Magyar vows 1956’s fire will never be extinguished on his watch

In his ceremonial address delivered on the anniversary of the outbreak of the revolution and war of independence, as well as the proclamation of the republic on 23 October 1989, the head of government said that on 23 October 1956, several hundred thousand Hungarians — later joined by millions — made world history. “The Hungary they longed for was born within them that afternoon: a free, strong, self-aware homeland,” he said.

He added that before the revolution was crushed, there were 13 “pure, uplifting, glorious days” with which the Hungarian people shook the world — 13 glorious days when the Hungarian people, as one, said, shouted, and cried out: “Russians, go home!”

Péter Magyar — whose speech was greeted at the outset with chants of “Thank you!” — said that Hungary had won its freedom, defended its democracy, and was stronger and more sovereign than ever. It could look back on its heroes with the same pride with which one could say that their sacrifice had not been in vain.

The Prime Minister described the 13 days of the 1956 revolution and war of independence as a revolution of clear conscience. He recalled that fear evaporated from the country within hours, as the young men of Pest stepped out from doorways and stopped the world’s most fearsome army; the valuables behind smashed shop windows remained untouched, forints collected in crates placed on street corners for the families of the wounded, and no one took them, because in those days honour was held more sacred than life itself.

Quoting the French writer Albert Camus, the Prime Minister said that Hungary — crushed and shackled — had done more for freedom and justice than any other nation in the world, and that to suppress the revolution the dictatorship had required the army of a world empire and a full military occupation.

The Prime Minister stressed that although the revolution could be crushed, its heroes imprisoned and murdered, no one could ever again take away from Hungarians the knowledge of their capacity for unity and their ability to shape their own destiny. He said that on 23 October and in the days that followed, Hungarians wrote world history: they drove in the first — and perhaps most important — nail into the coffin of communism.

The system survived for decades more, blighting lives, tearing families apart, and squandering generations, but after the Hungarian revolution, he said, no decent person could any longer claim that communism served freedom, that it spoke in the name of the workers, or that it ruled by the will of the people.

In his explanation, he said that in 1956 it was precisely the workers of Hungary who rose up against the power that had promised them freedom — yet that power responded to demands for freedom with tanks.

He went on to note that after the revolution, the authorities were not content with mere revenge; they sought to destroy the truth and “permanently tear apart the arms that had linked together.”

Their goal, he continued, was to make Hungarian suspect Hungarian, and to have everyone live in fear, alone, with heads bowed — a goal that became bloodily symbolized by the execution on 16 June 1958 of Prime Minister Imre Nagy, Defence Minister Pál Maléter, and journalist Miklós Gimes.

The Prime Minister stressed that the martyrs of 1956 sent a message to us through their deaths. “They gave their lives for an independent and democratic Hungary, and now, seventy years after the revolution, we can answer them with our heads held high: we understand their sacrifice, we safeguard their freedom, and we will never — never again — allow this homeland to be trampled,” he said.

Péter Magyar stressed that every Hungarian leader must know that their power can never be more important than the freedom of their homeland.

He pointed out that 1956 serves as a cautionary warning: with foreign support, power can be held for a time, but the Hungarian people’s desire for freedom can never be broken by it.

No Hungarian leader may put the blood sacrifice of 1956 in brackets for the sake of momentary economic deals or dubious alliances, he declared, adding that anyone who, after 1956, makes excuses for an aggressor or subordinates the nation to foreign imperial interests has understood nothing of the message of 1956, “whether in Budapest or on a Parisian terrace.” (Former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was photographed on the terrace of a Paris hotel on 23 October; the image was published by the news site 444.)

The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to the countries that took in those who fled the reprisals, and described it as a joy and an honour to welcome at the commemoration the representatives of nations that once gave a home to exiled Hungarians.

1956 is a fixed star, but not only in Hungary’s sky, the Prime Minister said, continuing that the star’s light reached from the streets of Pest, through the smallest Hungarian villages and across the Iron Curtain, to distant continents — to people who had not even known of Hungarians before.

“This light shone beyond the decades of dictatorship, reached new generations, a new century, and indeed a new millennium; it travelled from our grandparents to our parents, from them to us, and through us it reaches our children too, because it has something to offer every generation. Courage to set out, faith to stand together, the strength to win and preserve one’s freedom in one’s own time,” he said.

In his speech, Péter Magyar promised that the legacy of 1956 would be carried forward.

Highlighting Árpád Brusznyai, Erika Szeles, and Péter Mansfeld, the prime minister said the sacrifice of the 1956 martyrs — who gave their lives for a free, independent, and democratic homeland — was not in vain. In his view, both the known and unknown heroes of the revolution would be proud of Hungary today.

He said that in 1956, people also demanded that work be given dignity, that people be able to feel free in their own homeland, and that they be able to plan their futures with confidence.

“We carry this legacy forward when we build a country where freedom is accompanied by a decent livelihood, respect, and opportunity,” he said.

According to the prime minister, in 1956 “the gates of the revolution were wide open.” He listed those who fought for us at the same time: Ilona Tóth, István Angyal, Antal Pálinkás-Pallavicini, Miklós Gimes, Mária Wittner, József Szilágyi, Sándor Rácz, István Bibó, Zoltán Tildy, and Cardinal Primate József Mindszenty.

He argued that anyone who measures out who deserves gratitude and who merits a place in the nation’s memory does not understand the revolution — just as anyone who divides their fellow citizens into the worthy and the unworthy, the true Hungarian and the foreigner, does not understand Hungary.

At the event, Péter Magyar took an oath that the power they had gained would never be used against their people, that governing for them meant not ruling but serving, that they would restore credibility to words, that public money would once again be the property of the community, and that the law would once again apply equally to everyone.

He confirmed: no new trenches will be dug between Hungarian and Hungarian, no new enemies will be manufactured, and it is the government’s duty to turn the freedom that has been won into security, dignity, and opportunity for every Hungarian.

The Prime Minister asked people to hold together again, saying “there should be room beside us for those who come from a different direction, who think differently.”

It would be good to leave our children a country they can be proud of, a country we can be proud of, the head of government said.

During the festive programme, a few protesters — among them György Budaházy — appeared in the square and demonstrated against the amendment to the child protection law with two banners. The organisers escorted them out of Kossuth Square.

Artificial intelligence was used for the translation of parts of the original Hungarian text.