Hungarians remember revolution 60 years on

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Hungarians remember revolution 60 years on

 

 

BUDAPEST: -- Sixty years ago to the day the world watched in awe and horror as Hungarians took to the streets and rose up against the Soviet Union.

 

What began as a student uprising soon turned into a major revolt against Moscow’s rule in the eastern bloc.

 

Within a matter of weeks however, Hungary’s revolution would be brutally crushed.

 

Ferenc Vogyerák was 18 years old in 1956 and was studying in Budapest when he heard about the uprising.

 

“Those were really revolutionary times. And here, after this, the classes at the school were held under – let’s say – wartime circumstances,” Ferenc said.

 

The revolution saw thousands of Hungarians join rebel militias, demanding independence, free elections and the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

 

Hungary’s government soon collapsed but as the West watched on Moscow moved in.

 

Ferenc says he saw soldiers open fire on people waiting at a local bakery.

 

“They (the Soviets) saw the people queuing here, just ordinary people queuing up for bread, but I think for some stupid motivation they started shooting here and many people died, the dead bodies were lying on the ground here.

 

“It had some positive things too, that maybe we became a little bit freer after that, and we could live a calmer life for a while. Not for a long time, but for a while, yes,” Ferenc added.

 

By its end, more than 2,500 Hungarians and around 700 Soviet soldiers were dead.

 

The fighting also forced another 200,000 people to flee Hungary, most of them through Austria.

 

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-10-24

[Pimay1]

I remember hearing Hungary's desperate cry for help to the rest of the world on the radio. It was in vain.

[Grouse]

We forget the past at our peril!

[fvw53]

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The fighting also forced another 200,000 people to flee Hungary, most of them through Austria.

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I was at that time 11 years old and I remember this drama despite the absence of TV because in my primary school we had 4 Hungarian boys sent to freedom by their parents to be adopted in Belgium.

Regretfully many Hungarians of 2016 do not feel the same solidarity with the victims of war atrocities coming from Syria.

 

 

[craigt3365]

I was just in Budapest. They've had a rough past. Luckily,  seem to be doing ok now. I'm trying to visit this place next week,  but not sure I have enough time.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/hungary/articles/Sopron-Hungary-the-picnic-that-changed-the-world/

 

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Sopron, Hungary: the picnic that changed the world

 

Who would have thought that in the end the Iron Curtain would be brought down not with a bang, but with basketfuls of sandwiches and hot dogs?

 

And yet that is what happened. On August 19, 1989, at the instigation of the Austrian Euro MP Otto von Habsburg (a name of some resonance in these parts) and the reformist Hungarian Minister of State Imre Pozsgay, it was agreed to hold a “Pan-European Picnic” just outside the Hungarian town of Sopron, right on the border with Austria.

 

 

[bandito]

I was in the Dutch Navy, at the time, and we were at stand-by for a week. All furloughs had been canceled. We sat gathered around the radio, listening to the crys for help of the Hungarian people. Nothing the West could do, short of starting the 3rd Worldwar. The American Army and the Soviet Army were standing opposite each other in Germany. Luckily nobody started shooting, otherwise none of us had been here. As someone said, "I don't know what will be used for weaponry in the 3rd Woldwar but in the next one it will be sticks and stones".