CORVIN CIRCLE – 1956
Gergely Pongrátz
CONTENTS
The Story behind my book
Introduction
About me
October 23
October 24
October 25
October 26
October 27
October 28
October 29
October 30
October 31
November 1
November 2
November 3
November 4
November 5 - 10
The Last Days
Epilogue
What has come out since
then.
THE STORY BEHIND MY BOOK
On September 12, 1981, some friends of mine in Chicago invited me to give a presentation on the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the events which took place around Corvin Circle in Budapest. I accepted their invitation with especial pleasure because it was the first time that the Commander-in-Chief of the Corvinists had been invited to speak in place of the President of the World Federation of Freedom Fighters. After twenty-five years of silence, this was the first chance that I had been given to bring to light the details of the Freedom Fight around Corvin Circle in 1956, and to tell of the role that the Corvinists played in the Hungarian Revolution.
The reason for my twenty-five years of silence is simple. In 1957, I wanted to publicize the events of which I have written in my book. However, Béla Király, who was at that time the President of the World Federation of Freedom Fighters, dissuaded me from my plans and his reasons were justified. He said to me:
“Gergely, with the Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight, we became recognized all over the world. We must not ruin this recognition by revealing the incidents about which you want to speak. Wait. It is not yet time to bring to light the whole truth. Don’t forget, either, that the Communist dictatorship at home could retaliate with more strength against the Hungarian people and our comrades who remain at home. The true story of these events must be brought out, but not now. Within a few years, the time will come.”
In 1957, Béla Király was right and, even though it was very difficult, I kept quiet. Others, however, took advantage of my silence. Books, essays and newspaper articles appeared which revealed to the public the exact opposite of the truth about those events. The propagandists of the Communist dictatorship brainwashed the public by living as writers and historians in the West. Here is an example:
During the summer of 1968, I lived in Madrid, where Dr. Péter Gosztonyi, a historian, visited me and spoke with me in the course of three days about Corvin Circle and the Hungarian Revolution. He interviewed me and took notes on what I said. He promised that, before he published the article, he would send it to me for my approval. He kept his word and sent it before the end of September. I replied immediately that I did not want my name included in this article because he had not only omitted the most important facts that I had related to him but he had also distorted my words, lying to the reader. He wanted to express his ideas, using my name and I did not want my name endorsing a publication of lies.
Péter Gosztonyi replied, informing me that his article was already at the printer’s and that it was too late to stop its publication. The article appeared in the November-December issue, 1968, of the Új Látohatár (New Horizon). In order to make a good impression on the reader, it was entitled “DOCUMENT. Corvin Circle in 1956. Interview with Gergely Pongrátz.”
Briefly, Gosztonyi should have recorded what I told him. He justified his deletion of the most important parts by saying that he would write about the details later. At that time, it was inopportune.
For many people, there never was and never will be an opportune time to publish certain parts of my book. For the people of Corvin, Széna Square, Baross Square and for all those who risked their lives for the Hungarian Revolution, these events have never lost their timeliness. We have already been living with these memories for twenty-six years.[1] Writers have either distorted the facts or have neglected to question the Freedom Fighters.
My speech in Chicago, which took place in the Golden Bull, a beautiful restaurant owned by my friend József Bocskay, captured my new friends as well as my old comrades. István Harmath, whose library includes almost every book which was written on the subject of the Hungarian Revolution and the Freedom Fight, was a great influence on me. He compared my speech to cigarette smoke, which affects nearby non-smokers for a few minutes until it disperses throughout the room and no-one thinks about it any more. However, if I write my story in the form of a book, it becomes history. I owe this to posterity and to Hungarian history.
István Harmath’s words bothered me for weeks and always returned to my thoughts. I started writing and then gave up. I knew that my friend was perfectly right. I also knew that only the elected Commander-in-Chief of the Corvinists, who had actually lived through the events which will be described in my book, could accurately record them with historical faithfulness and bring them to light.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Revolution has come and gone and, within those twenty-five years, the lies that have accumulated and the falsified history have left me saddened. I felt that, with my silence, I also participated in the brainwashing and rewriting of the history of the Hungarian Revolution.
Writing is so foreign to me that I have even lost contact with my friends by neglecting to reply to their letters. This, however, is more than just keeping in touch with old friends or comrades. I am writing not only because, after twenty-five years, it is due time to bring the facts to light, but also because I consider it a sin and treason to hold onto these memories and take them with me to my grave. It also occurred to me that maybe God spared my life in 1956 because one task still remained, the writing and publishing of this book.
Therefore, I set about writing again and decided that I would record the events as well as I could. This was a huge financial sacrifice because, for one year, I could do nothing but write and prepare the book for publication. Reliving the events after twenty-five years was even more difficult than raising money. Some parts took a long time to record because, for days, even weeks, my vision was blurred by my tears. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried a great deal. Thank God, I am past that now.
I cannot neglect to thank my friends, comrades and brothers for their moral and financial support. The telephone rang many times at midnight with calls from friends in various American cities including New York, Albany, Buffalo and Chicago, offering support and encouragement. One of my comrades, to whom I brought up the financial problems of publishing the book, said, “Gergely, even if I have to take off my hat and stand on the street corner begging, we shall succeed in collecting the money necessary for the publication. Don’t worry about it.”
Feri Csongor, another friend of mine, called me one Sunday morning and we had the following conversation:
“Gergely, I hear that you are writing your book. Is it true?”
“It is true,” I replied.
“The first book is mine! I’ll pay one thousand dollars for it.”
“Feri, I don’t know the exact cost yet, but I am estimating about $18.00 a book.”
“Fine! I’ll pay $18.00 for the book and you can take the rest as a donation.”
I tried unsuccessfully to obtain several books and essays which Kádár’s[2] propagandists had published in Hungary. Finally, I asked Béla Király’s help and he promised that within one or two weeks he would send the material. It arrived three days later.
Péter Gosztonyi sent a complimentary copy of his book, written in 1981, entitled: A magyar forradalom története (The History of the Hungarian Revolution). When I thanked him for his book, I told him that I was diligently working on a book about Corvin Circle, which I would like to finish by the twenty-sixth anniversary of the Revolution. Despite our political differences, we began to correspond. I received a great deal of information from him which I was able to use in my book. Thank you, Péter!
I also thank the proofreaders of my handwritten manuscript for volunteering many weeks to help me. I made their work doubly hard because I did not allow them to change any of my written work. Pista and Feri, God bless you for your work! You are my literary comrades-in-arms. For your deeds, I am promoting you to honorary Corvinists!
I am also taking this opportunity to thank all my friends, especially Béla Szilágyi, Pista Frank, Mária Bohacsek, Klára Mihály and József Bocskay for their moral and financial support.
My principal reason for writing the story of Corvin Circle and the part it played in the Hungarian Revolution is to provide material and a starting point for future historians who must separate the truth from the lies by untangling a ball of yarn. The time will come when unprejudiced people will want to uncover the true history of the Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight of 1956. The judges of the people’s court will want to record this story on the basis of people’s testimonies and the literature of the Revolution. It is for this time that I want these people to have a testimony written by a Freedom Fighter himself. Now I must emphasize the term “Freedom Fighter”! I cannot claim to be unbiased because this would be impossible. I took part in battles in which dozens of my comrades died daily at my side, sacrificing their lives for their country. This fact explains and justifies my biased view of the spirit of the Revolution and the memories of the heroic deaths of my comrades. I am not a diplomat, who can describe an event with sweet but empty words in a roundabout fashion. This was not even my intention! I wanted to avoid the possibility of describing something only partially. I hope that I have reached this goal.
I know that, after reading this book, many of my compatriots and possibly some Western politicians will be touched by it. There is much more to this book than politics. The heroic deaths of my comrades are not political events of the past to me but are still sorrowful, sad truths. Several people who have read my original work have asked me to change and soften the part about Maléter[3] because he was killed by János Kádár’s executioners. With his death, Maléter paid for all of his criminal acts against us.
My answer was the following: At the beginning of November, 1956, on the initiative of Second Lieutenant Péter Gosztonyi, who performed his duties at the Kilián Barracks, Maléter heroically entered the Revolution and was made a martyr after his execution. Maléter, however, was neither a hero of the Revolution nor a martyr. I am doing my utmost to prove this and I hope that, in the future, unbiased historians will find more proof. Maléter’s execution does not in itself make him a martyr because death alone does not make a martyr. A martyr is someone who gives up his life for his ideals and beliefs. Maléter did not die for the ideals of the Revolution. On the contrary, he sacrificed himself for his career, wishing to give himself a better name.
My introduction to the book may also touch the reader. Several people have called my attention to this part too, asking me not to be so harsh. In this case, one question arises. Who is the guilty one, he who committed the crime or he who publicized it? I have done no more than put together the scattered mosaic pieces to form a whole picture, which is important because, besides showing the cause of the failure of the Revolution, it disproves the false facts about the Revolution which were attributed to it at Köztársaság Square, (Republic Square), during the second Soviet intervention.
I know that my book will not win a Nobel Prize for Literature but this was not my goal. However, by describing the incidents bluntly, I hope that I will put a stop to those who are trying to distort the history of the Hungarian Revolution and desecrate the memories of my fallen comrades! My guiding principle is to write the truth and nothing else, even if it hurts. I would just like to remind anyone who is bothered by the truth that the ancient Hungarian proverb says: It is easier to catch a liar than to catch a lame dog. Therefore, let there be no more lies.
October 23, 1982
INTRODUCTION
In the past twenty-five years, many books and articles have been written about the Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight of 1956. This is not difficult to believe because the events provide many writers with a topic worthy of their attention. These books and articles, however, differ greatly from each other because each writer tries to introduce his own political views to the reader. The following theory appears to be true: History does not exist, only historians. On this basis, historians have the power to distort and falsify events. In addition to this, those who wrote those books and articles obviously did not take part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 or, if they did, they were fighting on the other side.
My comrades and friends have been asking me for some time now to write this book. I have also received a letter asking me not to write about Corvin Circle and the Hungarian Revolution from a “Hungarian-centered” viewpoint. The subject itself calls for such treatment.
The military and political significance of the Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight can only be fully assessed in the light of history. As can be seen by the events of the past twenty-five years, the effects of the Revolution have already influenced the fate of several nations in the world. It has had as much significance as a bolt of lightning which has struck mankind from a clear sky. It was one of the most outstanding moments in the history of the twentieth century.
The Revolution of 1956 was the first in which weapons were used against a Communist regime. Because of this, when the time comes for historians to pinpoint the date and place of the beginning of the failure of Communism, they will be obliged to mention October 23, 1956 as the date, and Hungary as the place. The youth of Hungary made history, more exactly, World History.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, in a short five-day span, destroyed the Communist armed forces and the Russian occupying force which, with tanks, ensured the existence of this inhuman regime in Hungary. The first weapons in the hands of the youths were pocket-knives which they pressed into the backs of the Secret Police saying, “Give me your pistol or I’ll use my pocket-knife!” Because they had no other weapons, they threw rocks onto the T-34 tanks which rolled into Budapest. We, the youths of Budapest, started the Revolution against a world power before which the whole world trembled and still trembles.
That was just the first step, the beginning. The enemy was comprised of the Soviet occupying troops and the armed forces which were in the hands of the AVH (Secret police), who had an abundance of weapons. The armories of the state were full of weapons; we just had to obtain them. With the resourcefulness characteristic of Hungarian youths, we used, for our own defense, the weapons with which the Russians intended to attack us. Young boys obtained weapons from the enemy or from the storehouses and, during the enemy attack, they said, “If you don’t have a weapon, wait; the enemy will bring some.” And they did! From the T-34 tanks to the 9 mm. pistols, all kinds of weapons were brought to us. They even brought ammunition, in such quantities that we not only won the Revolution but, in Corvin Circle alone, we had seven truckloads of ammunition left over, which were later taken away.(1) The Russian occupying forces supplied us with adequate quantities of weapons and ammunition.
David overcame Goliath but it was Goliath who brought David the stone which caused the mortal injury. During those five days, the Hungarian youths achieved unimaginable results. They overturned the existing social system. The Revolution which began on October 23 against the Communist dictatorship, by October 28 was successful.
The existing social system was overthrown and the Soviet Government sent two of their most trusted men to Budapest to save whatever was salvageable, to try to keep Hungary, if not as a brother-nation, at least as a friend to the Soviet Union. These two envoys were Mikoyan and Szuszlov. Mikoyan, the Soviet Foreign Minister, a cunning Armenian, was the most intelligent man in the Soviet Union at that time. On October 30, at the Parliament Building, when Mikoyan met Sándor Kopácsi, Colonel of the Budapest Police, who the following day became the assistant to Béla Király, the Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard, he said, with tears in his eyes, “We now have to leave your country. I ask you to help Comrade Imre Nagy[4] as much as possible.” (2)
Moreover, the announcement of the Soviet Government emphasized the success of the five-day Revolution: “The events indicate that the Hungarian workers, who have achieved progress worth mentioning within the People’s Democracy, have rightfully addressed the question of the elimination of serious errors in the economic communication between Hungary and the Soviet Union, the improvement of the standard of living and the fight against increasing bureaucracy in the government . . . The Soviet Government, along with the entire Soviet nation, deeply regrets that the events in Hungary have resulted in bloodshed.”
The Soviet Government kept in mind that the retention of the Soviet troops in Hungary would only intensify the situation. The commanders were issued orders to withdraw the Soviet troops from Budapest as soon as the Hungarian Government approved their withdrawal. At the same time, the Soviet Government was ready to negotiate with the Government of the People’s Republic of Hungary and with the other Warsaw Pact nations about the retention of the Soviet troops in Hungary. (3)
So the dictatorship, which had been forcefully imposed onto the Hungarian nation by the Soviets, began to decline. As rats flee a sinking ship, the Hungarian rats fled from the Soviet ship, toward the end of October.
“The Soviet tanks took Ernő Gerő, András Hegedűs, László Piros, István Bata and others, along with their families, to the Soviet military base in the Tököl district of Budapest. On that same afternoon, they were flown to Moscow as temporary emigrants.” (4)
“On November 2, two well-known, active Communists, Andor Berei, the President of the Central Planning Board and his wife, Erzsébet Andics, a historian, asked to be protected by the National Guard. They both felt threatened by their neighbors in their home in Budapest. Therefore, they asked the National Guard to escort them to the Chief of Police. There, the couple showed their passports to prove that they were not Hungarian but Soviet citizens. Because of this, they were treated as foreigners. The police accepted their plea and the couple was escorted to the Soviet Embassy on Bajza Street in order to prepare for ‘their journey home’, in the security of the Embassy.” (5)
As a member of the Revolutionary Arms Committee, my older brother, Ödön, was present when this scene took place. He cursed them, wishing that the ground that was soaked with the blood of Hungarians would burn their feet with every step they took.
At the request of the Prime Minister, Imre Nagy, the Soviet troops left Budapest on October 29 and negotiations began concerning the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Hungary. The new Hungarian government disbanded the AVH and instituted the National Guard to maintain order. After the victorious Revolution, the work of re-establishing law and order proceeded as if by a miracle. Within a few days, order was completely restored in the capital city. The revolutionaries were organized into companies and regiments and, from among themselves, they chose their own leaders.
We created a new, more beautiful and happier Hungary. We did not want to bring back from the past just any aspect of the social system but rather, we wanted to select everything that would serve the interest of the nation. We wanted to establish Socialism in its full meaning, in its original form. We wanted to create a socialist Hungary in which all means of production, except for the mines and the banks, would be handed over from governmental ownership into private hands. The worker would be a “shareholder” in the factory or industry in which he worked. The profits would be divided among the workers, according to their skill and production levels. We would have respect for personal property and private enterprise which would be limited. The labor-councils, whose members would be selected by the workers themselves, would take over the role of the trade-unions. This selection process would not serve the interests of the Communist Party, as trade unions do in Communist countries, but it would benefit the workers. The workers, except those in the mines and the banks, would support the state. Every factory and business would pay a certain percentage of tax, before dividing the profits among the workers. In a Communist or State Capitalist system, the reverse is true. The people get a small percentage, while the government receives the majority. Communism starves the people. If anyone dares to speak out, he is detained, deported or imprisoned on a charge of incitement or else simply hanged to silence him forever.
The existence of several political parties would ensure that only someone who enjoyed the trust of the majority of the people would be elected to a governmental position. Those elected would serve the interests of the people and would know that they were elected to their positions by the nation. They would make use of their power and would not take advantage of the people, as did the existing regime. We wanted to prevent representatives of a foreign power from governing only in their own interests and appointing their own advisors. In Communist Hungary, these advisors knew that they could exercise their power only as long as the foreign rulers allowed them to do so. For this reason, they served their rulers to the fullest extent. They instituted a system, governed by terror, in which the people had only duties. The state had all the rights and it constantly abused them. Although there was no choice, there was voting. The voters could vote for only one person. This, too, was required of them. As a result, the elections were won by 99.6% of the people’s votes. It is a fact that 95% of the populace did not want to vote because they opposed the foreign regime but the government did not even care. The regime emphasized the “People’s Democracy” but, at the same time, they people had to be silent. Those who spoke up were imprisoned or hanged as fascists, chauvinists, war instigators, spies, enemies of the nation and countless other similar charges. Dissidents who dared to speak out in support of their country were eliminated. Those who were lucky were only imprisoned. The charges were recorded on their records and they were denied their political freedom. This was the sad truth. The Communist propaganda does not mention how many people were imprisoned or hanged after 1945, on the basis of such charges. It broadcasts to the whole world the percentage of previously convicted elements who took part in Corvin Circle or other revolutionary centers. These so-called criminals worked for the Hungarian cause. It was to their merit and not their shame that they defended their people and their country.
Freedom of speech was reserved for those who supported that inhuman system and the interest of foreign powers, and who were waiting for the “revival from the East”. At the very beginning, the Party did not take into account the background of these people, as long as they were supporters of the regime. Later, after the regime had educated a new generation of leaders, these early supporters were also dismissed from their positions. These dismissals occurred because of their past crimes or because they did not pull the carriage of Communism strongly enough. They ended up in prisons or unmarked graves and suffered the same fate as was accorded the most courageous and patriotic Hungarians. In the interest of their own careers, they sold their own people and they deserve their fate. The newly-educated party leaders took over their roles and fulfilled their duties. Among these political leaders were some who, in spite of the brainwashing and the lies, still sensed the bitterness of the people. If they said anything about it, there were still plenty of prisons and ropes. They too would be imprisoned or hanged. Those who wanted to keep their positions had to proceed like a locomotive on the tracks of Communism from which they were not allowed to be side-tracked.
These circumstances prepared the Revolution of 1956. This cannot be disputed either by János Kádár or by his agents, at home or abroad. If we read the demands of the students, we see the answer to these problems. The students summed up the demands of the Hungarian nation in sixteen points which they intended to read on the radio, to make them known to the whole nation. The Government, however, had to stop them because the 16 points meant sure death to the Communist regime. When the political police at the radio station (which the regime called: “the arm of power”) fired their guns, the first shots of the Revolution rang out. They received an answer from the whole Hungarian nation, from the 95% who did not want to vote but who were forced to and for whom, on the last day of October, 1956, the time came to “vote freely”. They voted so loudly that the whole world heard.
The world leaders were not pleased with what was happening in Hungary. If the Hungarian Revolution were successful and a true socialism were established, that would not serve the interests of the world leaders. Perhaps they were rightfully afraid that the spirit of the “Hungarian October” would be an example to the rest of the world. They sentenced it to death, for it could have changed the political structure of the world. Their beautiful big words, the amazement and acknowledgment they gave to the Hungarian youth were only a cover under which they could perform their executioner’s work. On November 4, this execution was accomplished. Such things happened of which nobody talks or, if they do, the facts are distorted, the truth falsified by agents and agencies which belong to certain political groups or economic interests. This brainwashing is particularly successful in countries which love freedom.
The Iron Curtain was not created by the Soviets but was established in Yalta and Teheran, in spite of Churchill’s objections, by Stalin and Roosevelt. When General Patton received the order to stop at this demarcation line with his army and allow the Red Army to approach this line, he resisted. He said that a soldier’s duty is to defeat the enemy while he is in front of him. This is why one of the most outstanding generals of the Second World War was murdered. For the Creation of the Iron Curtain, in the first place, we can thank Roosevelt who always wanted to please Stalin. With this decision, the world leaders divided the world and kept a balance of power. The success of the Hungarian Freedom Fight threatened that balance of power because the Hungarian example would be followed by the other enslaved nations who also wanted to shake off their chains. The world leaders were afraid that this would happen, so they sentenced to death the already victorious Hungarian Revolution.
When the world press, in the last days of October, 1956, wrote about the Hungarian heroes, the freedom of the Hungarian nation and the revolutionary power which formed history, they used big, eloquent words. They praised the Freedom Fighters and the ideals for which the Hungarian youths sacrificed themselves. They could not send help because it would have endangered world peace and caused World War III. They told this lie to the world, first of all to the American people, whose military power was still feared by the Soviets. The extent of their fear is demonstrated by János Radványi, Hungarian Consul to America (1962-1967), in his memoirs: Hungary and the Superpowers ; The Hungarian Revolution and Realpolitics:
“The outbreak of the Revolution not only surprised Khrushchev but, in a sense, caused him to panic. The expected reaction of America was of the utmost concern. In Moscow, the outspoken statements of former presidents and foreign ministers were well known. They promised help and support to the Iron Curtain nations if those nations took the first step in the interest of their own freedom!
“This ‘first step’ was taken on the streets of Budapest! Would the United States take the next step, that is military intervention?” (6)
It would be ludicrous to believe that only the heroism and self-sacrifice of the boys and girls of Budapest forced the Soviet Communist Party Central Leadership (Politburo), in the Kremlin, to give concessions which Mikoyan and Szuszlov expressed in person, and which were promised by the Soviet Government in the afore-mentioned statement, ensuring the Hungarian nation’s freedom and independence. The Soviet Government announcement was made because the Soviet Government was afraid of American military intervention. Since the end of World War II., the Russians had been preparing for World War III. but they were not yet ready. They would rather have given up Hungary than make a hasty decision and, because of Hungary, become involved in World War III. That would have been the end of Soviet Communism.
The events which occurred after November 4 indicate how small a problem the Hungarian Revolutionaries were to the Soviet Government. Actually, in a few days, the Soviets ended the Hungarian Revolution and did not consider the cost. The revolutionaries defeated the AVH in vain, and in vain they defeated the Soviet units stationed in Hungary. Naturally, they were not able to defeat the Red Army because that involved power rather than bravery.
The American Foreign Minister provided the opportunity for the Soviet steam-roller to roll, by sending a telegram to his ambassador in Moscow, about which both East and West wish to be silent. Charles Bohlen was just as late with the announcement of this telegram as were the Japanese with the declaration of war against America in 1941. When the American Ambassador in Russia managed to inform the Soviet leadership of the text of the telegram, the Soviet Government’s statement to Hungary had already been announced. With this telegram, the Americans assured the Soviet Government: “The Government of the United States does not regard Hungary or any of the members of the Soviet Bloc as a potential military alliance.” (7)
This telegram united the opinions of the Russian leaders in the Politburo which, according to Khrushchev’s repeated admissions, had been divided and it was because of this division of opinion that the Russian statement to Hungary was announced. From this point on, the Soviets did not need to fear the American military power because this telegram and the United States Ambassador assured them that whatever they did with Hungary was of no interest to the United States. This was decided by the highest authorities in the United States.
In the Soviet Communist Party, there were still some who did not believe the text of the telegram. They still had to be convinced. They were expecting some trap. They did not want to believe that the United States would throw Hungary as prey to the wolves, and if so, why? They tried to find an answer but could find no explanation.
They made preparations. Two hundred thousand soldiers and three thousand tanks were enough to control the situation in Hungary. They waited. For what?
The American Foreign Ministry must have known that, on November 2, Malenkov and Khrushchev would be in Yugoslavia with Tito. The Yugoslavs were also anxiously and impatiently awaiting the Soviet attack. The Americans sent a second telegram to Tito to gain time and to reassure the Soviet leadership that the first telegram which the American Ambassador had forwarded was not a mistake and not a trap. They were not worried about Hungary but they were worried about the unity of the Soviet Bloc which had to stay intact. The telegram stated, “The Government of the United States does not look with favor upon those governments which are on unfriendly terms with the Soviet Union. . .” (8)
Khrushchev told Tito that, in one or two days, they would settle the matter. At dawn on November 4, the Red elephant did not step on a flea but on a viper. The Soviet military leadership did not count on the resistance which confronted them. The youths of Budapest remained alone again and fought the Freedom Fight to the end, the majority of them willing to die rather than to live in slavery.
The American government and the world press never publicized the texts of the above telegrams, the events which precipitated these telegrams or the reasons for sending them. They lied to the American people and to the freedom-loving peoples of the world. They also successfully accomplished the brainwashing of those peoples.
It would seem that there was no end to the impudence and effrontery, even in America. After all this, on November 14, while the Corvinists were still fighting against the Russian soldiers on the streets of Budapest, President Eisenhower, at a press conference at the White House, made the following statement: “From the depths of our hearts, we sympathize with the Hungarians and we have done everything possible to relieve the suffering. But the Government of the United States does not advise and never did advise that a defenseless population begin an open revolution against a power which is impossible for them to defeat.” (9)
The twenty-five years[5] since the bloody suppression of the Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight prove that the world press lied in publishing that statement. If this statement is true, it applies only to the anti-Communist revolutions. If a Communist revolution breaks out anywhere in the world, it receives the support of the American Foreign Ministry. For example, scarcely two years after the Hungarian Revolution, the same United States Government, the same Foreign Ministry employees, with the act of withdrawing their support of Battista, helped Fidel Castro into power, although since 1947, they had known he was a Communist. He also began his presidency with Soviet methods which later, with the acknowledgment of the American Foreign Ministry, were used in Iran, Afghanistan and other countries throughout the world. All the political rivals were imprisoned and executed.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a good lesson to the world leaders but it would seem that they did not learn anything from it. With their betrayal of the Hungarian people and their imposition of the death sentence, they maintained the balance of power in the two hemispheres. They just delayed but did not prevent the fall of their own regime and that of the Communists.
The peoples of the world are demanding social reforms. Not only the State Capitalists, namely the Communists, but also the Capitalists are starving the people. As a result of the Revolution, the standard of living in Hungary has definitely improved and supposedly, among the satellite nations, the Hungarian people enjoy the best life. However, not only the Communist propagandists, but also many of the Western journalists attribute the improvement in the standard of living not to the Hungarian Revolution but directly to the kind-hearted János Kádár and the Communist regime. They represent the situation as one in which the Hungarian people should be grateful to Kádár and the Communist regime for their standard of living. Many journalists throughout the world have commemorated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution in this spirit. The brainwashing of the American people culminated in a television report, prepared in Hungary, which showed satisfaction and prosperity, stores full of goods and, among the people, János Kádár, who created all this. It did not mention that the same János Kádár sentenced hundreds of thirteen, fourteen and fifteen year-old children to death, boys and girls who had to wait on death row until they were old enough to be hanged on their eighteenth birthday.
The televised speech of American President, Gerald Ford, was received with disgust by the nationality groups of the Iron Curtain countries, living in America. According to Gerald Ford, the satellite nations are free, independent, self-governing countries. This is why he signed the Helsinki agreement. This statement of his did not help the situation and caused him to lose the election. Jimmy Carter, the next President of the United States, rewarded János Kádár by returning the Holy Crown of Hungary to the puppet government which is held in power by armored tanks. The announcement of his intention to return the Holy Crown took place on November 4, the anniversary of the second Soviet intervention. On that day, in 1956, the Soviets started to crush the Freedom Fight. With this act, the President accepted and acknowledged the bloody suppression of the Hungarian Revolution, a revolution which demanded social reform.
The Central American states, where the people are starving, are also demanding social reform but are not receiving effective help from the United States, which could solve the social problems. Instead, the world leaders, through the Government of the United States, force these people to the other side, to the Communist camp, in spite of their unwillingness to become Communist. Since the American Government committed the irremediable mistake of refusing to buy Cuban sugar, the Russians appeared and paid a price well above the world market price for sugar. Result: Cuba became Communist although the people did not want to become Communist. They had no alternative. Fidel Castro, in person, took command and just looked for a reason to bring in Communism. The world leaders provided the reason by refusing to buy the sugar because the State Capitalist regime was more suitable to their interests than a Socialist regime. The world leaders ruined the image of Socialism. The greatest difference between Capitalism and Communism is the possession of the means of production. Under Capitalism, it is in the hands of the private sector whereas under Communism, it is in the hands of the state. In Nicaragua, twenty-five to thirty people own 90% of the capital and they make the people work for subsistence pay. There too, just as in a Communist regime, if anyone dares to speak of social reform, he is sentenced to prison or to death. That has happened in Guatemala and in El Salvador too.
The people of these countries do not want to be Communist either but, here too, the Communists have come into leadership and the world leaders will give them a reason to adopt State Capitalism. If they do not want to live on the right with a Capitalist regime, they may go to the left to the Communists. In the middle is the Socialist society but there is no end there either because this line is not straight but bends to make a circle. Where the two ends meet, the two groups come together, Capitalism and State Capitalism (Communism). This is why Hungarians had to die in the Hungarian Revolution. This is why the Communists are helping to bring into existence the different Communist States which the world leaders call Socialist. This is the only way that they can secure their power over the masses. A true Socialist society cannot be allowed no matter where it may spring up. The proof of this is the betrayal of the Hungarian Revolution which took up arms not against a Capitalist state but against a State Capitalist (Communist) regime. The revolutionaries intended to create a real Socialist regime in which the people place the interests of the nation to the fore rather than the interests of the State or the Capitalists. The world leaders do not really care in whose hands lie the means of production. For them, the most important thing is that there not be public ownership anywhere. In 1956, in Hungary, we wanted to create a true Socialist society out of a Communist society. The world leaders did not find it suitable as they are just as much opposed to this as they are to creating a Socialist regime from a Capitalist regime. This is why they support and help the upcoming Communist regimes and wherever the Communist regimes already exist, they make sure that they continue to exist. The political significance of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution is that it strengthened the fact that there is no third road between the Communist and Capitalist regimes. In the Communist countries, those who demand socialist reforms are branded as fascist, imperialist agents and hanging is their fate. However, the people are only asking for human rights. If, in a Capitalist regime in South America, someone asks for socialist reform, he is called communist and, just as in Central America, he is executed. So what is the difference?
The words of Sándor Petöfi[6] are perhaps now most timely when, in Communist Poland and in Capitalist Central America the people are demanding similar socialist reforms:
“Now the people are asking. Now give it to them!”
What are the world leaders waiting for? World Revolution? Why do they not want to solve the world socialist situation peacefully and without bloodshed? One way or the other, it will be resolved. Progress makes it inevitable.
ABOUT ME
“ . . . Gergely Pongrátz. Six Pongrátz boys were active in Corvin Circle. Their father, Simon Pongrátz, was a Supreme Court judge in Szamosújvár[7] (in Transylvania). The Pongrátz family openly displayed their fascist and chauvinistic viewpoints in the October events.
“The Pongrátz brothers were active participants in the fights during the night of October 23. One of them was the leader in charge of acquiring weapons from the lamp-factory. The brothers worked together and finally succeeded in seizing possession of the leadership of Corvin Circle.
“On November 1, Gergely Pongrátz was elected to be ‘the Corvin Circle Regiment Commander of the National Guard’. A few days later, all of the members of the Pongrátz family fled to the West. One of Gergely’s companions, László Iván-Kovács, gives us the following description of him: ‘At first, I thought he was an unselfish patriot and a good comrade but I discovered that he is a selfish and conceited career man. He wanted to solve everything with force, by giving orders, but this patriotic varnish wore off and it could be seen that he was fighting for his own selfish interests. He hated the existing political system, just as he hated the Russians and Communism. He also worked in closest cooperation with the West. . . .’”
These lines appeared in the famous, or previously famous, Fehér Könyv[8]. I really do not feel that I should have to defend myself but, since the Ministry of Information of the Hungarian People’s Republic has written this about me, then I too have to relate a few things about myself and my family.
My ancestors moved into Transylvania[9] in the fourteenth century. They had fled from Armenia, where the Turks had been slaughtering them for centuries. They were the founders of the city of Szamosújvár which is situated in a valley on the banks of the River Szamos, on land which they bought from the Hungarian king.
The Armenians of Szamosújvár became Hungarians in every respect and their Hungarian character strengthened over the centuries. Despite their small population, they played an important role in Hungarian history. Two of the thirteen executed martyrs of the city of Arad[10] were Armenians, Ernő Kiss and Vilmos Lázár. A third Armenian, János Cecz, was a general in the Freedom Fight of 1848, who did not trust Haynau, and escaped. He established the first military school in Argentina. As for my family, Tivadár Novák, one of my great-grandfathers from Szamosújvár, was shot to death in 1849 by Haynau’s men.
I am proud of my Armenian ancestry, which remains only in our religion. Throughout the centuries, our blood and our religion have remained Armenian. Our hearts, however, have become Hungarian. Now, because we have been compelled to emigrate to America, we have become American citizens, which merely changed our passports. Our hearts and blood remained as they were.
My father fought throughout World War I. as a reserve officer, Second Lieutenant. He received the third-class Military Cross of Distinction, decorated with swords, for checking General Brussilov’s offensive. Later, a knighthood was conferred upon him, in recognition of his actions in the First World War, for which he had been awarded nineteen medals.
After the War, he received his doctorate in Political Science and Law from the University of Kolozsvár.[11] However, as a result of the Rumanian occupation of Transylvania, he was never permitted to use his degree. He was never a judge of the Supreme Court, or any other kind of judge. (This indicates the accuracy of the White Book!) My father was never a member of any party except the Transylvanian-Hungarian party and he raised nine children, of whom I was the sixth, and I adopted his viewpoint. None of us was ever a member of any party, which proves that we never had political ambitions. For us, it was always enough to be Hungarians. Ever since our childhood, our parents have raised us with these patriotic feelings and, in the thirties, the Rumanian children in Transylvania often fought us because of our patriotism to Hungary, which only served to strengthen our love for our country. For us, March 15 was always a special holiday,[12] even when the rosettes pinned to our chests were not allowed to be worn outside on the streets. I remember, when I was a small child, having ten or fifteen Hungarian visitors from the city. The shutters were closed, the curtains were drawn and my older brothers were positioned outside the gate as guards.[13] My mother sat down at the piano and began to sing her own composition:
“From our bosoms the three colors were torn,
but they wandered within and in our hearts were worn.”
In the late twenties, my father wrote some other words to a song. Slightly modified, we sang it frequently at Corvin Circle:
“The bugle sounds across the Great Hungarian Plain.
The bugler plays reveille, does not sound alarm.
Wake up, Transylvanians and Bánát Hungarians.
We’ll no longer be slaves of the Rumanians!
Tho’ we have no weapons, our fists will be our might.
With them we all know how to break and crush and fight.
Hungarians, we’ll sacrifice our lives if must be,
For our Hungarian homeland to be whole and free.”
After the liberation of Transylvania, in 1940,[14] my father became the Mayor of Szamosújvár. Later, he joined the Army as a Reserve Officer, with the rank of First Lieutenant, then became a captain at the railroad bridge at Apahíd. My father, along with my four older brothers and my brother-in-law, fought in World War II. My eldest brother, Simon, was wounded six times and was knighted.
After the War, the family moved first to Mátészalka (in Hungary) and then, when my father came home, we moved again to Soroksár (near Budapest) where, because of his having nine children, my father received thirteen “holds”[15] of land to manage.
Of all the children, my brother Ernő was the only “former convict”. In 1951, he disappeared from one day to the next. We searched for him in vain. The authorities did not even know anything about him. Months later, a dirty, ragged and hungry visitor, who had recently escaped from the detention camp on Mosonyi Street (in Budapest), told us that Ernő had asked him to come and tell the family that he was still alive. After sixteen months of detention, Ernő was freed and only then was the reason for his imprisonment revealed. “He was suspected of attempting to cross the border.” He came home weighing only about one hundred pounds. After that, the whole family was placed under police supervision for months. He was never brought before a jury.
I became an agriculturist and it is only thanks to my guardian angel that I survived twelve years of the Communist system without going to jail. My first job lasted only three weeks. I worked for an eight thousand “hold” government farm, where I took care of the cows. In defense of an older co-worker, a father of many children, I had a big argument with the farm manager (whose original trade was that of a shoemaker), and I tipped over a desk on top of him. I had to leave immediately.
My second job did not last much longer. I worked as an agricultural engineer at a machine-center in Seregély. I found out later that the manager there was once a day-laborer at Soroksár. Because I was hired, the manager, having less work to do, went away for a few days’ vacation. When he returned, he called me into his office and asked:
“Why did you lie in your autobiography?”
“I did not lie in my autobiography or anywhere else. What is the reason for this investigation?”
“Why did you not write in your autobiography that your father was a doctor?”
“Because I was writing my autobiography and not my father’s”
“Collect your things and clear out of here. I don’t want to see you here again.”
Bitterly, I went home to Soroksár. A few days later, I went to the office of the Agricultural Council of Pest County. I told the leader of the livestock breeders my whole story. They hired me and I became the lecturer in the fodder-production department at the Szob County Agricultural Council. I liked my work very much because I was often able to help in many areas. After several months, however, I was drafted into the Army. At first, I was in the Kossuth Academy Guard Company, then in the Dombovár Artillery. Finally, I was placed in the Mezőtúr Infantry, where I completed two years. Twice, I was a private, first class, and I was discharged with this rank. I was once demoted for the following reason:
I was a squadron leader in Dombovár and I saw that one of my soldiers was very distressed. At my questioning, he handed me a letter from his wife. The sorrowful tone of the letter was very touching. The woman could not pay the taxes on their two “holds” of land because her husband was a soldier who hardly earned anything. She supported herself and her daughter by sewing for the neighbors. Those who did not pay their debts had their sewing-machines confiscated. She did not know what they would live on if that happened.
After reading the letter, I attended a political meeting. When the lieutenant came in, I raised my hand and asked what was the difference between Communism and Capitalism. After a whole hour of explanation, he asked me if I understood the difference.
“I can understand the difference, Lieutenant Comrade but I see it differently. I know that under Capitalism, if a worker cannot pay his rent, the pillow is taken from under his head. In the Communist system, all the resources belong to the government. Nevertheless, the Communist government is just as merciless as the Capitalist government, as it takes all of the worker’s belongings from him. Therefore, I don’t see that Communism is any different from State Capitalism.”
The lieutenant jumped up and left without a word. By one o’clock, I was summoned to appear at the regiment commander’s office. A dozen officers and field-officers sat behind the regiment commander’s desk. I was seated in the middle of the room. My heart was beating in my throat.
“How do you see State Capitalism?”, asked the regiment commander.
“Sir, I asked the lieutenant a question to which I did not receive a satisfactory answer. I will repeat this question now but I ask that whoever answers, should answer only after reading this letter.” I gave him the letter from my pocket.
After the regiment commander had read the letter, he gave it to the major, the company’s political officer, to read. The major was to answer. I did not receive an answer immediately. I was sent away.
The following morning, I was called in for a briefing with the regiment commander. They tore off my Private First Class insignia and took away my pistol belt. I was sentenced to two fifteen-day periods of imprisonment. For this offense, fifteen days was the maximum so I was not sentenced to thirty days. That would have been against the rules. I was fed every other day and I was tortured. The two fifteen-day sentences were not against the rules. Even today, in my dreams, I relive the horrors of those thirty days. When I was released from prison, the major, the regiment’s political officer, was waiting for me outside the detention room and was very pleasant to me. Later, I found out that, with this punishment, he had saved me from the court-martial which would have sentenced me to fifteen years of hard labor. My comrade also told me that, in his presence, the major had telephoned to the town’s mayor and had given him twenty-four hours to return the sewing-machine to that soldier’s wife and to apologize to her. If he did not act immediately, two truckloads of soldiers would be dispatched to the area in order to create order in the town.
That afternoon, I met the major in the yard in front of the barracks. I thanked him for his actions and assured him that, no matter how terrible the thirty days had been, they were worth it. We became very good friends and he protected me many times. He arranged for my transfer to Mezőtúr to save me from the court-martial again.
In Mezőtúr, I became the company clerk, platoon sergeant and later, the training instructor of the reserves, again with the rank of Private First Class. It was from here that I was discharged in 1955.
I ended up in Cegléd, where I became the leading animal breeder in the agricultural division of the Town Council. I did not work for the pay but because I liked my work. The Town Council provided me with a 125 cubic centimeter motorcycle to eliminate my transportation difficulties. My monthly pay was 964 forints, the price of two pairs of fairly good shoes, which was just enough to live on.
In the Communist system, almost everything flows according to production norms or enters a race. When I accepted my new job, Cegléd was sixteenth out of seventeen districts surrounding Pest. One year later, it ranked fourth. On my part, this required fifteen to sixteen hours of work a day. The leading animal breeder in the district council, who accepted his job after six months of hard-paced training, was a member of the Communist Party. He encouraged me to join the Communist Party so that my pay would rise to his level of pay. One time, I told my father that I had no other solution if I wanted to survive. My father’s reply was short and sweet:
“Look, son. They could have broken my back but they could never have bent it. You, however, are a big boy now and you will do what you want. I do, however, ask that, from the day that you become a member of the Communist Party, you do not step over the threshold of my house and that you do not use my name. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Father, I understand completely,” I answered.
With this, event the thought of becoming a member of the Communist Party died. In those years, I lay down many times with the self-pitying thought that, while I was asleep, I would not feel hungry.
For the most part, my job entailed the development of stock-breeding in the fourteen farm-cooperatives belonging to the Cegléd Town Council. It included the growth, production and the supervision of the supply of food. Many times, I was out at one of the cooperatives at four o’clock in the morning and, since I was always with them, I had a chance to become acquainted with the sad lifestyle of the Hungarian peasants. I helped wherever I could, and I acquired friends that way. One time, in the “Great Stalin Cooperative”, I learned of a very sad incident. Someone related to me:
“Last week, the AVH (secret police) took away one of the cowboys. When Hungary was “liberated” in 1945, this man was the owner of a small farm. One morning, as he was taking care of the animals in the stable, he heard his wife scream in the house. He ran in with a pitchfork in his hands and found his wife tied to a chair and his fourteen year-old daughter being raped by a Russian soldier. The Russian soldier jumped for his machine-gun but the pitchfork was faster. With the help of one of his neighbors, a good friend, the farmer buried the soldier deep under a pile of manure. Now, however, the two friends had had an argument and, as a result the incident was reported. The farmer was held for only four days. They hanged him the day before yesterday.”
My younger brother, Bálint, worked in the plant-protecting station as a tractor driver. With overtime and field work, he made 2500-3000 forints a month. (Enough for about 6 pairs of shoes) His boss, the station’s top agriculturist, came into the agricultural division when they were working in our area. We became good friends and I asked him if he would take me on as a tractor-driver.
“Come to us as an agriculturist,” he answered.
“I would but they will write in my record that I quit.”
“Don’t worry about your record. I’ll take care of that. The door is open if you are serious. You may come whenever you want to and you can be whatever you want to be.”
“Not yet, Jóska. However, when the time is right, I’ll let you know. I still have work that I want to finish before I leave the Town Council.”
My pay as the head breeder did not increase. On the contrary, it decreased. I was forced to donate one month’s pay to the victims of the earthquake of January of 1956. This was paid by deducting a certain amount from each month’s pay. I had a nice job but I was starving.
At one time, my boss, the head of the agricultural division, told me that I must attend the District Committee Meeting and give a report on the city’s position on live-stock breeding. I should have been ready for this. I tried in vain to get myself out of this assignment. Nothing worked, so I went and made the report.
After I had spoken, the district secretary gave me some orders concerning the future. I said that these instructions should be given to my replacement because I was leaving at the end of the month. The secretary answered:
“Comrade Pongrátz, if someone is hurting, he goes to the doctor for a cure. If something is bothering you, you should speak out now because that is the only way we can help the situation. We are very satisfied with your work and we don’t want to lose our head stock-breeder.”
I did not want to speak because I feared that I would say something that would get me into trouble but many people encouraged me to speak out. So I told them:
“My monthly pay was 964 forints. This was not only too little to support a family but I even went hungry. They collected one month’s pay for the victims of the earthquake. My father had a ninety percent loss due to the earthquake and when he requested help, they wanted to give him a loan at a four percent interest rate. What happened to the money that the workers were forced to donate? Are they giving the victims loans from this money with a four percent interest? My father died in March. I put in my request for help for the funeral and it was not granted because I had not been a member of the workers’ union for two years. It did not matter to anyone that I had been a soldier and that I had fulfilled my duty toward my country. I did not get the aid. This and many other incidents are forcing me to change jobs. I’ve had enough of starving.”
“Comrade Pongrátz,” answered the secretary. “The district DISz committee (Dolgozó Ifjusági Szövetség – Working Youths Union) needs a responsible sports leader. This job would require two to three hours on Saturdays and it pays 3600 forints. We can solve the problem with this. The position is yours.”
“Thank you for finding the remedy to my problem but I don’t think this will be the right solution. I studied my trade for six years and I work 15-16 hours daily for 964 forints a month. This proves that you are not paying me for my work but just to satisfy my pride. My conscience cannot accept that I would be paid three and one half times as much as I am paid now for a job that requires no training and only ten to twelve hours a month. If I cannot live as an agriculturist, I must change my trade. Maybe I should become a sports director because I can see that it pays better.”
They asked me to think about it for the offer would still be open if I stayed. However, on June 1, I went to the plant-protecting station in the County of Pest. That day, I was sent to Biatorbágy where I completed a six-week course in tractor driving. My trade as an agriculturist developed and I was sent to various cooperatives and State Farms for different periods of time. I had been working for two weeks at the Henyelpuszta State Farm when the Revolution broke out.
In 1956, there were not many people in Soroksár who had their own telephone because, in order to have one, they had to have good connections with the Communist Party. Ours, however, could in no way be considered to be a good connection with the Communist Party. We asked for a telephone but the Soroksár Telephone Company told us that we would have to wait for at least two years because there was a long waiting list ahead of us. It was destined otherwise.
One Sunday morning, the president of the telephone company came to us in urgent need of a truckload of sand at his home. The mason was already there, waiting for the sand. On the previous day, Saturday, he had tried unsuccessfully to find someone who would deliver the sand. He was sent to us because we might be able to help him.
My brother Kristof (usually called Bandi) told him that the sand would be no problem and could be delivered within an hour. The problem was the telephone for which we must wait two years. The president of the telephone company promised that the next available line would be ours and within a few days this actually occurred. The telephone was installed in the spring of 1956.
Ödön and Bandi stayed at home to manage the thirteen “hold” farm that my father, as the head of a large family, had received after the land reform of 1976. Since the formation of the T. Sz. Cs. (Farmer’s Cooperative), our thirteen “holds” had been altered. Two “holds” had been taken from us here and given to us there. They did this until thirteen “holds” of sand were left to us instead of thirteen “holds” of earth. Many times the seeds were blown away with the sand after they had been planted. However, we had to produce enough to deliver our compulsory quota of wheat to the state. In 1955, our entire wheat harvest was not enough to satisfy the state’s demands. My father, who had already had heart trouble for three years, could not afford to pay 650 forints for wheat in the public market so that he could sell it back to the government for 54 forints. In the early 1950’s Ödön and Bandi built a truck, in which they delivered goods for the local agricultural cooperative and the Government’s Model Farm at Soroksár. With the help of this truck, they were able to collect enough money to buy the wheat at the public market. They turned in their wheat quota three months late.
In January and February of 1956, my father received two notices from the Pest-Erzsébet Court of Justice. In both cases, Ödön went to court with a doctor’s excuse that my father was sick in bed. Ödön said that, since he was the eldest child in the family, he was responsible for everything that happened in the family. He would be at the court’s disposal. Both times, he was sent home.
On March 27, however, five people knocked on his door, representing the Erzsébet Court of Justice. They sat around my father’s bed and held their discussion. After the accusations had been made, my father, who held a doctorate in Law and Government, began to speak. However, after his second sentence, the lawyer interrupted him, “Don’t carry on for a long time, old man, because we don’t have time. Listen to the decision.”
The judge took out a paper and read the disposition:
“Seven thousand forints fine and two years in jail for endangering the public interest.”
My father began to express his pent-up anger by yelling, “Scoundrels, murderers, get out of my house! You call this justice? You don’t even listen to the defendant before you pronounce judgment? You don’t take into account any mitigating circumstances because you don’t have time to listen to them?”
Ödön and Bandi told the court personnel who were preparing to leave that, if anything happened to my father, they too would be taken out of the house in coffins. They left the house so quickly that, in his hurry, one judge forgot his overcoat. A few minutes later, however, he returned and called from the gate to Ödön, asking him to bring it out to him. When Ödön gave him his overcoat, the judge apologized to him and said that it was not his fault. He had already received the judgment from the court. His job was merely to read it. The prison sentence was suspended.
The following day, March 28, 1956, at 8:20 a.m., my father’s heart gave up its duty forever. On April 2, his six sons carried his coffin to the Farkas Rét cemetery, where he was buried.
Marika and András were still in school; Marika at the Soroksár Elementary School and András at the Erzsébet High School. Bálint had already graduated and was working at the Plant Protection Station in the County of Pest as a tractor driver. I was employed at the Agricultural Division of the Cegléd City Council, as the head of the stock-breeders group. Ernő worked in a factory in Erzsébet as an unskilled worker and, at the same time, he was a student in his last year in law school. My older sister, Panni, was married during the War and was living in Arad, Transylvania. Simon, my eldest brother, was seriously wounded in the fighting during the War and, at the end of the War, he ended up in Germany in a war hospital. He never came home from there. All we knew about him was that he lived in Brazil with his wife and little son.
Marika was born on July 4, 1944, when my brother Simon was in the hospital with war wounds, so they had never even seen each other. The nine children were reunited for the first time around my mother’s coffin in 1975, in Boston. This reunion was accomplished with the help of the Foreign Ministry because the Rumanians did not want to give Panni a visa. In 1963, during his honeymoon voyage, András had persuaded Simon to move from Brazil to America, with his wife and three children.
It was the irony of fate that the nine siblings were together in 1975 because, in 1978, my brother Ernő died. In 1956, Ernő was the only one of the seven children at home who was married. He lived in Pest-Erzsébet with his wife, mother-in-law and two sons. The six others lived at home with my mother where, in 1956, Ödön and Bandi were building a glazed tile stove in the evenings, after they had finished their day’s work.
In the afternoon of October 23, Ödön and Bandi wanted to finish building the glazed tile stove. Only the finishing touches were needed. It was about two o’clock, when the telephone rang for the first time. Ernő was calling from Budapest, asking our mother to send somebody over to Magda, his wife, in Erzsébet, a suburb of Budapest, to tell her that Ernő was taking part in the demonstration and, if he were late coming home, she was not to worry. He also said that they should turn on the radio because big things were happening in Budapest.
Ödön and Bandi listened to the radio reports. At first the demonstration was forbidden but later on it was allowed. Actually, the brothers did not place great importance on the radio announcement because it was very short.
Later, around six o’clock, the phone rang again. It was András whom they had sent to Erzsébet to give the message to Magda from Ernő. In a very excited voice, almost shouting, he said, “Mother, I am here, at Hősőktér (Heroes Square). I have just come from the statue of the mail robber.[16] I tied a long cable around his neck. We want to pull him down but he is standing so firmly that three trucks pulling on him cannot make him move. Now the workers have gone to get an oxyacetylene torch. About ten thousand people are here and everyone is shouting, “Heave-ho!” as he pulls on the cable. My Russian teacher is here too. He too is pulling. He said that this year I will get an excellent grade in Russian language if that scoundrel falls on his face.”
“András, what are you talking about?” asked my mother. “I don’t understand a word of what you are babbling.”
“I’m talking about Stalin’s statue, which stands in the Városliget.”
“O, my God! What are you doing, András? You’ll go to prison!”
“Don’t be afraid, mother. In the whole country there are not enough prisons to lock up this number of people. Forty thousand people marched to the statue of Bem[17] this afternoon, all shouting: ‘Russians, go home!’ They cut the Russian emblem out of the Hungarian flag and handed out leaflets to everyone, listing the demands of the university students. Where could they lock them all up unless they made a prison out of the whole country? Right now, everyone is singing and is happy.”
“Wait, András! Here is Ödön. Speak to him too.”
Ödön picked up the telephone and András told him the news from Budapest. For the first time Ödön could not give him any advice because the things András was telling him sounded impossible. He found himself facing a situation which took time to understand. András promised to call later and inform them of the newest developments.
Ödön and Bandi talked excitedly about the news and what might come of it. Was it possible that the lava had started to flow? The AVH (secret police) would surely stop it and, if they could not, would it result in revolution? Impossible! The Communists had made revolutions but there had never been a revolution against the Communists. The toppling of Stalin’s statue, the cutting out of the Russian emblem from the Hungarian flag, the shouting of the slogan, “Russians, go home!”, the sixteen demands of the university students, which they were distributing by hand on the streets, all signified an enormous change, something previously unimaginable, which would affect the future of the Hungarian nation. What could the university students want? What could be in the sixteen points that had brought the whole city to a fever? At eight o’clock in the evening, Ernő Gerő[18], the First Secretary of the MDP (Hungarian Workers’ Party) would speak on the radio. Perhaps he would be able to answer these questions.
The telephone rang again. It was about seven o’clock and, in that tense atmosphere, Ödön sprang to the telephone. Ernő was calling and, almost shouting, in an excited voice, he said, “I am at the Parliament Building and, in this area, we are making history. There are 200,000 people on this spot, calling for Imre Nagy.[19] Carried along with the huge crowd, I reached the entrance to the Parliament Building, along with Péter Veres and Tibor Déry. We kicked and pounded on the door because they had turned off the lights and the crowd remained in darkness in the square. When they opened the door, a guard said that the Comrade Ministers would see two men from among the demonstrators. We urged Péter Veres and Tibor Déry to enter but they did not want to. They said that we should go in and, if we needed them later on, we should call them. An economist joined me and they led us up to the first floor, where Hidás, Mekis and Erdei received us. The fear which came over me as we climbed the stairs all at once disappeared when Erdei asked what we wanted.
– – First: turn on the lamps in the square and light up the Parliament Building.
“The three ministers looked at each other. Erdei rang a bell and gave an order to a non-commissioned officer. The lights came on.
– – Second: Turn off the light on the Russian Star on the top of the Parliament Building and raise the Hungarian national flag without the Russian emblem.
“They turned off the light in the Red Star and a cheer went up from the crowd outside. The national flag without the Russian emblem was found after a long search in the attic. It was an old flag but they hung it out.
– – Third: Call Imre Nagy because the crowd wants to hear him.
“None of them knew Imre Nagy’s phone number and that caused a serious problem. It was obvious that the crowd wanted to hear him, for they were shouting his name. Finally, I managed to convince the Ministers to send a car to Imre Nagy’s home to bring him back to the Parliament. They placed a car at my disposal to go to the radio building and bring back a tape-recorder because an historical event was taking place and we wanted to record it on tape.
“Send someone to Magdi and tell her not to worry, but it is possible that I won’t go home tonight ,” my brother Ernő ended the conversation.
Ödön and Bandi talked about these events as they waited for new information to be given on the radio. The radio kept repeating the eight o’clock speech of Ernő Gerő and did not say anything about what was happening in Budapest. My mother was wringing her hands and only said, “You will see, children, this is the end of the world.”
Bandi turned on the radio and shouted, “Listen!”
“The university students are demanding that the Kossuth emblem be returned and that March 15 and October 6 be recognized as national holidays. At one university, twelve demands were submitted and at another, twenty demands but all with a clear head and a warm heart.
“All the students of the University of Budapest protested together. Today, the Minister of the Interior forbade all kinds of demonstrations but the Political Committee of the MDP changed this decision. Doctors, engineering students, philosophy students, law students, economy students and others all lined up and marched, led by their professors and the MDP leaders from each district.
“At first, there were only thousands but young workers joined them, bystanders, soldiers, old people, high school students, streetcar conductors. The huge flow of people grew to tens of thousands. The streets resounded with slogans. Father Bem and the people of Kossuth went hand in hand, shouting:
– – We want new leadership. We trust Imre Nagy. Long live the People’s Army. – “So rang out the shouts. The tricolor flag fluttered and the windows of the houses were opened. A new, free breeze swept through the streets of Budapest. What did Petőfi write about the significance of March 15, 1848?
– – ‘The beginning is excellent and glorious for it is harder for a child to take the first step than for a grown-up to walk miles.’” (10)
“Yes, but today is not March 15, 1848, but October 23, 1956,” said Ödön. Bandi, however, felt that the words which Petöfi had written were applicable today and he said that he did not believe that the world was coming to an end. He felt rather that this was the beginning of a new world, which was being born that very hour.
Ernő Gerő spoke but did not say anything new. He just repeated the usual slogans but his speech, after the telephone conversation between András and Ödön had the effect of oil on a fire.
Gerő had not yet ended his speech when the telephone rang. It was Ernő, calling again from the Parliament Building. He spoke to Ödön so excitedly that it was difficult to understand him.
“I have just come back from the radio station where a crowd of about ten thous