“23 October is a continuous reminder that freedom is hugely valuable”, Parliamentary State Secretary Bence Rétvári from the Ministry of Human Capacities said at a commemoration on Bem Square in Budapest to mark the 63rd anniversary of the 1956 Revolution and fight for freedom.

“In 1956, it transpired that the major Western powers will not be helping, and we were on our own”, he added. “It is an eternal lesson that we Hungarians can always count only on ourselves, and that we do not receive freedom and independence from other empires, but must achieve it through our own efforts”, he continued. “This is why Hungary must be strong, must stand on its own two feet, and must also be respected by empires”, the State Secretary underlined.

“In 1956, the revolutionaries did not weigh up their chances. They took up arms against what was then the world’s largest land army for Hungarian freedom and independence, because by that time what the communists had done to the country had become unbearable”, he recalled. “The ‘Lads of Pest’ were prepared to sacrifice their freedom, their work, their future and even their lives for Hungarian freedom. The Constitution also states that Hungarian freedom has its roots in the 1956 Revolution”, he highlighted.

Mr. Rétvári also spoke about the fact that in every era there have been, are and will be people for whom Hungary will always come first, and those who serve other empires. “They can be distinguished by the fact that the latter will have no statues erected of them, and no streets or squares named after them”, he declared.  “The followers of the communist dictatorship disowned even their own families practically without exception, since by changing their names they disavowed their parents”, he stated.

At the commemorative event held at the statue of József Bem (a famous Polish general who assisted Hungary during the 1848-49 War of Independence), the State Secretary spoke about the fact that when we talk about Hungarian freedom and independence “we also take a footstep in Poland”.  “This was also the case in 1956. Hungarians and Poles also defended each other’s sovereignty and independence together and in solidarity during those days”, he added.

“Long live Hungarian freedom; long live the homeland!”, the State Secretary said in closing, quoting the famous motto of the Revolution.

At the event, a speech was given by a cross-border Hungarian student, Máté Somogyi, who stressed: “Respect to the memory of the heroes of 1956!”. He asked his contemporaries to define their own 1956 and their own ideal of freedom, and for social media to only be about 1956 for twenty days, not other challenges. The majority of those present at the event arrived at Bem Square in the traditional torchlight procession that began from the University of Technology and Economics.

The procession commemorates one of the determining events of the 1956 Revolution, the student rally held at the University of Technology on 22 October, at which students formulated a list of demands and decided to march to Bem Square the next day to express their solidarity with the Polish people.

This year’s procession, in which thousands of people were involved, mostly young people, was led by four Csepel trucks from the period, from which youths dressed in contemporary clothing waved to the crowd. Many of the people participating in the procession were waving Hungarian flags with the centre cut out (a symbol of the Revolution, during which Hungarians often cut the communist symbols out of the centre of the national flag as a sign of defiance) and Szekler flags.

The torchlight procession and the commemoration on Bem Square was co-organised by the Rákóczi Association.

(MTI)