These are the questions we put to the Russian authorities and the ambassador about the falsification of history

Magyar Nemzet has contacted Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman of the Russian President, Mariya Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry's spokeswoman, Russia's ambassador dispatched to Budapest and Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, regarding the description of 1956 as a fascist uprising in a Russian history book. The Russian textbook, illustrated with a photograph of a toppled statue of Stalin, claims that the Soviet Union had sent troops to Hungary to help suppress the protests.

A lefejezett Sztálin-szobor az 1956-os magyar forradalom és szabadságharc során. (Forrás: Historic Vids / Twitter)

We asked the Russian authorities and the Russian ambassador in Budapest about a Russian history textbook that describes the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 as a fascist uprising. We wanted to know why it was necessary to offend millions of Hungarians with the statements of the textbook. We also inquired why it was necessary to distort it and potentially set the two peoples against each other if this was such a minor historical event for Russia. Finally, we asked them if we could expect some kind of a correction in this issue.

Magyar Nemzet wrote earlier that the history textbook was written for 11th grade students  by Vladimir Medinsky, an advisor to President Putin. The Russian textbook, illustrated with a photo of a toppled statue of Stalin, describes the events as a 'crisis' and claims that the Soviet Union had sent troops to Hungary in a bid to assist Hungarian authorities in stifling the protests.

Soviet tanks might have crushed the 1956 Revolution on the streets of Hungary, but its spirit lived on in the hearts of the people. BLOG: https://t.co/Km89sijh3V pic.twitter.com/xyGtjQ4U5b

— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) November 4, 2019

The textbook also describes the Soviet withdrawal from Hungary in 1990 as a mistake.

This is all the more strange as Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia from 1991 to 1999, during an official visit to our country on 10-11 November 1992, apologized for the 'Russian interference' in the Revolution of 1965 and handed over a large part of the documents on the revolution kept in Moscow.

What is written in that 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.

said Aron Mathe, deputy chairman of the Committee of National Remembrance, in an interview with InfoRadio.

Mr 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.

🇭🇺 Hungary celebrates the 65th anniversary of the 1956 revolution and freedom fight. More than six decades before, the Communist regime collapsed in Hungary thanks to the people, mostly the young workers and students. pic.twitter.com/dRFegYnVWu

— Daily News Hungary (@DNewsHungary) October 23, 2021

The Hungarian Foreign Ministry also responded to the news. Tamas Menczer, State Secretary for Bilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told the Origo news portal:

"In 1956 the Hungarian people rose up against the communist dictatorship, this is a clear and obvious fact, there is no debate about it. Any claim to the contrary is false. What happened is so clear that we will not open a debate with anyone about it.

Today, Oct 23rd, marks the 65th anniversary of Hungary's short-lived 1956 Revolution. Students, workers, citizens revolted against their Soviet oppressors. My parents fled the country, fearing for their lives. This is how I became an American, born & raised in a free country. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Jen0GiGhO3

— Tibor M. Kalman (@kalmantibs) October 23, 2021

Cover photo: Stalin's statue beheaded during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (Source: Historic Vids/Twitter)