Hungarian Freedom-Fighters of 1956: Not Antisemites

Russian propaganda presents to this day the Hungarian "Counter-Revolution" of 1956 as basically antisemitic and intending to re-establish Horthy's fascist regime. A recent book (in Hungarian) elaborates a synthesis of the work of Bela Kovrig, a Hungarian sociology researcher, who collected some 1500 questionnaires with data on the fighters that escaped to Austria after the failed revolt.

The demography of the refugees is remarkable: more than half are single men in under 25. 70% declared having taken part in the fighting. One third were students, a quarter workers and 20% professionals. Kovrig estimated that 10% were antisemitic, the rest followed the principle of "Keeping the Revolution Clean" - meaning no antisemitism should be allowed. They tried to create, as far they had a post-revolutionary political program, some kind of Social-Christian regime like that of West Germany at those times.

While the picture that emerges from Kovrig's questionnaires is clear and I believe representative of the actual fighters that escaped to Austria, in later phases of the process there was a re-emergence of older Fascist elements. I remember my parents during those times: we lived in fear. So much so that they left all their possessions - apartment, silver objects inherited from my grandparents, family photographs and who knows what else - and undertook a very dangerous escape from Hungary in war.