Magyar Egyház, 1957 (36. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1957-03-01 / 3. szám
10 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ article? He would have seen the terrible ruins in the streets, the bombed hospitals, etc., and the tens of thousands of slaughtered civilians, men and women, boys and girls, old people and children lying still unburied in the courtyard of the cemeteries in the beginning of December. All this seems to be without any importance because it was made by the Russians, whose actions are on principle almost always right for him. Apart from this, it is true that some regrettable events took place in the revolution itself, but Prof. Hromadka greatly exaggerates . . . The people killed by the mob were almost all members of the secret police. Prof. Hromadka, who lives in a Communist country, can understand (not justify!) the hatred against these people. It is true that some Communists were killed in rural areas during the days of fighting and uncertainty, but no one could have stopped the outbreak of anger against some especially cruel Communists which had accumulated during twelve years of oppression. It is a miracle that so few regrettable and cruel events happened. There was no other revolution in world history which was so relatively clean in its morals. Prof. Hromadka knows well and appreciates very much the great “October Revolution of 1917.” One has only to compare the two to see at once that a Communist has no right to condemn the Hungarian revolution for its “white terror” and cruelty. Of course from a Christian standpoint, it is very sad and regrettable that cruelties happened at all; even if they were just few, they can never be justified by earthly reasoning. Some demonic power manifested itself in the Hungarian revolution too, as the devil is always present in every human action. The question rather is: should a Christian condemn the revolution, as a matter of principle? . . . The revolution was inevitable and one cannot now condemn the whole because of some really terrible and regrettable, but peripheral, events . . . It is very important to note that the leaders, the freedom fighters and the greatest part of the population were strongly opposed to any kind of terror and cruelty, and in the days of victory and freedom they did everything to prevent it. Hungary had only three days of freedom, three days to make order, but on the third day there was almost complete order in the country. There were no separate, regional governments, no people who bore arms without a license, and so on. People said: “Freedom is a precious jewel, we don’t want to lose it, and to keep freedom we have to keep order.” Prof. Hromadka is not right when he says that the Russian intervention on the 4th of November saved Hungary from complete disintegration. On the contrary, it was their first, as well as second interventions which created complete disorder and chaos. (6) Now let us consider the charge of anti-Semiitism. We must confess that there is a certain degree of anti-Semitism in the satellite states. But why? Chiefly because many of the Communist leaders were Jews. Especially in Hungary almost all of the great Communist leaders — probably with the exception of Imre Nagy and Kadar—were Jews. To mention only a few: Rákosi, Gerő, Hegedűs, Révai. Unfortunately, and we cannot say how sorry we are for that, many people identified the Jews with communism. But in spite of this, at least in Budapest in the center of the revolution, one could not hear a single anti-Semitic voice. Maybe some Jews were persecuted (especially in the country where organization took more time) — though not because they were Jews, but because they were members of the secret police, the AVO. On the other hand, it is well known that many Jews helped to organize the revolution after it started and took a great part in the spiritual movements (for example, the Petőfi club) which prepared the way for the revolution. There are many . . . who are now imprisoned because of having taken part in the fight for freedom... (7) Prof. Hromadka says that émigrés were organizing and helping the revolution and giving it the character of a counter-revolution. Maybe some émigrés returned to Hungary in the first days of confusion, but they had no part in the fight for freedom. The freedom fighters were very careful not to mix with them. The Hungarians felt a certain bitterness against those who left Hungary during the previous years. They said: “We suffered during all these years, we want to fight for the freedom we want to enjoy, and we want to determine our future alone. We do not need those who left us in the most difficult years.” . . . (8) I must deal with the attack of Prof. Hromadka against the Western anti-Communist and anti-Soviet propaganda. In some aspects he is right, but he seems to forget entirely the anti-Western Communist propaganda. He would have the right to speak only if he spoke at least as hard against the Communist propaganda. Prof. Hromadka wonders why the Western world is still suspicious of the East. We have to ask him, is there any reason to relinquish this suspicion, especially now that Soviet imperialism has shown quite clearly its true, cruel face — not only in Hungary but in the other satellite states too? . . . And after these facts, the Western world should change its opinion? Perhaps it would have changed it if the former policy of “peaceful coexistence” had been continued. But it was stopped. Can the West once more believe the Kremlin after the tragicomic developments since the famous Twentieth Congress? . . . The same people, especially Khrushchev, who a year ago condemned Stalin now praise him. This is all a little bit hard for a man in the West to understand, and does not induce him to give up his suspicions. There is one more very important point. Prof. Hromadka writes: “Whether the Western world and its churches realize it or not, their joy over the Hungarian uprising and their anger over the change on November 4, 1956, grow far more from anti-Soviet sentiments than from an interest in the liberty of the Hungarian nation.” It is true that there is a deep antipathy in the West against the Soviets, but in its greater part it was caused by the cruelty of the Russians in Hungary, or at least the Hungarian events did by no means weaken the antipathy. The Hungarians must tell, because they experienced it in several ways, of the deep and true interest the Western world had in their fight for freedom and how much the West was shocked when it learned about its suppression. Perhaps Prof. Hromadka, living in a Communist country, is no longer able to realize what a shock it is for Western people to see the denial of the most simple, and in the West
