The Hungarian Observer (Budapest, 1996)

THE HUNGARIAN OBSERVER 1956 The 12 days of the 1956 Revolution, which began on 23rd October with mass demon­strations supporting the workers’ uprising in Poland, brought enthusiasm and hope - and then merciless reprisals for a large sec­tion of Hungarian society. The death sen­tence for at least 232, 20,000 prison sen­tences including life imprisonment for many, and despite amnesties, it was not until 1974 that the last 1956 convicts were released. The balance also included 200,000 refugees who fled their country to find a new home in the West, several thou­sand interned, and several tens of thou­sands who lost their jobs or positions or were expelled from university. For the “fifty­­sixers”, and in many cases also for their children, it was quite clear still in the 1980s that they were citizens inferior to others and “socialist equality” did not apply to them even as much as to others. But those 12 days was enough time to change the course of events in this part of the world and elsewhere. Now, the organizers and fighters of 1956 are called heroes, brave men and women who dared to resist Soviet tanks, and we are free at last to pay tribute to their memo­ry and admire their courage. Gloria victis! the saying goes. Glory to the defeated! we say today. WÊKBÊÊÊÊKÊÊÊIÊKÊÈÊÊIKÊÊÊÊËÊÊÊÊtÊÊinÊÊÊm The Hungarian O bserver d 1996 Vol. 9 Nos. 4-5 ] Reforms and revolutions ...2 40th anniversary...............3 New approach - new facts4 A relic from Krakow.........5 East European information island in Switzerland...................6 The fifty-sixers down under9 Books also preserved......... .10 The revolution in Hungarian films .............. The 1956 Hungarian revolution ....................... 17 Who refused to obey....... .26 Captain Fomin remembers A repentant Russian general..............................41 Brave Russians .................45 And today?........................46 Tribute to the heroes----.49 1 A stain on the I Soviet system....................49 An American woman.........50 The world remembers.......50 Stamps in remembrance ..52 1 What is Imre Nagy’s I daughter doing.............. .54 I Capital investment up —,.55 1 Cover: The Hungarian Post Office has issued a 1 1 set of stamps in memory of the Revolution 1 Photos in this issue: MTI, ‘56 Institute, War 1 1 History Museum, György Pálfív 1_ .12 .35 l East European information island in Switzerland Opened in 1959 in Bern to monitor the coun­tries behind the Iron Curtain, the socialist states in the Balkans, and Asian and African socialist countries, the East European Library and Documentation Centre has to change its work now that the communist regimes ceased to exist in the eastern part of Europe. (page 6) The Revolution of 1956 in Hungarian films Any historian who decided to use for source material Hungarian films made between 1956 and 1989 would find himself in trouble as the message and impact of these films were “soft­ened" by censorship and even the most innocent fairy-tale like works had to spend at least a decade on the shelf. Still, the cinematographic works of the period tell us a great deal about how the Revolution and its aftermath affected the lives and moods of two generations in Hungary. (page 12) Stamps in remembrance (page 52) 1956 19^. 'm MAGYARORSZÁG "16r

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