Itt-Ott, 2002 (35. évfolyam, 1/137. szám)
2002 / 1. (137.) szám
IZANGOL SAROK THE LEGACY OF 1956 AND THE CHALLENGE FACING DIASPORA HUNGARIANS Andrew' Ludanyi (Ada, Ohio) Ladies and gentlemen, friends, Oregonians, fellow American-Hungarians and Hungarian-Americans, members of the global diaspora. Thank you for inviting me to be part of your commemoration of the 1956 Hungarian Freedom Fight. As I reflected in my last 1998 visit with you, 1956 was the high point, while Trianon in 1920 was the low point, but together they were the defining events of 20th century Hungary. On the threshold of the 21st century what can we distill from the 1956 experience to provide us sustenance for our road into the future? With war clouds hanging over the Middle East, with the long shadow cast by 9/11 over all of us, is there a special concern that should be the compass of our existence? I think there should be such! I believe that 1956 can be this guide. Every people evolves its self-definition from its formative historical experiences. We know this is the case for Americans as well as Hungarians. Who could imagine American history and Americanism without understanding the causes and consequences of the English, Spanish, French, and even Russian colonial legacy in North America, or the Revolutionary War, the impact of the frontier experience, the trauma of the Civil War, the legacy of constant and continuous immigration, and both the domestic interethnic and the international great power challenges of the 20th century. Surely no one! A people is a product of its past. But a people will also be a product of its aspirations. So it is with Hungarians, and doubly so for Hungarian-Americans and American-Hungarians. But history does not form and mold us in a deterministic Marxian sense. We too are active agents of history. We help form the history of our peoples, we help set the stage and then perform on that stage in response to the challenges that arise within our lifetimes. In other words, we are not mere driftwood on the waves of a tumultuous sea, we are a conscious, organized, and determined cluster of humanity with collective ideals and dreams which help us to plan and organize, which enable us to become active agents of history. BUT WE MUST WILL IT! 1956 was the shining flame that first shot-up into the dismal gray sky of the Soviet world. There were some glimmers before October 23rd 1956, but these were merely sparks and embers of discontent. 1956 was a full scaled rebellion - a full scaled eruption of the Mt. Etna or Mt. St. Helens variety - against the oppression and injustice that had been imposed on the region by Yalta and Potsdam: Which included the Red Army’s occupation! The one-party dictatorships of the Muscovites, the imposition of AVH state terrorism, the deportation of millions into the Gulags of the Soviet state, and the expulsion of thousands because the neighboring states used the momentary chaos to thin the ranks of Hungarian and other minorities, and finally the oppression of kulaks and other enemies of the “new order” through incarceration, torture and death. Why were the Hungarians of 1956 the first ones to rally against this absurd and cruel nightmare imposed by Stalin’s Soviet Russia?? - Because - they possessed a legacy that goes back to the struggles of Eger, Drégely, and Szigetvár,... because they carried in their hearts the spirit of Rákóczi Ferenc, Bethlen Gábor and Bocskay István. Because they honored the memory of 1848-49 and followed the inspiring examples of Petőfi, Kossuth, Bern and Görgey. For them the fight for freedom was visceral, it was a national gut reaction! The result of this fight for freedom, however, was to have long-term consequences for Americans, Hungarians, Russians and other peoples as well. It had global reverberations. For the Soviets it began the long slide toward political disintegration, finalized in 1989- 91. For Americans it ended the verbal posturing of rolling back the Iron Curtain and convincing both Democrats and Republicans that the more cautious policy of containment would define the American global footprint to the end of the 1980’s. For the British, the French and the Israelis, it provided the distraction which would enable them to attack Egypt in the Suez War, in their tawdry effort to sustain Western colonialism and consolidate the Jewish state in the face of rising Arab nationalism under the leadership of Gamal Abdul Nasser. Finally, for the Hungarians it led to mili16 ITT-OTT 35. évf. (2002-2003), 1. (137.) SZÁM
