“1956 is a feeling of dignity, because every moment was about restoring the nation’s trampled self-esteem,” Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok said at a commemorative reception held at Hungary’s Consulate General in Košice, on the national holiday.
President Sulyok emphasized that the revolution and the subsequent war of independence were about the fearless youth of Budapest, the children of workers, and the university students who raised their heads and united against the injustice and inhumanity of the dictatorship.
They confronted the tanks and the communist power that maintained torture chambers and political prisoner camps while plundering citizens,
– he added, noting that this strong stand has cost many their lives.
President Sulyok recalled that in the autumn of 1956, the whole world was turned upside down, and everyone was paying attention to Hungary and the news coming from the country. He also highlighted the work of Sándor Márai from Košice, who regularly informed listeners about events through the “crackling frequencies” of Radio Free Europe in Munich.
In his speech, the president emphasized that nearly 2,700 compatriots were lost in the 1956 struggles, and around 200,000 fled the country.
“Hospitals treated 20,000 wounded, thousands were imprisoned for years, and more than 200 were sentenced to death in various show trials,” Sulyok noted, reminding the audience that the last prisoners were not released until 1970.
The war of independence has since taught us that human dignity also includes the dignity of the nation,
– he declared, adding that every nation has a dignity that cannot be taken away.
For us, here and now, the dignity of Hungarians and Slovaks is what's important, each presupposing the other. Our European ideal is a civic ideal based on the principles of equality, freedom, and fraternity,
– Mr. Sulyok said.
When we celebrate 1956, we must consider how much we can continue to build and strengthen these fundamental values, the president stated. We must cherish the culture that preserves the soul of our own and other nations, the mother tongue, and all that belongs to the sacred circle of human dignity, he added.
