Túri Zoltán szerk.: Tiszavilág. A Tiszazugi Földrajzi Múzeum Közleményei 2. (Tiszaföldvár, 2007)

ÉRTEKEZÉSEK - Cseh Géza: Az 1956-os forradalom eseményei Tiszaföldváron a levéltári iratok tükrében

Az 1956-os forradalom eseményei Tiszaföldváron a levéltári iratok tükrében Dr. Cseh Géza* The events of the 1956 revolution in Tiszaföldvár as presented in the archives — The events of the 1956 revolution in Szolnok county passed off relatively silently in a withheld way. However, the situation in Tiszaföldvár was not characterised by calmness, as it was in most of the settlements in the region, bid rather by explosive emotions, re-surfacing deep grievances and the total rejection of the communist regime, since the local population had suffered far too much during the years of the one-party dictatorship, and the changes that had happened since 1948 had impaired the whole of the settlement. The surrender of farming goods, the outstandingly high taxation, and the great authoritarianism of the new local leaders had eluded the livelihood of both the smallholder peasantry and the independent handicraftsmen. Although vine-growing, fruit-farming, and distilling spirits had earlier provided above-average standards of living for the local population, in the 1950's signs of general decline began to show up in Tiszaföldvár. The loss of the status of district seat and the deliberate obstruction of the development of the settlement made this process complete. A large number of local earning people who had lost their lands and livelihood foundjobs in the Tisza Boot and Shoe Factory. And factory workers and the politically informed intellectuals served as the radical part of the mass base of the revolution. The revolutionary events in Tiszaföldvár started on 26

th October 1956. Workers who had arrived from Martfű and the students and teachers of the local grammar school held a rally; they read out their claims and pulled down the monument of Soviet heroes. The next day, on 27

th October, the local revolutionary council was formed. The much-hated communist functionaries were ousted from power, and then they were relegated from the township. Although, the toppled mayor was slightly insulted physically, there were no serious atrocities despite the explosive emotions. Members of the MDP (the ruling communist party) were not chased down; what is more, some of them got elected into the new revolutionary leadership. However, the ex-functionaries were definitely harassed, threatened and sometimes publicly humiliated. The revolutionary council organised a civic guard, started food consignments to Budapest, and brought pressure to bear on the local producers ' cooperatives to persuade their members to dissolve those farms. In the first days of November, most political parties were reorganised, that had operated in Tiszaföldvár between 1945 and 1948. After the Soviet military intervention on 4

th November, widespread and prolonged resistance emerged in the town. The revolutionary council kept on meeting until the end of November. The workers of the brickworks and the agricultural cooperative, and the students of the grammar school went on strikes to protest against the Soviet occupation and the repression of the revolution. Secondary school students and workers of the Martfű shoe plant spread a large number of fly-sheets demanding the restoration of the Imre Nagy government and the immediate resignation of party leader János Kádár. Although the armed militia that was formed in mid-December exercised extraordinary brutality, the secondary school students organised a protest on 14

th March 1957. Court cases against the participants of the revolutionary events began in spring 1957. Although the County Court inflicted relatively easy punishments for the great number of inhabitants taken to court, those people suffered from disadvantageous differentiation for decades because of their actions in 1956; their personal welfare, their career prospects, and the education of their children were hindered for a long time. * Főlevéltáros. Jász-Nagykun Szolnok Megyei Levéltár, 5000 Szolnok, Pozsonyi út 40—42. E-mail: csehg@szolarchiv.hu