New Russian textbook falsifies history regarding Hungarian Revolution of 1956

A new Russian textbook portrays the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 as a fascist uprising organized by the West and calls the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary in 1990 a mistake, the G7 portal reports. The deputy chairman of the Committee of National Remembrance said it was a falsification of history. The director of the Petofi Literary Museum issued a similar condemnation.

Budapest, 2020. november 30. Az IN MEMORIAM 1956. Oktober 25. emlékhely lejárata a Parlament elõtt esti kivilágításban. MTVA/Bizományosi: Róka László *************************** Kedves Felhasználó! Ez a fotó nem a Duna Médiaszolgáltató Zrt./MTI által készített és kiadott fényképfelvétel, így harmadik személy által támasztott bárminemû különösen szerzõi jogi, szomszédos jogi és személyiségi jogi igényért a fotó szerzõje/jogutódja közvetlenül maga áll helyt, az MTVA felelõssége e körben kizárt. Fotó: Róka László

The history textbook was written by Vladimir Medinsky, an adviser to President Putin, for 11th grade students. The book includes two paragraphs on the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which was defeated by Soviet troops.

In today's Russia, children are taught from now that "the Hungarian crisis was catalyzed by the actions of Western secret services and the internal opposition they supported. The Soviet Union sent troops to Hungary and helped the Hungarian authorities to suppress the protests.”

The Russian textbook, illustrated with a photo of a toppled statue of Stalin, portrays 1956 as a fascist uprising and describes the Soviet withdrawal from Hungary in 1990 as a mistake.

Speaking to InfoRadio, Aron Mathe, deputy chairman of the Committee of National Remembrance, spoke up against the claims in the Russian history book.

What is written in the Russian history book is undoubtedly a falsification of history from the Hungarian point of view. We simply cannot accept it. It makes us sick to our stomachs, because this is what we heard for 33 years after the revolution.

“As the 90th memorial law says, Hungarian freedom came from the events of 1956, from the blood of the martyrs. As the Hungarian saying about the Revolution of 1848 goes, we won’t budge from (what we achieved in) ‘48. Similarly, we won’t budge in case of 1956 either. This is a cornerstone. Our whole 20th century revolves around 1956. That is the axis," said the deputy chair of the National Committee of Remembrance.

Aron Mathe also said that he believes the old-new Russian interpretation of 1956 will make it more difficult for Hungarian and Russian researchers to work together, which has been very successful so far.

“So far we have had good cooperation with our colleagues at the Russian archives. This is a difficult situation because they have things that we need. We have arranged the repatriation of 680,000 individual files on the forced labor of Hungarians (called malenky robot) and prisoners of war in the Soviet Union. We have published books on Khrushchev's literary policy. This textbook doesn’t come at a good time" Aron Mathe, deputy chairman of the National Committee of Remembrance, told InfoRadio.

Szilard Demeter, the director of the Petofi Literary Museum also finds the new Russian history textbook scandalous.

Mr Demeter told the Telex news portal that "inhumane dictatorships will still be inhumane and dictatorships, even if someone starts to portray them in a positive light.”

Earlier, Magyar Nemzet reported that Ukrainian propaganda had also falsified history in Transcarpathia.

The Photoshopped images on billboards condemning Russian aggression in Transcarpathia are not historically accurate,

as the Russian army  did not yet use the current white, blue and red tricolor on its flags in 1849.

A similar poster campaign to the one in Hungary has been launched in the predominantly Hungarian region of Ukraine

with the falsification of Laszlo Hegedus' painting titled “Petofi's death”, depicting the death of one of the greatest Hungarian poets.

One of the posters condemns Russia's aggression and draws historical parallels between the Hungarian Revolutions of 1848 and 1956 and the Russian-Ukrainian war. The poster reads in Hungarian and Ukrainian: "Russia killed Petofi - Russia is killing us", and features two images.

The image on the right is a map of Ukraine under Russian missile attack, while the one on the left is a painting by Laszlo Hegedus entitled “Petofi's death”. The creators of the billboard, however,

Photoshopped the yellow and blue flag on the lances in the original painting into the white, blue and red tricolor with the Russian coat of arms. This is probably because the colors of the flag of the Cossacks, who killed Petofi, are almost identical with the colors of Ukrainian flag.

Zoltan Babucs, a military historian and senior researcher at the Institute of Hungarian Research, told Magyar Nemzet that the military flags of the Russian army in the mid-19th century featured the Tsar's crown and the double-headed eagle, with the initials of the monarch's name around the edges.

Although Russian 'civilian' flags had been white, blue and red since the end of the 17th century, they were not yet used by the army as a tricolor in 1849.

the historian said. He added that when the Hungarian army was defeated near Sighisoara on 31 July 1849, the Russian cavalry was sent in pursuit, and probably a soldier of the 5th Uhlan Regiment, named after the Duke of Nassau, caught up with Petofi on the run. 

In the painting by Laszlo Hegedus, which is radiating pathos, the blue and yellow flags on the lances show the uniform colors of the Nassau Uhlans.

said Zoltan Babucs.

It is not yet known who financed the posters in Transcarpathia, which were created by falsifying images and history, but we know who gave money for the posters in Hungary that read “Russians go home!” (Ruszkik, haza!).

Cover photo: The entrance of the IN MEMORIAM 25 October 1956 memorial in front of the Parliament in the evening lights (Photo: MTVA/Laszlo Roka)