Ságvári Ágnes (szerk.): Budapest. The History of a Capital (Budapest, 1975)
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Library, re-opened the latter with an attractive exhibition, and the reorganized municipal orchestra is now successfully at work. I could well continue my report with an accountof other fields of work in the city, hospitals for the most part rebuilt, the highly successful work of the chief medical officer and his staff, I could tell you that today we have more maternity welfare clinics, more T. B. centres, more V. D. dispensaries, more district general medical centres than in 1943.1 could talk about medical care and the supply of medicines, faced with great difficulties but nevertheless improving, about the fact that in six months we have increased the number of hospital beds threefold, and that today 80 per cent of the pre-war number of beds in the city hospitals are now available. I could tell you of the reorganization of the financial policy of the municipality, of the organization of taxation, of the successful work of the Municipal Savings Bank, and, last but not least, of the honest and irreproachable organization of democratic elections. Imbued with this determination to survive displayed by the people of Budapest and the nation as a whole, we also played our part in the great work of rebuilding the bridges. And I am sure that the members of the General Assembly were happy last Sunday to see the Petőfi pontoon-bridge opened to traffic; the first permanent bridge of reinforced-concrete near the Parliament building will in all probability be completed by the end of this year, and the Francis Joseph Bridge will be fully reconstructed by July next year. The splendid achievements in the reconstruction of the bridges must be ascribed first of all to the Ministry of Transport headed by my comrade Ernő Gerő. We have to thank comrade Gerő and his excellent team of engineers that Buda and Pest remained united despite the destruction of our bridges by the fascists. The soldiers of the liberating Red Army also took part in this emergency building of bridges. I believe I am expressing the desire of the General Assembly in addressing words of thanks and gratitude, on behalf of the people of Budapest, to the great leaders of the Soviet people, to the friends of the Hungarian people, to Generalissimo Stalin and his faithful aid, Marshal Voroshilov, for all the help they gave in the recovery of the capital. We give them our thanks and gratitude for our liberation, for the bridges, for the food trains, for the hundreds of transport vehicles, for the medicines, for their friendship. I am confident that the gratitude of the people of Budapest is the token of everlasting Hungarian-Soviet friendship. Let us mention the whole Hungarian people, with words of gratitude as well. They have done much, they have made and are still making sacrifices beyond their means for Budapest, because they love Budapest, the capital of their country. In the days of hunger the people of the Hungarian villages and the country towns gave food to the capital without asking any returns and took our children and women into their homes. And even now, in our great distress, they often share with us all they have. The people of the capital will always feel gratitude towards the Hungarian villagers. And let us thank the municipal officials and employees, the workers, engineers, leaders of the different public services who, with the deputy mayors Péter Bechtler and József Kővágó, and leading councillors at their head, worked day and night in the reconstruction of Budapest. I admit that at the beginning of our common labours with the leading officials of the municipality there was a certain mutual dislike between them and us, but I believe that just as I have come to respect their work, they, too, have learned that wherever a communist is placed in a responsible post he will always bear the interests of the community and the Hungarian people in mind. It was indeed the interest of the community and the Hungarian 121
