Baják László Ihász István: The Hungarian National Museum History Exhibition Guide 4 - The short century of survival (1900-1990) (Budapest, 2008)

Room 19. From the Successes of Revision to German and Russian Occupation (1938-1945). István Ihász

berg was dragged off to the Soviet Union for having in his possession the documents of the Polish Resistance which proved the Russians guilty of carrying out the mass murders at Katyn. In our exhibition the figure of a Soviet soldier evokes the changes of the time just as do the decrees of the Temporary National Government, which had been established in those Mandate certificate for the temporary National Assembly, parts of the country under Soviet December 20, 1944 control, or the prime minister's armchair. Reaching the country's eastern territories, the Soviet troops took Debrecen on October 20, 1944 where with their cooperation the "Temporary National Assembly" was created and a Temporary National Government formed led by Miklós Béla Dalnoki (its members had already been named in Moscow at the beginning of December under the direction of Molotov, the Soviet minister for foreign affairs). The later "elections" held in the interest of its legitimisation took place in three phases, following an intensifying military push westward and the restoration of "everyday" life. The result was the creation of a strongly left-wing majority, that is to say, an assembly was created with a remarkably narrow scope for action. Its top task was to fulfil the requirements laid down in the armistice agreement in January 1945. Having satisfied these, it declared war upon Germany and accepted the invalidation of the 1938 and 1940 Viennese Awards, according to which Hungary would withdraw its administration to behind the preDecember 31,1937 "Trianon" borders. It set to work at "liquidation of the remnants of fascism", revoked the anti-Jewish laws, prohibited anti-Allies propaganda and dissolved 25 parties, civilian organisations and societies, among them the successors of the old governing parties and semi-military organisations. The agreement placed the country under the control of the Soviet-led Allied Control Commission (ACC), which obliged the ruined economy to pay virtually impossible compensation and to provide for the Soviet Army. Of the 300 million American dollars set as the price of compensation, 200 million were awarded to the Soviet Union, with the remaining 100 million dollars shared out between Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. This obligation was estimated to be 20% of Hungary's national income for 1945. In order to pay the compensation, Hungary was to transport to the Soviet Union by 1952 agricultural produce, manufactured goods and equipment to the value of 131 million dollars. (It also settled its bill with Czechoslovakia, but the debt with