Hungarian uprising, 1956

### **Research articles**

* The Institute for the History of the 1956 Revolution (est. 1989, closed 2019). Főoldal | 1956 Institute - Oral History Archive http://rev.hu/en [EN] and Főoldal | 1956-OS Intézet – Oral History Archívum http://rev.hu/hu [HU] (the Hungarian site was updated more recently and has more details)
* 56-os Portál - Antiszemitizmus az 1956-os forradalomban by Eva Standeisky http://konfliktuskutato.hu/index.php?option=com\_content&view=article&id=149:-antiszemita-bncselekmenyek-az-1956-os-forradalomban-&catid=15:tanulmanyok [HU]
* CIA Had Single Officer in Hungary 1956 https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB206/index.htm [EN]
* Antiszemita bűncselekmények az 1956-os forradalomban by Attila Szakolczai http://konfliktuskutato.hu/index.php?option=com\_content&view=article&id=149:-antiszemita-bncselekmenyek-az-1956-os-forradalomban-&catid=15:tanulmanyok [HU]
* The Crimes of the Communist Regime in Hungary National Report https://www.ustrcr.cz/data/pdf/konference/zlociny-komunismu/COUNTRY%20REPORT%20HUNGARY.pdf [EN]
* A New Socialist Hungary? Remembering the Defeat of the Hungarian Revolution 63 Years Later by Cole Faulkner https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/new-socialist-hungary-remembering-the-defeat-the-hungarian-revolution-63-years-later [EN]
* The 1956 Hungarian Revolution and World Politics by Csaba Békés https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/ACFB4E.pdf [EN]
* The new Course in Hungary in 1953 by János Rainer https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/ACFAF2.pdf [EN]
* Revisiting Hungarian Stalinism by Janos Rainer https://www.academia.edu/17950752/Revisiting\_Hungarian\_Stalinism (PDF) [EN]
* The Merchants of the Kremlin by László Borhi https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/ACFB23.pdf [EN]
* Of Spies, Refugees and Hostile Propaganda: How Austria dealt with the Hungarian Crisis of 1956 by Johanna Granville https://sci-hub.tw/https:/www.jstor.org/stable/24427376?seq=1 [EN]
* Deconstruction of a Myth? Austria and the Hungarian Refugees of 1956-57 by Andreas Gémes https://www.iwm.at/publications/5-junior-visiting-fellows-conferences/vol-xxv/deconstruction-of-a-myth/ [EN]
* The Working Class in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 by Bill Lomax https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03017608008413260?needAccess=true&journalCode=rcso20 [EN]
* The Hungarian Revolution: An exchange by Géza Jesenszky https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299261621\_The\_Hungarian\_Revolution\_An\_exchange (PDF) [EN]
* Cold War Radio and the 1956 Uprising by Alban Webb https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14682745.2012.746667?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=fcwh20 [EN]
* The 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the Soviet Bloc Countries: Reactions and Repercussions ed. János Rainer and Katalin Somlai http://mek.oszk.hu/09600/09691/09691.pdf [EN]
* 56-os Portál - New findings on the 1956 Hungarian Revolution by Csaba Békés http://www.rev.hu/ords/f?p=600:2:::::P2\_PAGE\_URI:tanulmanyok/1956/bcs2 [EN]
* The Spirit of Radio: Hungary 1956, Radio Free Europe, and the Shadow Public Sphere by Karl Brown http://ahea.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/ahea/article/viewFile/324/599 [PDF, EN]
* Factors Which Contributed to the Success of Revolutionary Forces in 1956 by Zoltán Virag http://www.allworldwars.com/Revolutionary-Forces-of-the-Hungarian-Revolution-1956-by-Zoltan-Virag.html [EN]
* 56-os Portál - 1956 a 20. század történelmében by János Rainer http://www.rev.hu/ords/f?p=600:2:::::P2\_PAGE\_URI:tanulmanyok/1956/xx\_szazad [HU]
* A Forradalom És Szabadságharccal Összefüggésben Életét Vesztett Személyek Adatai (A Megtrolás Áldozatai Külön Tábl http://www.bp18.hu/images/dokumentumok/legacy/emlekmu\_aldozatok\_adatbazis\_20120926.pdf (database of people killed in the Revolution) [HU]

### **Magazine articles**

* "Viktor Orbán’s revision of the 1956 revolution" by Lili Bayer https://www.politico.eu/article/viktor-orbans-revision-of-the-1956-revolution/ [EN]

### **Documents**

* Osa Archivum Catalog: https://catalog.osaarchivum.org/ [EN, HU, DE]
* Wilson Center Digital Archive Collections - 1956 Polish and Hungarian Crises https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/9/1956-polish-and-hungarian-crises [EN]
* 1956 Digital Archive: RFE/RL Media Coverage. http://w3.osaarchivum.org/digitalarchive/rferl\_mc/index.html [EN, HU, other languages]
* Hungarian Refugees in 1956 | Hungarian Refugees in 1956 http://www.refugees1956.org/start/ [EN]
* Report of the Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary United Nations Special Committee on Hungary http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01274/01274.pdf(1957) [EN]
* “CURPH Interviews with 1956 Hungarian Refugees.” Open Society Archives, Budapest. Conducted in 1957-58. Osa Archivum Catalog https://catalog.osaarchivum.org/?f%5Bdigital\_collection%5D%5B%5D=CURPH+Interviews+with+1956+Hungarian+Refugees&page=4 [EN]
* Hundreds of Jewish Students Died Fighting Russians in Hungary by Jewish Telegraph Agency, November 9, 1956 https://www.jta.org/1956/11/09/archive/hundreds-of-jewish-students-died-fighting-russians-in-hungary/amp [EN]
* Hungarian Diary by Fritz Hier https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/134608 [EN]
* Hungarian proletarians fought the hardest by Russell Jones in UPI, December 10, 1956 https://www.upi.com/Archives/1956/12/10/Hungarian-proletarians-fought-the-hardest/7006244912116/ [EN]
* Recovering Disputed Sound: RFE Hungarian Revolution Broadcasts from Wilson Center https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/recovering-disputed-sound-rfe-hungarian-revolution-broadcasts [multiple languages]
* Hungarian Newspapers and Other Materials from the 1956 Revolution (European Reading Room from Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/rr/european/newspapers/hu/reel356a.html [article EN, newspapers HU]
* Nemzeti Tanácsok programjai, 1956. Október.(National Council programs, October 1956) https://regi.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/historia/88-06/ch05.html [HU]
* Bibó István kibontakozási tervezete. 1956. november 6. https://regi.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/historia/88-06/ch08.html [HU]
* Kérdõjelek 1956-ról https://regi.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/historia/88-06/ch01.html [HU]

### **Pamphlets**

* “Stalinism versus revolution: Hungary 1956” by Jasmine Duff https://redflag.org.au/node/7424 [EN] (Trotskyist publication)
* Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Hungary by Hugo Dewar and Daniel Norman (1957) https://www.marxists.org/archive/norman/hungary/chronology.htm [EN]
* *The Hungarian Revolution* by Shane Mage (1959) https://ucf.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/ucf%3A5387/datastream/OBJ/view/The\_Hungarian\_revolution\_\_Documents.pdf [EN]
* Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Hungary by Gerry Healy (1966) https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/healy/1966/11/hungary.htm [EN]
* Hungary '56 by Andy Anderson https://libcom.org/library/hungary-56-andy-anderson [EN]
* “The Hungarian Revolution: 1956” http://web.archive.org/web/20160405033834/http://prole.info/texts/hungary56.html [EN]
* Days of Tragedy and Farce by Mervyn Jones (1976) https://socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/view/5394 [EN]
* “Hungary '56: 'The Proletariat Storming the Heavens'” by Mouvement Communiste https://libcom.org/files/BUD56\_eng.pdf [PDF, EN]
* In Defence of Marxism - The Hungarian Revolution by Julianna Grant https://www.marxist.com/hungarian-revolution-1956.htm [EN]

### **Encyclopedia**

*The Hungarian Wikipedia (and Russian, to a lesser degree) has a lot of good material on this, including sources.*

* Hungarian Revolution of 1956 - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian\_Revolution\_of\_1956 [EN]
* 1956-os forradalom – Wikipédia https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956-os\_forradalom [HU]
* Az 1956-os forradalom Budapesten kívüli eseményei – Wikipédia https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Az\_1956-os\_forradalom\_Budapesten\_k%C3%ADv%C3%BCli\_esem%C3%A9nyei [HU]
* Angyal István (szabadságharcos) – Wikipédia https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angyal\_Istv%C3%A1n\_(szabads%C3%A1gharcos) [HU]
* Nickelsburg László - Wikipédia https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelsburg\_L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3 [HU]
* Bán Róbert (1956-os felkelő) – Wikipédia https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1n\_R%C3%B3bert\_(1956-os\_felkel%C5%91) [HU]
* Szeles Erika Kornélia – Wikipédia https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szeles\_Erika\_Korn%C3%A9lia [HU]
* 1956 lap - Megbízható válaszok profiktól An aggregation of links, books, Internet pages etc. all about the Revolution https://1956.lap.hu/ [all HU]

### **Books**

* “Hungarian Tragedy” by Peter Fryer https://www.marxists.org/archive/fryer/1956/dec/ [EN] https://libcom.org/files/Hungarian%20Tragedy.pdf [PDF, 465.34 KB, EN]
* *Thirteen Days that Shook the Kremlin* by Tibor Méray https://archive.org/details/thirteendaysthat007503mbp/page/n9/mode/2up [EN]
* *The Revolt of the Mind* by Tibor Méray and Tamas Aczél https://archive.org/details/revoltofthemind009664mbp/page/n29/mode/2up [EN]
* *Rift and Revolt in Hungary* by Ferenc Váli (1961) http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9E0D84865ED7B1C7CBC04641AA144439 [PDF, 9 MB, EN]
* *Facts About Hungary: The Fight for Freedom* by the Hungarian Committee (1958) https://archive.org/details/facthungar00magy/page/n3/mode/2up [EN] Includes a good chapter on the Revolution's ideology
* *The Reluctant Satellites* by Leslie Bain (1960) https://archive.org/details/reluctantsatelli007426mbp/page/n8 [EN]
* *Imre Nagy* by János Rainer (2009) http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=ABEFC25279055B8AF338C56CD6B0FF61 [PDF, 3 MB, EN]
* “The 1956 Hungarian Revolution: A History in Documents” by Csaba Bekes, Malcolm Byrne, and János Rainer (2002) http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=8601E0D2ECD60AF8A42103167F3A3FAE [PDF, 69 MB, EN] and a good review: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB76/ [EN]
* *Hungary in the Cold War: 1945-1956* by László Borhi (2004) http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=4807A58EB0FBB3CBC89E667DEB1D4D2F [PDF, 2 MB, EN]

### **Videos**

* 1956 Hungarian Revolution from British Pathé (video collection) https://www.britishpathe.com/workspaces/df699ffd537d4e0c74710ad015dfd64d/MB1oJLtR
* “Hungary Before the Revolution of 1956” uploaded by The Cold War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4\_gog10pMk [12:46, EN SUB, EN]
* “Hungarian Revolution of 1956” uploaded by The Cold War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAVPXle1--g [18:39, EN SUB, EN]
* “Hungarian Revolution 1956: Every Day” uploaded by Historigraph https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqImvCnO15w [18:37, HU SUB, EN]
* "The Forgotten Faces" uploaded by Reddebrek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05E385cQGLU [00:18:11, EN]

* “The Forgotten Faces 1960 (de Peter Watkins VOST français)” uploaded by Reddebrek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifW1goO6g9w [00:18:09, FR]

### **Websites**

* "Hungary 1956: reading guide" https://libcom.org/library/hungary-1956-reading-guide

### **Archived**

* https://archive.ph/ppgYJ [EN] - liberals and far-right trying to erase the workers' history of the uprising

### **Notes**

* The Open Society Archives are a good place to find primary source documents, just put in the right search terms.
* Among their main arguments is that Soviet forces intervened to protect Jews and Communists from being lynched en masse. What many of these sources (in English and Hungarian) prove is that while antisemitism did exist, it was marginal and that Jews generally supported the Revolution. In any chaotic mass-movement, bad elements might come to the surface, but generally the Revolutionaries suppressed such things within their own ranks whenever possible.
* Also, the Kádár regime itself admitted that of the 201 officials killed by the Revolutionaries, only nine were not affiliated with the secret police. Policemen are the legitimate targets of revolutionary violence in these sorts of circumstances.
* One of their main claims is of the Revolution’s “fascist” character: again, all wrong. Main ringleaders like Pál Maletér, Sándor Kopácsi, József Dudas had taken part in the anti-fascist resistance in World War II. Imre Nagy and the people surrounding him were reform Communists, and they were joined by democratic politicians of the postwar period such as Béla Kovács and Zoltán Tildy. And most of the street fighters were simple ordinary people, with no “fascist” records, who in many cases pledged their allegiance to “socialism” of some sort. The closest thing to such a person is General Béla Király, who served in the Hungarian Army during WWII. But he is confirmed as having used his influence to save Jews and is even a Righteous Among Nations, and the Communist Party employed him in 1945-51.
* Another main accusation is that the Revolution was started from outside the country, aided and abetted by the CIA/Western intelligence with exiles flown in from Austria to fight. However, the CIA had one agent in the entire country, as per declassified documents. The Austrian authorities also stringently prevented exiles from entering the country and patrolled the border against armed incursions.
* “Hungarian nationalists and fascists celebrate it today” – they also celebrate the 1848 Revolution, Prince Rákóczi’s Revolt of 1703, the Siege of Eger, Grand Prince Árpád, etc. It would be hard to find any self-proclaimed “Hungarian patriot,” fascist or otherwise, who doesn’t celebrate 1956 or any of the other things. That doesn’t besmirch any of those events/people.

* Outside of Soviet propaganda, their main source is *The Truth About Hungary* by Herbert Aptheker. Shane Mage’s pamphlet debunks this book’s methodology in one of its sections. [I will post further material debunking certain specific arguments from this book]