On Thursday 16 March, the Embassy of Hungary screened a short documentary entitled “The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 - 60 years later. The 1956 Commemoration Season in the Netherlands” to a special audience in The Hague. The documentary was produced by Netherlands-based Hungarian filmmaker Csaba Bogádi and reflects upon eleven events that were organised throughout the Netherlands from August to November 2016 and attended by over 7000 visitors.

Like the short documentary, the aim of the extensive program organised by the Embassy of Hungary in collaboration with various partners was to commemorate the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and transfer the knowledge and experiences of this historic event to younger generations. In the documentary, four key figures of the 1956 Commemoration Season reflect upon the four concerts, three conferences, two exhibitions and the national commemoration ceremony that took place in the autumn of 2016.

The screening on 16 March 2017 was attended by partners who made the 1956 Commemoration Season possible. The Embassy of Hungary also invited the Dutch athletes who could not participate in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, which was boycotted by the Netherlands in solidarity with the Hungarian people. The Dutch athletes previously took part in a program specially organised for them in Budapest, together with the Swiss and Spanish athletes who also did not compete at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

On 23 October 2016, it was exactly 60 years since the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence was brutally crushed by the Soviet Union. The worldwide commemorations of the Revolution in 2016 with the theme “Where heroes at not forgotten, new ones are always born”, including in the Netherlands, were realised with the support of the Memorial Committee set up by the Hungarian Government to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence.

The documentary is available online.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)