Through a collection of photographs and documents on loan from the Hungarian Museum of Military History in Budapest, A People Cried Out: The 1956 Revolution and Fight for Freedom in Hungary explores 12 days of revolution, which began 45 years ago on Oct. 23.
By: Susan Van Dongen
To those who have immigrated to the United States from countries suffocating under repressive, totalitarian governments, Americans seem to breathe freedom as easily as air. One man, who escaped from the formerly communist Hungary, sees the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as a horror and tragedy, but also a wake-up call teaching us that independence is a blessing not everyone on this planet enjoys.
"We just got complacent," says Dr. Karoly Nagy, who fled Soviet-occupied Hungary in 1956. "We take too much for granted. Freedom is like air. You only notice it when it ceases to exist. Then you choke.
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| Oct. 23, 1956: Demonstrations at Bern’s statue, Budapest, on view at the Museum of the American Hungarian Foundation. |
"Hungarians feel total empathy to this attack because we experienced the same horrors committed by the Nazis, then the Soviets. The terrorists have the same disregard for humanity. You never get used to it, so we have to be vigilant and strengthen our resolve in the face of this."
Perfect timing, then, for A People Cried Out: The 1956 Revolution and Fight for Freedom in Hungary, an exhibit of rare photographs and documents commemorating the 45th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution, opening Sept. 30 at the Museum of the American Hungarian Foundation in New Brunswick. Co-curated by Dr. Nagy and MAHF curator Patricia Fazekas, the exhibit is sponsored in conjunction with the Hungarian Alumni Association.
Through a collection of photographs and documents on loan from the Hungarian Museum of Military History in Budapest, A People Cried Out explores the fears, joys and pain of the 12 days of revolution, which began 45 years ago on Oct. 23. The exhibit runs through Nov. 4
"It demonstrates much of what Americans might be feeling right now," says Dr. Nagy, a professor of sociology at Middlesex County College and former faculty member at Rutgers. As a young teacher in Hungary, he participated in the 1956 uprising and was elected president of his village’s Revolutionary Council.
"For Hungarians, Oct. 23 is like July 4 to Americans Independence Day. The legacy of the revolution is the affirmation of the fundamental human need for independence, self-determination, truth and justice. These are all universal human aspirations, which is why we hope totalitarianism and terrorism can’t win."
Ms. Fazekas says the exhibit is especially meaningful to the large Hungarian community in and around New Brunswick.
"There are always traditional remembrances on Oct. 23 in the area," says Ms. Fazekas, who remembers seeing new, foreign faces in her elementary school classes in the mid-1950s."
The revolution lasted only 12 days, after which the Soviet military hammer fell hard on the small nation. Two hundred thousand citizens fled to the West, many of whom were processed at facilities in New York City and north and central New Jersey.
"A lot of refugees came through Camp Kilmer," Ms. Fazekas says. "Many of the Hungarian-Americans who were already here worked as translators to help these people get situated in the U.S. The community really pulled together to try and help them."
A noted author and scholar on Eastern European history and sociology, Dr. Nagy assisted Ms. Fazekas in identifying the subject matter in the images, which were shot by amateur photographers. He says the photos remain uncredited because, at the time, shooting anti-Soviet images would have meant a death sentence.
"It would have been lethal to make these photos," he says. "People were jailed just for possessing them."
Dr. Nagy identified the photos with help from a United Nations report on the revolution, which came out in 1957. There are numerous documents and details from the UN investigation on display, as well as the 16 demands for independence drafted by the Hungarian revolutionaries much like America’s Declaration of Independence.
"Our primary demand was that the Soviet troops should return to their country," he says. "They had been there since World War II ended in 1945. They pushed the Nazis out then forgot to go home."
Although the Soviet Union didn’t pull out of Hungary until the fall of communism in 1989, Dr. Nagy says the 1956 revolution has been called "the beginning of the end of communism."
"It really was the first very strong spark to shed light on the fabric of lies the Soviet government had woven," he says. "For example, they called Hungary ‘the peoples’ democracy,’ and it was neither. The revolution only lasted 12 days, but things were never quite the same afterward. It wasn’t possible to return to those lies."
Dr. Nagy recalls how even after he came to America, his reflexes were still to look around before he said anything.
"In Hungary, you never knew who was listening," he says. "We felt total numbness and fear during the dictatorship. Totalitarianism is like death, and our brief liberation was like a resurrection from the grave. It was like an electric current going through the country.
"That’s why we want to invite everybody, especially teachers, to come to the exhibit. It’s a modern history lesson from a time and event that is still very vivid. If photography had been invented during the American Revolution, this is what you would have seen a monumental event unfolding."
A People Cried Out: The 1956 Revolution and Fight for Freedom in Hungary is at the Museum of the American Hungarian Foundation, 300 Somerset St., New Brunswick, Sept. 30-Nov. 4. Opening reception Sept. 30, 2-5 p.m. Hours: Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun. 1-4 p.m. Suggested donation $5. For information, call (732) 846-5777.