Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1960-12-01 / 12. szám
2 FRATERNITY “THE DISGRACE OF THE 20th CENTURY” An Editoriral Published in "The Houston Chronicle" (October 25, 1960) The textbooks and almanacs still refer to Hungary as a “people’s republic”, but not one is fooled, least of all the people of Hungary who this week quietly commemorate the fourth anniversary of their brief but brilliant revolution which excited the startled admiration of the free world in the fall of 1956. The revolution began on October 23, when students of Budapest University demonstrated in the gardens of the National Museum. It spread quickly and spontaneously, and by October 31, General Pal Maleter appeared to be in control of the country and the Russian oppressors had left Budapest. An estimated 10,000 had been killed in the fighting. Meanwhile, Imre Nagy took over control of the nationalist government with the consent of the populace. Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty was liberated and made a triumphal entry into Budapest, still shattered from the fighting, still boasting the smashed, overturned colossal statue of Josef Stalin. For a brief hour of glory it appeared that the shackles had fallen, for the Russians had withdrawn at Nagy’s demand. But instead, the Soviet resorted to treachery. It sought “negotiations on the modalites of withdrawal” while massing new armored divisions on the Hungarian border. On November 4, this force rumbled across the line, drove the patriots into their hideouts in Budapest, arrested the negotiators and stamped out the revolution in one of the most brutal violations of human rights in the history of mankind. Nagy took refuge in the Yugoslav embassy and Janos Kadar was set up as puppet head of the defeated nation. More than 2,000 executions were summarily ordered, and Nagy as well as General Maleter were eventually seized and put to death. Worse still, about 35,000 patriots were deported to Russia to rot in jails or die before firing squads. Hungary today is still a captive nation, a nation of people more oppressed, perhaps, than any other in the world. Individual liberties are non-existent and the Soviet masters are even now moving in once again with enforced collectivizations which were the real cause behind the 1956 revolution. Let the world not forget these events, for the world stood by and permitted the Russians to wreak their bloody will on this small nation, despite the fact that on November 1, 1956, Nagy declared Hungary to be free and neutral, and urged immediate recognition of this status by the United Nations. That the United Nations did nothing is the disgrace of the 20th century.
