Fraternity-Testvériség, 1962 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1962-06-01 / 6. szám

FRATERNITY

7

Paul Nadanyi:

THE REVOLT

THAT ROCKED THE KREMLIN

(Continuation)

The erosion of the regime’s power became more evident by the day. Even Rákosi’s removal from the Hungarian political scene in July 1956 contributed but little to the stability of the situation. His successor, Ernő Gerő, the new First Secretary of the Communist Party, granted some concessions, but every concession only focused attention to the remaining evil. In fact, the circumstances of Rákosi’s removal itself was not much help to the Party. It was known that Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Mikoyan dictated his resignation and this demonstrated again that Hungary’s independence was only a fiction.

The rehabilitation processes came to a dramatic climax on October 6, Hungary’s traditional “Martyrs’ Days”. Ernő Gerő, yielding to pressure sparked by Mrs. Julia Rajk’s demands, consented to a State funeral to bury the remains of László Rajk, the chief victim of the Titoist purges. Gerő was about to embark upon a visit to Tito and a State funeral accorded to Rajk looked like a gesture which would satisfy the Yugoslav leader, too. The Rajk funeral, however, became an event which shook the regime. Planned as a strictly party affair, it gave rise to a public demonstration. More than 250,000 people escorted the funeral party to the cemetery. Mrs. Julia Rajk and her friends interpreted this demonstration as a proof of the late Communist functionary’s wide popularity. Actually, the masses participated in the procession not to pay tribute to the memory of Rajk, who at the height of his power represented all the evils of the system, but because the funeral accorded them the first opportunity to demonstrate against the regime.

“For a big power to station troops without the consent of a small country, and