Remembering the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

Fifty four years ago on October 23rd Hungarians rebelled.
The 1956 Hungarian revolution was ignited by university students. The student assembly held at Budapest Technical University on October 22, 1956 decided to formulate demands on the Communist Party, influenced by the events in Poland. A demonstration of solidarity with the changes in Warsaw was announced for the next day. In a break from the usual formalities, what they addressed to the party was not a petition, but a set of demands, reinforced by a street demonstration. Neither the press nor the radio would publish their demands in full and the students ruled out any compromise. So they made stencilled copies instead, which they distributed on the streets, pasted on walls, and sent with delegations to the Budapest factories.
Then, on October 23rd, students of the Budapest Technical University started a peaceful march to show their support for the Poles, to demonstrate that Hungary wanted to be politically and economically independent, and to end the Soviet occupation. They were joined by workers and others. Some went to the Bem stature; others went to the Petöfi stature while a group went to tear down the Stalin stature because it represented Soviet dominance over Hungary. Later that evening the students tried to broadcast their demands at the Hungarian Radio Station. The Radio Building was guarded by a detachment of the AVH (Hungarian equivalent of Gestapo). When the crowd began to threaten the building after a student delegation was detained within, the AVH opened fire on the demonstrators which included women and children. This action killed several and wounding many more. This was the moment when the unrest and frustration of thousands of people turned from peaceful protest to revolution.
The news spread quickly and disorder and violence erupted throughout the capital. The revolt spread across the country, several police stations and army units provided arms for the freedom fighters and the government fell. Thousands organized into militias, battling the State Security Police (AVH) and Soviet troops. Pro-Soviet communists and AVH members were often hanged, shot or imprisoned, as former political prisoners were released and armed. Local councils took over municipal control from the Communist Party and demanded political changes. A moderate former communist, Imre Nagy formed a new government, abolished the AVH and said that negotiations had begun for the complete withdrawal of the Soviet troops. He also abolished the one-party system, declared its intention to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and pledged to re-establish free elections. By the end of October, fighting had almost stopped and a sense of normality began to return.
But, on November 4, 1956, the red army launched a major attack on Hungary aimed at crushing the spontaneous national uprising that had begun 12 days earlier. At 5:20 a.m., Hungarian Prime Minister Nagy announced the invasion to the nation in a grim, 35-second broadcast, declaring: "Our troops are fighting. The Government is in its place." However, within hours Nagy himself would seek asylum at the Yugoslav Embassy in Budapest while his former colleague and imminent replacement, János Kádár, who had been flown secretly from Moscow to the city of Szolnok, 60 miles southeast of the capital and took over power with Moscow's backing. So, the 1956 Student Revolution was defeated by the Soviets and Hungarians who remained loyal to Moscow. The struggle for freedom cost the lives of thousands and as aftermath, 26,000 freedom fighters were put on trial of which 13,000 were imprisoned and over 300 executed. Over 200,000 left Hungary as refugees. As a former student leader in the revolution, I chose the option to escape. I crossed the border to Austria on November 19th around midnight when it was already heavily guarded. With mixed emotions I looked back to my homeland, glad that I was alive but sad that I had to say goodbye.