Magyar News, 2002. szeptember-2003. augusztus (13. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2003-06-01 / 10. szám
H Volume XIII, Issue MagyhrNews Bridgeport, June 2003 LOOKS 8»OOJ ALIKE I3XIJA In Iraq they were tearing down the statues of Saddam Hussein. The boots remained on top of the monument. Before I say anything, I want to make it clear that I don’t like people killing people. I had seen enough of that under the unfortunate war and revolution in our life. Also there is something else I don’t like. I don’t like power, whatever one may call it, that oppress people, an individual, a group or even a nation. Therefore I totally agree that there should be an end to Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. We, the Hungarian people learned about dictatorship, power, massacre, oppression and all that goes with these, from Hitler and for decades from Stalin. In 1956, what we refer to as October 23, showed the world that we are fed up with the terror. Among the actions they took, one looks very similar to the images we see in these past days on television. Today we see how the twenty foot statue of the dictator topples. We also see the people of Iraq break of the huge head, drag it and beat it with hammers and with shoes. It seems that hitting somebody, or their image, with a shoe is the greatest disgrace done concerning a person. This is within the culture of the Iraqi people. In 1956 the Hungarians in Budapest tore down Stalin’s twenty foot statue. The only part that stayed in place were the boots. When Saddam’s statue toppled down, it also came without the boots. They were alike, they look alike. Saddam’s head was dragged away, we must give it to the Hungarians, they dragged Stalin's head miles away. The last I saw of it was at the comer of Rákóczi út and Akácfa utca. It was a tough piece, they couldn’t break it Left: Iraqi protesters finally express their feelings. They have an interesting costum doing it. Not only do they prefer stepping on it, they take their shoes of and hit the head with it. On the right we see the head of the Stalin statue. It was finally left in the street, people walking by just spat on it. apart. They also didn’t use shoes. The pictures that illustrate this article really show the similarity of the two dictators. Looking at the background of these events we find a great difference. The people in Iraq toppled Saddam’s statue after the Americans took the power away from Saddam. In Hungary the Hungarian people did it on there own, they turned against those who were in power in the country, and turned against the huge, powerful, almighty Sovietunion. The Hungarians on there own changed the trend of politics in the world. The dictators were alike, the people were different. Joseph F. Balogh Page 1 1—r In Budapest when the Stalin statue was torn down the boots stayed.. On the right the original monument during a parade.
