship he became a teaching fellow at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

He worked for W.R. Grace and Company as a chemical engineer, retiring in 1994 as Vice President. He was the President of the American Concrete Institute in 1986 and Chairman of the American Society of Testing Materials in 1992.

Imre Farkas has lived with his wife Lily (see her submission), in Sarasota, Florida since 1994.

Miracle of October 27, 1956

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Magyar Bump!

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Hungarian Freedom Fighters and American Marines October 1956

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Never Forget.


Russian Tanks at Parliament 1956 Hungarian Uprising

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Never forget.

News Reel of the Revolt, the Promise and Retreat of the Soviets and then of course the Soviets returned

Russian Tanks Return

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Hungarian Students Demonstrate at Bem Statue



1956 Hungarian flag
The center bearing the communist coat of arms was cut out so that the flag had a hole in the middle.

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Russian Comrades Tavarish

[Christopher Lincoln]

I have often wondered what would have happened if the West, and specifically the United States, had intervened when the Soviet Army returned. Everybody, or almost everybody, at the time thought that that would bring on nuclear war; but it wouldn't have because, as is now clear, the Soviet Union had practically nothing with which to wage such a war. The U-2 overflights, which began in June 1956, were intended to determine this.

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BBC

1989: Hungary reburies
fallen hero Imre Nagy

June 16, 1989

Former Communist prime minister Imre Nagy, the man who symbolises the 1956 Hungarian uprising, has been given a formal public funeral 31 years after he was executed.

The capital, Budapest, came to a standstill as thousands came to pay their respects to Nagy who in 1956 formed a government dedicated to freeing itself from Soviet communism.

Buildings were draped in black, church bells peeled and there was a one-minute silence across the country.

His coffin was placed on the steps of the Exhibition Hall in Heroes Square, alongside four of his comrades and one empty coffin symbolising the Unknown Revolutionary.

Among the mourners who placed wreaths and flowers were a handful of the 200,000 exiles who had fled the country after Soviet tanks crushed the revolution in November 1956.

General Bela Kiraly a commander of the 1956 uprising paid tribute to Hungary's fallen hero and said the reburial opened "a new epoch".

The ceremony comes at time of political moves away from Soviet influence.

Multiparty elections due to take place next year will see the end of the Communist Party's leading role in Hungary.

Failed uprising

Imre Nagy was prime minister of Hungary from 1953 till 1955 when the Communist Party expelled him for, among other things, wanting to release political prisoners and liberalise the economy.

In October 1956 students revolted against the state and demanded the reinstatement of Mr Nagy and he returned to power.


Imre Nagy writes one more appeal

Encouraged by an apparent promise of outside help, Nagy appealed to the UN and Western governments for protection from Soviet troops.

But with the Suez crisis in full swing and no real appetite for fighting the USSR over a crisis in Eastern Europe, the West did not respond.

The Soviet military's response was swift and devastating. Some 30,000 people were killed in Budapest alone and thousands more sought political asylum in the West.

Mr Nagy took refuge in the Yugoslav embassy. He had been assured safe passage by the newly appointed Hungarian leader Janos Kadar but was abducted by Soviet agents while on a bus home.

He was executed exactly 31 years ago on 16 June 1958 after a secret trial in Budapest in which he was accused of high treason.

His body was dumped face down in an unmarked grave in the Kozma Street Cemetery and his relatives were harassed by police whenever they went to lay flowers.

Now he has been reburied there with full honours and Kadar, who remained in power until last year, has been forced into retirement.


Mourners reburied the man who came to
symbolise the 1956 Hungarian uprising

1989: Hungary reburies fallen hero Imre Nagy

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Christopher Lincoln wrote: "I have often wondered what would have happened if the West, and specifically the United States, had intervened when the Soviet Army returned..."

Christopher, it is interesting to look back from today and wonder about might have happened.

The Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy, who wished to free political prisoners and liberalise the economy appealed to the United Nations and to "Western Governments" for help.

"Encouraged by an apparent promise of outside help, Nagy appealed to the UN and Western governments for protection from Soviet troops.

But with the Suez crisis in full swing and no real appetite for fighting the USSR over a crisis in Eastern Europe, the West did not respond.

The Soviet military's response was swift and devastating. Some 30,000 people were killed in Budapest alone and thousands more sought political asylum in the West."

Reference: BBC June 16, 1989

1989: Hungary reburies fallen hero Imre Nagy

[SandRat]

A heady time for the Freedom loving people of Hungary turned into a long night of sadness for Democracy and Freedom

[Thunder90]

Russia/Soviet/Coldwar2 PING!!!

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[Thunder90]

Looks like Russia is interfering in more elections.

[spanalot]

Gary,

Are these mice holes, too?

[spanalot]

"the Soviet Union had practically nothing with which to wage such a war."

All the more reason why we should have given Patton the last two nukes to take out Moscow in 1945.

Alas, our country was still infilitrated by marxists and it never came to be.

[Grzegorz 246]

Eastern European ping list

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