1988. május (109-137. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
1 | « hí cím wi (§) ©[Mii Editor: György Krassó * 24/D Little Russell Street * London, WC1A 2HN * Tel. 01-430 2126 (from abroad 441-430 2126) 129/1988 (E) 20th May, 1988 Budapest Commemorations Fór the Recsk Labour Camp Fór many decades no mention of the Rákosi régimé’s cruel political intemee camps, of the Recsk labour camp was permitted. Evén in the 1980s when an ex-prisoner there tried to explain the long gap in his employment record on applying fór his pension received a reply from the competent authorities saying that they knew of no such camp. Hovever in the West an increasing number of books and commemorations vere published and in 1985 the independent art group INCONNU organised an exhibition commemorating Recsk in Budapest and an independent press published a samizdat volume illustrated with photos of the notorious camp, finally an official Hungárián periodical published an article about it as véli. Nov - on the evening of May 19th - fór the first time in Hungary a publicly advertised commemoration was held fór Recsk in the Jurta theatre attended by more than five hundred people among them ex-prisoners visiting home from Western Europe and young people from Budapest. It lasted from 7 pm until midnight. The documentary programme began with a literary compilation. Members of the theatre company read out excerpts from commemorations and poems by ex-prisoners - chiefly by György Faludy who lives in Canada -, contemporary police confessions and tapes of recent interviews with ex-AVO members (Rákosi’s political police) were played. Today their views remain unchanged: they said that to defend a peoples’ democracy such camps were necessary. In the second half four ex-prisoners recalled the events and tragedies which they wit- nessed. Kálmán Kéri an ex-staff Colonel said that he had been arrested as early as 194-5 and although he was released fór a short time he was finally interned at Kistarcsa and then transferred to Recsk. Zoltán BenkcS who had come from West Germany and Tibor Zimányi an economist who lives in Budapest led an anti-fascist resistance youth group at the end of the war bút were later arrested by the state security authorities. Géza Böszörményi a film director - who was a student at the time - was alsó arrested and accused of espionage. He had bought a fiint from a friend and in accordance witfc the security forces logic must necessarily be a spy as fiints could only be bought in Vienna. The ex-prisoners said that they could only send one letter a year to their families asking fór warm clothes bút when their parcels arrived the authorities stole virtually everything immediately. The naive question of whether the interrogators and warders were brought to justice later under ti>e Kadar régimé was met with laughter from the ex-prisoners. When the audience wanted to know if there was any desire fór revenge Kéri Kálmán replied: "I forgivé everything bút I cannot forget anything." Subscribers can use or quote the Hungárián October newsletters in totál or in detail as long as the source is acknowledged.
