Borvendég Zsuzsanna: Fabulous Spy Games. How international trade networks with the West developed after 1945 - A Magyarságkutató Intézet Kiadványai 24. (Budapest, 2021)
‘FABULOUS’ IN HUNGARY - Sympathetic journalism
'FABULOUS' IN HUNGARY Its Sunday. Finally, the cold, damp blanket of steam has cleared from above Budapest. The city is now ever so colourful under the clear, icy sky. The thermometer has dropped to minus 10 centigrade. The Danube is covered in blocks of ice. We are on our way to Visegrád. Visegrád is an immensely popular spa resort with a historical appeal, the ruins of the Solomon tower and the Renaissance palace of King Matthias are also located here. Legend has it that the famous fountain of the palace had Hungarian red and white wine flowing like waterfalls at royal festivities. We are about halfway to our destination when we meet János Kádár. He is wearing a light brown suede sports jacket. Mrs Kádár, accompanying her husband on his morning walk, is also dressed in casual and simple attire for a winter outing. My Hungarian acquaintance, an editor and head of department at a ministry, stopped his Skoda to greet the leader of the party and prime minister, the most powerful man in Hungary. Kádár learns from him that I am a visitor from Bonn. He cordially reaches out to shake my hand. Mrs Kádár tells me it is a shame that I have chosen winter to travel to Hungary, adding that I must absolutely return to Budapest in May when the banks of the Danube are clad in a vibrant cavalcade of colour. We do not talk about politics. But talking about Hungary is politics in itself. Because Kádár is Hungarian first and a politician and ideologue second. They both say goodbye to me in German and continue their walk. They are completely alone. A black Mercedes, Kádár ’s official vehicle, is following them at a distance of about five hundred metres. Police protection is nowhere in sight. Kádár does not need it, says my guide. The latter is not a member of the party, he fought on the side of the Germans as an Army officer, was injured nine times, and finally spent three years as a POW of the Russians. What connects him with Kádár is being Hungarian.”360 360 ÁBTL 3.1.5. 0-12344/12 p. 71-72 Translation of the edition of the Exklusive Dienst of 16 December 1962 The article goes on at length, describing political and economic life in Hungary, the living standards of ordinary people, which lagged only slightly behind those of citizens of West Germany. According to state security, the magazine had a wide reach, paving the way for the spread of manipulated 135
