Fraternity-Testvériség, 1961 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1961-09-01 / 9. szám
FRATERNITY 3 On October 23, 1956, Hungary gave an electrifying testimony of her desire to be free. Up until that time no satellite of Russia dared to rise up against her atheistic and communistic oppressors. Great men of freedom paid glowing tributes to the courage of Hungary, vowing that Hungary would remain enshrined in their hearts forever. Yet those valiant heroes of the Revolution of 1956 must feel deeply in their hearts what Petőfi had said that they are part of a forsaken, the most forsaken people of the world. How bitterly this must be felt by those brave young men, who languish today in a communistic prison or labor in an inhuman manner in some bleak and forgotten Siberian camp. One freedom fighter, before his execution, said. “We have something to die for, for if we have nothing to die for, we have nothing for which to live.“ Out of the charred bodies of thousands in Hungary’s struggle for truth and freedom comes the cry: “There are things far more precious than life, for which we mast sacrifice everything, including our lives.” Petőfi said in one of his poems: “Freedom and love, these two things 1 want. For my love 1 will sacrifice my life and for my freedom I will sacrifice my love.” Centuries of suffering, pain and disillusionment have tempered the Hungarian into a courageous and resolute being. He has been made to feel that he must bear witness to God and his country. With his hands, as he tilled the precious soil, with his lips with which lie reverently phrased his prayers, and with his life, he was always at the service of his God and his country. God and his nation are the focal points of his worship and love. A Hungarian poet put this love in these words: “If this earth were God’s hat, then Hungary is the bouquet of flowers on it.” Hungary has demonstrated in her history that a nation, to fulfill her purpose, must share the destiny of the cross and the crown. Hungary bore the cross for others for centuries as she bears the cross today. The pains of the cross have often compelled her to cry into the soul of every nation of the world: “Wake up, before it is too late.” I wonder if the Freedom Fight of 1956, as we watched Hungary nailed to her cross, will not be judged by latter day historians as the crucial point in history, when communism could have been stopped. I wonder if the Hungarian Truth will not haunt future generations and centuries. A nation that has borne the cross like Hungary should be accorded the crown of freedom and a better life. Hungary richly deserves that crown.
