JAI'

Selected

WITH AN IN

h—H "rt
II ::n
Liu;

JANOS K AD Alt
Akadem
JANO S KADAR
Selected Speeches and Interviews

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY BIOGRAPHY BY L. GYURK6

Akademiai Kiado, Budapest 1985

This book is also appearing in the series

LEADERS OF THE WORLD, Pergamon Press 1985

ISBN 963 05 3534 3

© Akademiai Kiado, Budapest 1985

Published jointly with Pergamon Press

Printed in Hungary
Acknowledgements

The Publishers would Ito to than* Corviuu Press for permission io quote from the
undermentioned books:

i g£ grsrscws* “
isaKSS ssxst
and gratefully acknowledge the work of the translators of this volume:

Introductory biography: Gyorgy Banlak,

Speeches and interviews: Sandor Bandy, Gy &^
^.r,a Vegh^ Bulykai Gyorgy
Andrds Bcla Nagy.

Ma“! S&SgS&E* andMaria V» and of Ursu,. McLean

who revised the translations.

For the pictures, the Pub.ishers wouid liLe to thanL the MT, (Hu„Saria„ News

Agency).
KHHMHHMHB

Contents

Introduction by Robert Maxwell ix

Introductory Biography
Instead of an Introduction 3
A Working Class Boy in Hungary 9
Above Ground, Underground 24
Light and Darkness 51
Towards the Tragedy 77

Rebirth 100

With Us or Against Us? 119

Epilogue 149
Notes to Introductory Biography 153

Selected Speeches and Interviews

Address at the 10th Plenary Session of the Central Council of Hungarian Trade
Unions, January 26, 1957 169
Address to a Meeting of Csepel Activists of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’
Party, January 27, 1957 174

Closing Speech at the May 1957 Session of Parliament, May 11, 1957 177
Reply to the Discussion at the National Conference of the Hungarian Socialist
Workers’ Party (Abbreviated), June 29, 1957 191
Speech to the National Council of the Patriotic People’s Front, June 19, 1959 204
Speech at a Mass Meeting in the Csepel Iron and Metal Works (Excerpts),
December 1, 1961 210
Speech at the Budapest Party Conference (Excerpts), October 31, 1962 216

vii
 viii Contents

Interview Given to Andre Wumiser, Correspondent of “L’Humanite”, January

6, 1963 222
Speech at a Mass Meeting Held on the Occasion of UN Secretary-General
U Thant’s Visit at Csepel, July 2, 1963 234
Interview with AP Correspondent Preston Grover, June 1965 238
Conversation with Henry Shapiro, the Moscow-Based Correspondent of UPI,
July 2, 1966 245
Report by the Central Committee of the HSWP to the 9th Congress of the
Party (Excerpts), November 28, 1966 260
Conversation with Lajos Mesterhazi, Editor in Chief of “Budapest” Magazine,
February 1967 289
Address to the Session of the Central Committee, November 24, 1967 295
A Radio and Television Interview, January 1, 1968 303
Speech Made at the Cultural Centre of the IKARUS Body and Vehicle Factory
(Budapest), February 1968 310
Closing Speech at the 10th Congress of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party,
November 1970 326
Speech at the April 1972 Session of the National Assembly 335
Closing Remarks at the November 1972 Session of the Central Committee 348
Quo Vadis, Europa? June 1973 357
Address at the November 1974 Session of the Central Committee 364
Address at the Closing Session of the Conference on Security and Cooperation
in Europe, August 1975 379
Press Conference in Vienna, December 1976 382
Press Conference in Rome, June 1977 388
Answers to the Questions of the “Frankfurter Rundschau”, July 1977 394
Address at the April 1978 Session of the Central Committee 401
Press Conference at the Crillon Hotel, November 1978 425
Report by the Central Committee at the 12th Congress of the HSWP (Excerpts),
March 1980 430
Closing Address at the 12th Congress of the HSWP, March 1980 446
Notes to the Speeches and Interviews 458
Index 463
Introduction
By Robert Maxwell
General Editor of the “Leaders of the World” Series

Last year there was a stream of visits between senior Western leaders and Mr Janos
Kadar, First Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party. These were an
indication of his stature as an Eastern bloc leader willing to forge closer links with
the West, and to adopt the profit motive wherever possible to help make the Marxist
Socialist State more efficient and productive.
Sir Geoffrey Howe’s first official visit as the British Foreign Secretary was to
Hungary, as was Margaret Thatcher’s first visit to a Warsaw Pact country. Other
Western leaders to travel to Budapest in 1984 have included Chancellor Kohl of
the Federal German Republic and Signor Craxi, the Prime Minister of Italy. Mr
Kadar’s own highly successful visit to France was the first from a top-level Warsaw
Pact leader to President Mitterand, and followed a visit to President Giscard d'Estaing
in 1978.
Who is the object of all this interest? Born in 1912, Janos Kadar joined the outlawed
Communist Party in 1932. During the war he fought underground, and was captured
by the Gestapo, only to escape. Purged in 1951, he suffered severe torture by his
country’s secret police. Five years later he became head of the Hungarian Socialist
Workers’ Party and took over as Prime Minister. He asked the Soviet Union to give
military assistance in stopping the fighting and bloodshed which had been going on
in the capital of the country.
Many thought at the time that he was thrust into office as a direct result of his
friendship with Yuri Andropov, but in fact they became firm friends only after Kadar
came to power. His leadership, however, was supported from the beginning by the
Soviet leadership.
Steeled by a life of tumult, this tall, modest man with simple tastes has introduced
changes over the last 20 years which are the marvel of his people and the envy of
his neighbours. The New Economic Mechanism has brought about major changes in
industry which even allow workers to use State factories out of normal hours to
produce goods for their own profit at privately negotiated prices. Factory managers
are given greater autonomy, and personal accountability for performance has been
X Introduction by Robert Maxwell

increased throughout the economy. This flexibility of approach has brought benefits.
Hungary is a member of the IMF and has improved its balance of payments, but her
foreign debts are still relatively high. This has meant that the continuous improvement
in the standard of living of the Hungarian people has halted over the last couple of
years, although a modest resumption of economic growth is expected in 1985.
Kadar’s number one priority is the welfare and future of Hungary and her people,
to which he has dedicated his whole life. Every problem, every situation, is tackled
from the standpoint of Hungary and her place in the world. In this he is a fearless
and formidable protagonist. Thanks to his influence within the Warsaw Pact and
elsewhere there has been no antagonism between Hungary and the Soviet Union as
these policies have been implemented.
Kadar has given Hungary political stability and a high standard of living. Domestic
reforms under his rule mean that there are now no political prisoners in Hungary,
and internment without trial has been abolished. These advances have persuaded
many of the emigres of 1956 to return home. Kddar's popularity is now at its height,
and if a Western-style pluralist poll were to be held in Hungary it would undoubtedly
result in his re-election with a massive majority.
This year Hungary will have its first general election with two or more candidates
fighting every seat. Kadar takes the view that so long as there is agreement on the
peaks of policy - upholding the state and its social system, and supporting its
Warsaw Pact alliances - the rest can benefit from a variety of views and ideas about
how the economic and cultural life of the nation can develop. He points out that
Labour and Conservatives in Britain and Democrats and Republicans in the USA
share the same basic principles and views about the organisation of their State and
its defence alliances, while the debate between them is restricted to the arrangements
for distribution of wealth and power within the State.
Kadar has been criticised for seeking the military intervention of the Soviet Union
in 1956, but his philosophy on this is a simple one. Following the Great War, the
reactionary forces of 1919 invited the aid of the Western military powers to bring
down the Bolshevik revolution of Bela Kun. Similarly, in 1956, Hungary had no
alternative but to call for the military help of the Soviet Union to prevent a Civil War.
On the European stage, Kadar is a major player, and enjoys a significance which
goes well beyond the geopolitical position of the country he leads. It is an honour
to publish his book in our series “Leaders of the World".

ROBERT MAXWELL
Oxford, January 1985 GeneraI Editor
Introductory Biography
Instead of an Introduction
Urn no. unbiased. Nor do I believe .ha, one can think about history impartially - no,

even about remote centimes, le‘ al°”e '‘ P“^'story-book. What I am trying

1 have myself expenenced fc Vd

period. I am not trying to be unb
”C“'lSis concerned either. I saw him
bave mct him quite a
first a, a mass meeting mote than th.rty years ago. S n ee^nltave «f

"£ £ SSftHSL a mark of courtesy, and i, was clear that he was relieved
to have fulfilled a task not quite to his liking. of 0xford, 0n a visit
The whole thing started when te owner^o^ ^ would be pleased to publish
to Budapest, mentioned to one of th p y . (he series they were publishing
Janos Kadar’s autobiography, °r a ^Why ofh^ He WQuld nQt
on significant contemporary statesme . ‘ someone else should write his biog-
write an autobiography and wouldno ay a]so‘categorjca]ly refused t0 haVe Hungar-
raphy. Later I learnt from b m ^ of Serous politicians, scientists and
condition that the film would not be shown, but would

be Placed in archive of the ^making something of the

Oxford publisher’s plan after all. F<Jr while Kadar was

a public matter, a few of his fellow ea ere w ^ unusuai political career.

would enable 2S wh°o had'Ai lived through the period nor were familiar

with it to follow Kadar’s career.

3
4 Introductory Biography

It was not easy to get Kadar to agree even to this. Early in our conversations,
he told me frankly that he would acquiesce only if he were obliged to do so by the
leading body of the party. He only gave way to a resolution from the Party's Political
Committee.
This episode is characteristic of Kadar’s whole life. “One of the newspapers wrote
about me”, he said at a press conference in Rome in 1977, “that I am a ‘slave to com¬
promise’, but I should like to say that I do not consider this expression insulting. I have
long been in favour of all compromise which helps the cause I have been working and
struggling for”.
If we search for Janos Kadar’s secret, we will quite certainly find the motive force
of his life to have been his sense of duty. And his sense of reality is basic to not only
his makeup but also to his philosophy of life. These two factors have been decisive
in determining all his policies.
Frankly, I myself had reservations about undertaking this task. I knew, and feel it
is only fair to tell the reader, that this biography couldn’t even hope to strive to be
comprehensive.
Tf I had started to work with the thoroughness incumbent upon a historian, it would
have taken years to do the necessary research in libraries and archives, to understand
how all the pieces fit. I would have had to ask contemporaries who arc still alive to
check what they remembered against the documents, and to study the history of the
entire century more thoroughly. And even after all that, there would still remain
details which could not be explored or verified.
I had no alternative but to settle for imperfection. This piece of writing is therefore
not a portrait; at most, it is the outline of a portrait. My opinion of the period is,
obviously, open to dispute, for in more than one instance it differs from the picture
generally accepted. As a citizen, I should be justified in shifting responsibility onto the
historians, the ideologists, the economists, and the politicians, by asking why they
have not explored the history of this period and of this personality more thoroughly
and in greater detail. As the author of this essay, I must answer for my own judge¬
ments, for the fact that they are open to dispute and also for the fact that my views
may be inadequately founded. Kaddr did not read the manuscript, so even to that
extent my work has not been checked. I have shown it to a few experts, politicians,
and friends whose judgement and competence I trust. There were things they agreed
with, and things they disagreed with. When they managed to convince me, I incorpo¬
rated their views; when they did not, I stuck to my own ideas.
For my own peace of mind, I can only add the following: 1 think I know the funda¬
mental facts. The exploration of the details is not part of this work. One can outline
the essence without clarifying the nuances. For this outline, open to criticism though
it is, is nevertheless an attempt to analyze Hungary’s recent past and that of the Hun¬
garian socialist movement.
I do not know all the secrets cither of Janos Kadar, or of his time; I cannot, there¬
fore, pretend to completeness, attractive and fitting as that aim would be. What 1 can
do is to write of a man whom I more or less know, and of an age as I have lived
through it, either in fact or in my mind. 1 repeat, I am not a historian, but an observer
of history.
 Introduction 5

T realized in advance that the greatest difficulty would be Kadar himself. Although
he undertook to answer my questions out of a sense of duty, and did not even tie these
interviews to conditions, 1 knew that my opportunities were limited.
Durine the conversations, I did not use a taperecorder and even the notes I only
made afterwards. Not that Kadar would have objected. But a few years earlier he told
me how much he had been disconcerted when one of his interlocutors had suddenly
pulled pencil and paper out of his pocket.
“How can one have a conversation”, he complained, “when the other person is
taking notes?”
And this from a statesman for whom journalists, press conferences and radio re¬
porters are a part of life. I thought that what I would lose on the swings I could make
up on the roundabouts if our conversations were more relaxed and more personal,
even if subsequently I had nothing but my memory to rely on.
Kaddr is a courteous man. It is part of his makeup, but it is reinforced by his tenet
that the higher the post one fills, the more it is one’s duty to be patient with others.
He set no limits to our conversations; the only thing he insisted on was knowing
exactly how much time I needed.
He always receives his visitors with his desk cleared. There are no unresolved files
on Kadfir’s table, no unanswered letters. He is disturbed and irritated by unfinished,
unclosed affairs.
“I have no time”, he said, “to deal with my past.”
I am myself a man of reasonable compromise. 1 asked for three days. 1 thought this
would be enough to ask him about the most important things and was perhaps not
too much to discourage him completely. I think I was not mistaken; he nodded, evi¬
dently satisfied. All he asked me was to be sure to stick to our agreement for he allo¬
cates his time with great precision.
Of course, T knew that even thirty days would not be enough to clarify all the details.
But I also knew that Kadar would be neither able, nor willing to agree to that anyway.
“I am not what I used to be”, he said on one occasion. “Nowadays I get tired by
the evening.” r
Kadfir was sixty-nine at the time of these conversations; he still works from morning
till evening, every weekday, except for one afternoon a week when he watches films.
In the mornings he takes his time, potters about comfortably, washes, shaves,
smokes a cigarette, gazes out of the window. He lives in a beautiful spot amidst
trees and shrubs, in a three-room villa in Buda overlooking the city. There are
books and pictures all over the place; in his office, too, thousands of books line the
walls. It is the same house as he lived in when he was arrested in 1951. His wife was
evicted then, fired from her job, and worked as an unskilled labourer for a long time.
Today she is a pensioner; she used to be department head at the Information Office
of the Council of Ministers.
For Kadar, the mornings are times of preparation. That is when he thinks through
the past day and the one ahead, thinks over his work and his tasks. He concentrates
in the way that good sportsmen do before going out on the field. He has often been
described as having an instinctive talent. What struck me more was his deliberateness.
1 have noticed that he speaks to a six-year-old child as he speaks to an adult. When
 6 Introductory Biography

*»"!his ■-* ■•■ «** «o

then did he start to woric 3’ ' everyth'n8 would be at hand, and only
i
*- ™* — ** sports. (
In thirty-five years he has new^oftrfTd“ks' “d “”= £

“The doctors told me” he save “*u„( , L ,,

^
himself tn pencil. He smokes twenty civarettes8^ ri'"'*611 & s
He used to be a very heavy smoker. 3' C'garettes a
a"d specl!l*'s
neither more, nor less.
C
t
I
over, r answered. And I was thinking thaVifTcutd1 1° te"' 1 W°Uld think i£ ii
they would say cut down by half again So I toldth/T" ^ kaIf now- the next time Si
He works until eight in the evening Hi,c 1 W0U,d stick to twenty.”
office. He has his one hot meai in theevening'“ CUtS ^ h3S in his b.
but not any longer. In recent years his favour!^ USCd t0 take Thorne, tl
theatre, hunting, a game of chess, or a football mLZ-hZZ ~ 311 evening at the tt
He has no television set; he begrudges the time he n,h haVe become rare occasions.
Legend has it that Kadar is a nassionam a e, therwise spends reading, to
circulating in the country that important stateand personnel16"6*^6 apocrypbal Tories su
during games of ulti\ I myself know politicians JT! t? , ters have been decided W(
by perfecting their game. The truth is that Kdd^'^ C3reerS 0E
games; but cards have never played a significant role ln hi^^ A 38 he likes »” to
cards he concentrates only on the game and on nnt. fe;Anl.whenhe does play rifl
primarily from Kaimdn Mikszdth2 that political Her' • 108 t Se’ Tbe Publ‘c knows, Iw
were often made at the felt-covered card tables The ^ °f the last centur3' thi
to be substituted for the upper class game of tariff Ti T™ g3me °f ulti had on|y am
Today only his greatest pVssion re-,2"
**
? "d 'he legend was born. (

There is no evening when he does’ SSdSSHil0 * If"*’* rclaxado"- alsi

on hand at a time, reading his favourite ones time fn d * y r f°Ur °r flVC books whi
classical writers, but he is surprisingly well informed 8 St °f 3)1 COme the do
literature as well. P 8> ell informed on contemporary Hungarian it

bee
literature helps.” He Siite '° f0ll<>W ^ “ C,°Se,y 3S 1 USed to”’ he says- “But good rig!
put
e“^ you
and
credit of a man twenty years his junior- 1d™Zh r ^ day would be to the that
main reason for his reluctance about his biography '** °f time Was the I cc
am
modest manln the aT * 3 profoundly W
wise, old peasants who have lived to see much These^ m°StIy t0 be found amon8 not
the crops, the fields, the affairs of he vi,Le and oTthT" * $peak about whit
silent about themselves. Not that they have anythfoa oTd ’ ‘ they ^ deeply him.
instincts protest against such opening up and thev nlh ’ " JS JUSt that their char
intruding on their privacy. Modesty of the spirits ^Tfnt nor tolerate a«yonc M
as that of the body. P s an ,nner 'mperative as strong he li
like :

2
 Introduction '

KMd, is certainly
wherefores; I amS1®?!Y £ ncver“listens to himself on the r d The terse
room while ltis"° ' officiai, semi-official, or non- some contradictory
on television. He has n dias and handbooks co English historian

““ “d

s the repetitions sten^g credibiUty of what he said. ot so

it is not sorae of
simple
1 the phrases only 10«ea should say something, a ircumstanCes were
e “Propriety also demands in ^ Uke to say first that “V lo ^brate
S. to speak on such an ' j was brought up it was no j grew Up. It is
such that in the farm y or namedays. That w 1 ^t it was proper
;s wedding anniversaries, * that I have met with the that it vs
;d only in .he «««*£,, and uhcffi^y^e‘S“ pyart in this.
rs ,0 celebrate su°h <** of famiiy life are celebrated-Bit d to it .1 am saying
ill
ay
vs,
iry
niy

on. when one grows up physically f . Us say a birthday

oks do anything about *. wb6n ^ , toil)M*casj°”rt ,■ MnsidM it
the
"»1S aMt^ i 3 political affair. The way Ispermits, a political and
rian becomes a publ c an P ^ lmlt wf* S S a birthday. 1 understand

;ood

i the
1 - ~sed
the

When 1 was ** t* “2£Si£5» only from

jndly
mong
about
leeply
; their
nyone he likes jokes, he has a good an
strong Uheff when he is in the limelight.

2
8 Introductory Biography

It is no small contradiction that with such a personality he has been a leader from
his early youth, and the leader of his country for a quarter of a century. Nothing but
his sense of duty can account for this.
As far as I know, he was preparing to go on pension upon reaching retirement age
like most workers in the country. But that is not how it was to be. And there is no
other reason than that he understood that the country still needed him. For I hardly
know a leader less preoccupied with his position than Kadar. For him, the exercise of
power is also a daily burden. According to one of his colleagues, there are only two
things he is really afraid of: the dentist and power. And power is the more fearful.
For a statesman who has helped guide the fate of a country for so many years,
contributing daily to the most important decisions, the whole rhythm of his life
determined by this form of activity, it cannot help but be a shock when from one day
to another his everyday environment changes, and his whole lifestyle alters as his daily
tasks vanish. Nevertheless, I do not believe that Kidar, had he retired, would have
become an embittered man, finding neither his place nor a purpose in life, as has
happened with several leaders I know who have not been able to cope with this
change of lifestyle. When Kadar goes on holiday, he really does get away from it all,
from politics, from official and state matters; even the papers he only leafs through.
This is also part of his secret: he is an exceptionally well-balanced, disciplined man.
When I say the “secret” of Janos Kadar, I am not talking about the state secrets
which are part and parcel of the life of political leaders in any corner of the world.
I am talking about the secrets of the personality, of the individual character, those
that are every man’s own most intimate. Indeed, this is a personal ail'air of Kddar’s
which can be of public interest only to the extent that it helps one to understand his
career and his policies.
But Kadar also has another secret, one more important than any other and which
really concerns everyone. Those who have lived through the past twenty-five years or
so know that in November 1956 the most hated man in the world for several hundred
thousand Hungarians was the First Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers'
Party, Janos Kadar. And if we leaf through the leading Western newspapers of the
time, we shall find only words like “traitor”, “executioner”, “Soviet agent”, and
“tyrant” attached to his name.
Since then, a quarter of a century has passed. Janos Kadar is still First Secretary of
the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party. And today he is undoubtedly the most
esteemed, the most popular man in the country. And anyone who pays attention to
the Western press today can see that even the most stubborn enemies of the socialist
system write about Kadar’s person and policies with respect.
This almost incredible change is Janos Kadar’s real secret, one which is worth un¬
ravelling.
 9
A Working Class Boy in Hungary

i
A Working Class Boy in Hungary
t

;e In 1912 when Janos Kadar was born,^ “^HighSss FrancLIosfph, was sitting on
o
iy
af
10

rs,
ife
ay
i'y
ive
has
;his
all,
igh.
in.
:rets
>rld.
hose 3 unwritten rules of the 650 in front of .be EntpeM »nd *=
jhr’s ,he wedding, he was compelled to^ P ^ ,hat Ws descendmts forfehed
d his Princes that his marrtage was a nusallia^to ^ ot fte ptmleges iu™

vhich
irs or
[id red
rkers'
if the
and

tary of
: most
tion to 8 XsVS^bornin Fiume» on May 26,1912.
ocialist

>rth un- Danube all the way down to the shores years after, that was

2*
JO Introductory Biography

but his family would not let him. They had a few acres of land; the girl had nothing: she I have not heard h
was considered no better than a beggar. As was considered right and proper, the Sandor. There mus
young man was married off to a peasant girl of corresponding “rank”, and Borbala day to day he had
Csermanek gave birth to a son out of wedlock. The feudal constraint and custom whether he would
he never sought ol
were just as implacably binding on the poorest peasants as on the royal house.
family suffer for it
In those days, it was a great disgrace to be an illegitimate child in Hungary. How
his wife attentively
Janos Kadar bore this stigma in his childhood I do not know. One thing is certain:
wanted to marry I
he learned what social prejudice was at an early age.
A girl who had to earn her living as a servant could not afford to have a child.
“The unfortuna
No one would hire a servant girl with a child. Borbala Csermanek had no alter¬
who wrote all tl:
native but to find foster parents for her son if she wanted to get a job. And work she
immeasurably lc
had to, because she had no one to support her. This is how Janos Kaddr came to spend
love, so that Iov
the first years of his life in Kapoly in Somogy County. He has no memories of his
birthplace, Fiume, and was already a statesman when he next visited the town. He is might keep him
committing thin
not the type to go searching for traces of his past.
which he fears 1
Kapoly is, indeed, at the end of nowhere. At the time, there was no railway, or
They beat him I
proper road; needless to say, there was no electricity, no plumbing, no sewage, as was
the case with most Hungarian villages. During the thirties, I myself spent a part of my he would never
had he been lo’
childhood in that region, and I remember this beautifully situated, destitute village.
There were two winding streets with a little brooklet between them which always the child they d:
and who they b
dried up in the summer; and at the end of the village there is nothing-the forest
begins. Kapoly had about a thousand inhabitants at the time, half of them Catholics, because they co
bear that they
half of them Protestants. Most people were very poor, but both denominations had
do not love hiir
their own church, as was considered proper at the time. Since most of the land be¬
longed to the Benedictine Abbey in Tihany, the little work there was went mostly to
This was Attila
the Catholics. Kddar’s foster father was a Protestant. A peasant as poor as Borbala
Csermanek, he at least had a roof over his head, could grow a few things in the garden, more and more c<
afraid of. The effe
and could keep animals. His lot, a difficult one at best, was aggravated by his wife’s
illness; there was no one to do the women’s work around the house, and the invalid a few years of cac
most outstanding
had to be cared for and attended to.
same spot as the p
This is how Janos Kadar later remembered those years:
was a symbolic tri
“Until the age of six I was reared in Somogy County in a small village where the
“I learnt in Ka]
houses had thatched roofs and were lit by oil lamps. It was a muddy hole, but it
loved.”
was my world; I knew every soul, every tree, bush, hill and stream. For me Somogy
His face is lined
and its familiar landscape is virtually my native land; it’s there I spent the decisive
period when I became conscious of the world, and came to know people and their be said to have bee
he has never forge
environment, and my home country. Every region has its own peculiarities: the
“Remember, Ja
dialect, the way simple human matters are judged, the customs, the dress, the folk art
“This was the ft
and many other things which a child born and brought up there absorbs and retains
the traces of to the end of his life. Life gave me all this in Somogy, and I cherish it, is clear that he is
Uncle Sandor v
and not just as a memory, to this very day.”
In many respects Kadar’s childhood is simi lar to that of the poet Attila J ozsef , seven life anyway. As so
the house, help c:
years his senior. But while his childhood memories haunted Attila Jozsef to the end of
his life, Kadar remembers these years as almost idyllic. This was almost certainly due and the sheep.
to his foster parents, particularly his foster father. Except for his wife and his mother,
 A Working Class Boy in Hungary 11

I ha,e not heard hint speak of anyone with s~th Frot

Sandor. There moat have been of
day to day he had to struggle f - . fe evcn raore tormenting. But

ss=sr^“r£5Kf---.»-"“
wanted to marry Borbala Csermanek for the sake of

“The unfortunate
who wrote all this,
immeasurably longs tor
love, so that love
might keep him from
committing things
which he fears to do.
They beat him for things which
he would never have done
had he been loved. He is
the child they did not love,
and who they beat also
because they could not
bear that they
do not love him ...”

This was Attila Jdzsafs cry W “fromwh“

more and more conversant with dealh . cxcmplified by two tragedies. Within
afraid of. The effect he had on my gen ^ ^ ^ aclori perhaps the
a few years of each other, a frien ’ themseives under a train at the self-
most outstanding of his generation, bot Their last act
same spot as the poet had done «;»““Cion Attila Jdasef.
™ai.Sam“K^“ the most difficult fate is bearable if one ,s

loved.” . , , , he looks tired. His life can hardly

belaid toliavebee'nan easyonc. There is another wise saying of Uncle Sdndor's which

"SXi a poor man’s child %***££ «, bat i,

■This was the first piece of Marxist education I had , says Kadar.

£ srr "fndW look after the turkeys, the p,8s

and the sheep.

12 Introductory Biography

He recalls a hot summer day when he was around six: it was harvest time, and the two-thirds
whole village was working in the fields. He was playing with three other children of ture. A qu
the same age in the barnyard of the only slate-roofed house in the village. A slate roof owners, or
in those days meant not only wealth but rank, too. The owner of the house was a of the popi
gentleman, a sort of inspector. One of his sons was a bit “soft in the head”, mentally ings failed
retarded we would say today. Hot as the day was, he insisted that he was cold. had no ide
He made a fire, and the haystack and the slate-roofed house went up in flames. The village, Pu
church bells were rung to raise the alarm and the harvesters ran back to the village half broth
from the fields. The children thought it better to make themselves scarce. But in the “Ties of
evening they had to slink back to the village. The Csermanek child had a clear con¬ knowing o
science; it was not he who had set the haystack on fire. But when the inspector saw His fath
him, he hit him with his riding whip just the same. The child ran home to Uncle constrictio
Sdndor who listened calmly to all that had happened, and then he said “The only one rather thar
who may hit you, is the one who gives you bread.” once in the
This ancient peasant saying reflects the defiance and pride of the oppressed and the mother.
humiliated, and in all probability was very characteristic of Uncle Sdndor. But the In Budaj
epilogue of this story is no less characteristic of Jdnos Kdddr. About fifteen years later and was as
he returned to visit the village where he had grown up. By then he had not been to to be an as:
Kapoly for many years. He had come by bicycle from Budapest. Just outside the vil¬ to that ofi
lage, he came across some women. He greeted them and asked if they remembered only of the
Jani Csermanek. Of course, came the answer, the boy who set the inspector’s house have been
on fire. Kadar was so hurt by being remembered so unjustly that he got on his bicycle anything el
and went all the way back to the capital - ninety-five miles away - without going into It took t
Kapoly. This soft-spoken, calm, well-balanced man is also dogged and defiant. And he had felt ver
tolerates injustice with great difficulty, although he has had to put up with quite a lot rather than
of it during his life. nek was a
His contact with Uncle Sandor was not broken even after his mother took him to and quick 1
Budapest when he was six. He always spent the summer holidays in the country, and shortsighte
he helped pay for his school expenses with what he earned in the summer by working because the
in the fields. This was how he was able to finish not only the four compulsory years of haze, was
elementary schooling, but also the next four years, quite a rarity among the poor. which hare
He stopped going to Kapoly only when he became an apprentice, because in those What the
days apprentices got no holidays. Later, when he was already earning, he sent a few ideology of
Pengos5 to Uncle Sandor, whenever he could. The old man had a house, and the gar¬ simpler exp
den produced the necessities, but it was a source of great pride and satisfaction to him for Jani Cs
to be able to invite his friends for a glass of wine from time to time on these few was a devo
Peng5s. I think the self-respect this gave him was as important to Uncle Sandor as on Christa
the air he breathed. One would like to believe that there are men of his sort still around the
around. bakery in tl
Kadar benefited from his village contacts as a child; he learned to know the rural cold and th
way of life, so different from life in the city, and learned to love nature so much that place in the
he still walks in the forest whenever he can. But living among the peasants for years decorating
was good schooling for the future politician as well; he became familiar with their lives, queue. But
their customs, morals, and philosophy of life from within. In Kad&r’s youth, Uncle Sane
Hungary was an agricultural country and remained so for a long time. In the twenties, out to the v
 13
A Working Class Boy in Hungary

two-thirds of the
,e

3f of the population, .f owncrs enough to subsist on. Jan ^ ^ eyen smaller

a
Ib¬ !S no r^tbis heU;a father and three
id.
he
ige
the
on-
saw
nclc
one

i the mtBUcS..BorWlaCs«n»—
t the
later
en to
ie vil-
bered
house
ticycle
ig into
ynd he
SS2sr»SS
te a lot

him to
ry, and
vorking
years of Which hardly made her ^“^‘^rehgion. There is no need “^“^^uch
poor,
in those
:nt a few simpler cplanotto"- God drdn ^ ^
1 the gar-
>n to him ^"cathode. The some a,home«
these few
Sandor as
s sort still

/ the rural place in the queue an ran jhen he knew why he had been ma in Kapoly,
much that
s for years
their lives,
ar’s youth,
SB&iSSirfe
ie twenties,
14 Introductory Biography
Republic, who
not little Jesus who brought the Christmas tree; his mother, however, expected him remained a dei
In Novembi
t0InThe evening The mother prayed. She snapped at her son to pray, too. The child munist prisone
to pra/h. did no, even knowhow ,o. “ aemane P group called th
some corn in the corner of the room and made her disobedient son kneel on it. Tt ^ differed from
a common punishment in those days, one of the mildesternes. ‘ TobeT>utin ^eco™ completed, bu
was a humiliation: the malefactor became an outcast, he did not deserve to be a pa were only a ha
of the world. The corn hurt to kneel on; so the pumshment mortified the flesh discontent. Tt
far that when
35 When she finished her prayers, Borbala Csermanek went to bed. The child did not demonstration
move from the comer. Neither of them could sleep. Then the mot^ pegged leaders were a
stubborn son to come to bed. The offended child would not move. He did so only But this ten
gravest proble
" The^UWhoo'd ofHnoI KMtowdrf Attila Jo^ef differed not only hoped from th
was more fortunate in similar circumstances. There was also he d^oence tha nation of an i
he stubbornly resisted when he felt an injustice had been donc ,hf11 Af the two the new natio:
more vulnerable Attila Jozsef bottled up wound upon wound inside. Of the principles of i
rebels one became a party worker, the other a poet. On March
Despite all their initial difficulties, I think that, with the except.on of his w.fe the Party of Com
is no human being whom Kadar has loved as much as his mother. Until herdcdh'h of the newly a
lived with the Mutter, as he refers to his mother Exceptofcour^ ment the Revi
_ there were quite a few of these for Kadar - and the considerable tune spent order differec
underground. Kadar was already one of the country’s leaders when no maUer ho was Sandor C
late he went home he knew he would find h.s mother awake, wiling up for him m th was Bela Kui
kitchen never going to sleep until her son returned. Love and the old peasant sense o These even
duty dictated that she should not go to bed as long as her son was up. And in because he w
days, party leaders seldom got to bed before midnight. Kanolv to live fundamental
Rut we are still in 1918, the year when Janos Csermanek left Kapoly who can adji
in Budapest By then, not only World War I, but the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy moment to tl
“When I s
of Budapest,
me; but thisi
roads, electr
aeroplanes, c
AThTsvmbol of the 1918 revolution was the little Michaelmas daisy (called “autumn saw enormo'
rose”6^Hungarian) the gentle, modest flower which the soldiers used to replace the alien and aw
Monarchy insignia torn from their hats, and which the civilians putin thing I didn'
Kadar ha;
determine hi
the middle o
to another h
in a queue fc
no clothes, i
distribution of the great landed estates with compensation for the owners mart*, misery, and
fn vTffi was the example of Mihaly Karolyi, by then provisional President of the
 A Working Class Boy m Hungary 15

In November 19 d from Russia, left-wing S ,, tuais. This party

prisoners of w
munist r nary Socialists, and a few left-^^ok Qn the revolution as
group called the political forces in that it did n beginning there
differed from f1 A,,“Sop„^‘h^°p'e'S

1^,»« * c—“
demonstration and sever.*
sever — Ive one of the
leaders were arrested.
leaders were arrested. - . —«» ipft could
itation Gf the extreme left• »» n • ■’
his associates had
But this tempor ry P , j government. Mihaly K ^ d the procla-
gravest problems of the K^oyS lhe House of Ha^s^r| and that
6hoPcd from the be.nnmg ^ *** ^ ^ confidence ^^S^twctive
mation of an be drawn in counts.
the new national boundarie They were disappomted Hungarian
principles of Party of Hungary ^h
On March 21, 1919 d and proclaimed the Republic of the goveri-
Party of Communists merg were caUed people’s comrnis^ social

s^^SSSSSsaes
was Sandor Ga • * nf them and not just

moment to^the ^^' ^^^b^D^lKSo^bern^Radway^Station aml^ught^a^imi"ise

“When I stepped ootof ttel* ^ famdiar with ,t had_■»hard-surface

roads, electric lamps,formerly unknown wonders _And^ ^ ^ wonderful,

remained alien to me, some-

£ iS jbe*coimcU ^cwernrnmrt e of^'v illage in

Kadar has no re^hat could a seven-ycar-old chi «^d whgn from one day
determine his me. - the objective changes in bad to stand

the middle he °h °Sh^re^ere^was nefmore money, there were

to mother he foun toes, just as before there wa ^ ^ poverty and

=S5irs;Ki-«— »-■»•
16 Introductory Biography

society and economy were being fundamentally transformed at a hectic pace. In its
first proclamation, the Governing Council pronounced the public ownership of large
estates, of factories, banks, and transportation companies. Factories employing more
than 20 workers and estates of more than 150 acres were nationalized. The eight-hour
working day was introduced, the workers’ wages were increased by 20 per cent, medi¬
cal care became free, sick benefits were introduced, a decree providing for a general
pension scheme was worked out, working mothers were guaranteed 12 weeks paid
maternity leave, and discrimination against illegitimate children was abolished. In the
capital, where about a quarter of a million people lived eight or more to a single room,
more than a hundred thousand people were rehoused in the villas and spacious flats of
the rich. In Budapest, a workers’ university was set up where several thousand manual
workers studied management, accounting, and foreign languages in the time they
got off work in the afternoons for the purpose. According to the Councils’ new fran¬
chise law, every man and woman over 18 except for the capitalists and priests had the
right to vote and to hold office. The separation of church and state was recognized
and all schools and educational institutions were nationalized. A uniform system of
primary education was worked out: instead of the former four-grade elementary
school, all children were to receive compulsory free education until the age of 14.
It is almost unbelievable what strength and imagination the new system had
in those first few weeks and months. The decrees, however, were often passed in
haste or were impossible to put into practice: even in the case of those that were
not, the implementation seldom went smoothly and was often chaotic. There was no
lack of utopianism, either; the leaders of the Republic of Councils lived in the happy
belief that socialism would be a brief transition to Communism, which the approaching
world revolution would bring about.
This utopianism was responsible for the gravest political mistake of the Hungary of
the Councils: the government did not distribute the land among the peasants but
created cooperatives on the nationalized estates. Peasants have wanted land from the
beginning of time and have supported whoever has given them land: this was one of
the secrets of the success of Soviet Russia. The Republic of Councils did not give land
to the landless, so the majority of the peasants did not feel the revolution was their
own; they did not fight for it as they would have, had they been defending their own
land. This fatal mistake had its effects not only during the time of the Republic of
Councils, but after its suppression, too, and also after the country’s liberation in 1945:
one mistaken political decision was enough to influence Hungary’s history for half
a century. The peasantry did not think of the council government as one which had
given them land, and they did not think of the Horthy system as one which had taken
their land away.
But the Republic of Councils would have fallen even if its peasant policy had been
unexceptionable. The history of the Republic of Councils cannot be understood with¬
out remembering that its leaders were convinced that the proletarian revolution would
soon triumph in a number of European countries; the Hungary of the Councils would
then not be a lonely little island in a hostile sea, but a member of a gigantic and strong
union. The Russian Communists shared this hope at that time.
 A Working Class Boy in Hungary '7

“~£rSSs,rrE^f~H”;
SSSsSsSS^SS
=r=S-=;=-=‘“-“

==S=S|=S£=S
was too small to be able to do so.'Th * Pf which were vastly suPen°r’ R , and
military victories, butannounced at the session of ^^^.j^^ngpower to

preserve ° ““Sion spread, to other ».»«' Uok to probably

Tw£.-* » » «* **-:
did. The Hun^nan Republic of Coun as long as the P“S ^^csemanek

Hs^SSSsiSS “ in good Somogy style, *V?°'frtf,ieUllage so as not to feel so

■Sed. He had brought a little way, he still Keeps poultry,
lonely among the ££J£StheLhnown dft^ a„d lhc
 Mmnnn!

ml
Introductory Biography

°i oThr. SS SSS Jj £ was not blocked

Lagymanyos, Kelenfold, Gellert Hill Sas Hill VW D“ube* the winter docks.
Park and the People’s Park one after ’the other’ and ?f’Szunyog Jsland> the City
Anyone who knows Budapest even luV 1 all became favourite places.”
many hours on foot. A working class kid had no™ '^1 Wanderin8s entailed
It was very difficult for me to get used to rh l° take a tram-
like a true-born native of Budapest. You see'’ That\ ’ Kadar' “Yet toda-v 1 feel
Ml In addition to studying working a„d , , Th what PeoPle are like!”
m the boy’s life which must were three passions
chess. He played football for two years in f°r S,eep: soccer> reading, and
Street. He was proud of the dub^s yellow and 21? ^^ Sp°rtS C,ub in Harsfa
Ins mother s scoldings and slaps for all the shoe!heV7a rS’ a'ld put up with
half, and, of course, had dreams of qualifying forthe \ t0,p,eces- He P'ayed centre
an apprentice he no longer had time to go out tl t ^ When hc *»«*

I
He stll i,kes to watch sQccer 8 out to play soccer m the People’s Park.

e ectncity at home and paraffin cost a lot h

drrr *• -—by *.
u W the even'nS> and there was no
there, often until midnight, although he hS SeM 6 Under a street %ht and read
his life he has slept little. “I do not really k now” &h l° W°fk 3t five in the m°rning. All
much. Perhaps because they opened up new world! ^ b°°ks fascina,ed me so
A dhf S3W ‘han in what 1 read. But in those rh ““‘.v*1 a’WayS pUt morc fai<h

j,8W s°

Chess Club and, nee^^^a^jO^er-Fcrencvaros Workers’

ferand master. He did not become one but ewn// “u® prospcctive international
hess world, and it is one of his favourite pastimes to!?/ m f°ll0WS lhe events of the
through the games of the masters P ' homc with a book and play

£■ * tbe Hungarian work-

ng evenings, sports clubs, scientific lectures and hiS^i a“°C,at,ons’ P°etry read-
no id
of the movement, as talking politics Whether8 a" as much Part
extrer
movement had always been persecuted in.Hun^r! , T ^ lhe working class
not ui
me, b
thing i
tnidit!onis.0lC working dass !eadersgrew up in Stoemdronmeirt^Mdon tlwse montl
changi
nectioi
A WhT°'C “ h®d * d° ** -ess. Att
Havas Street, with the first prize a book Sixteen™* Ud,od headquarters in
was su
any wc
“won the cratic 1
~ ^ (in Hungarian KS joining
 A Working Class Boy in Hungary 19

Dhhriug wouid transform all .he SE&S

I had even more trouble with the content W1fzSbTnever a book likethis,
from penny dreadfuls like Mr. Hercu es it. it was written in Hungarian,
f was astonished after the first I couldn U*tt^w ^ ^ yet of
I could read the letters, f under Neediess’t0 say, at that time I rated my mtcl-
the whole book 1 understood notlu g- waJn the book. I was intrigued by
lectual capacities very high y. g h ‘modeof existence of albuminous
the secret of life. And thw booked th^ hfc was excjted my curiosity.
bodies’. This irritated me, but it also made me ^ by the book. i became
I don’t want to make: a.long story j don-t know how
more and more immersed in , cocked snooks at me,
many times. My friends pudied me ab«d. toy yelled^ ^^ ^

even the words or the concep ts - Negation”, “Simple and Compound Labour ,
Physics, Chemistry”, ^hroUgh the book, sentences like: “With
“Capital and Surplus-Value - Amp g !5^ ^ ^ undevelopcd contradictions
Hegel ‘in itself covers the origin y contains the distinction and separa-

aSSESaSSsass:—
sentences, and the message of^nti-Dn/in^precisey. above_that is, fifty-
Twenty-five years after what role the first Marxist
work had ptyedth^ ^answer was very precisely and clearly put, which made

me think that he had thoughtadinzAnti-Diihring. In the first place, 1 had

“I did not become a Marxist through reading AnttV^ ^ book, which I found
no idea what Marxism was all a ou . lmost a year. It excited me because I did
extremely strange, preoccupied my m * y unknown world that excited
not understand it But ,t was argumentation some-

nections in the world which, so far, I hatdab°^V^arxisnb nor did he know that there
At that time Kadar knew nothing y laws of the day strictly prohibited

“wnH »d?un"d2 S“ly °ne organized worker in .he workshop where

 T'HS m

20 Introductory Biography

he was an apprentice, and presumes that he never spoke of politics to him precisely It is a fact
because of this ban. security squ;
To understand this, we have to turn to history again. The Governing Council had were about I
transferred power to a trade union government consisting of right-wing Social tachment, w
Democrats in the naive belief that the latter would be able to save something of twelve peopl
working class rule. But the trade union government stayed in power for only five days. this number
On August 4, 1919 the royal Romanian army marched into Budapest, the self- number of vi
appointed governor, the Habsburg Archduke Joseph, forced the government to not torture. 1
resign and appointed an insignificant politician prime minister. century histc
The political capers of the ensuing months could be called a comedy had this period The comm
not been a tragedy for the Hungarian Left. According to the data at our disposal, five He came fro
thousand people were killed, more than seventy thousand were jailed and sent to comparison
internment camps, and a hundred thousand emigrated during the first three months he was a hai
following the fall of the Republic of Councils. And probably the data at our disposal officer in the
are no adequate reflection of reality: for it is not customary to keep records of Francis Jose]
lynchings. the official k
Governments came and went; at the end of August, Archduke Joseph, the self-made he was natio
governor, resigned under Entente pressure. The Romanians were taking factories, cause he hac
equipment, food and other goods in great quantities out of the country; they terrorized likely to take
not only the population of the occupied part of the country, but the government, too: In March
they censored the press, tapped ministers’ phones, and even the Prime Minister had to became the t
ask the Romanian military command for permission to travel to the provinces. It is no for a quarte
wonder that under such circumstances nobody knew who was really in power. I have see
The victors themselves were at a loss for what to do. They had suppressed a left- times, and t\
wing regime, but they did not know to whom they could transfer power. The states officer with i
neighbouring on Hungary dreaded all governments which might have striven to nickname: t
revive the monarchy, and therefore distrusted the conservative - and largely aristo¬ Looking 1
cratic-politicians right from the start. The Entente would have liked to see the for¬ history, the
mation of some sort of liberal government in Hungary because they saw this as the significant n
best antidote to Habsburg restoration and Communism alike, and therefore turned twenty-four
down the conservative aristocrats who volunteered to form a government. them recogn
In the end, and as is usual in such cases, the military took the initiative. On August I leave to hi
9,1919, the so-called national army consisting of about a thousand men, mostly profes¬ Just a few
sional and non-commissioned officers, left camp in French-occupied Szeged for Trans- the Treaty ol
danubia which was not occupied by the Romanians. Blood flowed wherever the de¬ ethnic mino
tachments went. They hanged, whipped and flogged, branded their captives with red- 35,000, her f
hot irons, skinned their victims alive and burned prisoners in the engine of their ar¬ garians fled
moured train. There had not been such mindless terror in Hungary since the suppres¬ other makes
sion of the peasant uprising in 1514. The Whites, as the counter-revolutionaries called much worse
themselves in contrast to the Reds, surpassed in inhumanity the suppressors of the refused to a<
1848 War of Independence. who came sc
The Austrian imperial general, Haynau11, had only jailed, hanged or shot the But it was ty
captured freedom fighters, but the methods of the White detachments were as he had no o
mediaeval as when the peasant king, Gyorgy Dozsa12, was burned alive on a redhot The two y
iron throne in 1514. chaos. The c
 A Working Class Boy in Hungary 21

It is a fact that people were thMedaya^pfiie

security squads openly and prou . b „ tbey were known. This de-
were about two hundred summarily executed
tachment, which was later disbar their activity. And even if we multiply
twelve people throughout the whole dura ^ wgget only a fraction of the
this number assuming do^u^nta k /nd these tenorists killed, but they did

"mml
He came from a family of landed gentry andowned about 500 a ^ ^
comparison with the great landlords He was a naval
he was a haughty lord to all peasant , for severai years aide-de-camp to
officer in the Monarchy, a rear admira A - bright officer,who spoke
Francis Joseifcl-aco^U^^^ ^ ^ tongue even when
the official language of the Monarchy t commander in chief JUst bc-
he was national commander in chief because none of the politicians

' - ■»«in **fc on horseback- He,'“h,s

nickname: the mounted sailor. and knowing now the facts of
Looking back from the distance of $ j ran only say that he was
history, the secret archives and y n®Uty lt is typiCal, though, that for
significant neither as a politicia L.atcr abilities turned against him. All of
had aS opponen,. The so.u.ioh of this ridd.e

the Treaty of Trianon which m reduced from 105,000 square miles to

ethnic minorities. Hungar^ s le^r‘ ^ g jfUon. Several hundred thousand Hun-
35,000, her population from 18 millio bordcrs> t0 Uve in railway wagons and
garians fled to Hungary from beyondIt terms Horthy accepted were
other makeshift ^^SoWi government and the Republic of Councils had

“ <-—«■*■* ™d a,ways daimed that

he had no other choice. Republic of Councils was a period of total
SSS2SS5“git JS i 192. when Horth, appo.nfed Conn,
 22 Introductory Biography

^nuiualS PnmC,Mlnister- Bethlen’ who was the most sophisticated politician

ot the Horthy era, was the descendant of one of the oldest aristocratic families in the
country; among his ancestors we find even rulers of Transylvania. He was a committed
conservative. His ten-year term as Prime Minister is rightly regarded as the period of
he regime s consolidation. After his resignation, he continued as an eminence arise
o influence all significant political decisions in Hungary, and his Anglophile orienta¬
tion greatly contributed to the pro-German Horthy’s slow distancing of himself from

^ CMrSe °f ^°rld War IL He was a short’ wiry man with a moustache;

though of royal descent, he wore a morning coat in an age when general managers and
banters were resorting to the painfully ridiculous anachronism of parading in the
plumed hats, short, braided, fur-lined coats, swords and boots, that were the gala
dress of the Hungarian nobility. But even he could not save old Hungary.
T 'e economic consolidation of the country meant that in 1929, the golden age of
the Bethlen era, Hungary’s output reached roughly the pre-war level. But whereas
before the: war Hungary s rate of economic growth roughly equalled the European
average after the war the average industrial growth rate in Europe was twice the Hun¬
garian, the country s economic backwardness was growing.
Economically, the Bethlen consolidation meant nothing more than the restoration

ienPh7rrUatl0n' As f°r the S0Cial sphere’ the Bethlen government wanted

h 3n maintam the pre'war status <luo- The country was dominated
by landlords and magnates who enjoyed the support of the military, the bureaucracy
and the petit bourgeoisie. As in the Monarchy, workers and peasants were not con-
nloTn ,hq,,a S' That thC nCh tormented the Poor-or, in Marxist terminology, ex-
LeSker who had h °[P^SOnai exPeriencc to a boy, the son of an assistant
caretaker, who had been swineherd, apprentice, and unemployed journeyman18. Janos
Kadar was a trained typewriter mechanic, but he did not work in the trade. During his
three-year apprenticeship, he did nothing but clean the workshop and fetch and carry
for a year and a half, hke his fellow apprentices. Then he was taught the trade for half
a year and in the third year, when his employer sent him out to maintain typewriters,
he had to say that he was a journeyman. It paid the employers to have the apprentices
do the simpler jobs of the journeymen.
That Kddar never worked in the trade was not only because the completion of his
apprenticeship coincided with the widespread unemployment of the Depression
He was in his last year when on one occasion he went into the workshop in a torn shirt
His employer was angry; he could not send him out to customers in such a state
He growled at him :
“What are you doing in a torn shirt?”
Need I add that in those days it was natural in Hungary for an employer to use a
familiar tone with his apprentice?
“It’s the only one I’ve got.”
Kadar didn’t say so but I can imagine that by then he was boiling with anger
Come and see me on Sunday, I’ll give you a shirt.”
1 k"°* from Kadar that though he was never finicky about food or clothing even
as a child it gave him the shivers to wear someone else’s cast-off clothing. This was
probably the reason why his reply was so impertinent:
 23
A Working Class Boy in Hungary

Sr^r^ed hi* when he was to finish his apprenticeship. Khddr told

“-Don, even show up the neat recoUeet,

There were not many PeoPle wor^nS d J fifty in the capital. Of course, every-
that there may have l-««—of words confuted to cnsur-

irSbhla Csermanek knew how

did. Bn, She wo„,d say tr*eand

aS“They are vihains, W, but you can, do a Bring against thetn. They are stronger

They knew their poverty and also who w*> onnlent following the suppression of
Sworking Class movement,

the output of Hungarian the number of the industrial hm-

by 30 per cent, and there was 5q_60 per cent, and more than <
employed. Casual work in ,a£!Jat was totally or partially unemployed. A quarter o
and Legular benehts, on chanty and soup

^Sigestdenrons, ration of workers

1 1930. As early as the summer mass une pl^y Union Councii published an
’here throughout the country. On Augu , o’clock on September
appeal to th^workers of Budapest to 1^ town their t°°vernment baD d the march.
1 to join the unemployed at a mass ? . tQ keep an factories closed on Sep-
The National Federation of Industrialists union shop stewards
StoTto deprive the workers of »«"'b,^“'“^"'0nhe police ban, but called
hadmeUurdBeaded to canoe, the by a ••peaceful walk’,

essjs rexn — *-• - —

^ZrSo'ttnos Kddir’s baptrs* of fire. Thts is how he —red t

twenty-fiveyears later: • ui„m„ trade and had to make a living somehow,

“Since I was unable to find a job in y ollse-hand for a carpet wholesaler in
in the"summer of 1930 I was unaware of the political
Klauzal Street. I was do.ngmjwo^ ^ wa$ suddenly closed amidst some

Setnt! In7w°er wenr8e toS’ it to come to work until the next day.
24 Introductory Biography
wait patiently, w

-“SSSSwSSS many unorganizt

At that time, I v\
eluding myself, t

asssgS*?=HS=SS called for struggl

drove out the pc
weak and helples

5S5E^j=£=SS5S£
deserted street to go towards the park There was a P
Boulevard. I could go no further. It was the ““ tta <SPark.
other people as
many, many th
we fought.
“I had broken

mmmmt
Dob Street I met some demonstrating workers on y Park There one forget one’s
tional team, or t
receiving a dece
So simple, ev
consciousness, t
while quoting tl
tions had first t
combination of
ests. This mass
struggles ... tl
The interests it
Kidar’s reco
designates as b
fact that he wa
and had worke
where every dt
working class movement sooner or later. recognized thal
always instinct
this was no les
When 1 aske
a long time, as
Above Ground, Underground the essence of
“It was a m;
Marxist theorj
just interests o
only of my per
Federation of Young Communist Workers (KIMSZ) . jn the however boml
“In the first half of 1931,1 spent a lot of time out of work, i m 1956 in me. We can
he who works
was that it wa
given my wag
the dole howi
our main occupation was indeed spitting. c . , A *• workers in- I wanted to li
“There were also passionate political debates in the sp •, wordg. <We must The rest ha
fluenced by the right-wing Social Democrats kept echoing ,
3*
 Above Ground, Underground 25

wai, patiently, we mustn't make ““

eluding myself, agreed that what th patient. Several times a day w

railed for Struggle and booed at those who bade us b P that x was
out 1 police who wanUd to my whol. family without
teak and helpless, that I could starve or feeze to „ un(Je,stand that there were
-rX — oTT^and that we would work and fee-,

one forge, one's penury; I no ^ wen*ed..o be to ^ ^ ^ ,

tional team, or a chess master, l simp y ( Rnew that one must fight for that-
receiving a decent wage for his| work. By th to a worker’s acquiring class-
So simple, everyday, aud sdf-eviden h Y fay of history. It is worth-
consciousness, the process Marx ^f^Poverty of Philosophy: “Economic condi-
while quoting the relevant lines fro of the country into workers. T
tions had first transformed the “assjf b P ^mon situation common inter-
combination of capital has created for this ma ^ nQt yet for ltSelf. In the
ests‘ and constitutes itself as a class for itself.

The^hiterests it defends become class mtcr^J. elements exactly those which Marx
Kddar’s recollections contain two cssent One was the recognition of the
designates as basic to apprentice in a small workshop
fact that he was not alone. Kaddr, w realization in the labour exchang ,
and had worked for small compames cam h who shared his fate. He also
where every day he met hundreds of fellow wo ^ ^ ^ ^ decent llfe he had
recognized that witho^ fighting hewoufd and for his fellow men. And
always instinctively desired for himseU . of the class struggle,
thi, was no less talk recogrCommunist, he considered to reply ^
. ^,Uet:"yo^rwau,s to pu, someth.ug very —

- - -heot^r of
Marxist theory, but I had learned ; J jnBKSts> , ol dunking
just interests only by uniting for my working friends, and later
only of my personal interests. I fat ia r»po ‘ > wolkers. There was too anger
however bombastic it might sound, for > conviction-as it is today-that
in me We can call it defiance or outrage. It J But my experience

given my wages as a favour, and 1^d^new 1me, angered me, and hurt my pride.

I^wanted'toTfe^ina^orld^bere die worker got what be deserved for his work.

;rs m- The rest happened like this:

c must

(
26 Introductory Biography

What had made s

“At the beginning of September 1931 as I was walking in Barcsay Street lost in
the growing activity
thought, a familiar voice greeted me. It was Janos Fenakel, my friend from the HSC
had made the polic
football team, whom I had not seen for five years. In the course of our conversation it
cedented degree, wil
turned out that the same ideas preoccupied us both, ideas which had very little to do
ship. New people w
with football. We were both young unemployed workers. I told him what the situation
they were experienc
was at home, how I kept looking for a job in vain. I told my friend that 1 had already
The political poli
taken part in the demonstration of the unemployed and that I knew that we were lost
he had become a m
if we did not fight, but added that I had no idea how to go on from there.
betrayed several of
“When my friend heard me speak like this, he told me that he was a member of the
secretariat were am
Hungarian Federation of Young Communist Workers and that I should join, too.
ings was that Szilvt
It was the first time that I met a man who was a member of an illegal move¬
up the railway brid
ment, who was a Communist. I was very surprised. I cannot now recall what
day. Twenty-one pc
I imagined Communists looked like at the time, but I was surprised that a young skilled
were seriously injur<
worker, someone just like me, whom I knew well and had played football with as a
politicians and intcl
boy, was a Communist.” . Johannes R. Bechei
His admission into the Hungarian Federation of Young Communist Workers
Kautsky, Henri Ba
must have left a very deep impression on Kadar, for even after half a century
Communist leaders:
he remembers if not the exact date, the fact that it all happened on a Thursday,
cuted. As far as it c
around five o’clock in the afternoon, in one of the flats at 22 Paulay Ede Street. It was
were arrested in 19’.
where the “Sverdlov” cell of the Federation met, a group consisting of three young
against another 152
workers, with a girl as secretary. They told Kadar who Sverdlov was-he had never
the time when Jdn<
heard his name before-told him who the Bolsheviks were-he knew precious little
pass: during visitinj
about them, too-and what the Soviet Union was: Kadar knew little enough about
taken away just wh
that as well. They talked about conspiracy, about the movement’s illegal and legal
We can only guei
work and Kad&r received his first alias, something which was compulsory in the
the thirties. Strictly
underground. From then on he was called Barna (Brown). Probably because his
great care was takt
hair was blond, but Kddar does not remember exactly. What he does remember, how¬
historians of the fu
ever, is that when he was told to be prepared for the permanent threat of arrest from
On the basis of w
then on, it was not so much the police he was afraid of, as of his Mutter's quarrelling
contact with the pai
with him if that were to happen.
much less does it mi
It did happen, and very soon.
zation based strict!
He was arrested for the first time on November 9; he was to spend seven years of his
sion or withdrawal
life in jail. At the police station he received the customary sound beating. He was
for a shorter or lor
threatened, and promised all sorts of things, but nothing could be got out of him.
party had approxin
No charge could be laid, and he was freed three months later. By February 1932 Janos
and the number of
Barna was already a member of the District Committee, and a few months later he
lived in the provin
became the secretary of the KIMSZ Central Committee, which meant that he auto¬
have been about tv,
matically became a member of the Hungarian Communist party.
question. There we
Today it seems almost unbelievable that a twenty-year-old worker, who hardly knew
Communists, their
what Marxism, socialism, the Soviet Union, or the Hungarian and international work¬
and partly for pers
ing class movements were all about, a young man who had no experience of daily
It is not my task
politics, could, within half a year of his joining, become the secretary of the illegal
majority of their m
Communist party’s youth organization.
acy, sometimes did
“I did not really understand”, says Kddar “what this post meant. In those days all
At the same time, i
that mattered was the struggle, that was all that preoccupied me.
 Above Ground, Underground

w. t had made such rapid advancement not only possible but necessary was that

S&SSgH
1 The political police

mmmMm
he had become a mem er the members of the party’s illegal

sag*

SEisssssssfs
r-SSSs-SSErai^sss;
for a shorter or longer period, J- members acliVe in Hungary in those years,
PTthe1uXTtS wMoToSsl or another-for example, because they
and the number ot tnose who, t t witu ,he party is estimated to

S—£22SST*. ^
?2 ™ «The«”yze their extremely eomplex role, but I think that the

majority to theCommunist party.

Krie i.°° alo true that the political police employed the clever taertc of
 -.IE;;

28 Introductory Biography
The daydi
tolerating the activity of these groups^rom wasVgreat deal offluctuation^n the^ring after the fail
tion was poi

SSfSSSS armed upris

strike in Po
revolutionai
theory, but
party, most
and in Euro
something t
working class movement between the two ^ ™ ^‘blic of only a revo
The Communist movement never recovered from the deteat ot me P ^ The resul
Councils. Modem histojy demo^,»^tl^ ^n»u^ P fcy
In 1925, thi

iiilasHS
Democrats
short-lived,
to frustrate
to give up l
That the;
In 1945, wi
of the Repi
iat was not
mumsts a tragic mistake itself, the people, whose governmen
ities had ti

iSSpHS-i^s
S£L*S£ rd«
2 dtis, stood *
This, of
munist lea
that ineviti
garian Coi
sive Jeno '
unions. Tl
cils, knew
toy werel stronger. In *e ^^"d^^{92lTe^ unSdTS proletaria'
happy if he and his family did not • , db 1942 only 70 thousand tions and
mid-thirtii
Knn’s lim
The str.
movemen
that the p
same wit!
Hungaria
was conct
unified pi
tion could come about or win. But if blind taitn K" s , what they The Cc

siississE^ For a few

clear thal
Commun
ffiiBK
 Abwe Ground, Underground

^Siary — W“lSo"a0sformP^^^latiohathome

°t£ result was the a way out: ** «

sssss
to frustrate us
^"1•
to give up their dream of t
immediate oicuiw—r
human, psycho o
,. ms> unaewu*.-
former supporters
“ That they expected a - Huhgary !»£-££,* of the «
,n 1945, when the Red Army understand why the local council

hies had to intervene. does not excuse the err V ^ aggravated W

This of course, explains u thirties. The error afflicted the Hun

°f -deBimined ?
mid-thirties, the policy of the Huugat ot the Con,™-

^e^egy was «-

SSST^S^SSX^ ■ - “
Communists wanted revoi
30 Introductory Biography

seen for fi’

through reforms. The tragic fratricidal struggle went to the point where Communists
informs th
and Social Democrats often hated each other more than the enemy who threatened
childhood
both. The conflict had the most horrific consequences in Germany, where the antago¬
validity I <
nism of the two workers’ parties contributed to the coming to power of the National
remotely c
Socialists.
Factionalism has inherent laws of its own. For example, truth is often sacrificed to insisted or
group interest, personal conflict, lack of confidence, and prejudice. Factional conflict many of tl
was something not only the Communist movement of those days suffered from; its cidences. I
effects were felt in the party decades later, not least importantly in the form of grave party wou!
but after £
human tragedies.
It is a fe
“T knew nothing about these debates in those days” says Kadar. “I was interested
spiracy, ot
only in the struggle, and thought little about theoretical, strategic questions.”
Obviously, Kadar wants to avoid giving the impression of being cleverer in retro¬ from the r
spect than the partv’s contemporary leaders, now all dead. But knowing his funda¬ under poli
those who
mentally realistic cast of mind, and knowing that he lived among workers and peas¬
contact wi
ants, it is difficult to imagine that he, too, believed in the imminence of the dictator¬
or suspent
ship of the proletariat. In fact, he has noted a number of times that he had little hope
of living to sec workers coming to power in Hungary; this, however, did not prevent had a mer
bership. I
him from fighting for a cause whose victory he would probably never benefit from.
“There is no need to make myths about the workers”, he says. “But we certainly quite a he
pended w
knew the smell of each other’s sweat. 1 had a colleague in the factory, an umbrella-
and those
maker. He was a demon for work. He worked at home, too, his whole family helped.
This is ho
But he drank like a fish, and could never earn enough money. Then he joined the
Arrow Cross Party22, and was always shooting his mouth off. When I was already could con
The op
working in the underground, I met him once by chance. He did not go to the police.
After 1945, he looked me up at the party headquarters. At the time, I was deputy chief illegal org
and in co:
police commissioner. ‘What did you do [in the Arrow Cross movement - Ed.] ?’ I asked
suspicion.
him. ‘Nothing’, he said. ‘When I got drunk I talked a lot. And you know that I often
got drunk.’ ‘Lie low for a few weeks’, I told him, ‘until things calm down. Then report An ami
of variou;
To the police.’ As far as I know, he later became an honest working bloke.”
the undet
Kdddr could not know about the infighting within the party leadership, if for no
other reason than because the party worked according to the strictest conspiratorial whom thi
of people
rules. Each party cell consisted of three or four Communists working, if possible, in
for evide:
the same field. In principle, they knew only each other’s code names, but this was often
mount to
impossible in practice. Only the secretaries of the cells were in contact with one mem¬
sheer sus
ber of the four or five member district committees. There was the same type of con¬
tragedies
spiratorial contact between the district committees and the Budapest party committee,
and the Budapest committee and the secretariat. There was practically no national decades,
network. The “Committee Abroad” regularly sent leaders back through clandestine suffered <
channels to direct the work at home, but they had to be changed frequently to avoid later.
And it
arrest, something they often did not succeed in evading even so.
Working underground, conspiracy and secretiveness were among the strictest rules if one die
of the party. At the same time, it is certain that often these rules were not observed, much att
nor could they be. A good example of this was Kad£r’s recruitment. Let us imagine norms, c
tragic ex
the situation: a young man accidentally meets another young man whom he has not
 Above Ground, Underground 31

seen for five years, that is since

informs the second that he is a member of a s^netty u g ^ ^ ^ story. whoSe
childhood friend to join, and the ot er y - seV£Pral others like it, is not even
validity I cannot doubt, parucu ar y Knowing how rigorously Kadar
remotely connected with what is terme P ^ . typical: probably
insisted on the rules of the undergroundthr0^h similar coin-
many of those who got into ^ tecruifnent, the

b,i;,far“rer, that the

spiracy, or just the remotest suspicion of t. was often eno g g ^ bpoke
from the movement. They were not expsuspended, as with
under police torture and e poatical question; it was simply that
those who opposed the pa^ le^['^all in those days it was not so simple to expel
contact with them was broken. Incid y,_ records were kept and nobody
or suspend someone. Not on Y ^caus , fcn^ of cach Communist’s party mem-
had a membership card- a fe« P P someone had been expelled was
bership. Letting the party membershp d names Df those sus-

could continue to work in the movement for qmtea long-,tim iratorjal strictly
The opposite also happened, and

are inevitably ho,he* of distrust and

“Ambiguous sentence, a wrong -££££«*'it'lff-^

Of various facte were enough to give ri^ immediately with anyone regarding
the underground that contact had was then a danger to dozens
whom there was the slightest shadowo there is n0 room for charges,
of people. Ruthless as it may ■ ’ ,here bc- the very suspicion is tanta-
for evidence, or testimony or from the party through
mount to a sentence. How many C«J w£ do rf a whole series of terrible
sheer suspicion no one will everk , .. f hones, and loyal people for years,
trag^^uiaysii^^^1^ ^ lhe wounds iDflicted and

SrSdul”
,at?„d was no, only po

—*h. « «—•** “d hUman

■■■■■ MgMMHMHHt

J2 Introductory Biography

reasons. There can be no doubt that the poet deviated from party ideology in a number I know ano
of questions; for example, he professed the synthesis of Marxism and Freudism. It is sidered his ac
also a fact that none of his contemporaries or comrades recognized his poetic genius defense: he re
during his lifetime. Cruel as it might seem, however, a gravely neurotic man under¬ to a secret me
going psychoanalysis, who was trying to let his doctors in on his innermost secrets, expose a com
could not be a member of an illegal organization. One can un
Under the circumstances, vigilance was, of course, a primary requirement in the alike.
movement. But an excessively suspicious, captious or just ill-natured man could not I have run,
only embitter many lives, but could also do a lot of harm to the movement. I heard I do not belie’
from Kadar that during World War II, when he was already a member of the secre¬ knowing its v
tariat, he got a message from another secretary of the Central Committee who was illegal party e
under arrest. It came through a bribed prison warden, and was to the effect that one lion through i
of their comrades, a well-known Communist highly-placed even today, was a traitor. mous, well-or
Kadar asked through the bribed guard why he thought so. The reply: the man said he The reality
would do anything for his sweetheart. And anyone who would do anything for a particularly v
woman would be capable of betraying the party. and then turn
Today, in the quiet of peace time, one can smile at this story, or groan in despair. but steady sa
But at that time, in the shadow of the prison and the gallows, it was bitter reality. certainty, or
The same member of the Central Committee charged a third member of the secre¬ corruptible n
tariat, too, with being a traitor. His grounds: 400 Pengos were missing from the party loyalty to his
funds which he handled. At that time, this was a clerk’s monthly pay. And there were The Comrr
hardly any proper accounts kept of the party’s money with vouchers and receipts. had a few wel
As always, Kadar listened to common sense: he could not imagine that someone of the most ii
would embezzle 400 Pengos when he was handling several tens of thousands, particu¬ leaders, for sc
larly when the political police would have been willing at any time to reward him for tact to carefu
treason with enormous sums of money. But the charge remained, and the third mem¬ of prison it w
ber of the secretariat was dropped from the party with the understanding that he could police. The r
clear himself after the Liberation. That is what they told him, and he agreed with the But the dai
decision. In a similar situation he would have done the same, he said. In fact, he did But let us g
manage to clear himself after the Liberation. the Comrnun
Should we condemn the secretary of the Central Committee for these allegations? order”: he w
We can, and in a certain sense, we must. Particularly because he played a less than life. Kddar ki
noble role after 1949. But we also have to bear in mind that he returned to Hungary like cats take
from the Soviet Union at the risk of his life, and spent almost ten years in jail where ficc; why she
not even his name could be beaten out of him. There are people who are heroic in some enjoy?
situations, and very fallible, even criminal in others. No matter
Should we pass sentence on Kadar for expelling, against his own conviction, a leader ignore his co
of the party whom he knew and respected? We can, and we must, and he himself is not “I was arg
proud of this act. But let us recall for a moment that under permanent threat as the subordinate:
underground was, personal conviction and the sense that one was a good judge of He was no
character were not strong enough arguments against suspicion. Who would have dared over the wor
put the lives of dozens of people, perhaps the whole movement, just because he cursing, then
thought he might be right? a Communis
Kadar smiles when he tells these stories. But the smile does not hide the lines on “In the spi
his face. mittee of KT1
 Above Ground, Underground dd

I know another story. Kadar did not J,k« ^ attacked, he came to his
sidered his activity harmful. But after ^ 56 being taken by detectives
himself under atram rather than

eXP0nS: c^ndetand this movement only if one is familiar with its woof and warp

aThave run ahead in time but let me

I do not believe that a period, a system, or 8^ today reads that a leader of an

Htegalparty thTt^h^Commiiniste^ad^nenM-

mTus!’well-organized machinery orthe prison guards were not

and then turned prison guards. Eve were better than permanent un-
but steady salary, a pension*t0 dusk. But a badly paid servant s

« “ "—- bKausc he feds n

had a few well-operating illegal ctamW
#sss
^ r'maining in contact with the tailed
of the most important of these wa were jailed. They subjected this con-
leaders, for sooner or later 3 most all their 1 messages they sent in and out
tact to careful evident if they had been reported to the
of prison It would immediately several test runs.
police. The real messages were c M 'f is no illegal work without risks.
But the danger of betrayal was st,jU *ere. Th f &(t into contact with the movement.
But let us get back to the thir“ ' . f stricf asceticism - another "infantile dis-
the Communists insisted on th^ecess y^ nQr shouid have a private

** meht
“^matter how compelling KMdr fcl, party discipline to he, he was unahle to

^Twafar^aud^ggiing with myself", he says, "but in vain. I was unable to

“HctafnorSngTS

a Communist for that. member of the northern territorial com-

“ln the spring of 1932”, he recalled asa member o a workinggirl, the
mittee of KIMSZ, I had a conversation with a young c
34 Introductory’ Biography
the Mas
secretary of the illegal cell at the Silk Works. The cell there had 4 members, and they
zios Lit
had not recruited a new member for months. 1 asked her why. The comrade said that
Magyai
they had not admitted new members because all the girls workingthere had n° V6rszm
in serious things like their economic position or politics. They were 'nle es‘ed ° y n
Federal
he cinema in lipstick, in beautiful clothes, and boys, the comrade said. And some-
been tl
tSing“ effect-in a tone of despair-that their morals were not irreproachable
forged
(though she used a much stronger expression). , , The
Institul
“At first 1 did not know how to answer her; I just sat sfiently, and pondered Jhc
The ch
secretary of the KIMSZ cell at the Silk Works had been the member of the illegal
foreign
Communist movement for 6 months at the time of that conversation. Six months
while t
earlier she herself had been exactly as she now-looking downat themTroir.the_supe-
allowei
dor heights of a six-month-long illegal past-contemptuously d^mbed hcr cl ow
dayligl
workinsi girls to be. She, too, had been interested m the cinema, m beautiful dothe.
The
and boys: But not only in the cinema, in beautiful clothes and boys..I^she had bee n
politic
it would hardly have been possible to make a Communist out of her And what a sin
realize
it would have been against the movement if the K.1MSZ member who
left no
talk with her eight months earlier had judged by appearances, and had said with
at leas
wave of the hand that it was not worth dealing with her because she was interested
latter ]
only in the cinema, in beautiful clothes, and boys. nninied ment]
The essence of Radar's later policy is already detectable here. As Brecht poin
it thus
out the people cannot be dismissed: one must live, work, and manage with the people
borde
one has in a given countrv. But such a time was still far into the future; many trials
us tra
and detours were ahead of Kadar and the Communist movement before this principle
partit
of the
^Prtmaryamong these trials were the pitfalls of the Hungarian political scene of the
miles
thirties and forties. This was determined by two factors, whatevercracy The s
the country. The first was hostility not only to Communism and Social Democracy
nian
but also to all progressive left-wing aspirations and thoughts. The second was
millic
demand for territorial revision. Anyone who did not espouse these two basic pnncip
Up

r, St!
depended on the personal decision ofthe Regent, the verbal clashes that tookplacc
fn Parliament were sometimes as stormy as those in the most devel°Pcd b°ar^
Buti
Th
It is ’
time,
democracies. There was a multi-party system, but nobody threatenedtheabso'u
try, i
nower of the government partv, which changed names severa times. That no one did
oft!
was small wonder in an electoral system in which the secret ballot was introduced on y
Min
in 1938; until then, 199 out ofthe 245 Members of Parliament wene openly' e‘e«ed on he h
the pretext that secretiveness did not befit the Hungarian national character. The fran
was
chise was restricted to citizens over 30 years of age with six years residence n a g
port
electoral district, and with six years of elementary schooling. Ar.stocratswhfa y-
was
trees going back several hundred years, Jewish bankers, army officers, pnests, d p Scoi
mats were all to be found in the succession ol governments, and initially, o wit!
“ kcn peasal” as well, but they were soou left out. The press was relattvely free
con-
hut the substantive political and social questions were often decided in various secret,
pari
£^SStgaulzations .Jthe EteMziS.6ve.seg*> (Etelhaz Federation),
 Above Ground, Underground 35

the Magyar Orszagos Vedero Egylet24 (Hungarian National Defense Society) Revi-
zi6s Lioa25 (The League for the Revision of the Trianon Peace Treaty), the Ebredo
Magyarok Egyesiilete26 (Society of Awakening Hungarians), the Kettos Kereszt
Verszovetseg27 (Dual Cross Blood Federation), and the Turul Szovetseg (Turul
Federation). Their names say a lot about the age and its spirit. Hungary must have
been the first country in the world where a large amount of foreign currency was
forged “for patriotic purposes” in an official institution, the army’s Cartographic
Institute, if not with the government’s knowledge, at least that of the Prime Minister.
The chief of police was one of the main defendants in the trial finally held under
foreign pressure. The government was not even shaken by this international scandal
while° the opposition MP, who had declared in Parliament that a government which
allowed such things to happen could not remain in office, was beaten up in broad
daylight by former members of Horthy’s officer corps.
The German National Socialists’ rise to power had a decisive effect on Hungarian
politics. Not only Horthy, but the Anglophile Istvan Bethlen knew that they could
realize their plans for territorial revision only with German assistance. And Germany
left no doubt as to what she had in mind. “Anyone who wants to sit at the table has
at least to help in the cooking”. Hitler told the Hungarian Prime Minister when the
latter paid a courtesy call. Hungary became a prisoner to her own policy. The govern¬
ment put all its eggs in one basket: the revision of the truly unjust Treaty of Trianon;
it thus not only plunged the country into catastrophe, but made a settlement of the
border question impossible in the long term as well. It is an illuminating, though for
us tragic, example of the dialectics of history. Germany first annexed Austria, then
partitioned, and the next year occupied Czechoslovakia. Hungary also got her share
of the prey. The first Vienna Award of the Axis powers returned about 4,600 square
miles to the mother country together with a million people, most of them Magyars.
The second Vienna Award in 1940 returned about 16,500 square miles of Transylva¬
nian territory to Hungary along with two and a half million people, of whom one
million were Romanians. . , ... .
Up to that point, the assistance Hitler required was only economic and political.
But in 1939, Germany attacked Poland and World War II broke out. ,29
The Prime Minister of the Hungarian government at the time was Count Pal Telcki .
It is worth dwelling upon his personality, because he was a characteristic figure of his
time. He was a descendant of one of the most ancient aristocratic families in the coun¬
try an outstanding geography scholar, and a follower of Istvan Bethlen. He was one
of the men behind the moves to overthrow the Republic of Councils. As Foreign
Minister, he was a member of the delegation which signed the Treaty of Trianon which
he himself roundly condemned. He was Prime Minister from 1920, the year flogging
was re-introduced in Hungary. He had to resign as Prime Minister because he sup¬
ported the return of King Charles IV. He participated in the Franc forgery project,
was a supporter of research in the social sciences, and was the country’s chief Boy
Scout. As Prime Minister, he saw that the Second Anti-Jewish Law u was passed, and
withdrew from the League of Nations. After the outbreak of World War II, he tried to
convince Great Britain that he was cooperating with Hitler under duress. After the
partition of Poland, he provided humane refuge to more than 100,000 Poles. At the
36 Introductory Biography

same time, he joined the German-ltalian-Japanese tripartite treaty. He signed a per¬

petual non-aggression treaty with Yugoslavia. When Hitler attacked Hungary’s south¬
ern neighbour, and Horthy and the cabinet decided on Hungary’s participation in the
military action, the deeply religious Pal Teleki committed the deed for which his reli¬
gion gives no forgiveness: he committed suicide. His farewell letter to the Regent is
one of the tragic documents of Hungarian history:
“Your Excellency,
We have become faithless — out of cowardice - to the Pact of Everlasting Friendship
based on the Address of Mohacs. The nation is feeling it, and we have thrown away
the nation’s honour.
We have taken our stand by the side of blackguards, for not a word of the trumped-
up atrocities is true. Neither against Hungarians, nor against Germans! We shall
become grave robbers! The basest of nations. I have not restrained you. 1 am
guilty. Pal Teleki.”
Hungary’s reasons for entering World War II were primarily domestic. The inter¬
ests, the ideology, the lifestyle of the ruling circles in the social system which came into
being after the defeat of the Republic of Councils all impelled the country in that
direction. For twenty years, they had been impressing on the nation that territorial
revision, which would solve everything, was the country’s fundamental goal; and later,
that every inch of land regained was to the credit of the Germans; and they proudly
professed that they had been anti-Communist before Hitler ever was. All this could
hardly have resulted in anything other than Hungary’s entry into the war when Ger¬
many attacked the Soviet Union.
What would have happened if she had not? It is possible that the pro-German
faction would have ensured Horthy’s overthrow, although in the light of the contem¬
porary balance of power, the probability seems small. It seems much more probable
that the Germans would have occupied the country sooner rather than later. Had this
happened, many things would have turned out differently for Hungarian history, and
not only at the peace conferences. In 1945, the nation would have started a new period
from a different position, with a different kind of self-respect. Hungary’s leaders of the
day forfeited this opportunity.
The National Socialists’ rise to power had a profound effect on the world Com¬
munist movement too. The terrible shock when the strongest Communist and Social
Democratic parties of Western Europe, the German, were liquidated, their members
executed, beaten to death, jailed or shut up in concentration camps put an end to the
deplorable fratricidal struggle between them. In 1935, the Seventh Congress of the
Comintern declared the struggle against Fascism to be its supreme goal, and called on
Communists to join forces with Social Democrats, trade unionists and all democratic
forces. The Executive Committee of the Socialist International lifted its ban on form¬
ing a united front as early as the end of 1934.
It was not easy to put a popular front policy into practice. People who had been
calling each other class traitors one day were hardly able to digest that they were
brother workers the next. Undoubted differences remained between the policies,
strategies, tactics, organizational structures and principles of the Communists and the
Social Democrats. In Hungary, it made a considerable difference that the Social
 Above Ground, Underground 37

Democratic Party and *.

at any price, while the Commums^“possible by the fact that at this
unwilling to have anythmg

Committee of the Hungarian party ° principle, accepted the necessity for a

in claiming that though the leader'ship h d p ^ ^ ^ unlawfui,y
popular front policy, it had hardly changed ear P ^ ^
arrested; he died in pnson, “ JTsXoWed the party leaders in Hungary, acting on
After the Central information from Vienna, dissolved the
the basis of false, mistaken or nusmterpre^^ ^ ^ The temporary leader
party organizations in the co y, j the Communist party from Prague.

of ,hs soaa

nization of the Hungarian Social Democratic Pj^ and member of the

group of ten, >>a>son man for a y h g ^ Qf ,94)> he became the head of the
district Executive Committee, in Party of Communists.

leeX^VanS
which he hardly knew before. T acted as liaison wlth them,
artists belonged to the 6th and grew up among workers
Janos Kadar, who was brought up m th y that he knew the life of all

t0K.lddrworkcd^all sorts of places, wherever he could get work, at a carpet whole-

" r—-«• *■ ■» chM-

boodcommodity, and a vaiuabic one at that.
He smiles. , refined term is a ‘material handler ,
“What kind of work did I do? today, me
in plain language, I was drudging _ seif.esteem. To begin with, in those days
I do not think that this work hurt Mr s se ^ wQrking ^ movement; but
he was already preoccupied first and J°r . the lype who is incapable of domg a bad
he also likes to work at any sort of job. He is yp

j°“I have always worked properly wherever 1 was”, he says.

38 Introductory Biography

Peter Veres31 writes of the seasonal workers and the navvies working on the railway
that they worked well out of sheer pride; it would have been a shame to do otherwise.
This is how Kadar remembers it: , , .,
“I was working as a journeyman at a small firm where we knew what orders had
been placed. We learned that there were orders for only two months and once these
were completed we would be fired. We decided to “pace” two months work to last
four. And that is what we did. I must say that 1 had worked before and afterwards,
but never suffered so much. I half worked, half didn’t. We struggled and suffered. It is
bad for a man not to do real work.” . , ,,
He also knew that he could be relatively independent in any place if he worked well.
And this was very important to him. . ,
“When I was taken on, I always asked the boss to tell me what my job was, and
leave the rest to me, and he would be satisfied with my work.”
He found being bossed about very hard to take. It was much worse than the hardest

W°Wherever he worked, he observed and learned. He watched how the work was
organized, how the marketing was done, how and why people were hired and fired,
how production went and by what methods they tried to increase it.
“Perhaps I was lucky”, he says “to have worked at so many places. 1 his way

16 HeobMrrad people in particular. His curiosity about people is insatiable even today.
“Once a comrade asked me to let him go with me to a factory. This was sometime
in the sixties. He told me that he wanted to meet some interesting people. I was
amazed. I had never met a person who was of no interest. Every human being

'"ifcifis an honest statement, although it may seem naive. I have observed several
times how passionately interested he is in people. When 1 talked to him privately for
the first time in my life, he spent an hour asking me where 1 had come from, who my
parents and family were, how I grew up, how 1 worked, how my days went what i y
hobbies and aspirations were. I think it is people that interest him the most of all
He worked longest in an umbrella factory employing a hundred people. When he
was let out of jail, one of his friends recommended him to the owner. In those days,
prisoners had their heads shaved, so he could not deny where he had come from.
He told the boss why he had been in jail. He got the job nevertheless.
“From this point on, I was a ‘legalized Communist’ in the factory. This was very
good, I did not have to pretend and lie all the time.”
He recalls and praises this factory to this day. The boss bought the silk and the
steel himself, and exported the finished umbrellas himself, or sold them to wholesalers
on the home market. , ,
It is worth pondering on people’s lives, for they tell us a lot about history. The boss,
who was of Jewish origin, perished in a concentration camp. His wife, who had stud
economics in the United States and had introduced the Bcdeaux-system in the
factory, settled in England after 1945. Kadar, the material handler, the delivery man,
the general factotum and errand-boy became what he is today.
 Above Ground, Underground 39

The boss was fair to him not ^ D°e

mens from the police headquarters to PP wanted to question him on some
indication why. He f ^Tert tefive months of his temporarily suspended
matter, or whether he > hadl to serv » with one 0f his acquaintances; asking the
d sentence. In any case, he left a letter mother if he were jailed. The boss not
le boss to give his working-papers and pay & later-he had to serve the sus-
st onlv did that, but when Kad^r was e J;him'lhat he would take him back at the
s, pended sentence carry on Communist activities there.
is
f“ »?p,omM-°TayS Radar. “What else could I do?'
11.
P— I wou'd ”
nd
a„d won a two weeks' pa.d .hetotoous Csillag prison. He was taken there

est

vas
—- - - «—• Th“,hey "°“d
ed,

lay. u was ca',,i,emas day> brl8ht

ime
was
“-jSfT'i SyXfr triple were ins, smiUng and talking while
,g is wc were suffering for them, too.

«ral
y for
££:S’*- We”' “ *

o my
it my stripped naked between two set, he next two sets they got their pram
all.
en he
days,
from. when^he'otherprisoners were particularly because he knew

s very th^MdtydsRdkosl^wifsalsct^prisonerat ^^^j^^i^recol^^^^de^r^ttie

‘“s“ in the Republic of Conn* was - .nternauon^ y ^ ^
ad the
jsalers
IJni'on onlnstrucdonrfrom'the^party^He^was arrestol in whetn'he

e boss,
studied
n their
y man.
group.

4
 40 Introductory Biography

»n interesting seminarTr£™KSS°T S0ve™'s- He hcM

KMir because he hardly knewS^almr, f °f special to
munism were publishedinHungmyotf l&edictatoishi'n0<f fh"1 ^ W?r^s yiitfying Com-
the first time that he met a man who h ?^ h P,, f he proIetanat> and it was
government. 30 Wh° had personaI1y taken part in the Council

iawXtd^
day he recalls that he heard Atti’la J6zsef for thr fi T. mCm°.ry ,s Phenomenal: to this

The poet was 26 at the time, Kadar 19 UterTe hen Tv °n Proletarian cuIlurc”-

people he would have expected supporffrom He wasTT'T ^ °n the part of

thought, but something he knew to be true ” ' dl"g not something he

POetry and was a C—ist. There

movement whom today we would consider a IitTTlT /Tf !!’ thC WOrking class
he lived in Moscow with their12 , u " hUSband had migrated,

“Jodi, was a sk^Xagandisr'"ays'n"”'S dl“gh,er-

daughter’s letters to her fellow-workers in\l^ i. \ T ^ d~, nothlng but read her
she was learning to play the piano and that fh - "C 1 bfCak‘. T le llttIe girl wrote that
holidays in the Crimea.” ’ ‘ y Werc p^anmng to spend their summer

S^Sg”wrwa”sTS as washerh"ab'" HCrJ kMW ““ ““ “

that he made practically njSiS £ hU$band T° Uved in the S°™t Union,
enough to keep the wolf from the door S e suppofted him’ ai'd her pay was barely
buy fuel, somePtimesThey could L. ^ C°U'd afford t0 pa* «« ^

an^^Tl^ed^in^ermanent fear that^he^wmuldVcomrnit,n*n^-fi1ornand “

worried that she asked Kadar ^ S°
was not able to leave the factory hut kw i! h AttlIa Jozsef was; she

dined to believe this as I have had nnnor. •, ' T recluests- 1 am all the more in-
of his basic characteristics. V PP URI y ° observe his thoughtfulness; it is one
 Above Ground, Underground

Yet Judit Szanto’s request was unusual. Kadar rang the bell m yam, and then
entered the flat with the key she had given him. Atula Jozsef was lying in beda
noon, something almost unheard of for Kadar-and was sound asleep, or at least
seemed to be. Kadar was frightened, and started to shake Attila Jozsef.
“He was a thin man of slight build”, says Kidar. “As I was shaking him, I was
afraid he would break in my hands.”
Finally the poet woke up from his dazed sleep, and then it was has turn to be light¬
ened: how had this stranger got to his bedside, and why was he shaking nm'? Kadar
finally managed to explain the unusual situation, and then they started to talk He to Id
Attila Jozsef that he had heard his lecture, and liked his poems, and the poet slow y

Ca Wha^tlic'greatest poet of the age wanted most was to be loved. To be ,0^d r°r
himself and for his poetry. Had he got that, perhaps he would not have ended under

‘l Kfiddr metAttila Jozsef once again at the request of Judit Szanto, although by that
time Attila Jozsef was no longer living with her. The poet was living at his sister
boarding-house, editing an ephemeral periodical - as Kadar recollects, just a ew
sues were published-in which Kadir found the theoretical articles obscure
“We argued”, says Kadar. “Well, to the extent it was possible to argue with him.
He was so'convinced he was right that he tolerated no contradiction. That was the hr t
o
time 1 heard the phrase ‘national Communism’. I did not understand it. For me C
s.
munism was internationalism. Now I understand what Attila Jozsef meant Southing
>f
not very different from what Lenin had in mind when he emphasized the S1gnlfi^a
le
of the national features in socialism. At most, it was a case of mistaken emphasis, but

re after all, he was a poet and not a politician.” .. .. , .

“She was a tough woman”, he says of Judit Szanto. “She suffered in silence but wa
ss
like an exclamation mark. It was impossible not to notice, parucularly fo a man a5
d, sensitive as Attila Jozsef. She was the same m the movement too: strict, uncompr
mising, puritanical. I knew more than one like hex among the Communes at the U^
er
“The derangement of Attila Jdzsef’s personality was aggravated not only by his
at
inability to support himself, but by the thought that Judit Szanto sustained him by
er
hard work, self-discipline, and sacrifice. Who can bear it when another person sacr -

lit fices him or herself for him?”

1 am not trying to solve the secret of Attila Jozsef’s tragedy; I am writing about
m,
Janos Kadar. But the way one relates to a genius is very revealing.
-iy The 7th Congress of the Comintern gave a great boost to the Hungarian working
nd
class movement. There were more strikes from 1936 on, trade union
at a rate not seen since the Great Depression, and many Social Democratic Party
ic,
branches doubled their membership. More than a thousand Hungarian volunteers
so
fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, and many hundreds .
he
The Communist party carefully organized the illegal route to Mad'rid through. Prague.
Although Kadar was a convinced internationalist, he felt he had to fight at home.
eir
Hungary’s entry into the war strengthened not only the Right, but also the Left.
in-
A growing number of groups sought an opportunity to cooperate in the fight against
>ne
Fascism. In the autumn of 1941, there were two significant demonstrations, one at the

4*
42 Introductory Biography

memorial torch to the Prime Minister of the first independ<ent Hungarian government
who was executed in 1849, the other at the grave of the leader of the 1848 War o
Independence. In the famous Christmas issue of the daily Nepszavd (People s Voice),
the most significant opposition personalities took a stand against Fascism the war
*a»d Gelan Uuen JZ addition to Social Democrats and 0_W
articles by populist writers representing the peasantry, by Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky ,
the former leader of the “racial purists” and Horthy’s friend who was later a key
figure in the resistance movement, as well as by Gyula Szekfu , the= most Mgm
conservative historian and ideologist of the age, a close associate of Istvan Bethlen s,
who became Hungary’s first ambassador to Moscow after 1945^ ,
The first legal body uniting the anti-Fascist forces, the Hungarian Historical
Cmninemorative Committee, was formed in February 1942, on Communist initiative
On March 15, the anniversary of the 1848 War of Independence, a demonstration was
organized at the statue of Sandor Peton36. The progressive forces sought to find a
common platform in Hungarian history, in 1848 and Petofi, something eve y
considered his own. At earlier demonstrations, there had been a few hundred peopI ,
sustained by the faith of tens of thousands and the hopes of hundreds of thousands
more Eve/this had been no small number in a country at war, when one of t
major goals of these demonstrations was to end the war. But the number was hardly
enough to influence the policy of a government with such a s™0,hly'™“ !!
repressive machinery. Tens of thousands were expected at the March 15 demon,
tion. But a resolute warning from the Ministry of Home Affairs Pe^suadcd
leadership of the Social Democratic Party to forbid their party members to ta
part Uhe eleventh hour. The Social Democrat leaders thought that the surv.v of
the party was at stake, and perhaps they were right on tha point. What they faded
to see was that the survival of the Hungarian nation was at stake, and not just tha
of Hungarian social democracy. . , p
In the end, several thousand people took part m the demonstration at the Petofa
statue: Communists, Social Democrats who defied the ban, people from the Nation
Peasant Party37, the anti-German bourgeoisie, progressive mtcHectuals and left-wing
youth What was planned to be a silent demonstration soon resounded with chants
Stg for a separate peace, for worker-peasant alliance, and for an inde^ndent,
free, and democratic Hungary. Finally the crowd was dispersed by the poll*.
The government hit back hard. Arpad Szakasits , the Secretary-General of t
Social Democratic Party, was arrested, and more than 400 left-wing Social Democratic
Party officials were sen?to do forced labour at the front, sent to ^at was practiadly
certain death In April 1942 all branches of the security forces, the political police,
ffifgenda-erie, and the military’s counterintelligence: service; set out ^hqtnd
the Communist party. Three of the six members of the Central
arrested- two of them died under torture, the third was executed More than 200
Communists were sentenced to jail, others were interned, or sent to do forced labour,

"'In MWayei94r2,eiadar got instructions to go underground. Until^hen he had been

the member of an underground movement working under condt ions of legal ty.
Except for his illegal work, his life had not differed much from other people s. he
 Above Ground, Underground 43

had a registered flat, a Job and ^

underground movement living m i\ ega y, ^ tookthe place of Otto Korvin3J,
the secretary of the Central Comm . ^ kfflcd by forced-feeding; of
who had been sentenced to death of 'S- of Ferenc Rdzsa" andKiroly

S3?who?£££JorSlVdcath; and of ZoMn Sch6nherz« who had been

iaT .he toUgh crackdown on rke W.

ws l*** -—
‘"raider Kallay loka*. b-J. ■">“^1 -

smbk; ss *r -of ,he

what was coming. In a lecture to e 8 lhg Gcrmans’ ability to win the war.
of the Hungarian army was already qu poorly-armcd, and poorly supplied
In January 1943 the Soviet ^ February the Sixth German
and equipped Second Hungarian A German and Italian troops sur-
" Sicily, and Mussolini’s d.ctatorship

fell. In October the Italians declared war on ermdlJy possibility of withdrawing

Meanwhile, Kallay kept won the war. The Allies
from the war. But he made conditions as ^ state with which it was
was something Horthy and his associates

he summoned Horthy and informed him tlwtGeniw P raeeting; typically.

It is not the task of this book to clarify ^ happ-ne^ ^ ^ # ^ howevcr, that
different accounts have beengiven by IU h?J and thc army t0 resist.
Horthy did not resign and did not cal on tn y and with carefully
The Germans entered Hungary w-th e arresled mofC than 3,000 people
prepared lists of names. In a few days, ! P arresled all the leaders who
with the help of the Hungarian political pol ce- Th^ Smallholders«,
were unreliable from the German point of ^Soc former Minister of
bourgeois liberals, royalists, an • Bcthlen went underground. Prime
Home Affairs and confidant was J^ ls ® “ Embassy for a while, and was
Minister Kallay sought political asy'um at t k tben ^ ^ leaders of
later arrested. The Communists were not arresled because >

thx^ ssst—rgszszzzsz
44 Introductory Biography

started There were about 800,000 people in Hungary who counted as Jews on

mmmms
r y colonel-eeneral he appointed a pro-Regent colonel-general as P

'^afdTon S^tafs* SEi, Admiral Miklos Hor.hy of Nagybanya, Regant

E:='S=S==i-=
'ilisssass
ass^ssssssss
Fifty thousand of the 150,000 Jews living in Budapest were d.spatched to Ge y
 Above Ground, Underground 45

msMMmi#
hammering into their heads for jam, .to the ^ Ariow Cross tninnttr.es of

its mother’s
doubtful womb.,
accuracy S oM w
at best, 55.UW wagons
g “f goodS UkM1 *°

“d 4, >945 the Nazi troops were driven on. of the iast Hungarian v.iiage.

med^ftt1 such that not a single Known Common,s,

W However, it was no, tha, simple. Since ^^,0.™^ and

neither money, nor clothes, nora pla Oay ^ wda, ho,jday pay^lhe wornan
asked the accountantto»«^ ^ncy> although she could hardly have

““or* y had. — ^ r dt, the Communis, pariy

wa?uor^riuP^dmtoTro»id« ^"Se'S^S had mfnaged'to budd

^4 Se time of the Gennau^"^““^“"“mber of cases it was they who
up their illegal network to such» an ext th ^ flatSj money and forged
provided the Social Democratic < d ^ ^ flaif for drawing, was a «pec»1»

“to

- —• i°°-But u ,ook a 8
this network to become established- members who did not rejoin after
There was a ring around the ;party o fof moncy, but not for a place to
they had once been arrested. They cot - another ring, too: left-wing
stay' they were afraid of the risk mvotved But the ^ pnson, and mostly

^ by way of providI”8 ”

Common,, and tha, he was

j-5 srrs- -
>«^ht-„.K,.o”,Kddirwamedtam,
46 Introductory Biography

“Suits me fine”, said the friend, his eyes twinkling, which leads one to believe that
the relationship between the brothers was not all that good.
In the evening they went off to the sprawling tenement house in Ferencvaros where
the brother of Kadar’s acquaintance lived.
“By that time, I had got accustomed to looking around thoroughly before entering
a place”, says Kadar. He saw that in the inner courtyard, on the ground-floor two
men were going from flat to flat. That they were detectives was written all over them.
“I thought 1 was on the spot, all right; 1 hadn’t even moved in, and they weie
already looking for me.” .. „
It turned out that the detectives were looking for a robber. But this lodging d
not prove to be a lasting one either. The brother-in-law of the acquaintance s brother
was in the gendarmerie, not in itself a problem, because Kadar had excellent forged
papers; but this particular gendarme had the habit when he arrived in Budapest a
night of kicking The door and yelling: “Open up! Police!” It is understandable that

Kadar was concerned about his mother, too. Since he could not go home, he
waited for her at the printers’ where she got the newspapers she sold.
“I am going away, Mutter.”
“Where?”
“Just away.”
His mother knew then what it was all about.
“And what will happen to us? ’
“You wouldn’t be better off if I were arrested.”
He saw his mother once more before the country was liberated He caught a
glimpse of her in the street, by chance. She was stumbling, short-sighted, carrying
^ large pack of newspapers. Kadar did not approach her. He had instructions to
avoid all who knew him. The underground requires even harsher discipline tha
the army.
“She seemed even smaller than she was", says Kadar.
Soon it turned out that he was able to provide for his mother financially. Better
than when he was working. ...... ctv>nr.
“I have never had so much money as in the underground. I did not even spend

"'Thfparty had money aplenty. “Moscow gold!” But it came not from Moscow
as the propagandists claimed: it hardly could have done so for all contact with th
Comintern and the Committee Abroad had been broken since the outbreak of the
war- the money came from well-to-do middle class people, intellectuals and artists.
Some sympathized with the movement; some with one or another of its members,
there were some who frankly said that they expected service in.return wheni the
Communists got into power. In those days, many people already felt that great
changes were in the oiling in Hungary, and people are not stingy in such times,
particularly people with full purses. ,
The worst thing about being underground, recalls Kadar, was that he had to go
“to work” during the day so that his landlord would not sense something fishy about
him. He had to wander about, to walk the streets for ten hours a day, ride on the
 Above Ground, Underground

or go - sit in

">*52'^SiSSh. He gre» a rnnusutche, too,

tion. As K-aoa Qr so rernamed m contact Communists who had

with, only abou immediately started searching rescue those arrested,
threc-man secretan fof the arrests, and to try ^ gQ party members,
escaped, to clarify h a,ready contacted as many s 70 £ ^ it shows

Despite all this, the P ln May 1943, Kadar me P . against

the party at the ^ ; ^on all underground ^K^Say ^d, when
advised the Common““ “ “xhis was in the heyday of ^ the war.
Fascism only by leg> government would always,

011 thC P°SS;blnmoaLn SSTthat stage, the

incidentally, Worthyanti-Communist campaign- ,s future.
typically, aw.°^fl^t^the^C^>mmumsts would *iava.n^r|j ^"peiauade the general
Regent imagined t . , suggestion, and tried P , Szakasits,

a few days. ln order to facilitate coopera thc Executive Committee

But let us return to fnrces in the various countries, lh tjme, the

="s-r£^;s“"—■"rri’S*
SsSSSae®58®" “ “
48 Introductory Biography
“Luptak”, he v
garian Party of Communists. The formal aspect of this decision was that the party leadershij
Communist party in Hungary was the Hungarian section of the Co^nterm andthe
The ruse wor
Comintern had dissolved itself. But the real point was to minimize to some extent him 2,000 Peng
the police persecution which was totally paralyzing the party s work. the lawyer in a.
“We who adopted the resolution to disband the Hungarian Party of Communists that she had sci
in 1943”, Kadar wrote in 1956, “regarded the Peace Part/8 as a Communist party Kadar descri
working under a different name, and that’s how I still see it today. repeating; he v
The name Peace Party did not originate with Kadar. He suggested Workc - “The more 1
Peasant Party but his fellow leaders voted against this. He knew th
There has been much argument as to whether this change of name was well secretary that ■
advised. Radio Kossuth, the broadcasting station of the exiles m continued Only later di
to speak only of the Communist party. The Communists at home believed that this wanted to tall
was due to lack of information. It was only after the Liberation that they foundi tha Janos Cserman
this was the way the Committee Abroad or the Moscow Committee led by Mityas There was onl)
Rakosi-it had neither an official name, nor a specific function - wanted to let them
nek was Kadi
know that they condemned the change of name. manao. , serving his sei
1 think the move had only limited significance. Although they did not manage to
identity. Forte
mislead the police, the appeal of the Peace Party resulted in the formation of peace Luptak ther
committees, particularly in the countryside where the Communists had had n have him set ft
influence before. And although the change of name caused some confusion among in Conti Stree
party members, the party did succeed in establishing contact with other a"ti-Fascist “When we
parties and individuals, though the German occupation had a great dealto do wdh among the pri
this. In the autumn of 1944, the party s name was changed to the Hungarian The prisone
put into wago
C°in Apr!n944 the Red Army was approaching Hungary. The Communist leaders details to free
felt the time had come to establish contact with the Communists in exile, and t armed with pi
coordinate their plans. Originally they wanted to send Endre Sagvan across the front, They found tl
but finally it was Kadar who went. „AnH vnil see ujfalu with a
“I was worried that Sagvari would come to harm , says Kadar. And you easy, as the r
what came of it. That’s how much good intentions are worth. at every chec
His eyes are very bitter. And how many such wounds he bears. lucky and goi
Endre Sagvari lost his life at the end of July 1944 in an exchange of fire with In May 1?
Hungarian F
“leit for Yugoslavia to reach the Soviet troops with the help. of Tito’sparti¬
the Smallholi
sans He was caught at the border. Fortunately he had good papers all the time Party taking
he insisted that his name was Janos Luptak; he was a deserter, and had had enough Minister of I
of the war. He says that at the trial he clicked his heels so smartly that the milita y for a freedoi
judge was quite moved by what a strapping soldier he was. memorandur
Kaddr feared not only the death sentence, but also acquittal, in the 'atter case war, to deck
he would be taken before his release to the detention centre, wherehemw« Front and ari
to be recognized; he had spent more than enough time there for that o happen
and of the Si
In the end, he was sentenced to two years and was taken to the army jail m Conti discussions c
Street. He cogitated about how to let the party know what hadbappened toffim counterintell
for a long time. Then he wrote a letter to an acquaintance who he knew would of the party
recognize his handwriting; since he would not understand why the signature was
 Above Ground, Underground

to show it to his sister, who was in contact with the

“Luptak”, he would bo sure to show ^ ^d

party leadership-leadership immediately^ ^ ta„ded over to

he tept

lat this
ad that S'™ Cs'eCnek ~

serving his sentence

rrf.s --- —s
^ soo„ came to power^ ^ ^ u(most t0

“S&'SX-ktervened. The prisoners

^^‘SoyJto f iad on Mar,. —„ „ comrades

“When we were lined "^‘/^“’ n'oi to recognizeme. Iwere to be

put into wagons there ,.v.,v. One group followed t e P uniform.

st leaders
e, and to
the front, They found the ^ * ^£mS, and walked back “ Budapest and

tl you see
at every check-point 0Ml ,iUa8e'Asai”hc
of Luptdk, was
the

f fire with

’s parti¬
ta time
mss??*#
enough
military for a freedom fight against thcoccp* cauing on him t0 w^ddW ian
memorandum to to form a now democrats
war, to declare war on Germ^’ t reCeived the leaders of the boom ^^
 Introductory Biography
“What if
the workers in case of a withdrawal. The general, however, wanted a list of the The nex'
workers the ’Communists considered trustworthy. They parted company w.th the Barone
waiting foi
were aware that Horthy - P>" "They t
be very an
CK--.S2T "Later”
Baroness t
It is chi
person co
Kadar'
into the Liberation Committee of the Hungarian National Uprising. They ent us cd housekeep
Lieutenant-General Janos Kiss- with organizing the military b* the stepped oi
Arrow Cross "Censure Board”-this was the new name given to the political to have e:
police-planted an informer into the network; the military It is chi
Ld Janos Kiss and two of his associates were executed. Endre Bajcsy-Zs linszky, husband '
deprived of his parliamentary mandate, was also executed. As an organization, the keys i

ussrr-s . “■ -saiESisf
struggle against the Arrow Cross and the Germans tn Hungary, fir«oMlm Budapest.
Communists young Social Democratic workers, deserters, and left-w ig >
The sie
to survivi
adhere tc
ference: I
It is pa
with beci
Kadar ir
in 1958.
Kadar
“S£ SgISS-StTS^^KSTs younger brother. Kddar
on Hun*
away. Bi
Two hat
detachm
only hal
was libe
May 1, when the balcony of the war-damaged building c?11JPfed- By
Havine returned to Budapest, Kadar had again to look for a place to stay, y
then it was easier than in the initial underground period. A weU-known actor w ^

Ligh

,he housekeeper lived in the villa It was an ideal hidingI An eye1

"Never in my life did I have it so good’, says Kadar. The maid oroug has see
How
returned one evening
freedon

an upri
Kadar was surprised: "Are a few sheets worth risking getting bombed for?
 Light and Darkness 51

“What is mine is mine”, said the Baroness. ast she informed him that
The next morning when the maid broug detectives were
the Baroness had been arrested on charges^ of hiding Jews.
waiting for the caretaker in the hou^ eep^r s ^ j couldn’t because you would
“They told me to wake you up, Mr, but 1 saiu

Kdddr, “I reasoned it on. .ha. the maid had probably repotted .he

- -He - ““p,iOTa,,y ,ucky

to have encountered such clumsy detectives. her keys to the divorced

« « - - a- - - -
.hen .here r^Uy -

-*--*

^,fial
iP Sr and his comrades hied ,0 ^
on Hungaria Boulevard, in a dama gc ’ the fronV ground to a halt.

SSSfaS^ ^SS-tr^d Sve had conre .o pass: he

was liberated.

Light and Darkness

An eyewitness once remarked .ha. he who hasno. seen.he Ides of March of 1848
has seen nothing. I could say the same ^mg “bout “5- fight f iK
However, the comparison is no prec^In im,** ' £

w^won no. .hrongh

an uprising but by the Red Army.

52 Introductory Biography

Nevertheless, 1945 and 1848 had something in common. The whole nation sensed
the fundamental change; words, emotions, and debates were heated and oratory filled

“I was 33 years old at the time of the Liberation”, Janos Kadar recalled 20 years
later. “I didn’t think I would live to see the day, but 1 thought that afterwards
everything would be simple and easy. But nothing was simple.”
Even the first encounter with a Soviet patrol which Kadar and his comrades met
was not free from difficulty, as they did not know the password which Communist
leaders had been given. At the very least, the soldiers must have wondered at the
three wildly gesticulating men trying to prove in broken Russian that they were the
leaders of the Hungarian Communist party. Of course, they had no way of proving
it. Luckily, the soldiers dismissed them with a shrug; in a war, such things may have
a lot worse consequences.
The next day, Kadar and his comrades fortunately ran into Zoltan Vas . Vas had
spent sixteen years in prison with Matyas Rakosi and went to the Soviet Union
with him. He was sent to Budapest with the combat troops to find the Communist
leaders in hiding and to organize the public administration of the city. Vas executed
his mission with characteristic flair. For example, says Kadar, he appointed a tram
conductor as police chief in Kobanya, because the man wore a uniform. He imme¬
diately got hold for Kadar and his comrades of a horse and cart which was driven
by a young Soviet soldier. Vas explained to him that he was personally responsible
for the lives of the Hungarian Communist leaders and sent them back to Hungaria
Boulevard, adding that he himself would join them soon. They did not see him
for a whole day. ^ x_ _
Things certainly were strange in the Hungary of those days. On November /,
1944, the Communist leaders who returned from the Soviet Union formed the legal
Central Leadership of the Party in Szeged, the first liberated Hungarian city. On
November 28, Laszlo Rajk, the secretary of the illegal Central Committee of the
party, was arrested in Budapest. The democratic parties formed the Hungarian
National Independence Front in Szeged on December 1. The military leaders of the
Liberating Committee of the Hungarian National Uprising were executed by the
Arrow Cross men on December 8. The Provisional National Assembly met in
Debrecen on December 21 and elected the Provisional National Government. Endre
Bajcsy-Zsilinszky was executed on December 24. The provisional government
approved the decree on land reform on March 17, but the city of Esztergom, thirty
miles north of the capital, was still in the hands of the Germans.
The provisional government was a national unity government, embracing all anti-
German forces, including Horthy’s men. Indeed, they had the largest number of
cabinet posts. Colonel-General Bela Dalnoki Miklos54 became the Prime Minister.
He was the commander of the former First Hungarian Army who went over to the
Red Army after Horthy’s proclamation. Unfortunately, he was accompanied only
by a few of his officers, as he did not take his troops with him. Horthy’s chief of
staff, who had also gone over to the Soviets, became Minister of Defense, although
he played a still unclarified role in the failure to issue any orders to the Hungarian
army following the Regent’s proclamation. The commander in chief of the gendar-
 Light and Darkness 5J

- - —l

This ratio did not corresp Ae Horthy regime for q Afrow Cross,
forces which constituted Some switched aU^‘aD oraised themselves
„er. pract,caUy »-P^t.by l^.r ^ and th«*, did „ot reWt„
or at least tacitly re g any as prisoners of th „ or retired from
completely; others d while others left the ““"W ; he provisional govero-

rrissss-^ « >«*maware
The first elections to tn ituation in the country. 1N . .. with 57 per cent

S—s go. .7 P=r - -* “"d

swsSte-- °fthc was ——Asn-

about socialism and the uk in touch with some anti-Commumsts,

and members at the tune and^ to ^ intellectuals,r^pitalists, mem-
Were peasant politicians, b > democrats, anti-Semites, v had joined
Conservative right-wingers-embers of the bau g o s«e wh
bers of the petty nationalists, weU-m^gteacher _ epresented
tte that in 1945 J- Party had

almost one million members.

54 Introductory Biography

He was a

-,s=“3S3SsSSsSSS Eotvos Col

After his re
leaders of
where he v
injured at
France, he
escaped,to
avoided ext
with his br
if he would
Consequ
from there
broad facet
youth and
The otht
alternated i
led the par
1 did not
meetings, t
sparkling, ■

S=SS|2S^SS a few time

simplify, t
worker. 1 d
Communis
practically i
that this fact justified repressive measures. . , . leadership of the France, Gt
got to play
HuCr^C—‘ tragedy, toi
For som
fellow-lead

s £7rss 2 =. f return. Un
Central Le
Kadar was
in emotb^^capaWectfinaiiltainin^human
of Commu
made that
‘'Can 1 i
“Are yo
This is .
addressing
were on fa
order, whi
“The de
I think

^=S=SStKS wall, he st
 Light and Darkness

, , H.inoarv's most famous elite school, the

He was a student of the liberal arts in 23 for Communist organization.
as Fotvos College58. He was first arrested a g he was one Gf the
he
AHer his release, he became a «««««*fought in the Spanish Civil War
iry leaders of the construction indusl^ ^ of the international brigades. He was
rs;
where he was the political foterned him. After the Nazi occupation of
in,
injured at the front and the Fre concentration camp, from which he
XX)
France, he was taken to ^ later released, and arrested again; he only
rge
escaped, to be arrested in HungW; h h Communist party offered to do a dea
the avoided execution because the kadem ^ secretary in the collapsing regime,
5 of
with his brother, who was an Arro would be saved in his turn,
t at if he would save his younger brother • but scnl to a concentration camp.
Consequently, Rajk was not sentenced to^oc ^ ^ Danube This strong-bUilt,
held from there he returned to Hun^ after 1945, particularly among the
irely
broad faced, fiery-cyed man had J and spoke their language,
),000 youth and the intellectuals. He kne 1 Fforties on> lhe tWo of them had
ry at
The other leader was Janos “^ly met. „hen Rajk was under arrest, HdSr
alternated in leading the p
y Raik was in charge.
:ction led the party, when Radar was mjail,R J* ^ and heard him seVeral tunes at
) and
1 did not know Laszlo Rajk PersonaJ' He was different from Kaddr and had ia
knew meetings, demonstrations, and d ■ ^ period l also saw and heard Kadar
■ since sparkling, extroverted personality. g . d To stereotype is to over-
loped, a^few times. He was quiet, thoughtfu -calm, an intellectual. Radar a
iganda
simplify, but 1 think it is esteemed primarily by the former illegal
arkers’ worker. I did not know then thaRadar w ^ ^ day, They had shared
nt was
le, and

i of the Sr,oVr r/ost-wu. ™ ««-

, elected
tragedy, too. . , - the Soviet Union a few months after his
aated in For some reason Rakosi returned was looking forward to Rakosi s
- believe fellow-leaders. Rdddr says tha he^ person;ij ^ ^ career m the new
milder!"
return. Until then the C°"fGer6 ann0uiiCing at one of the first meetings that
struct ion
Central Leadership started withGero a dissolution Qf the Hungarian Party
[, lacking
Together Khddr was “f“X sywXw“ htd. Firs. of all, he did no. understand who had

:er. irr^sion". were .he .eaders of .he party.

; younger
“Can 1 say something? he asked. canned Gero.
as a poet
■■Are you still trying to defend weIe generally formal in
He was a
This is a small matter, but who had remained in the eountry
addressing one another, “““^l language is .ypieal of a h.erareh.cal
there went
ed, his feel :SIr:"Sar tone is that of a eommunity.
he became

echelon of “ s"4s^“^-" ~* he ™s up aeamst a

wallke sto^ bn. without abandoning his eonv,ebons.
,rn in 1909.
5
 56 Introductory Biography

“What I did not at all understand”, he says “is how it was possible to punish per ct
someone without giving him the chance to defend himself. We were no longer in
had l
the underground movement.”
Only
Shortly after he received his next severe reprimand, when the Ministry of Home enterj
Affairs had no money to pay a salary to the policemen of Budapest. At that time livestc
Kadar was the deputy police chief of Budapest.
natioi
“I reported it to the minister”, said Kadar.
in con:
“Do not report to the minister, but to the Central Leadership”, retorted Gero.
The
Kadar remained silent. He does not like to defend himself.
water,
This was another reason why Kadar looked forward to Rakosi’s return. He thought
persoi
that the style of leadership would then change. He did not yet know that Rakosi
some
had told his comrades in Moscow that once home they would have to do everything
soners
themselves because the party leaders in Hungary were useless.
not kr
Those who knew Rakosi better say that he always prepared carefully for every tens o
conversation and negotiation. He always surprised his partners by being very well
linen,
informed. Those who met him at that time remember him as a clever, witty conversa¬ deprec
tionalist, who was pleasant and attentive when he wanted to be. In any case, he
most i
behaved differently from the icy Gero, the offensively sarcastic Revai, and the gruff The
Farkas.
of Cot
In those days Kadar, like so many others, was swamped with work. He was the in Hur
deputy chief of police, then the head of the personnel department of the party, a
Estates
secretary of the Budapest party committee, a member of the Political Committee, 650,001
the secretary and later deputy secretary of the Central Leadership, and a Member
7 acres
of Parliament. By that time, Kadar was his official name, too; he had become so
one qi
used to it underground that he changed his name with the permission of the
much !
Minister of Home Affairs.
same a
He didn’t find time to move his mother to Budapest-she had spent the end of
Und
the war in Kapoly-until May 1945. By thattimehe hadaflat, the first flat of his own. force,
His mother grumbled and bickered with her son for having neglected her for so long.
largest
“Why did you become a policeman?” she complained. “It will get you into
Owii
trouble, you’ll see.”
has nc'
“Once I went to hold a meeting at the MAVAG enterprise”, says Kadar. “Mutter
In Hur
was sitting in the hall, she had gone to visit the parents of one of my acquaintances;
because
we had been in jail together and they had all come to visit us together.”
people
It was the first time that his mother had heard him speak in public.
centurie
“By that time she had glasses, and could read. She was trying to understand the
against
pamphlets. She wanted to understand my world.”
The!
After the Liberation, slogans played a significant role in the life of the country.
of Eszti
A concise, to-the-point slogan meant more than a substantive study.
am posi
The first slogan of the Hungarian Communist Party issued in Szeged in November
leader,
1944 was: “There will be a Hungarian rebirth!”
measure
Not many shared that belief. A well-known Hungarian writer wrote in his diary After ft
that a hundred years would pass before the country recovered from this catastrophe. capacity
This pessimism was not unfounded. Not only the bridges of the Danube and the
he disco
Tisza, but also a great many of the smaller road bridges had been blown up. Forty
feudal i(

5*
 57
Light and Darkness

, j Of the 70 000 railway wagons, 50,000

ner cent of the railway tracks wef . d*f ^those left in the country were damaged.
Ken taken to Germany and ha per ^ of the f—nd

wmmmm “teTetS* &

=SSss=aSH:sssa®
nf councils • it rapidly introduced a radical te-‘Elimination of the System of Large
Hun eary whenthe government decree °“ published. On average,

Ss£S*3^s£22r5iS
““XsSbl^he distribution of land turned * was the

s^-wssssa^ssss
Srr.h".S turning it

apins^the new'order Star W4Ss as its loss ^JZ^szcniy, Archbishop

feudal idea.
58 Introductory Biography

But unfortunately, anachronism has deep roots in Hungary. If in the thirties big
merchants and bankers could parade in plumed hats and short coats trimmed with
fox fur with swords at their sides, claiming to be descendants of ancient Hungarians,
there is no reason why a lean high priest of petty bourgeois origin could not cal
himself the first baron of the realm in the forties. Public political ridicule could no
prevent many hundreds of thousands of politically inexperienced
and devoted to the Church, from heeding the Primate’s words. Thousands of destitute
peasants did not want or did not dare to occupy the land allotted to them fearing
not only God’s punishment but even more the rumours that the landlords would
return and then God help those who had dared to plough their lands The Hungarian
peasant carried in his genes not only Gyorgy Dozsa’s revolt but also the horrible
fate that befell him. And they remembered well what followed the overthrow or the
Republic of Councils: the corpses of their fathers and brothers hanging in the main
square of the villages. . . . . ,
However, this is not the whole truth. The predominant majority of the peasantry
welcomed their plot of land, the fulfilment of a century-old dream. I knew priests
who had dedicated their whole lives to teaching, who, as teachers, were second to
few in the country; priests who were not only shepherds to their flocks, but also
taught poor people beekeeping, fruit planting and market gardening; nuns who cared
for the sick with more devotion than their closest relatives. In my view, it is
against these that the head of the Catholic Church sinned the most. He deprived
them of their vocation. They wanted to serve the people, but owed obedience to

lhCI dJ^not know what considerations led Mindszenty to decide that there was no
need for a Christian political party in Hungary. There could have been either a
Christian democratic or Christian socialist party, most probably with no small
influence. It is not a sufficient explanation that the Primate did not think much of
either democracy or socialism, not even in their Christian versions.
Mindszenty ignored the fact that the people he had sent into the political arena
while he remained head of the Church and a baron had to work under different
conditions. When the Parliament declared Hungary a republic in February 1 ,
only one MP voted against it, although the Primate had opposed the liquidation of
the monarchy and he had a number of supporters in the House However, no one
who wanted a career as a politician in Hungary in those days could publicly vote for
continuing the Hungarian Monarchy. This would have been anachronistic beyond

“TheCommunists and the Social Democrats would have liked to have seen Mihily
Karolyi become the President of the Hungarian Republic; he had returned al er
almost thirty years in exile. The Smallholders’ Party would not hear of it-pa tly
for political, partly for personal reasons. The first President of the new Hunga
Republic was the leader of the Smallholders’ Party, Zoltan Tildy . He was a Protestant
minister, a well-intentioned, diplomatic man, though not particularly strong-willed
who had led the party together with Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky during the war. Ferenc
Nagy62, another leader of the Smallholders’ Party, of peasant origin, was appointed
Prime Minister. He was tougher, more decisive and more right-wing than the Presi-
 Light and Darkness 59

_ hi oiio Var°a93. was elected Speaker of

dent. Another member of the ma ^o himc apartfrom the fact that he
Parliament. There is nothing mor peasant background, became Secretary-

r s - -—-the s
few years later after his son'm' * hc was scntenced at the same time as Nagy and
member of Imre Nagy sraner cabinet,h Prime Minister Ferenc Nagy did not
he died not long after his release P he t^amc a farmer in the United
return from his visit to Switzerland .in . . 6s He tricd t0 return in 1956,
States and one of the leaders fKthe ^^ "eventies he wanted to visit Hungary,
but Austria expelled him. At the en there js nothing more to say
but hc had a fatal heart attack hefore the tnp g ian 6migres and was
of Bela Varga other than that he ^.^^waTarrested in 1947 by the Soviet
always financed by the A”erl“” ‘ • read Marx and Lenin, and after his release
authorities. In prison he learnt Rusm read seriously iUt he was a
he became the director of a ^ among those prosecuted and was
member of Imre Nagy s of a heart attack,
elected an MP in 1958, short y tQ show how heterogeneous the Small-
Perhaps these few portrait skctche mentioned belonged to the centre,
holders' Party was. Furthermore the I ^ force< dcmanded the amcnd-
The right wing of the party, represent g g parties, and the prevention
ment of the land reform, an offensive against thekftv J ^ ^ ^^
of nationalization. They failed to g P w- Block with the participation
The Left's response was the creation of peasant Party and the Trade
of the Communists, the Social Dem • ^ «We won’t give back the
Union Council. It was around tha Block’s rally, attended by more than
land!” was born, and then atwas a second major slogan: “Expe
300,000 people in Budapest in MarehL1946 ^ thc government consisted of
^ ^rty, four Communists, four Social Democrats

and one Peasant Party representative Secretary-General of the Social

For many years Arpdd Szakasfis^ ^ Sc« ^ ^
Democratic Party. He was a fora characterjzes him as a man who had his
journalist and a published poet■ js accurate; I knew him quite well,
heart in the right place. I thl"k thls . J' rty was anything but united. In those
He was honest, and not exactly decisive. H. spa y^ by Kdroly Peyer,
days, the Social Democrats rig S supporter of compromise with the
the former leader of the party, J,!Councils. Even his impr.son-
government ever since the suppres stature The fiery-eyed and fiery-tempered
ment by thc Germans failed to enhance his sta • h ^ later she moved
Anna Kethly93 was originally the spo espe outstanding speaker,
increasingly to the I often to *p^ ^ former baker

merger - -—
60 Introductory Biography
he side:
Glad a
conden
[Cries

SSHESBSSSsi
This is
today i
this all
Committee, and after November 4 was appointed Minister of State [Noise
tn iQfi? be resigned from the Political Committee. He is a grey-haired, per y and to
old Z! a Poncr tvho swi™ regularly even today and belongs to a our co-
of its i
WTtNaUotal Peasant Party did no. represent a politically signMc**forej.but vinism
the mi
Partial
seasoned by prison, who became a sober-minded and w^ewnterHe P Minisl
Noise,
tinuov
In i
of the
significant sociologists in the country, led the left wing, lhe ngni b factio:
Imre Kovacs68, the outstanding publicist. Vercs was influei
These people’s subsequent careers went as foUows^until 1956 , thatc
the president of the Hungarian Writers greate
demonstrators at the statue of General Jozef Bern . A thcre wcre “ Un
K&dar, who respected him, wrote of him after his deal^.° J bctwccn Peter annoi
serious differences and clashes of views on three importantissues >f nineti
Veres and the Communist party; he was wrong on two, but right on o • Smal
After the Liberation, Ferenc Erdei headed various rmmstnesjOn October23, Ur
he attempted to speak to the hundred-thousand-strong crowd from a bakony muni
Parliament building, but was booed. He was a mem*°^^XnJa7y on heter
conducted negotiations with the commanders of the Rcd J J t carrii
November 3 He was arrested but later released. He then said he would » Tit
involved in politics again. Quite frankly, I did not believe him. He; became the> h Hun
of the Patriotic People’s Front, and later of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Frati
The upgrading of the agricultural sector is also to his credit peasant, were
Imre Kovacs, who once wrote a moving book on themiseryofHung P es clari
left the Peasant Party in 1947 and became the leader of one of the right gP tion:
Then he left the country and was one of the leaders of Hungary 8 P°11 happencd an a
until his death. He either could not or would not rcc°8ni“^ b gene
meanwhile to the Hungarian peasantry, whose advocate he!the COUf
To illustrate the atmosphere and tone of the political debates I quote hold
official record of the Parliamentary proceedings on February S, • previous the i
to u
Sms
 Light and Darkness 61

sides with his country! In the end he null

Glad as we were yesterday to welcome the ^M*jSLfSe nation to ruin
condemns and opposes national chauvinism w . ,SHP) “This isn’t it!
[Cries from the Smallholders Party: We do too! Ig.
This is not chauvinism! Mihaly Mm» (CP)>• ^ tQ0 neCessary stand and
today it is with equal regret that■ u shared even within his own party,
this all too necessary condemnation are not f y „yes th are!»] To assist
[Noise and interruptions in the Smallholders Pa y • * y impoverished
Ltd to adopt the reasoning of that extent
our country in the last quarter of a «n ^° Don’! you speak of chau-
of its devastation [A voice in the Smallholders P y^ m ^ ^ understand
vinism!” Interruptions from the Smallholders Party • ” voice it jn
the meaning of the term!” No.se], to ^ forest. [Mdtyas Rakosi,
Parliament, I consider extremely ha y speech.”

Sf Li ol the world!’* Con-

‘TISLh .he Cher. policy >" "

of the Hungarian Communis. Party 1 fhe Soviet sphere of
factions and it was not only the fact that H1 g y ” g but also this unity
influence on the basis of the agreement among he allied p ^ considerably
that contributed to the Communists’ having an influence in the >

greater than that reflected in ^Siona^Presidiuni of the Smallholders’ Party

Under left-wing pressure, the National Presidium _ Dezs6 Sulyok, and
announced in March 1946 that the ca cr o ^ liquidation of the
nineteen of his fellow MPs were expelled from the party. q
Smallholders’ Party had begun. particularly by the Com-
Undoubtedly, the const*int^ byAe Lef, and P J ^ extremely

1“etg;irP1.y S 111'und‘eaTrs of ,h= mos. diverse views, esscn.iaiiy

Hungarian politics and power reUtions ips came eliminated. Several factors
Fraternal Community or Hungarian. ^ ife of which are yet to be fully
were involved in this extremely romp^ > like s0 many similar organiza-
clarified. This secret society was created before the w" y 1947, howeVer,
tions. As far as 1 know, it did not colonel-
an anti-republic plot was discovered. g Minister before the Arrow Cross
generals, whom the Regent had designatedJnme Mps of thc Small-
coup, high ranking military officers a o™ Committee of Seven directing
holder’s Party who were influential in Par^”e"^ the monarchy and it wanted

%£££whom beionsed to the

Smallholders’ Party, towards this end.
 62 Introductory Biography

The state security bodies acted in haste, perhaps politically motivated. They Th
arrested the leaders of the organization when they only had proof of an isolated that
plot, but no proof of to what extent and who among the members of the Hungarian abso'
Community had been drawn into the conspiracy, that is, who among the leaders Th
of the Smallholders.
had I
At first all four parties of the government coalition-the Smallholders included - agenl
sharply condemned the plot, but the Communists and the Left continued their show
pressure, making the situation more acute, and this led to the break-up of the Small¬ Ka
holders Party. Bela Kovdcs, Secretary-General of the Party, was arrested, Ferenc “T
Nagy, who was in Switzerland at the time, did not return, Bela Varga, the Speaker peopl
of Parliament, left the country. The Smallholders’ Party expelled many of its MPs, pletel
several were arrested, while others withdrew to found new parties. Ka.
The 1947 election reflected reality better than that of 1945 in that it was not a essem
heterogeneous Smallholders’ Party which opposed the Left, but the Democratic his vi
People’s Party professing Christian ideals, the Hungarian Independence Party, which today
used the former slogan of the Smallholders’ “God, Country, Private property”, and “T1
the Independent Hungarian Democratic Party-I do not know whether the last Thi
named had any programme other than getting their leaders elected. The three opposi¬ princi
tion parties were organized by former Smallholder leaders. These parties, together the sa
with a few opposition groups, obtained 40 per cent of the vote in 1947. The Small¬ years
holders’ Party, which before that had an absolute majority, lost 2 million votes, and w
1.8 million of which went to the breakaway parties. The Communists became the “Th
country’s strongest party with 1.1 million votes, or 22 per cent of the vote. throuj
During these years Kadar was engaged primarily in organizing the party. Party “Th
membership grew at incredible speed. By September 1946, at the time of the Third the pe.
Congress of the Hungarian Communist Party, there were 650,000 registered party “ Wc
members, 150,000 of them in Budapest. Incidentally, three reports were given at politic;
the congress. Matyas Rakosi reported on the domestic and foreign political situation people
of the country and the tasks facing the party, Imre Nagy spoke on agrarian policy their u
and Janos Kadar on organizational questions.
their ei
The membership of 650,000 was hardly realistic. However well and efficiently the the me
Communist Party worked after the Liberation, it is unthinkable that over half a “lnf
million people in Hungary had become convinced Communists in a year and a half. are oui
It is a historical fact that many became party members out of self-interest and “The
careerism. This applies not only to the Communist Party. In the years of the coali¬ have yt
tion, the parties delegated their own people to all government posts; whoever wanted the ma
to fill a post had to belong to one of the parties. Even cinema licences were distributed Februa
on a coalition basis. There were some who wanted to conceal their past with a party the har
membership card and could count on the protection of their parties during screening. they sti
The parties were hunting for new members and voters to increase their electoral turned
base, and they were not too particular about their applicants’ motives. Consequently, tionarie
the sad situation arose whereby long-standing Communists, who had been unable the par
to withstand the tortures of Horthy’s police and had confessed, and so implicated Quot:
others, were expelled by the dozen, while tens of thousands were admitted whom present
nobody knew anything about.
honest c
 Light and Darkness 63

There was also a distorted, false ^"^^'^‘^X'^h^Uberation were

Ural their .lew was that only those who entered P»

—ested t.seh the terr.hle

Tdd‘"tw it differently. This is how - ^SST^

s - ■»« «*"« u,e same way ,hat

t0"The mistakes committed by ^ ^™re toic

This must be true as far as da > P lhis day; the phraseology is almost
principles formulated fhen have no d ^ outlook crystallized thirty

“ trtieSlrwtn £ know “that he does not read his ear,ter speeches

the people for them often do more bar Hungarian people underestimate the
“We are convinced that the cnemi difficult years, the Hungarian
political maturity of our people. During the ei^d.ffi ^ political£
people have learned much, they Mbcctm* and have come to recognize
their understanding improves from day to ^ parJy which will have done
their enemies and their frien s. become the strongest party in Hungary.
* ,Tp"g iK35Sp«*. of Whatever party affiliation or non-affihaton

"-£!!£» of certain or,— of

have yet to recognize the real sign ^ Central Leadership meeting on
the masses. Comrade R^kosi pointed °ut ^/^"working class had led to
February 10 that the c0^ t oUhleaders of certain party organizations whereby
the harmful practice on the part of ja pcople through education and
they started to abandon the of comn metllods. The5e fane-

t^Quotin^1MatyasIlRi^osi ^i^o^jjot^ioiow'whether^this'was

SS2id"oftc£‘consideration. The sharp change took place later.

f]4 Introductory Biography

However, it is worth noting a 1946 Christmas

factor, the difference between Rakosi s and P ^ R-kosii Kddar and
issue of Szabad Nepn (Free c0p e) pu Communist leaders seldom make
SSSSZZZ " HXs. Here are -os, and Kadars

tour of the villages when the w°rk,^p*°pal sLh small taTks are dreary, yet without
each other. Many of our comrades thin h t ^ Communists slandered for
them we cannot convince people who J listened with the greatest interest to
25 years that our principles are right I h Qf the counlrysjdc and which
the little incidents which emerge in the working people of the towns and the
show what a tremendous experience^t » f by one of these stories,
countryside to meet each oth . p the Danube took away with them an
The workers touring in one of theJ‘llag - hat they would bring them back next
elderly widow’s old window-fram misled and reactionary elements of
Sunday repaired. The next day . ‘You will never sec your window-
the village started to ridicule the old woman,s Y ^ Communists bring back
frames again because it has never happ- J , indeed, our comrades did
sowing once ljmWfcjrl»ud villagers reacted with
not show up on that following Sunday pleased when the comrades
malicious glee. But the old woman was aBtheup the now repaired,
concerned reappeared in her vi aS excusing themselves for the delay,

“new the°Commimists keep their promises. And I was nght.

Kadar told the reporter the following anccdote ^ ^ twenlies i kicked
“I am an old sportsman. As a young membcr Qf the Vasas Juniors in the
around the ball *««■ ^ ** T*
ankle-deep sand of People s Park. befits a self-respecting ironworker,
was usually 15:11. Later 1 ^ in me by their club members,
a Vasas fan at that. Now, thanks to the honou t ^ th# besl Hungarian
I am the chairman of the Vasas clu P u ^officio- But even more as a
workers’ sports club. So I am an cspert o^fo<ttbal, e^ ] ^ ^ ^ that
fan. I do not want to describe the psycho g than the coach, and knows
the fan certainly knows how to select the ^b ^ fact that he knows a hundred
how to play better than the payers, referee The well-known and learned
times more about running a ^han^hejfere^l^ ^ ,Th
comments from the stands prove - And that is the way I was myself

of those who knew everything better.

 65
Light and Darkness

miBB!

Sli2Sii5^s|Sg|=
only in fairy-tales andnoUn h ^ ^ hoUse without wm Communists keep their

SflSSr^SS
Sby *e nexUay it ^St value of

■££S?§53SgS£S£
*£SsS=®SS'*^»a-
the surprise of many, P
66 Introductory Biography

and shoes were available even if in limited quantities. The three-year national eco¬
nomic plan adopted in 1947 aimed at reaching the level of the last pre-war year in
three years in respect to both production and the standard of living.
Meanwhile, the peace treaty between the victorious and the defeated states was
concluded in the autumn of 1946. Hungary was allotted the fate which Horthy and
Szalasi and their like deserved. The ally of Hitler’s Germany again found herself
with the borders dictated at Trianon after World War I whereas it was the leadership
of the country, and not the Hungarians themselves who were responsible for their
participation in the war on Hitler’s side. But those who direct world affairs think
in terms of states and not in terms of peoples and nations. Czechoslovakia had
been dismembered by the Germans. Yugoslavia had fought against the Third Reich
throughout the war. Romania had quit the Axis alliance and turned against Germany
before Hungary did. The victorious Allies could hardly be expected to sanction
the border readjustments executed with Hitler’s blessings.
The country and its leaders were resigned to the peace treaty because they knew
they could not expect anything else. The politicians and public opinion were primarily
preoccupied not with the peace treaty, but with the domestic political struggles.
Tn connection with the 1947 elections, it is said even today that fraud was
committed and the Communists became the strongest party only through cheating.
The first part of the sentence is true, the second is false. The notorious “blue
cards” were used in the elections without the knowledge and approval of the CP
leadership. Those who were away from their normal residence (riding) could vote
several times by using these cards. According to calculations which seem authentic,
the Communists obtained no more than two mandates this way. In a 411-seat
Parliament it made no difference. Undoubtedly, this unwise and counterproductive
move caused grave moral harm; it was a prelude to a sad period when some Com¬
munist leaders thought that any means could be used to further the interests of
working class power. As the old proverb says, even the road to hell is paved with
good intentions.
After the 1947 elections, the opposition made one more desperate attempt to gain
power. The leaders of the parties who had seceded from the Smallholders’ Party
tried to convince their former party to quit the coalition and to form a government
with them. This came to naught just as the attempt of right-wing Social Democrats
to form a coalition government with the exclusion of the Communists failed. In the
end, the new government was formed with the Smallholder Lajos Dinnyes'4 as Prime
Minister and the ministries divided among five Communists, four Smallholders, four
Social Democrats and two Peasant Party members.
Following the 1947 election victory, the Communists achieved another significant
result in 1948. The right-wing and centrist leaders of the Social Democratic Party
had either resigned or been expelled and several of them had left the country and
the two working class parties merged in June 1948, and adopted the name Hungarian
Working People’s Party. Szakasits was named President of the Party and Rakosi
became its Secretary-General, with Mihaly Farkas, Janos Radar and GyorgyMaro-
san as his deputies.
 Light and Darkness 67

, have stabilized. The left-wing

The country’s domestic political situation.seemed■ * ^ Parly had a corn-
government coalition led by the ^position nor by any
fnrtable majority, its power wa factories employing mor
Sistratum The banks were nationalized m.Mh * dcnominational schools

SS^aasfflSSsfSSS
Our attitude did not change evfP : «nv as well. On the contrary, every-

h democratic fores of the «-»*■“ I**£ to have .he cons.an, parly

genuinely can render a genuinely ^Tprnion,

0UThiSv”w conernin/lhe "'"X^wSdrsef RCvai, .he parly's
hj the official stand of the Comn.un.st party. ofSzabadmp, "In Hungary.

SSS^SrSSSSS

IS
mere existence of .he «.« —^n one alter another ; Hungary has

S3 ’““party system;,ncc ^ which, of M„rse, mamfes.ed itself

nn^nlyTuTht %" - the then rllega. Bjj

never forget it as long as 1 live. The seer y than 45 years ago, a long

ri-js =e=rxrron ——-

almost all of them started the same way.
.he
68 Introductory Biography

Alas, however characteristic >h'^tory^ ^ The times were gone when the
situation in 1948 was even more P powers fought as allies against Fascism,
Red Army and the troopsjof the Wesi P ^ & ceremonial sword to the victors
the common enemy, and the king S s all in World War II, openly
of Stalingrad. Churchill, who was t struggle against Communism
reverted to his former self and not least her
in his Fulton speech. Because of her m leading power. After Roosevelt’s
atomic bomb, the United States ecam President He considered the Soviet
dea,h, to rf—rvabve World. What Hitler had
Union the number one enemy of A wfaa[ at the time was unimaginable came
counted on in the last days of his 1 iQn were regarding each other as
t0 K mTeSuC but bHef dream that the immeasurable sufferings of the
world war would be followed by a period ofGermany in 1949,
The three Western great power* created the ^eral Repub main
£££«** 1949 became

called ^ n - United
In 1949, the Communists won the Chm^e civd^ and South
States intervened militarily in the w . Northerners stopped the American advance
Korea led by the dictator LiSin Man, th was probably an even
with the assistance of the People s , s Jiet Union produced her first atomic
sorer point with the Amer.canleaders ^™ experts for 1954,
bomb in 1949, an event which had been fo J the United States could
or for 1952 at Soviet Union without the latter being
IrL"™ — but the nuclear anus race which is sttl. cnpphng

the world today was on. stiU in the same situation

In this tense international situatith; *°Vl* ZZZon: its survival was in peril,
it had practically always been in blockades military attacks. Nobody will
There had been civil war, interventions,ayviolent dealh at the
ever be able to say how many o of Sovict power, but their number
hands of various enemies dur ng the t y another country or
can be estimated as at least thirty™blood to survive.
social system in world history wl shooting war at any time, froze not
The Cold War, which could have turned into a shootmg j po)itics of the
only inter-state and world <jcion°™‘^ re jhey thought that ensuring democracy
Soviet Union and the people s democracies. Th^ ^ tant task of the state.
and individual liberty in a tluie of si^e The Soviet Union lived through the

i—»f the ^union and

political methods changed.
 Light and Darkness

Communist leaders «

Z** t£ StmSto who had not been in the Soviet Union had no concept™

3SiSSHi=iSS
that, a miseoneeption started to otS offices nitons, and
XsWS Zo“k than the eve, mote perfect imp.emen.at,on of these

=S^SSSSS2?£SS
SE^ia-ssss
StrclZffiststhoZtha.^

rj'Sr-SiSZ po.ic.es of.he various socialist

70 Introductory Biography

The Yugoslav crisis must have been the final reason for the radical change in Hun¬
garian domestic politics, for the creation of a political atmosphere which therctofore
had been not only unknown but also unimaginable in Hungary. In June 1949, the
population of the country was shocked to learn from the newspapers that Ldszlo
Rajk Foreign Minister of the Hungarian People’s Republic, and member of he
Political Committee of the Hungarian Working People’s Party, had been arrested
and charged with being a party to an anti-state conspiracy.
We have come to the most tragic chapter of the Hungarian working class movement.
Communists were jailed, forced to make false confessions, tortured and executed by

CTTis* not"the task of this book to clarify the reasons, the mechanism and the exact
history of the show trials. I know dozens of people, one or two are friends, whofe
victii/to these terrible trials. 1 have read a number of memoirs about these times
and 1 know a few people who were the executors. One of the mysteries of the show
trials is that both the hangmen and the victims are enigmas themselves.
No one can know the whole truth about the trials. I think that even if the most
secret mes o? the most secret archives were opened - although I doubt that any
such exist-the exact truth would still remain undiscovered. , . ,
1 do not know the reasons behind the trials. But it is not sufficient explanation to
sav that in an increasingly tense situation, under the threat of what seemed like immi¬
nent war, Rakosi and Co. believed that there was a need for an iron-fisted dictatorship
in Hungary and therefore it was necessary to eliminate from political life sometimes
from among the living - those people whom they suspected of possibly turning against
them at some future date. It is not sufficient to say that they wanted to demonstrate
the imperialist danger and the validity of the decision against the Yugoslavs through
the trials. The international aspectscannot provide an exact explanation erther because
in some socialist countries not a single politician was executed-and this only aggra¬
vated Rakosi’s crime. The least credible explanation is that they wanted to eliminate
th^opposition within the party. All these reasons are true, but they are in no way
thp whole truth, not even in combination.
In Hu w .here was no opposition force in 1949 which could have overthrown
the regime or could even threaten it seriously. The only thing that Rakosi and Co^
feared8was that a part of the party leadership might turn against them. It was
Section of the terrible distortion of power that the, «that
their personal power was indispensable to the security of the soc al system.
The^ fei was nonsense because in 1949 neither Laszlo Rajk, nor any other
Communist leader represented a basically different political line; they respected
Rakosi and recognized him as the leader of the party. Nonetheless, this distorted
logic was at work, at the root of the trials. The arrested bourgeois politicians got
relatively light sentences, the former Social Democrats on the whole received heavy
ones but only Communists were executed. Among the latter, the proportion of top
level’military and police officers was especially high. These were people who in ,
had armed force at their disposal but it did not even enter their minds to turn
against either socialism or Rakosi and Co. The predominant majority of the victim
were Communists who had lived in Hungary or in a Western country before
 Light and Darkness 7/

wmMmM
trials. This, of cour , »Just before

Farkas repeated the same cnarg b

sj-; mmtM,
Affairs, Gyorgy Pd “J,Jf® p-ter head

s3^jf£S52Ss«
*» «*—,SLf.‘S" -^arv, *—
‘££^^r£3S3bss
-==s==>---
that it was impossible.
72 Introductory Biography

Farkas argued that they had got the reports from reliable agents working in
Switzerland. Kadar protested. Gero and Revai remained silent. The relatively brief
debate was closed by Rakosi saying that even if it could not be proved, if Rajk was
suspect, he should not remain Minister of Home Affairs, but should take over the
foreign affairs portfolio and Kadar should become Minister of Home Affairs.
“I immediately understood”, says Kadar, “that Rakosi had already decided on
this question without me. I also understood why Rakosi had invited me to arrive
later than the others. Revai was very pale, and so was I, I think.”
In September 1948, Laszlo Rajk was appointed Foreign Minister, and Janos Kadar
Minister of Home Affairs. According to a contemporary press report Kadar said
upon assuming office: “It is an honour and a great task for me to continue and
advance Laszlo Rajk’s creative work successfully.” To which Rajk replied: “I don’t
think this is good-bye.”
There is no way of knowing what Rajk really felt. Was he offended or suspicious?
There is no witness or proof, but I don’t think he was. Not only because he remained
a member of the Political Committee, the highest ruling body of the Party, but because
in those days it was natural for Party leaders to be entrusted with different posts.
By way of illustration, let me mention three Communist leaders figuring frequently
on government lists. Imre Nagy was Minister of Agriculture between 1944-45,
Minister of Home Affairs 1945-46, Minister of Food 1950-52, Minister of Requi¬
sitions 1952, Deputy Prime Minister 1952-53, and Prime Minister 1953-55 and
in 1956. Erno Gero was Minister of Commerce and Transport in 1945, Minister of
Transport 1945-49, Minister of Finance 1948-49, Minister of State 1949-52, Minister
of Home Affairs 1953-54, and First Deputy Prime Minister 1952-56. Erik Molnar78
was Minister of Public Welfare between 1944-47, Foreign Minister in 1947 and
1952-53, Minister of Justice from 1950 to 1952, and again in 1954-56.
The change of portfolios itself would not have made Rajk suspicious. There is
no way of knowing whether he felt any distrust directed at himself. But it is certain
that he had no idea of the horrors awaiting him. He could not have imagined that
anything like that could happen in the movement for which he had struggled all his
life, in which he believed and of which he was proud. This was also pertinent to
the age.
Laszlo Rajk’s arrest by the State Security Authority on May 30, 1949 was a major
turning point.
The Rajk trial was intended for the public, and attention was paid to appearances.
Tibor Szonyi79 and Andras Szalai80 were the first to be arrested. Szonyi lived in Swit¬
zerland during World War II and after the war he established contact with the
United States intelligence service upon the instruction of the Communist Party to
enable Hungarian Communists living in exile in Western Europe to return to Hungary
with its assistance. Szalai was a member of the illegal Hungarian Communist party;
he was so brutally tortured by Horthy's police that he almost died. His wife fought
with the Yugoslav partisans.
The three main points of the charges were based on the biography of the principal
defendants, but on utterly false data: Rajk and his accomplices were agents of the
American intelligence service, Yugoslav spies, and informers of Horthy’s police.
 Light and Darkness 7.?

The army genera, and the police co,one,

in Hungary, and a

fsss=ss,ii=
2^“=%sse=ss=SsS
:s£7is:=ipSSS"r£=s
liisil==css
"Those6 whoTnow'K££ SnTvfhave restless nights, are not rea, Con.

"*5.ri- - a. -*» -—“tte

■r^S--jrjsssrssr-s
confession served the interests oi nis p y ^ d thesc

s»4s^SSSSsiM
, do not believe that it was as ?“P e “cSd liteT^“ o additional comments.

■SSSSsss£ssrs«3:
6*
 the under
to contre
impressic
“Neve
taken to
Firstly
SSS htSfys°eryranoHsaitemy task to do so. I can on* had seer
1 cannot JUszl6Rajk,40.former^-^Hungarian Party of in Hunt
should bow to the m brigades in Spam, Secretary Political Committee “Rajl
missar of the of Hungarian Republic, member oftheP ^ of risks. V
Communists, Minister onhc H g >s ^ ^ .^^of the underground
He a
of the Hungarian Wo*“* staff, head of the military com™tte' ian Republic, is not t
the Hungarian of the armed forces of J ^r.old doctor, This
Communist party.Minister of Defense; to Dr; J^°^ lUce 0f the Hungarian insignil
major general, Deputy rship and thc Organizing Co [q Andras Szalai, Raki
member ofthe Ccntr h d of the cadre department of th P ^ an Working the ma
It is
aroum
he wa
“Ri
did not know the victims want to nor am I ^ °J these terrible
high ]
I am their hundreds of thousands of peop* beheve^ ^ .g ^ a
docto
A still open question is y dicted all logic and human e P lvcS- Not
either
and impossible charges, w j tj s confessed, speaking agai without sup- give i
sufficient explanation that the vk» rules of la* a co^ession of
In
only beoauso according to ^“none-Is worth and md and!

^ -°n,y

And at that time dis P Th imagine that Rajfabricating such a thing,

belief, dedication t might be capable terrible trials was
but not that the leaders fJ^f^Uevable. The reality of to***™ whQ

,te°-~
of every evil underfor my turn”, saysLet us not believe
“I had to wait another tw y his tum would also com that hc had
After a while it and which was ^^t^storv^at'a^ Minister ^of Home
thc story made up afte shouid we acCept the story ^ time the State
persuaded Rajk to co preparations for the tr • - buthad become

=& «terf,y m"dmin6 the,r years m

 Light and Darkness 75

^ r-iospr SO he was unable

a A their subsequent relationship was n basis of personal
the underground and their suteeq confession on the basts P
» cradle. ertber the charges ^ * mis.

^“Nevertheless, I believed that my insight into a person

KSST, the — *- He had oonetossary

rilled JT-t - be said. And it .bis

JoV—efn wTbe certain tbaMb^ut 7 ^ ^ ^ ^ that seemingly

Sftg
r!b^SS^ -r?dte"' -
- “f hls deputics
situation in which the Secretary

a story, which many have published

SgisSSS^xr

*
76 Introductory Biography

why, arrested leaders were no longer executed There were no other public trials
apart from the Rajk trial, and I do not know the reason for that either
“The sentence was a terrible disappointment , says Kadar. I almost had

brHedhadRhad enough of everything, the sordid lies, the sullying of his ideate, his
principles being trampled underfoot. He had hoped to be sentenced to death and

“St seemingly contradicted by one of his speeches in 1958 Then he said:

“There have been two occasions in my life when it seemed 1 d have to die. 11 e
first was in 1944, the other later. A lot of things have been said of me - particularly
£ teopie said things like ‘Kadar is hysterical. hc‘s had a nervous break¬
down’ although it is one of my characteristics that I am calm by nature, and out take
a “oft„,agl strain. When it seemed the timehadl come to die I was Pm«y gta
when I thought over where I had been, and what I had done in my life, in 1944
I felt that there really was nothing wrong. If that’s how things were, I d just have to
j:_ The ne0nle would live, the Soviet troops would arrive, and socialism would
tiunS, Th^second titne^ I was in trouble.Vn i, seemed as if I’d have to die
under circumstances when all my comrades, all my brothers all whose op.n o
I esteemed, all who I had worked with as a young man would hmk. that had
betrayed the Communist cause. And this, believe me, is a tcrr'ble thing- A tha
time I was not fighting for my life. What I did want very much was to live to sec
the day when people would know that I was not a traitor to the Communist flag.
In my view, the contradiction is only apparent. I can imagine that someone
have enough of life and, at the same time, still want to see his honour cleared. In
any case, let us be cautious in passing judgement about situations which an averag

^KddaTspent three and^Thalf years in the Conti Street prison, where hehad already
befn an inmate as Janos Luptak, the deserter. The highest ranking leaders were
kept in this prison at that time and were totally sequestered not only from the
outside world and from one another, but even from the guards. Kadar did
hear a word nor was he allowed to meet or talk to anyone for three years.
“It was not the first three years which were the most difficult, but the as six

Tmth'eyegrwhc,, he thought that fever if his life would he see anything other
than the whitewashed walls of the cell and the iron door but the six months when
the rehabilitation procedure was already under way, when the mterrogators and
guards were calling him “comrade”: these were the hardest to bear. When he k
fhat he would probably be freed and he would get back not only his freedom,

^“ATlona aTthey treated me as a spy, a criminal, an enemy agent”, says Kadar,

“I had pafience. But when they called me ‘comrade’, it was cae* bear
it any longer. How long would they keep me in prison if they knew me to be in

” The'interrogating officer who headed the rehabilitation procedure (incidentally

he had headed Kadar’s interrogations, too, but then the tone had been somewhat
 Towards the Tragedy 77

different) repeated time and com¬

pany-were very busy and he could make ^ fknowing of the power strug-
pletely isolated from the outside w , wh;ch the rehabilitation of those
gle among the leaders of ^ Hungamn p ^ ^ head of ^ Statc Security
innocently arrested depended He d d hjs breaches of the law.
Authority had been arrested m ^3. And ^ Tehabi]itation of Janos Kadar and
There was a tragicomic episo * stubbornly refused to revoke his false
his companions. One °f basis of which he had been illegally sentenced
had revoked a confession his fate had taken a turn for

^The^desperate ^
lor help in persuading t e s police”, says Kadar.
“Damned if I was going to help.the> po’ y 42: in his prime, as they say.
Kadar was released in the au;um"°J'fbecome yeuowish, his eyelids twitched,
His hair had thinned, his complexion toHunga^ian history might have thought

" ~But therc was-And we wl"m

him there, too.

Towards the Tragedy

The M « - op, a TJLSg

became increasing, gnPP^ byJSTrf Worthy era, higher ranking mihtary,
formally sentenced: the leading their families were deported
police and gendarmerie officers, better n§ conflscated. In the countryside
from the capital and their homcs a ' P was often decided not by the person s
lists of kulaks*1 were drawn upandnclu cnmity or by chance. “Vigilance
actual financial situation, bu by mtngw= - wherev£r there were any shortcomings
became the foremost political req ofa search being made for the real
the “hand of the enemy was detected, “ whQ forgol to lock his desk drawer
cause of the problem. The clerk or 0ff with just having his
or left a file out was m trouble le was ^ country; shock-workers
name put on a black-list. Falsehood saM* th ^ iheir norms were
were designated for propaganda‘ P^XJUd to get the rest of the workers to
overfulfilled a thousand per cent, and tney
believe that it was only up to .^Ted^deoffigyffiat the class struggle was necessarily
All this was based on the Witod ^tbreak of the Korean War the country
becoming more and^more acute J J1^ assocjates exaggerated the real danger
SeSma^r^ined their policy, their social and economic decisions.
78 Introductory Biography

The Committee of National Defense was cmated in November 1950 composed of

Rakosi, Gero and Miliaty Farkas^ the existence of which was unknown

“edwmhole ^"foZ'as “»se ieader of out people, Md.yds

“* fZ^ o285"mt end of the year, to 60

ra'sed to 35 billion in «“SP™8° Nincty cenC 0f all investments were

ScTJd tfrdXntent of heavy industry

investments went to mining and he forced lan, which was

sMjsTf^vssssrn:
-rSSsSSSss;
K«“^hk^n«
common cooperative cultivation.
X P—* «-** ““ S0Cia,‘St
, c ;arp0n through

Si, wh^’SS no! o^TbLt trasedies £ disered.ted both Join. farmtn8

mmmmm
cooperatives even by force.
 Towards the Tragedy 79

Yet everything was done ^make^em^fe more raised while

o^Myonewho“sabot.ged”.heco!nP"^t)^‘|®l^^^^^ jn j^j^for example, the

ter one year and worse the neat was nompMy «» ^ ^ coveI ,he needs of a

Land delivery obliga,ions;«^^'£5££ Th« measures led to

farm buildings and even the , i d exactly the opposite of their desired
decreased production and often ach J the destitute day-labourers,
political aim. Even the majority of ^ or,me ^ indignant t this
who really did not care for the b^ymg P often diligent, honest
unjust and inhuman persecution “d particularly
middle-peasants were put on the kulalc- ts^ ious measures prohibiting
. it is no wonder that people fled lb plages ^ [Q enforce because
this were in vain. If for no otherreason h y mQOO peasants went
the rapidly developing industry demande ' quite unprecedented
To work in industry from the had been struggling for
was that the peasantry and unclaimed, and there was
centuries. There were more than 4.2 million acres
no one to cultivate it. situation also affected the urban population.
Naturally, the catastrophic agricultural situ foodstulTs and industrial
!n 1951, rationing was m reducedfor a number^ t ^ a soldier at the time
products, and queueing started agam> °»ts* The constant raising of
and I took bread home from the bracks fo ^ ^ peacc_Loans constituted

real wag, of workers and employees were 20 per

tion-and perhaps it is not the Wofschizophrenia. The

that make me say it-can be^attributed to a strj^ ^ ^ ^ same Umc that
Communists whose relatives and socialism after all. Kadar says that once
Hungary had started on the road towards . ^ and may well dic a prisoner,
he had the following thought in;priso . ^ important than my fate,
but there is popular- rule in_ Hung y’ d ^ his son went to secondary
Although the peasant hardly had bis daily sn been almost unimag-
school and university, something Mother was a factory director or
^rAnl95l, more'than half of the roughly 25,000 leading state officials

had been workers or peasants before the Liberation.

80 Introductory Biography

Three years later, the Central Statistical Office studied the social origin of the
leading personnel of eighteen industrial enterprises, three counties, and eight min¬
istries. Tn the 18 large enterprises, one thousand of the 1,500 people in managerial
posts were of worker or peasant origin. Out of the 280 council leaders in the three
counties 200 had earlier been workers or peasants. Forty per cent of the leading
officials of the eight ministries were workers. This unbelievable degree of social
restratification concealed many of the catastrophic blunders and mistakes of the
new order.
A compulsory eight-grade primary school system was introduced. Tn 1953,
two and a half times as many youngsters went to secondary school as in 1937 and
sixty-five per cent of the children’s parents were workers and peasants. The number
of university and college students grew three and a half times and fifty-five per cent
of them were children of workers and peasants. All this happened in a country
where a few years earlier it was hardly possible for a child of a manual labourer
to go to secondary school or to university. Forty-three thousand adults studied what
was taught in the higher grades of primary school to make up for what they had
had no opportunity to learn as children: 24,000 workers attended secondary school,
9,000 went to university, and 30,000 unskilled labourers were being trained to
become skilled workers.
Book publishing increased threefold compared to 1938 and books, which were
extremely expensive before the Liberation, were sold very cheaply. In 1953, there were
10,000 public libraries in the country with more than one million registered readers;
practically every village and factory had its own library. Between 1949 and 1953,
the number of cinemas grew three-fold, primarily because electricity was brought
even to villages in the middle of nowhere. Young and old sang, danced and acted
in 18,000 art groups.
I know very well that it was not to the advantage of everyone, not even to that
of the country, that diplomas and leading positions were distributed on the basis
of class origin. Later it also led to human tragedies. T also know that the worker
and the peasant who went home from the library, the cinema, the cultural group,
cursed roundly because there was no bread, no meat, no milk, no shoes; because
the norm had been raised again, the compulsory delivery quota increased again, and
arrogant and heartless officials trifled with them, the “working people”, while they
read of their own glorification in the newspapers every day. But they would borrow
another book, go to the cinema, dance and sing all the same, and they knew that
they could never have lived like this under the old system, not even if there were
some who had been making more money then.
The greatest motivating force was one’s child. “We will not eat the hen today which
will lay the golden egg tomorrow” proclaimed Matyas Rakosi. That is to say that
today we must tighten our belts in order to lay the foundation of the future. Marx
called this original capital accumulation, which is scientifically true, but Rakosi’s
slogan was mere pragmatism, the ideological rationalization of the given state of
politics and the national economy. But millions of people did not read Marx
and did not think like Rakosi. For them, the future meant their child, for whom they
were willing to make any sacrifice, to work and sweat, to face poverty, deprivation,
 Towards die Tragedy 81

and even injustice. A few years before, the life goal of the majonty of workers and
peasants was to have their children work for the post office or the radway company.
And then came a system in which, with all its mistakes, their children could become
engineers, doctors, accountants, ministers, or professors.
In a certain sense Stalin was indeed the leader of his people; he knew that a people
was willing to suffer for its future. But Rakosi was searching only for good sounding
reasons and slogans to conceal reality.
Every new social order is born amidst immeasurable suffering. Historical experi¬
ence has shown this to be as inevitable as labour pains.
To recognize and to feel the suffering is not only a moral but primarily a political
prerequisite for the leaders of a country. This was one of the secrets of Lenin s
greatness. T am not greatly interested in whether a politician weeps at home for his
people. The important thing is whether or not an awareness of the suffering ot his
country and his class is reflected in his policies. I condemn Rakosi and the others
not because they lived in villas surrounded by ancient parks, while the people lived
in subdivided flats, because they had food in abundance while ordinary citizens
could hardly buy lard, and generations grew up without having seen chocolates or
lemons. I do not believe that during World War II Churchill ate the same food as
the deprived British people, that he hid from the bombs in primitive shelters and
bought rationed clothes like his compatriots. But he represented the interests ot
Great Britain and led his country magnificently during the World War, in England s
most catastrophic period. . , , .
True, we would expect a different approach to life from a socialist leader who
professes the principle of the people’s power. But the cardinal crime of Rakosi and
Co. was not that they did not identify themselves with the people in their way ot
life but that they did not even take note of the suffering, the anguish, of the country;
and, what'is more, even expected people to pretend that everything was in the best
possible order. This gave rise to a day-to-day tissue of lies that it is difficult tor
people to bear in any social system. And this is even more the case under socialism,
which professes social justice.
It was Rakosi’s special and personal crime that he who had spent sixteen years
in prison and was saved from the gallows only by the world-wide solidarity of his
comrades, sent innocent people to prison and to the gallows without batting an
eyelid. Could he have acted otherwise? Despite all contrary opinions, I think he
could. I do not believe that events pose no alternatives for leaders and that there is
no room for manoeuvre. I do not share the vulgar-Marxist thesis that the individual
has essentially no role at all in history. The period of the so-called personality cult
is the best counter-example here when, day in and day out, this theory was being
voiced while at the same time enormous power was concentrated in the hands ot
individuals. I think that Stalin’s personality influenced the history of the Soviet
Union and the Communist movement of the whole world to a significant degree,
although, of course, it would be a grave mistake to attribute all its errors and
achievements, to him, and not to search for their economic, social, political and
historical reasons.
82 Introductory Biography

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union, one of the most puzzling, and to this day insufficiently analyzed leaders
of the 20th century, died at the age of 74 in March 1953. His death shook the world
Communist movement like an earthquake. The Soviet Party changed Stal'n s P0 ^'
course almost immediately and this change considerably influenced Hungarian polit cs
too The June 1953 Resolution of the Central Leadership of the Hungarian Working
People’s Party condemned the cult of the personality, the lack of collective leadership,
the weakening of the worker-peasant alliance and the mistakes m economicpohcy.
The resolution declared that the rate of industrialization must be radically reduced,
and the ratio between heavy and light industry changed dramatically. The pe^amry
was to be given significant assistance and 'relief, and the standard of living of the
population was to be fundamentally increased. M
It was an epoch-making resolution. Had it been implemented, Hungary would
surely have avoided the tragedy of 1956. ..
The June party resolution put a new leader in the focus of the country s attention.
Replacing Matyas Rakosi, who remained the First Secretary of the Party, 1 rare gy,
then 57, became Hungary’s Prime Minister.
The short, stubby, bespectacled Imre Nagy was known as a professor.al figure
although he came from a peasant family. He was a worker; i^ World War I he was
a prisoner of war, and became a Bolshevik; he took part in the bat c)fTcwiTs
of Councils, was arrested, and emigrated to the Soviet Union in 1928 where he was
one of the managers of Radio Kossuth during World War II Together with Ge ^
Farkas and Revai, he belonged to the four-member leadership which returned to
Szeged from Moscow during the war to establish the legal Communist Party. In the
committee, Imre Nagy was Gerd’s deputy, that is, one of the most s>gn>fican lcade^
among the exiles. He was a member of the Political Committee of thepartyfrom
1945 but was dismissed in 1949 for not approving forced collectivization. At the
next party congress he was again elected to the Political Committee, and from 1950
he waPs Minister of Food, then Minister of Requisitions, that is, the supreme execu-
tivc of a policy with which he had disagreed only the previous year, do not know
if Imre Nagy had changed his opinion, nor do I know why he got back on

P<played a leading role since ,945 and

Prime Minister, the country really came to recognize his name in 1953. The general
public immediately saw Imre Nagy as a peasant politician and as a politician ot
national stature. Not only because he was presumed to have <Jdferent ideas> abou
the peasant policy and to attribute greater significance to n^onaldmracteristics
but also because millions of Hungarians had found those features lacking in Rako s
policies, and therefore assumed that Rakosi’s successor as Prime Ministei would
support such principles. We hope the historians will clarify what really haWenc
in the Hungarian political leadership in 1953, to what extent the change= can be
attributed to world political, personal and principled reasons, and *o what extent
Imre Nagy’s views, the changed party policy and the pressure of public opinion
played a role in the changes. At present I can only say that the three-year uva y
 Towards the Tragedy 83

between Rakosi and Nagy, and the tragic factional infighting, plunged the country
into catastrophe. .
In the beginning it was not mentioned publicly that there was a difference of views
between the two politicians. Perhaps I am not mistaken in saying that the stubborn
insistence on the myth of party unity, which existed less and less, became a decisive
obstacle in the way of the renewal of the Communist party. The two speakers at the
Communist activists’ meeting in Budapest in July 1953 were Matyas Rakosi and
Imre Nagy. I remember well that the whole country sat by the radio, listening as
Rakosi, speaking about the June party resolution, continued to emphasize increasing
industrial production, while Nagy underlined the need to increase agricultural
production and individual consumption. Undoubtedly the latter policy held greater-
appeal for the country. Everyone sensed the difference between them, but both ol
them behaved as if they were saying the same thing.
They protected the semblance of unity even more at the 1954 congress of e
Hungarian Working People’s Party which, also in the name of unity was opened by
Imre"Nagy and closed by Matyas Rakosi. Here is what Nagy said: “The theoretical-
political unity of our party is the granite foundation on which the happy socialist
future of our working people, and of our beautiful homeland is being constructed.
And Rakosi: “Our party’s main strength ... lies m.. . unity. We must therefore
guard the unity of our party like the apple of our eye, like our dearest treasure.
I do not doubt either Rakosi’s or Nagy’s faithfulness to their principles or that
they believed not only in their concepts, but also in their historical roles. Rakosi
probably thought that he provided continuity in the Communist movement in
Hungary going back to the Republic of Councils. Perhaps the Communists made
mistakes at times, but this movement represented the vital interests of the Hungarian
people. I did not know him personally, 1 only saw and heard him, like every Hungarian
citizen, at mass meetings and countless times in newsreels. He was not an attractive
man, but he was a clever and cunning politician. In the mud-wrestling of daily politics
he was probably far superior to Imre Nagy. And he must have been helped by his
past, which accorded him a special authority.
I did meet Imre Nagy a few times. I knew him as a scrupulous and reserved man,
a politician thinking through his principles. Reading and re-reading his writings
from the spring and summer of 1956 his later role is almost unbelievable today.
His lanmiage and style hardly differed from that of Rakosi; he was thinking in the
same terms. In 1953, he probably perceived his role as being to prove that the policy
hallmarked by Rakosi's name was capable of renewal.
The biggest problem-and I say this from a distance of almost 30 years-was
that neither Rakosi, nor Imre Nagy realized that only those who had their roots
in Hunsarian reality could bring about the continuity and renewal of Hungarian
radicalism, of the Hungarian Left, and the Hungarian Communist movement. Both
of them had been in prison and in exile too long really to know Hungary. Neither their
partnership, nor their historical role was fortunate. For both of them politics meant
committee infighting rather than state leadership. B . . ..
Yet their good programme brought welcome achievements in the beginning. New
vineyards, and new orchards were planted here and there. And he who plants a fruit-
84 Introductory Biography

tree or a grape vine has confidence in the future, because the first harvest is years “t
away. Post
The food situation was better in the autumn of 1953 than at any time since 1949. fori
The real income of workers and employees grew by 20 per cent and that of the H
peasantry by 10 per cent. The internment camps were closed, the evictions were with
invalidated, the summary trials ended. The country gave a sigh of relief. Not only Den
did fear lose its grip on people, but again there was an inclination to work because beer
people saw not only the purpose but also the future security of their work. Ilya fron
Ehrenburg called this process the thaw in his world-famous novel. siler
One question was fatally, if understandably, ignored. In 1953, not one word R
was mentioned in public about the injustices committed against the Communists he v
and other left-wing leaders unlawfully sentenced. Rakosi knew well that his Kid
mistakes and sins could be forgiven, but if it became known that innocent people had
had been forced to make false confessions, imprisoned and executed on his instruc- T
tions and with his knowledge, he could not remain in his post. of
The victims of the tragic trials have Rikosi’s downfall as compensation for their non
lives and their immeasurable sufferings. Rakosi and Co. fell above all because it was no 1
impossible to ignore the victims’ corpses, their memory, the horrific injustices. But prol
the country also paid a heavy price. tain
According to an often told story, upon listening to the report of a Communist betv
leader just freed from jail Rakosi asked him: the
“Why did you not inform me that you had problems of this kind ?” and
The story is probably exaggerated, but it is true in essence. Rdkosi and Co. pre- untl
tended that they knew nothing of the falsehood of the trials, as if only Gdbor Peter, pos:
who tricked them, too, had been responsible. maj
Rdkosi summoned Kadar not long after his release. of i
“He received me by saying”, Kadar says, “that he was glad to see me. What could wer
have I said? I was not glad to see him, but I was glad to be alive and out of prison. crec
I did not know much about the political situation. I had certain impulses, which I con
never liked to give way to. I did not know how the country or the people lived, I did P
not know what was happening in the world.” had
In the total isolation of prison, Kadar had only learnt of Stalin’s death after a con- hav
siderable delay, from a novel by a Hungarian writer. diff
Rakosi asked Kadar what he wanted to do—as if that depended on Kadar. it is
“I told him that so far I had earned my living in three different ways. I used to Inn
work in the Ministry of Home Affairs, but 1 didn’t think I felt like working there Ka
again.” dec
“That isn’t in the cards”, interjected Rakosi. 1
“I used to be a worker and I think I could still do a useful day’s work.” int<
“That is out of the question”, said Rakosi. the
“Of course I knew that”, says Kadar. “He did not summon me to put me in a inn
factory as an iron worker. And then, I said, I had been a party worker, too.” f
“That would be the suitable thing”, said Rdkosi. “The post of secretary is vacant ren
in two districts”; he asked Kadar which one he would choose, the 8th or the 13th ol
district. tWf
 Towards the Tragedy 85

Sa*“i=»SS=rSS§
Democrats, left-wing hour^jfX ^s dead, Mibaly Farkas had disappeared
been ministers in the past ye_^. J m> Ger6, as usual, was shrouded

^“s^Sal rf.e kicked Khdar upstair,

Rdkosi was not so stupid a Secretary of the Pest County Party Commute .
he was nominated **^£**£& m district, where he grew up, where he
Kddar protested, asking to . uld not budge and Kadar had to g .
had thousands of acquaintances- R after the sound programme
This was in 1955, when it was alreadyev.den ^ again Jhe ec0
of 1953 and the promising upswing, J P ' ^ m.devised industrial policy and
nomic situation deteriorated Pnmanly d of decisions. The biggest
no less to the inconsistent and contradi y P leadership and the state of uncer-
nmhlem however, was the split with P 1954 the personal struggle
pylons the 850,000-strong A section of
between Rakosi and frare Nagy wa ^ knowing his role in the illegal trials
the party membership still violations of the law or at least for the
and many of them were responsible other CommUnists attnbutcd all
unthinking implementation of crrone^»P ^ one miUion people, just like the
positive changes to Imre Nagy. Tbs ma ^ ^ because there was one set
majority of the population, did not kn and newer statements
Talipes one day and different ones «te furl„er harmed the
wem made, the the two tenders and them facttons

eontributed0 greatly to tbettagedy ^ ttewtm^ of ,he pnpulation no longer

have restored the confidence that and credibility; in certain situations,

difficult to lead a country without co^ie ^ ^ much harm lo be trusted.
it is impossible. Rakos, had lied too otteriw only tQ win over a minority.
Imre Nagy tried to Plea^e f ^as not we\l enough known, to have a say m policy
Kadar was not in a position, and was no

“tt: meanwhile, the matter ^££££2^^^

~ - *-*■ as more
innocently imprisoned people were ^ hc no could
Finally it was history that put headed by Khrushchev, First Secretary
remain silent. In May 1955 a <settle relations between the
- parties taking part in the work of
86 Introductory Biography

the Communist and Workers’ Parfc, Information Bureau agreed to invalidate the

Bureau’s strong southern neighbour. And that

to mention the trial at a sitting explicit declaration

“•^^ssSSSSSiWssa

shirking of his responsibility fa April

:s=Sillir5Si=H=S=
dismissed from the Political Commrttee.m 1953, tor som^ ^ when ^ again

sNag*was expelled from lhe

party itself in December. Soviet Union convened in

“TT^S'^r—t ^n different social systems, and

tions in socialist construction. In rnnimitted in the Stalinist period, with

against democracy and collective leadership

WSs was^cond chance H
in order. Kadar maintains even tod y . . «/vtL r'on press in time,
avoided if the Hungarian part, had .earned ^‘^^^TtoV=rsonal
But even then Rakosi did not give up; hrs fatal crime ™ of ^Central
power before the interests rfjta .that the 20,h
Leadership where he reported on the boviet p y e • t kes revealed at the
Congress justified Hungarian policy. Ped 8 remedied by the Hungarian party,
congress, he said that these ***%£*££“££<2*brf him for all this
Although several members of Rakosi still had enough power to

baS - — " - -ty

is growing.”
 A poliey based on such hes

Country was by then explosive which lasted three

intellectuals, were openly protest g. Th J? several primary organizaUons
davs because of the number of speakers y lhere was a bloody clash

c— Hdfc se " ,

cr'uX^ m=^s isr£=

0,he,s; “,y be b,oke do™ “tears'
cou,d - « -
^The”resolution had three second was

for his serious mistakes and aims- The JJ Mk„si's closest associate. No radical
as first secretary of the party *s Em6 0*M“J * expecKd of Gerdt besides, a
departure from the forma■ * feltythat essentially the leadership remained

*- -^ ,s of
different opinion. . t» he says, “1 don’t believe that such a purely
“Analyzing the events in retr P » ^strophe at that stage,
personal change could have prevented the ca.ta^ ^ u does not seem likely

- -more " by p
when the time came. from former methods. It « ^harac
Gero s leadership meant hardly anycha »g ^ ^ political Committee that

^tapped and his ^ busy

7
88 Introductory Biography

tioDS. One party ddegatiou after the other wen, to China, to the Soviet Union and

t0 FoUowibg a resolution by the Centra,

where the bodtee had

**S SEU hundreds of thousands

who had literally given everything ^(heir pI?ciples. Those who
only their lives, but their four th J? that this tragic ceremony
attended the funeral, saw the ciro^'c ’ . lacking in political acumen,
was the prologue to Hungary s rag y ^ ^ The feVerish country did not
I must confess that 'here were y f ^ funeral was such a shock
realize that she stood on thebrmkot tneg and dec|ded to
that the members of the Pohi^ Imre Nagywas re-admitted

rrpan'yaupon fo"^. pressure. Bu, .U that could no. foresul, what

WThe° HuTgarian tragedy of 1956

SSTi vSTi'ca.Tdoub. on each other or cancel each other out, even

“on his 60th birthday, ICJdfc oflTwI

and critical situation the*C™Z^ZofX furred in 1956. But there is
are aware that this is the scientifi national tragedy. It was a tragedy
also another term which we may aU accept^it many individuals. The way
for the party, for the working ckass Ileadeyr has called a coontef-
i illustrates what a complex process we are talking

atmosphere in the county

munists there were! *^Tbest possible way Convinced dogmatists who
that they had done evcrJ “ l£ Pto save faceyin thcir own and the country’s
tried to counterbalance what t y , ements, often turning anti-Com-
eyes, by becoming the ^men of ^Ltly word of every party resolu-
mumst in the exlre^e; ‘J " reePristPs who were interested only in their own prosperity,
tion had been gospel truth. Ca , , know Rakosi’s prisons just as
Members of the old illegal party J seething with hatred. Old “illegals" who
well as they knew Horthy s, and came to the defense of the socialist
likewise had been in all the P^ons, fighting side by side with their former
social order, took up arms even , communists without hesitation
jailers. State

«*■tad fou"d pkasure in ,onutinE peop'

 Towards the Tragedy

and Sed the country a, the firstopportun^Worte^.who W

managers; and <* bread and

workers, and had retained the n lethargic, and those who had had
dripping and beans. Workers * ~nions biead and beatings from the gen-
enough. Destitute Peasants br0^ £othing. bu; had made doctors, engineers and
darmerie; socialism had given beatines from the gendarmerie,
teachers of their children. Peasant Communists and re-
who had learned to beat their fellow . being accom-
mained so. Intellectuals whose from one day to
plices in what had passed.Illtellec enthusiasm with which they later became its

,he -
had been taken away. Thcre(,'!beir bosses in white shirt and tie, and kowtowed in
old system had kowtowed to their b ^ ^ ^ fashion Qf the bourgeoisie
the new system without a tie bccau there were some whom Rakosi had
who were politicians or were active P ’ t b sure that the former
imprisoned, and some who were made mmisUtfS- We «nn opposite

VCrfismart/S ^

there were some who were deprived PP rt minds bound them

bound them to their families and th»«*al dass, wh ^ was ^ ^ way

ZZSZ f Of havmgb^n " nj£»

blameVem for having felt confused, or for rebelling

when experience Provf ^^ere those who had hated the new system
Even the enemy was of all kinds, me j9 or J949j as their
from the beginning. There were those w o 1955> or 1956. There were
experiences warranted. And t ose : w, 0 and those who had become
turn against the ideals of social-

£ •»

7*
90 Introductory Biography

The ler —sin

Bt£\°i:d W^se, r=“y leaders were ou« of .he eoentry

for I weekly were having'talks in Yugoslavia. This was a catastrophic decision
Z cJro’s vart. Important as it was to normalize relations with Hungary s southern
neighbours, the country should iSokr 2^ afthl *ay

hl room This was to be charae.eris.ie of the following two weeks: spheres of

mmsm
If*!**
siiiii
yelling and wavmg flags. I still recall s g fraud;

writers' fdn.on de,leered

 Towards the Tragedy 91

.d hear. to they marched to Parliament, filling

a short speech which no one . 'rmre Nagy speak to them.

-—- fo
'T.S, - Hagy

rrrottr“ot«.
One delegation after another ?
«■ - £
ha(1 bcen equipped with loudspeakers.
Parliament a bumfied thousmd people fell silent. He passed

CmehandPi saw that he was wrvooa^ ^ ^ drowned to boos. “We

arl"SirZSSL chorus the balcony, biting his

years had always called by October 23,1956, the Hungamn

it would be to say on the basis of the n^ how it was. i stood in theC*
people had had enough of socialism. Bu hundreds of marchers who were
mvself marched with the crowds, persona y enthusiastically believing

at that time soon shouted down. ,. here the armed conflict

mention of who fired the first sh». a. to Rad.o,^ ^ ,ater. .fits debate

that those guarding the radio only

opposite a crime. . he tragedy of October. In 1956, all sin
This attitude was a significant f ^ a bad conscience on accoun
Communists in Hungary, all decent lead ^ ^ or had, in fact, been one
the sins of the Rakosx era even if they 1 ? collective responsibility. And by
of the victims. There was no escaping contributed to the insurrection,
then everybody knew or felt that thesei cn ^ only later. In my view

rsery—i
ssarssr
the purpose: it led to mud.
- -»- - - ”7
flrs, shots at the Radio burldmg
 92 Introductory Biography

evening, a few people clutching spent cartridges in their hands appeared in the
Parliament building and yelled that the State Security soldiers were murdering people
at the Radio. A committee was sent to check on what was going on. Who decided to
send us, and how I got into this committee I don’t know to this day. I mention this
just to illustrate the atmosphere of those hours.
We went down to the square, and stopped a truck with a gigantic red, white and
green flag on it. How it got there, and why it took instructions from the makeshift
committee, are some of the other things I don’t know. Anyway, it took us to the Radio.
Near the Radio, that is, because the street leading to the Radio building was blocked
by overturned and burning cars.
“Watch out, they’re shooting!”, yelled a friend of mine whom 1 had met accidentally
in the crowd, while we were trying to get through to the Radio building, yelling that
we were coming from Parliament. I had served in the army, and knew the whistle
of bullets. A State Security detail was standing beside the Radio building with bayonets
fixed. How I got to the front of the crowd pressing towards them I don’t know.
We screamed at each other, to link arms, so that the crowd wouldn’t push us against
the bayonets. We screamed at the young officer in command of the detail to order
his men farther back, or they would run us through with their bayonets. Standing
in front of the detail with a pistol in his hand, he screamed back that we’d better
calm the crowd, because shots had been fired and stones thrown at his men. We were
all screaming; we had to, to be heard above the din. Meanwhile, bullets were whistling
by; it was not the State Security men who were shooting; they were standing motion¬
less. I was only a few yards away from them, and saw that many of them were
trembling, who knows whether from nervousness or fear. Then a command came
from the building; the detail backed away, bayonets still fixed and the door slammed
shut behind them. The crowd flooded the street in a matter of seconds.
There were several thousand people milling around the Radio building at the time.
Their recollections of what happened will probably differ. But everyone who was there
is bound to remember that a mechanized military unit backed up by tanks arrived at
the Radio building. The leader of our delegation, a well-known poet and a high-ranking
military officer who taught literature at the military academy, tried to find the com¬
mander of the detail. He couldn’t; nobody knew where he was. The documents and
the recollections are contradictory, but one thing is certain: the detail had no ammuni¬
tion. Neither for the tanks, nor for the hand weapons. They had received the com¬
mand to push back the crowd besieging the Radio building without using arms.
It was at that point that we went back to Parliament. Our “delegation” had
dwindled to half; the others had drifted away in the crowd. I have no idea who the
others were. By the time we got back, the square in front of Parliament was empty,
the building was dark. The guards did not let us in. There was no longer anyone
there, they said. We wanted to go over to the party headquarters building nearby,
but we were stopped by armed civilians. Polite but nervous, they told us to go away;
we had no business there.
The Central Leadership and the Cabinet were in session at the party headquarters;
this, of course, we did not know at the time. The Political Committee was trans¬
formed; Imre Nagy, among others, became a member, and he was appointed Prime
 Towards the Tragedy

Minister dn^s the

« — ■*« S°*“ ”
Hungary to help quell the uprising. thousand people who marched in
FoSr on October 23 .956, thous-^ ^ had ^

the streets hoping and ^dio bSdffig, the international telephone exchange
individuals who occupied theRdd,° * arty-s ccntral newspaper, some arms
the editorial offices and pnnting shop of the party
depots, and some police stations. of the 24th. During the night, the rebels
I went back to the Radio on the morning ^ from a porter’s lodge through
had occupied the Radio bui ding, with the help of a microphone and a
a line switched to the Parl.ament bu.ld g t0 could enter the building,
record player affixed to an old ^ ^ were Statc Security
I saw the corpses lying in the cou y • laid 0ne on top of the other,
soldiers even younger than me. The stiff corpses we
like wood for a funeral Py«- consider thc armed attacks of October 23 to
A great many Hungarian historian. conia j ^ quite accept this version
have been precisely planned and exe prepared so precisely. Certainly
myself. The explosion was too sudden to hwebeenPj^ in Hungary^ And
there were well-trained, well-instructed 8 with pians for an armed coup
certainly there were illegal orgamzat « g^ry mass demonstration. I do

in my evaluation

were not mistaken in requesting in ry

- r r= sg:
wanted t0 save the socialist
November 4. By then they had other choice* ^ & t0 request Sovie
social order. On the night of October , ’ have gained control
intervention. At that time the self-confidence of what
of thesituationhadtheybeengrvenu been undermined by the grave mistakes
was, at any rate, a divided leadersh P ^fidencc and unity also contributed to the
of the past years and this lack o Hungarian Communists and the
catastrophe: it made it easy to^believe thattftej23rd and 24th.
armed forces were impotent, and1 tha■ w and considered; it is
When I asked Kadar ^“‘^^^Scoh even to comprehend,
difficult to find words for something tha^ was nobody anywhere

—-—
»57, he had the pohtlca, and mota.

courage to put it this way: . . which was the disgrace of the leadership

and'not SceT^' to the thousands upon thousands of people tn

94 Introductory Biography

all pans of the country who waited for betoe'better than

wages
taking

•Mt
time, e
cease
one individual came more and mant. dom about lhe trag.0 shuatton tion, tl
key person of October 1956 «u Imre 1S^^ter-revolution to develop.

Z V"'r°m i"l““edia"eS' a"d SUCh ,nfOrraat,0n

ddrand time a8am’and the dea ine

surrender of arms was put off/^‘^relieved Gero of his post and chose Kadar
On October 25, the Central Leadership r h radio: “The demonstration of
to be the party’s first secretaryspok accordance with the aims of the
a section of the youth, which started peace!u V _ ^ after a few hours, in line
overwhelming majority of the Pa^ipan ’ ^.revolutionary elements who had
with the intentions of power of our people’s democracy
joined it, into an armed attack aga P to re-establish order and the
The attack must be beaten tack. The mam must be so,Ved without

^h^
was Kddar. After a two-day « 'and reorganised it under the
dissolution of the Hungary Wmtang People d.r s „ave ofK„ reminded
name Hungarian Socialist Workers y on twQ occaSions.
him that he dissolved the H™ngamn «The party had fallen apart, had lost its
“Nothing else could be done , K > to make excuses: wheni we
credibility, it had to be reorgan.^ I am " ^ ry. ig ^ ^ ^ When
started to debate the matte^reje more than thirty people. In those
the resolution was passed, there was a „
days, almost all decisions had cobe™'d so quickly was not primarily due
That a party of 850 thoustmd dismte^iat after another, and
to the fact that the rebels oc^d ° J kaders went underground in the firs
had started persecute Communists Sewwl ^ ^ abroad. More important
days of November, took their familyin part by the agonizing sense
was the fact that the party s menibe P y ]ack of leadership, and in par
of responsibility already ^rred to »n Pa y ^ their views very rapidly
by the fact that Imre Nagy and th° " “ in their hands. In his radio speech
carber be, too, bad caned counter-
 Towards the Tragedy 95

revolution a revolution;

si££ -ins rrr r"- “t1 « “u"

- S ~r 5

SSSlSSSSHSS
■SSsS5£^S=HS
must have been a . restiess lumpen element - Arrow CroSs
men, with ^’te a Horthyist army and g^ndf^r^niversity students, workers

tzztfzz s;ui" "rr^, «.—«-

sisters* had died ^^^^Ortol^aude'^^*61 November 4. Who can account

SET" h„ types among the rebels as -L.J-« ?££&

*5 SS^U-j-'S^SSTSS^— ”f the ”~

of the delegation Hort? of the Smallholders Party an armed groups,

Srjsfc^ss--**«- °"s group ,han

in the other armed details.

96 Introductory Biography

In ocobe, jS

sisrx&sr;xcs;:
released from prison as one of Rakosi

he had been captured by the Soviet forces d & mcd to Hungary m command o
anti-Fascist training, became a Communist,^,^ ^ ^ Hungarian armed forces
a parachute detachment ofparbsa • heavy.handed colonel in command

?Sub""i%sT

Z ~ “ ~££ ana

he wrote

5SS^^S5S£S«
^^SSsssissssst
 Towards the Tragedy

and in Parliament, there was relative calm at the offices of the Budapest Party Com¬
mittee probably due in great part to Imre Mezo9*. Mezo was no ordinary man. He
came from a peasant family often children so poor that he learned to read and wn e
only as an adult Finding no work in Hungary, he emigrated to Belgium; it was there
that he became a Communist. An officer in the Spanish Civil War he later joined
the French Foreign Legion recruited against the Germans^and helped prepare 1^
P^ris unrising After the Liberation, he was secretary of the Budapest Party Lorn
mittee, but was pushed into the background, to be reinstated a^n as secretary of
the party committee in 1954. He and Kadar thought very highly of each other, Kadar
visited him on October 29 at the party headquarters in Koztarsasdg Square, w

other advice to give him”, says Kadar, “than to payno teedItowho was
first secretary in name, and to take over the leadership of the party committee.
His face is verv bitter; he was fond of Mezo.
Next day, the various armed groups launched a coordinated attack °n the party
committeeheadquarters which was defended by 50 security guards most of them
armed only with^ifles. The defenders asked the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of
Home Affairs and Imre Nagy himself for help, but in vain; no help came. By the after¬
noon, the party committee headquarters fell. Imre Mezo, who stepped out of the door
with a white flag in his hand with two other men was mown downby * otos have
machine-gun fire. Then came the atrocities: the film accounts and the photos ha
travelled the world over. There was a captured defender wh°s'ear‘waS“ ^
•mother was hanged by his feet, another was pulled through the square tied to a
truck; some were beaten to death, and some jumped from the third floor window to

eS*The rebcls'claimed to have attacked the party headquarters because there= wastan
underground prison under it, where hundreds of innocent people were being, kcp_
Thev were digging up the ground with heavy bulldozers for days, searching w
dozens of detectors, the newspapers and the radio reporting day by day on the cnes
for hdP heard coming from the victims of the underground ce.ls^ The correspondent
of Magyar Nemzet* the newspaper of the Patriotic Peopte s Fjont-^d hardly a
sensationalist paper-wrote this: “Thursday, the men working at one of the shafts
finally heard some voices speaking low. The request for help came from very, very
far off. ‘Free us! We are prisoners! We want to live!’, came the hollow voice from
below. ‘How many of you are there?’, they asked. ‘One hundred and forty-seven

"^herewTsno'prison under the party building, but the mass hysteria was not to be
contained. Which says a great deal, and not only aboutThose^who incited it. I also
shows that a great many people thought the worst not only of Rakosi and his asso
ates and the state security men, but of the Communists as a who e.
Another fundamental contradiction of 1956 was that Hungary had a Co-
Prime Minister-and a Communist government - at a time when the anti-Communist
hysteria was at its worst. But not for long. On October 30, Imre Nagy
end of the one-party system, and three days later-in the meanwhile Hungayhad
had practically no government-formed a coalition government of Communists,
98 Introductory Biography

Smallholders, Social Democrats and Peasant Party representatives. New parties

mushroomed, more than fifty, according to some estimates.
It was typical of the government coalition of 1956 that, with one or two exceptions,
all the parties were represented by right-wingers. In the Social Democratic Party, for
example, Arpad Szakasits who had been general secretary of the party for years,
and Gyorgy Marosan, his deputy, got no say, although they had both been in Rakosi s
prisons; they were considered too left-wing. One can imagine what views those to
the right of the Social Democrats had, not only on the Communists, but on socialism
in general. .... „ _ , •
Events accelerated unbelievably on the international political stage as well, taking
advantage of the chaos in Hungary, Israel, Britain and France attacked Egypt which
had nationalized the Suez Canal a few months earlier. The Soviet leaders visited all
the socialist countries to discuss the crisis in Hungary and Egypt. Ferenc Nagy, the
former Prime Minister, returned from America to Vienna. Miklos Horthy called on
the United Nations to intervene in Hungary “in defense of human rights . At home,
Imre Nagy announced Hungary’s withdrawal from the Warsaw Treaty and declared
the country’s neutrality. Jozsef Mindszenty spoke on Budapest radio and called the
government the heir of the fallen regime. ... , f
A typical episode: a mass meeting of former political prisoners was announced tor
November 1 in one of the largest Budapest cinemas. The idea was for war criminals,
Communists, Arrow Cross men, right- and left-wing Social Democrats, Hort y s
police toughs, ultra right-wing and moderate bourgeois politicians to discuss
matters together. .
Kadar, who was also invited, did not attend the meeting. That was the day he an¬
nounced on the radio the formation of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party.
The following parts of his address are worth considering for the light they shed not
only on the situation of that moment, but also on his later policy.
“In this fateful hour we appeal to those who were led to the party which degener¬
ated into an instrument of tyranny through the blind and criminal policy of Rakosi
and his clique by loyalty to people and country, and by the desire to serve the pure
ideals of socialism. This irresponsible policy has unscrupulously frittered away the
moral and ideological heritage which you acquired through honest struggle and the
sacrifice of blood in the old days, fighting for our national independence and demo¬
cratic development.
“We are talking to you frankly. The uprising has come to a crossroads, hither the
Hungarian democratic parties will have enough strength to stabilize our achievements
or we must face an open counter-revolution. The blood of Hungarian youth, soldiers,
workers and peasants was not shed to replace the Rakosi-type despotism with the reign
of counter-revolution. We did not fight in order that the mines and factories should
be snatched from the hands of the working class, and the land be taken from the hands
of the peasantry. The uprising either secures for our people the basic achievements of
democracy-the right of assembly and organization, personal freedom and safety
and human dignity - or we sink back into the slavery of the old feudal world and with
this into foreign servitude.
“The new party breaks with the crimes of the past once and for all.
 Towards the Tragedy 99

of all attacks. On this^’ive sociaHst movement and Pwith aU countries,

“It defends and wtU dele ^ & manner and way in keep frced from

imitation of foreign exa™ ’f our country, relying on i arx revolutionary and

and historical ctat^S^ of scientific socialism, and on

all dogmatism, on th t Hun|arian history and cuUur . lhal someone had

1
^^grea^many peoi’*® !lunounced'not°a

SSf: Thc lurbu,ent ^

calm, sober, and real ^d ^ delermined voice- ^ Kiddr>s views of
no heed to this self-P°s en in thinking that the speech ^ could be averted
Perhaps I am not m hopes that the counter limes 0f tumult,
the day before, when h iong a single day ca the time he
by reorganizing the party. That * b a foregone conctom^ ^

The “either-ors” deaths of Imre Mezo and his com™.

bad finished his speed of Hungary, that ,t brought Kadar

an impact on the his y ^ «We were living not a day,

t0 “Itwas terribly .d^^^^^d^piri^d.'and'without prec>sejnlotm^,°”^.(j nQt

but an hour at a time, dead Ured, °ndPexperience, rather than facts« ^ when

SS or had

On the evening ot
w«.« *£«z£££L
n nnich'J*" the next day, half a dozen . f state was sought

*-— ■
100 Introductory Biography

Rebirth
At dawn on November 4, 1956 Radio Szolnok announced that an eight-man Hungar¬
ian Revolutionary Workers’ and Peasants’ Government had been formed under Janos
Radar’s leadership. The government’s concise programme was also broadcast: nation¬
al independence, the defense of the socialist system, the re-establishment of the legal
order, and friendly relations with all socialist states. The government announced that
it had asked the Soviet Union to send Red Army units to help re-establish order in the
country.
A small cabinet, and a laconic government statement.
“It wasn’t all that simple”, says Kdddr. “There were people included in the cabinet
who did not even know about it. Even people whose whereabouts we weren’t sure of.
All we knew for certain was that they agreed with us. And there was definitely no time
to work out a detailed programme. We could not wait, we had to act.”
This is his account as given at the national party conference in June 1957:
“On the 1st of November, although on the 2nd or the 3rd they still included
my name in a list of cabinet members, I broke all contact with the Imre Nagy group.
The others, Comrade Munnich and the rest, had all done the same. On November 2nd
we began partly indirect and partly direct talks with the Soviet comrades, with the
leaders of the People’s Democracies, and with other leaders of the international working
class movement about the need to take up the struggle against the counter-revolution,
and about the kind of support they could extend to the Hungarian People’s Republic.
These talks began on November 2nd, on the 3rd the decision was taken, and, so as to
lose no time, the attack began on November 4th, because every day was costing the
lives of hundreds of brave Communists and loyal Hungarian patriots.”
According to the credible recollections of a high-ranking Yugoslav diplomat,
Khrushchev and Tito met in Brioni on November 2. Khrushchev reported to the
Yugoslav head of state that after consultation with the Polish, Romanian, Czechoslo¬
vak, Bulgarian and Chinese leaders the common view had emerged that if they did not
intervene in Hungary there would be a civil war. If UN troops were to go into Hun¬
gary as they had into Korea a few years earlier, it would mean the threat of world war.
Tito agreed, and emphasized that the counter-revolution had to be defeated not only
by force of arms, but also politically. Khrushchev informed him that Kadar and
Munnich had left Budapest.
Janos Kadar gave this account to Parliament in 1958 when he asked to be relieved
of his post as Prime Minister and recommended Ferenc Munnich for the office:
“When, on November 1 and 2, 1956, we saw the need for a new government, saw
the need to break with the traitors. Comrade Munnich was certainly one of the first to
take the initiative — if we must and can speak of such matters — and almost became the
Prime Minister. I am now letting you in on a “trade secret”. It was Comrade Munnich
who recommended that I take charge of things as Prime Minister, since he had spent
a lot of time out of the country, and people knew less of his ideas and what he’d done.”
 Rebirth 70/

W„en Radio Svclm*

was in Parliament. He inform^*' ^Stment was in its place and its troops were
transmitted in four languages *a jie g parliamellt building and went to the

m The^ame^ay at dawn, ,*1^OVp^0^Seeg^^s^)^d',neithCT*thJah‘rfor^^nortthe

for 4 or 5 days, mostly in the “Pf'l/Ih ked fte insurgent centres without in¬
artillery,only armoured
fantry cover, and when they had desttoye^t ^ p The msurgents
-A shranhen corpses could he seen

lying on the streets, a ghastly S'ghh fa Ujliagra<1 in 1957”, saysMdar.

.;rr.;-s» - rrhu"" in B"d,pest m

her son in 1956. It was hard to look her t • ^ army did not clash with
The fighting ended in a few days and no y^b ^ ^ figMing after November 4,
the Soviets. The fact was that ^ Peop out for only a few days longer, the UN
although it was rumoured that they ha armed were looting shops and robbing
troops were coming. By then, a se* . after a day or two and went home to their
department stores. 0theJs st°^rtu<rnateiy almost 200 thousand people left Hungary
families or left the country. and for the most diverse reasons.
with them, mostly young peopte, **. w£re afraid of reprisal ; others feared that
There were some who, riS^ly ®in. and others had always been enemies of
a Rakosi-style tyranny wojdd retu g ’ thc anti.Semitism that had flared up
socialism. But there were also Jews fnghten y ^ hungry for adventure, those
here and there during the coBnJHWjJJJ ^ West> and olhers who saw-it as
who believed that life was much more beau^» probably did not exactly know

195S,... -«. -

that we feel very sorry for them. w„u,mufr several main streets of the
When the weapons fma”y SJd ° Vhe Ttreets were in’ruins, the windows broken,
capital again looked like battlefields, smashed the electric cables torn out.
the walls full of shell holes, the s hours. There was no public transport;
People queued for bread, milk andatrols made their rounds of the streets.

in the fighting. In many cases, y faift crosses t0 decipher whatever fading

102 Introductory Biography
people, groups ar
“! am very sorry”, said Kdddr in May 1957, “for those who died on the other side ever they could;
holders, and Pea
of the front, because they’d been de™n of litical> social and economic stability.
For the time being, there was no question ip ^ Budapest population, had not certainty were so
The strikes continued; the population,^ jn April 1957. In many places, they could not bt

worked since October 23. The curfe , Committees founded during and that they did no¬

the workers’ councils, revolutionary a direction of the factories and politics in the full
1, the counter-revolution had strong, and no, still others who v
offices, but also the state administration. g P ^ tried to interVene in the By then the ©
only through propaganda. Time and again workjng within the country; various supplies were coi

events in Hungary. There were tUega g P mQney and weapons to Hungary. of the fighting 1
amounted to 20
Western intelligence services were again'” The government could probably
They had as their slogan : In March we star^ ^ ,f ^ had empIoyed force. By then it If production di
Workers’ Counc
have brought the situation und Uabie seCurity units were being formed one
“Still, nobody
would have been able to; well-arm , y the time being, however, they
to Parliament o
after another, and the police for,ndCoordinate their political ideas,
conducted talks. The new 'caders had wofked outj and the situation changed “After the cabin
There was no detailed programme, no gy went a)ong. struggle and lay
crush by force i
from day to day. Often they do, wUch direction
On several issues, they were uncertain, > thcy negotiate with Imre Nagy revolution turnc

to try for a way out of the chaos. It wa p p unwilling to take part ment. For that
called Central V
who was at the Yugoslav Embassy Zl Nagy should establish an inde¬
in such talks); and there was also the idea that Imre ivagy time for those p
right path. Witl
pendent peasant party. ,- Rndanest in armoured cars during the night
that the ‘revolt
bodies were to
be done, but we
no othet »iu,,on was pot-
they had no rig
comply with th
board of revol
Si^We sat for three da,s ', ~ S-
had no choice
^SfuXciSX”^ But as to how, there were a,most as nrany rdeas mittees' and ol
“In the sam
as there were people. course of the debate.”
“And our ideas took shape n^t there, h returned to it a quar- Workers’ Corn
Kadar attributed such great significance to that sitting men in the wo
ter of a century later at one of the sessions o that session: dif- the counter-re’
“To this day, it’s worth considering te)^***^ a consensus. m the end, well. We repe;
to explain to t
ferent views clashed, and we kept argiun? t questions. Real and lasting unity
was that they
we all agreed on the major, on the^thUve^ The reSt
can only come about in this way, roU“ sjon and arrived at a consensus, for a avail. Again tl

followed naturally. After we dosedth and tQ a man the stand we had that the Centi
stations, from
long, long time we were ab^ t° def^nd C°“ y*lue here for today, and for the
jointly taken. There’s something of permanent va Council and t
This overhe
future.” . . h won over by argument if possible,
and suffered i
and^ot" iry^orts/To that end! they^held one talk after another with the most diverse
8
 Rebirth 103

mm
wmmmm
siipiSlli
mwmmm
I
a
maim
mmmm
s

f-
i,

msmsEEzsB
ty
St
a
id

:?sss-“«=s=
he

le,
•se

8
104 Introductory Biography

doubt were in .he

structure, or for ^ worke„. councils contained people who desired
.here were also p^ple in them whose sole purpose

was to overthrow the socialist syslem- dashed with the security forces in a
wounded. Two days

later, a regional party secretary ^ murder^ Central Workers’

After that, the intellectuals, unknown and
abates were taken to Romania. Sum¬

mary courts were introduced. Difficult Jj?K® tQ discriminate: all those arrested
Feelings ran so high that people victiJnized or to be malicious criminals,
were considered to have been eithe^ Jy who my priSOn-mates were. A seven-
I myself was imprisoned at.that tune anak ^ ^ jn his hand and sentenced to
teen year old apprentice= who w P’ after the trial; if he worked well in
fifteen years in prison. The guard conso f the Nationai Committee
prison, his sentence would be Horthy regime, sentenced to
in a provincial town, a high-ranking that the Imre Nagy
death, who repeated time and^identiai Council he would never have
government had not been swor y ^ ^ bcen ,egally sanctioned. A double
accepted a position in a regim „pntences a man whom his cell-mates feared so
murderer who had served six prison £ in ison against him: they reported
much that they committed the gravest sin P . the two of us together
to the guards that he had a knife. experience of his life,
in the cell, and he spoke of t general, formerly an officer in
something that had purified him of a 1 h.s 8 Union after the
Horthy’s army who had attended from his superiors
Liberation; he had givenry school who had recited “Talpra magyar” ...
The young headmaster of a secon y ^ Qn October 23; he was reported
on the crowded main squa well-built, handsome young man, who told
by his deputy, an unfrockedl pne - A, J1 wouldn’t hear: when he fled the
me his story in a whisper one n g d wjth a knife he had hidden up his
country in 1950, he had stabbed a g Africa and vietnam. He crossed
sleeve. He joined the Foreign egion, ^ ^ short-barrelled submachine gun, six
the Hungarian border ^ ^^hand grenades. A university student who had stood
rounds of ammunition, and four 1w d « Committees, and had saved dozens of
sentry at the front door of one ofth civilian clothes for them to
state security men by taking themP !!"Xms Th« was a priest who said his
wear instead of their brand-new poliw unrforms.^ party MP:
prayers most of the day; it was e w ^ that they never put their necks in the
“Sir, one can tell the Smallholders y arrested There was a chauffeur
noose for their principles.” ■ Budapest Party Cotn-

S "a- "C" hospitat. He couid no, prove this, hu, .any

 Rebirth 105

sfliSilfii
exercised his hngers 10
have to make a living by it, ne *>aiu,
had no other skills, n

!s=2^^*s=s*3

»sKSr?S£Sfer-i2
^•r: s zr- - « - *-»—
i
106 Introductory Biography

founded and so it was possible for matters to unfold. Kadar stressed emphatically
time and again that it had taken the four causes together to lead to counter-revolution.
Others thought differently. In the summer of 1957, I was called to appear as witness
at a trial where the judge declared, hammering the table, that now he saw how justified
the political trials of the late forties and early fifties had been, and what a mistake it
had been to release those convicted, for it was they who had prepared the counter-

^The'open debate broke out at the national party conference in June 1957 More
than 60 per cent of the 348 delegates were under forty; 80 per cent of them had orig¬
inally been workers. , , . .
The first cut and thrust came when Jozsef Revai interrupted one of the speakers.
Kadar, quite out of character, brought his fist down on the table:
“In our party, Comrade Revai, it is not the custom to interrupt the speakers, nor

W1R6vaTand a few other leaders who had had significant roles in the Rakosi era had
been included in the Provisional Central Committee at Radar's specific request.
“I thought”, says Kadar, “that if there were differences of opinion within the party
they should be reflected in the leadership, too.” . ... , .
By then Revai, the leading ideologist of the Rakosi era, was seriously ill, he had
suffered a stroke. One of his hands was paralyzed; he hmpediup ithe rostrum wi ha
cane and had difficulty in speaking. The line he took was all the harder. He declared that
criticism of the mistakes or the past weakened the fight against the counter-revolution.
He complained that the older, reliable party members were being pushed into the

baHifs°peech triggered such a storm of protest that nobody supported him although
Kadar today estimates that about a third of the participants agreed with Revai.
“Why are you shouting, if you’re in the right?”, Kadar asked one of his associates
after the latter had spoken.
His own opposition to Revai was very calmly and soberly put, but was most deter-

mi“There is another flag alongside the party's flag: the flag of the fallen leadership.
But this flag lies on the ground torn, and 1 am convinced that it will never fly; again.
The fallen leadership-and it is no accident that I use this expression, m politic,
such things are not unusual-fell under such circumstances and in such a way that it
can never again return to lead the party.’ ... c . ,
What gave special weight to the debate was that the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union replaced Stalin’s closest associates in the presidium during those very days,
the restoration of the Rakosi era in Hungary with or without Rakosi was, at that time,

St The policy of the HS WP met with unexpectedly rapid success.^By the end of Decem¬
ber the party already had 100,000 members; in April 1957, there were 227,000, by
June, 345,000 members. T do not say that there were no careerists and opportunists
among them, people looking out only for their own welfare, but certainly Jbe majority
were not of that kind. What is more, I know someone who told me explicitly in the
summer of 1957 that he had joined the party m order to get ahead in his profession
 Rebirth 107

had created with their o socjahst and a beautiful one.

feared that the weapons of the Uer half of those

garian people. i Was glad, too; a ye®1^
“T replied”, says Kada , * .Russkies go home . ]4 months after the
people woul<!.5at' ( power was completed in Jan“”>( Th „ K4djr asked Parfc-

£** „kc to appeal

find that many basic e and judged everything a present then

have undergone no esse of his ideas could only a complcx,

interdependent system “
^-
on the radio on

~£2$z
November 4, 1956 was published
“headUne:
108 Introductory Biography

We are in this responsible position in such difficult times not to say fine things, but to
speak the truth and to act in the people's interest.
Speaking of the mistakes of the past, he wrote:
“If we don’t want to commit a grave crime against the interests of the party and
the people, we must not forget the mistakes of the past. For our part, we will not
forget them. We know that the mistakes of the former leaders lost the party and the
nation a great deal of respect; our task is to use every possible means to prevent these
mistakes from occurring again. We are well aware that these mistakes had an adverse
effect on development: they undermined the dictatorship of the proletariat in Hun¬
gary, led to justified bitterness among the masses, and thus contributed to the fact
that the counter-revolution was able to drive a wedge between certain groups of work¬
ers and the party. The counter-revolution could thus provide favourable conditions
for an all-out attack on our people’s republic.”
On power:
"We have found that power is not only a great force for good, but also entails a
great many dangers for both the party and for the individual Communist. Self-satis¬
faction and over-confidence can be a very grave danger for the party after it has come
to power. I think it is no exaggeration to say that this is the greatest lesson we have had
to learn, especially in the course of the October events. For after we came into power,
some of the comrades in leading positions-and even comrades in lower posts-were
under the illusion that every instrument of power-the police, the public prosecutors,
the judiciary, the army, and so on —was in their hands, so that they were in the posi¬
tion to ‘settle accounts’ with their enemies; it was less important to win the day-to-
day support of the masses. I think that this, primarily, was at the root of the mistakes
committed. Had this attitude not come to dominate practically all spheres of the
party’s activity, had we continued to pay constant and close attention to what the
working people, especially the working class thought and said about the job the party
was doing—as indeed we did between 1945 and 1948, when we had to give answers to
every question the people put to us-then our coming into power would not have
coincided with a period of grave mistakes.”
“ ‘If you want to know what someone’s like, put him in a position of power , an old
proverb says. There can be no doubt that power is, indeed, a great test of character.
I think, however, that a Communist always has two great tests to pass. The first great
test is when the Communist stands alone in the face of the enemy. This is a difficult
test, for his life is at stake. Think, for instance, of the comrades arrested by the Horthy-
regime! A great many of them lost their lives. Many of them stood this test wonder¬
fully. Rakosi was one of those who did. In 1947, there came the new test: we came into
power. And some of those who had withstood the first test in an exemplary fashion
failed this second one. They began to think that they knew everything, they began to
isolate themselves from the masses for whom they had so long fought. That is how it
came about that the only people who were left around those in power were those who
praised them. If day after day one reads in the papers and in books only that one is
brilliant and infallible, one comes to believe it oneself.”
 Rebirth 109

On the party:
“There were times when the bane of the party’s life was that we conducted ourselves
at the party meetings as if we were attending a bad Catholic church service. We man¬
aged to assemble somehow, and a high priest sort of person stood up, and said what
he was supposed to say; the rest listened to him with devout attention, and then went
home. In these “sermons”, to stay with the metaphor, there were things like don’t
steal, don’t be a scoundrel, don’t be a careerist; instead, work decently, respect the
people, respect your parents, and so on. To this, everyone said Amen. And then, when
they dispersed, a significant number of the participants set about doing all kinds of
nasty and wicked things, quite the opposite of what had just been talked about. But
then, to get rid even of our pangs of conscience, we Communists, too, had our own
confession: it was called self-criticism. There were people who called themselves Com¬
munists and thought they could carry on like a bad Catholic who behaves like a
scoundrel all year long and then goes off to church at Easter tide, confesses his sins,
and then, reborn and reassured, goes out in the street; and on the Tuesday after Easter,
starts the whole thing all over again.
“Now that the party’s prestige is growing, we must be careful to avoid sectarian
isolationism, and must make sure that every decent unselfish working person willing
to fight, work and make sacrifices for the cause of socialist revolution will find his way
into the party, especially the workers. But let these be the only ones to come. Let no
one be a party member because it’s the thing to do, or for personal reasons. It is better
for the party, for the working class, for the whole nation if the party is surrounded by
a great host of well-intentioned sympathizers and friends than to have the mass of
those who waver in times of trouble within the party itself. This is one of the lessons
that October has taught us.
“If it is hammered into people’s heads that all good things are thanks to the party,
then they will hold the party responsible for all bad things, too, which the party had
nothing to do with. From 1949 on, we kept saying that all things are thanks to us.
We wanted praise for every little thing. The masses had got used to thinking that the
party is responsible for everything. They thus came to hold the party responsible even
for shortcomings that were the sins of centuries. The party should be more modest,
and then it will have much greater influence on the masses.
“The Communist who acts as if he ruled the people, or as if he stood above them,
is not a good Communist. The good Communist is someone who stands at the head
of the people when it comes to work, to fighting, in times of trouble; he stays with the
people through thick and through thin, and leads them. What is needed the most is
for party members to respect and esteem those workers who are not in the party, to see
in them citizens who have equal rights in every way; their behaviour should be a clear
expression of the fact that Communists have no more civic rights by virtue of their
party membership than any other person.”
On leadership and the people:
“If I may now be permitted to say something good about the government and the
present leaders of the party, I should like to point out that these men are quite con¬
scious of the fact that they are not perfect, and for that very reason want to adhere
very strictly to the principle which requires that the masses be able to understand the
110 Introductory Biography

leadership and the leadership the masses; this is needed if they are to make progress.
There can be no doubt that the present leadership is not seen by the masses as standing
on the kind of pedestal that the previous leadership was seen as standing on for a long
while, surrounded by haloes of every kind, and quite convinced that they were infal¬
lible. We might and indeed must say that great crowds followed this leadership with
their eyes shut. We today must pay the price for this.
“In people’s consciousness, the old is always there to burden the new, the past the
present. We need only take a backward glance at history to see this. For instance,
there was a time when the people thought it just for a woman to be burned at the stake
if it was said of her that she was allied with the devil. What is someone who wants to
help the people make progress to do in such a situation ? Is he to support the burning
of witches just because it’s a matter of custom and heritage, and because the masses
concur with this practice? I myself think that whoever wants to act with full conscious¬
ness of his responsibility must first of all be very clear on what it is that serves the
interest of the people and of progress; then he must act on it. He must be just as clear
on another basic fact: whether the people understand him or not, he must have the
personal courage to stand up before a crowd and tell them that what they want to see
done on this or that issue is not just and not possible.
“Theory is for the sake of practice; it has no other sense or function. We learn not
for the sake of learning, but so as to be able to work better. But this is not true the
other way around, and this is a very important difference. Practice is not for the sake
of theory. Practice is life itself. Why do I emphasize this? Because there exists such an
anti-Marxist mode of thinking in the sciences. There were instances of this in the
movement as well; there were those who felt that the masses existed so that they might
test their theories on them. But the masses do not exist so that people might test more
or less well-constructed, abstract theories and theses on them. It might happen in the
case of such experimentation that the given theory can withstand the test, but this is
rare; for the most part, the patients being experimented on die of the experiment, and
in the end, the masses knock out the brains of those who'd thought the thesis up.
On the peasantry: ........
“I think that the worker-peasant alliance grew stronger between 1945 and 1949 in
the fight for the land reform and when socialist industry was being built up; and it
grew strong when what had been achieved had to be safeguarded, for instance in 1946
when the land that had been distributed had to be defended ; and it kept growing right
until the Communists came into power. Subsequently, this alliance, too, became a
looser one, and for two reasons. The first was that mistaken methods were used in the
socialist transformation of the countryside (what I’m thinking of here is the use of
force, of pressure, and similar means); the second reason was the faults in the system
of compulsory deliveries. Not because a system of compulsory deliveries was intro¬
duced as such, but because of the faults in the system in operation. For the prices paid
for the produce and the means used to secure these compulsory deliveries were such
that in the end they became untenable; and this led to a serious weakening of the
worker-peasant alliance. The violations of legality, the mistakes committed in this
field, also played a part. . . . .. ... .
“The main problem with our rural consumers’ cooperatives was that they did not
 Rebirth

■lives could bettei

not to be foundi m the function of helpl"g they wiU be genuine cooper ^

of fulfilling their real, vx asantry, then tn y Ust transforms

msismssm
Force must not ^e this is no

^'j^the and work

reS^B;
when and £conomy is a V**
j£SaSt
practicc of paralyzing aU ^ ^ every.

»=^Sw£ES^ =Si» 5

sSSsS&ss®®---
other hand, they
112 Introductory Biography

direction in a way that jeopardizes to. Certain theses

too, is the type of problem in the dictatorship of
are already given and ar^ clear' . j ^ the appropriate method of economic
the proletariat, demo^tm centrali ^ ^ d t0 teach people how things
control. To adapt this to in the future,
should be done, this, too is a 13 ***£^"or lower achievement is abnormal,
“Every decent person knows that m Y . . jQ the same way< everyone
and can lead to n0 go®J svstem in which the diligent and the negli-
geTthoS vJho do a bad one, all get equal pay.

“What took place among lesson to the

events is a lesson to the young p P adults ought to have learned ?
adults, a much, much greater they seek ideals, at times
The following: young people are al y This js a naturai iaw that we cannot
individuals whom they can loo up P . f jt it is very important that no¬
change. But to prevent anyone’s a'nd that no idealistic
body should be made an ldo1 in y, For iet>s not forget: those young people
picture of the realities of life should • jdea of sociaiism more on emo-
who were supporters of people s democr y contradiction. Socialism, as it
tional than on rationalgrounds found that te***U*j* ^ let it be known that
is usually described, is a very' fine t g, b ^ boril) amidst torments,
we do not yet have a society of thistype, 1 ^ Y Qther new worid is born,
struggles, problems and difficulties in e socialism we did not tell them the
If we told our young people that we . reaJy bave to be equally careful,
truth. And when we speak about giv ’ themselves disillusioned
because it is a terrible blowto such disi,lusion‘
and indeed they did find themselves “l ^much on rational, as on emotional,
ment because they based then ' lesson for the future. We
grounds. For this reason, they were g Y simerlatives I think we should be very
should always be sparing d^ok Wore we sa, that something or
frugal in our use o«bem. Let s take a , uy 8^ ^ it t„rns 0», that even the

Sp“ of that adjective is inappropriate.”

On the struggle on two fronts. n^ndn-democracy are hostile ideologies
“In my view, nationalism and bourg; P haV£ made thcir way into our ranks;
that have burst upon us from the ou other hand> are our own products,
dogmatism and sectarianism in politics, and are not ‘alien’ views if we
These developed within the working c a. harmfid views. The former are hostile
consider their theoretical nature, bu within the working
views, the products of the class them. Within the party,
class. It is this that we must keep in sectarianism, for these are the imme-

°^ht eff“‘i,dy a8ainst the vi™s and poWes of

the class enemy.”
 Rebirth
113

£=as-—■- ■—~
^IssssslS
slisBlss^rS
‘ ?irsj:-n:JSj-5S5SsjSe
SSsS^-SB&'TtrHfsiS
^^^KSSsSsS?
*£5. °f s^TiSss: r* >«. ■ - st g depict- ^ •
with Communists as ^ and sman. Nor »

1945. By 1955, however, there

114 Introductory Biography
■ , j i :n iQig agricultural production had
production was «h« S nothing’to do with the peasants, but

ShtS
The basis of the Rakosi era agnCU,^ra -^inatory prices until he grew weary of it
by compulsory deliveries, Ministry of Regions
all and joined the cooperative TypcM * jn ,952. The idea proved to be a

Li—y- *. pr;f *
irnagefcolpmtives, many of whmh |jd spring of 1957,

j^sK-F-sj^srssaw
Si
Some mainianieu uh» —

^“This sectarian policy", Kadar recalled ’j) * th^proposalLlia^taxes on the

sitting of the Central Committee in J'^e following year. Dogei’* explicitly said
peasantry be raised by 700 million „.s dreadful even to think what
that those prosperous peasants shou“Aeis^roposah at one fell swoop we would
woLd have happened had we gained in the previous year and

“LweilirS!^ -Ld no. help but still wonder whether all that rea V

was a thing of the past." a landless agricultural labourer,

herrLS =».e hrs, toyoiu Kdddr ,n -ember : >» ■

C was Minister of Agriculture be carried out only at the rate

Another view was that colf^Sarv material and economic provisions fon

niS 55 & and on, then inviting - —

“Si i, was agreed that the Pohdea, pre^Uons wem more —‘ '£

to be carried out. K.aaar,

 Rebirth 115

. Tv.e matter could not

« a — a. - - J-
wait until the peasants join
yST - --
^ yQU al, know that
k°™

peasants well. the classics”, he once d, worker and capitalist.

“I don’t want to start qu ^ peasant 1S at heart no ^ owne,
very line thought of Le ^ a worker; but as *°° f momcnt he starts
When he’s

"aad°is his . * * «* « “
month, when his prod many peasants

1-,heirown; .
ZZ uXstan^l.^ „had stniggled al, his “h?« Ue t
“The peasant , say . e bad ever seen an be c\ung to it-
small piece of that land was life. ,s‘‘^fSTfct months. 1 was there
land was the only «*“«*ectivizauon took place* thm whQ disowned his
Ac I remembered it, co bloodshed. 1 saw joining,
and witnessed terrible trage^s even ^ who dismhented h,s son
father for joining the cot***** ^ ^ ^ that uses a whip, D j^ were
Unfortunately, I ^ ® bo dealt with PeasantS. f. ie farmers. A woman who
duress. 1 saw Pr-jW^^dist. who gri^ who signed the paper

5U. 1- sr^Xta”n cooped oJmme'n.. is un,U«-

r --- - of the t;
tiff's: «- - -* 7^r
it is always hard to Change
116 Introductory Biography

common stables and storage buildings were indeed needed, and in most places they
simply were not to be had. The livestock perished, the grain was lost, and if a peasant
weeps for anything this is what he weeps for, perhaps even more than for himself.
People had no experience in collective farming, they were not really keen on it, and
they lacked competent leaders. o- •
This period of Hungary’s history will one day be written in detail. All the suffering,
and what it gave birth to. For my part, I am writing about Janos Radar; right in
the middle of collectivization, at the party congress of 1959, he said:
“I promised myself not to disclose the numerical results achieved county by county,
because if any kind of mistaken rivalry were to begin in this sphere, it could com¬
pletely ruin the possibilities open to us. With the intelligent use of our present
resources, however, in the coming months we can take a step forward that will
enable the cooperative sector to achieve a decisive superiority in our agriculture.
We have recommended and recommend again that our comrades should consider
the possibilities and think in the manner of Communist revolutionaries. We recom¬
mend the responsible men of the counties to stop a bit after completing a certain
task and examine where they stand in the realization of what they had set out to
do, talk over their experiences, and then continue their work having taken all this
into consideration.” , „ . . ...
Radar had good reason to give such a warning. It was the first time since 1956 that
the local authorities failed to carry out a decision of the party leadership on a massive
scale. In March 1959, the Central Committee passed a resolution to suspend the
organization of cooperatives; nothing was more important than for the peasants to
be able to work undisturbed during the spring and summer.
“1 repeated at least a dozen times”, says Radar, “that collectivization was not an
end in itself. The aim was not to have ever more cooperatives,^ but to have the
countryside produce more and of better quality. I talked in vain.
Despite the prohibitions and warnings, the local authorities set up new coopera¬
tives by the hundreds, thus considerably hindering production, and making quite
a few mistakes in their great haste. The cart had started rolling downhill, and could
not be stopped; it could hardly be slowed down. The spokes broke and the harness
snapped in the rush. . . e .
Today, twenty years later, when both production results and the mood ot the
countryside serve as unambiguous justifications of collectivization, it is easy to say
that the decision was the correct one to take at the time. But what if the results
and the public mood were not what they are today? Then this would indicate the
decision to have been an incorrect one; but worse than that, the decision would
probably have ruined the country’s whole economy, not to mention the lives ot
hundreds of thousands of people. . . . ..
Today it is an ever more hotly debated issue the world over as to what extent the
state has the right to interfere in the spontaneous socio-economic processes, and to
what extent such intervention makes sense. Socialism is probably the most radical
example of state intervention, save for the totalitarian, and usually extreme right-
wing dictatorships. Marxist ideology posits a goal-oriented society; at the present
level of development and probably for a long time to come, this implies the necessity
 Rebirth 117

oals Such centralized

ft. *« to W-J

si?E&^it=r.M45£Si
C^atnoU
The most that can j exclusive pursui P ideals and reality, g

-x SfS,Xu6h **-*SST£S2£ y

ipg!
=S5SlsS^55S£
^g=m^=rrS
l ^sgi@E
 Introductory Biography
118

desperate protestations
to become reconciled to that, ana re* 5
collectively from now on. k_ had ]ost their land, and moreover.
The peasantry had suffered a ’ d ted their days and hours thern-
their whole life had changed. Men who tod g^ ^ .f ^ had tQ work from
selves, who had felt that ^y were then R was v£ry difficult. But in the
dawn till dusk had to get used 0 takl^ ,essly long slretch even in one man s
course of ten years - and that is P accustomed lo collective farming,
short lifetime-Hungary s Peasa^ 8fcw of them would want their old land
hi": myS, this proves that the peasant policy was right as much as

the,tP;Sdto" have'happened .his way whhout * PO«ca. prinoipie wh,ch Kadar

no T
is why our party considers it a du y society and each individual alike,
with minimizing problems - aecelera.e or aid the birth

1961: “He who is not « with us.^ ^ and Rakosi had often used its
The sentence is not one origin Lenin had used both> on more than
opposite: “He who is not with us is aga sentence itself, and the idea, is
one occasion. Probably none of k"o7 inst us is with ns", and also m oppo-
several thousand years old. He who is » reported as coming from
site, “He who is not with »s a^inst * MattheW) Mark and Luke,
the mouth of Jesus by three of Oe Evan*^ was a man who had exorcised
Tn the New Testament, John told Jes the disciples, they had
a devil in His name: but, because heJ^not with him, for he who
forbidden him to do so again. Je „ when peopie doubted Him, and said that
was no. aga,ns. .hem was «tf. .hem-Bn ^ ^ dema„dlid absol„te farth, and

SS Who was no. wi * Him»f human .hough..

These two conflicting ideas const much as tQ relatl0nships between
They apply to the relationships of man to man when Sovkt power
"Vciscs, andcounmes. did no. suppor. .hem m
was engaged in a l,fe-and-death struggle, e e y ^ no ,onger acute, everyone

To stu r^D"^y»^r"trn
r a^«r^rs * could have been won over wi.h paden.

understanding.
 Rebirth 119

To illustrate the storm

quote an article of mine
Kadar’s speech.

With Us or Against Us?

MARGINAL notes on a speech

At one time a conduct, although he carried only

in his garden, was expected to raise high who wouId have liked to
the flag and not the symbol. A.one t ^ tQ iead Capital although he did
take his three children to the^™imidatedby the difficult text. At one time the
not understand it and1 was only intim daty flat on Su„day, was expected to
house-painter, whom his fnend asked to Pa only the words (but not his faith)
paint slogans on the factory waU althoug h d home constantly: he who
on the grey building. The yes, says no. And since man is
is not with us is against us. He who YJld said yes in unison anyway.

m *—°f p“p,e siven to “

doubting, fretting and reluctance ben^^ ^ ^ # day is one-s duty as a citizem
whnt thev say today is that eight , plough the land, work
De"U, build bridges, everyone « have
more and work better for yourself a seedlinGs go to the cinema, paint your
Tbe terVe. and then weed your a faith if you haven’, go,

-—°r "no harm

goers, refrigera,or-buyersAre they be,ng a.lowed
people taught rock and being ftred with enthusiasm . . ,
to languish and be indolent, instead of bemg ^ ^ country is led by individuals
What I think has happened is simp*y th ^ .n turn> believe in the people,
who have received a mandate from than a mature people being treated
For there is nothing sadder and beueVe jn Man know that the numbe
like children in short pants. But thoseJ thc freedom which gives birth to
of restrictions must be reduced to.a mm which are indispensable for
order should be restricted only' byMb ^ ^ ^ ftt the most pyramids, but
social coexistence. Those who bel e backs. Those who believe in Man
not 1 future, can be built path by his own efforts,
have the patience to wait unt1'n free wiU compelled only by facts. And those

“ ac“m“ s““s L

9
120 Introductory Biography

harmful law^ouldb^changet^Md^t^ctMiW^es^id and ^wecoi^dhearthat^he^who^ is

tt«UVi.e.t; when hypocri fed «-t

S fh^K-u make his fe*-*

to wave the flag it they don t agree wit w a y conformist yes-men

■“on^o^‘^Toodiu., sceptical, totting and reluctant; on aU those

who are not against us, and who are, therefore, with us.

whole country was talking a protested against this article.

3S=S=is=S5
I do not want to defend the shortcommgs ^at^article, but «** ^ ^ ^

of almost twenty years, comparing essence of Kaddr’s train of thought.

wr
sentence at the 8th Party Congress a year after it had been said. ,o re“"to lhis
 Rebirth 121

■ h has caused a considerable

“I should like to say a few^ us is with

which'refers't'o ,the ^plains why ^h^policy-^of°<course^hcre'were

^ meanins
people like **-*»££& reflection of reality m PoW£- m in retrospect,
in the slogan rather tha'\l f bk logic. Of course 1 am • hisloncal
Kaddr continued with t silJple at all. When we are thm^ng^ amazed
because at thattime eriods Qf extremely rapid c fe surprising how fast

the leading strata wnicn ait j

ZEESZ E . *- — — as

the economic or social situation. ngress: v Renublic all people

This is how Kadar reaso^aUhe ^ £ Hungarian and
-Let us take the simp ^ ^ do not spend tbeirday ^ actually wllh

culture, in mttteWjl hfe, reaUty which Kad^ r J The ^se

This was the objecti , „ Df the country in m y ,, bave been
recognition has si"ce ^ete™ a l and the attendant PerP'^^at ople thought
behind the lack of comprehens emphasis was put on wn P called
the fact that in previous.years toe> ihg Rikosl penod pohey

Kad'Ar continued speaking Communists - and, as

from the same facts. d and uscful b^caU'J ld not strive to add
“Broad-mindedness political ‘tends-^ ^
a matter of fact, all mo to pUsh those peop e m own camp;
to the number of their enemies^ ^ Xws couldi "h^uld have drawn a
o„ the strength of their po of Kadanan po ^- ^ the depth of
This is already the P ^ ition that whether P P f they are the
different conclusion fro iU social order or d * building socialism
.heir souls disregarded.

r—^ r
Unfortunately, we ha
rss—*. — a poutical cate-

dt“2sSiSS'■«■
gory more ouc»
=» - s —of the Pr°-
9*
122
122 Introductory
introauciuiy Biography
- “dicta

letariat Particularly since the middle

torship” entered everyday Sh tyranny. And undoubtedly in
to equate dictatorship wth auth ^ countries had tyrannical features

the working class just as the d'ct^torJ ip din to Marxist theory, by eliminating

categories of Marxist philosophy of h t y meaning of these words and

S this respect often do not coincide withthe^ ^ ^ for example, has
not only in respect of the dictators lP sePnsc of the word within the social or e
not only repressive functions mlheStr and other functions, although these serve
but it also has administrative, le&‘s' . Marx calls these collectively repres-

in ,he every y a

terv nature. The ruling class does no lhat this so far unexplored con-
sense to retain and consolidate £ r“^ PP ssion and tyranny having played,
tradiction is partly f po"Sibe m weak s0CiaUst systeni_

an^hbeCdifectbladvanmge of the ruling class irthe political.

 Rebirth 123

. p. :»»c only the whole people who

, this nolicy into practice; it s omy
entire people who can pu - the organization of
can build socialism.’ interpretation of class re atl°° in connection with

“Nowhere did Lemn say

- - * - ^.%rss *
ts and fight again*-thevarious

vantageous P°f ^asants had in effect ceased to at ^ rf social origin

in theory- of the p [ ination 0f all discnmmauo wQuld be unjust said
Then followed the hildren and young PeoPle- cducation because of the
particularly in the op,eS opportun.U«f°^““" ^sed to be a
kiddr, “to KS“'C‘Us before their birth. this did not happen

STffSi SaSionr

ton, one day to the "that ^“CofS factor, **

“It had also occurred ’ame reconciled to the d tQ is their chil-

—- b“‘"8'h
one .„gon called

",he “year even

brought a decisive change m a,so feltthemselves ata ^ ideologica, and

the worse afterwards,werf born counts or welders. TJ\ dictum, religion is the
less of whether they we e to thc classic Mam^d^ ^ be forced to
political reasons for th ■ was thoUght that people ca ^ church leaders
opium of the Peop'er ^d also a fact that the majon V cked lhe system
break free of this addicUom ^ and tbat part of the=‘W qj. ^ they turned
did not accept the ne churches were not clos d threatening to do
overtly and covertly- A ^ fa what some pe°pl*d by excluding people
into party headquarters, wn dden> the regime wsponde * “While we
and church attendance was advancement. This hM a - difference
professing their rehgiousnessjom ^ ^ ^ others^ Jgj*- ^ olher with
are different m some way ^ the name of God with ^ fine principle

between us is that one . Man with a capital. He ^tbiilt first for the material-

"" ~and ,s
124 Introductory Biography

built for all. If, however, that’s how it is, then everyone should take part in its build¬
ing. What we have to agree on first of all with believers is on building socialism.
For everyone knows that, for example, a two-room centrally heated flat with a
kitchen and bathroom is bigger than a one-room flat, whether a believer lives in it
or an atheist, and that it’s better to live in the two-room flat than in a one-room
cold water flat. This is clear enough. If, however, we tried to reach a consensus with
believers on the issue of whether there’s a God or not this would take a very long
debate indeed, and it would be a very grave mistake if in the meantime the building
of socialism was suspended.”
Parliament’s election of a Catholic priest as Deputy Speaker in 1961 symbolized
the easing of tension between Communists and believers. The final and comprehensive
settlement of the relationship between the state and the Catholic Church, was hin¬
dered by Jdzsef Mindszenty’s refusal—even to the extent of defying the Pope—to
give up his position as head of the Church. When he left the American Embassy
and Hungary in 1971, the relationship between State and Church was settled.
Political prisoners were released mostly due to an amnesty. Ninety-five per cent
of the people convicted for counter-revolutionary activities were already free by
1962. At the time of the visit to Hungary of the Secretary-General of the United
Nations in 1963 Kadar had the following to say on this question: “We were tough when
it was necessary, but we reached a point when an amnesty could be granted. The
amnesty indicates the very strength of our regime. No one is imprisoned in Hungary
today because of political offences. When meting out punishment we were also
guided by humanitarian considerations. When we were compelled to take drastic
measures we felt that it was much better to keep a tight rein on a few individuals
than to have many ordinary people misled - either by their own stupidity or by
deception to fall victim to something which they themselves did not start.”
It seems impossible, even hypocritical, to speak of humanism in connection with
punishment. But it is a fact that the government released every political prisoner as
soon as order was consolidated to the extent that those freed could not have posed
a political threat even if they turned against the system again - something which,
with one or two exceptions, did not happen. Kdddr did not make Rakosi’s mistake;
he did not forget how bitter is the bread of prison.
Those who left Hungary after October 1956 also received an amnesty. “We wel¬
come the return of every decent person who wants to live and work in Hungary”,
Kadar said. “To those Hungarians who have gone abroad and have taken root
there, we say: remain good friends to your old homeland, and bring honour to its
name.” T think there are only a few people who have not returned for a visit since
then; many of them spend their holidays in Hungary year after year and the number
of those who return when they reach pension age or whose last wish is to be buried
in Hungary is on the increase.
Today, when every year millions visit Hungary from the West and millions of
Hungarian citizens travel abroad, one may recall with a smile that Kadar listed
increased tourism as an achievement at the 8th Party Congress. In 1958, 26,000
Hungarian citizens travelled to the West, in 1961, 43,000. If we consider that between
 Rebirth 125

, Hnnparv’s Western border from

rerteS,^ members also played

a2 t^sp^ rtss
the country both before and after f le who are aware of the role
Communist party is the present its interests and Jh
•,nd soals of the working class, ana w * f 1949 This was partly because
Junction of the party was immeasurably bad example is infectious
a Jew people had absolute control In every area of the county
particularly when it is systematic: petty^y ,ePabout was their prevalent method
and in every sphere of life, and^ order_ gp P milUon members but this did
This was partly also because he party™. pined the party out of either
that there were one million Com 1 those who were concerned
Sat o? unfounded fear and this member until
for their jobs. Mv mother, a n”rsery s f working class families, she would
1956; although she came from the P00 is according to the phraseology of
have been called a conservative petty 2 politics although he was a party
thedav. My brother, a clerk, was not mterested in^ wQrstwere the careerists,
her And they and their like were no self-seekers, the flunkies. A party
'the tyrants, the overzealous, the denuncia ^’ nor could it command respect. At
dieted in this way could have no real sdf-respecMwr were considered special,
the same time, it was prodatmed th* the ^ ^ of the Hungarian Working

SSI pa^-t billed it ought to rule over ^un^ ^ , of 1956,

CThe Hungarian Socialist Workersadhere were no’unprincipled careerists, or oppor-

, son non in 1962 1 do not claim that there we . members were Com-
SffiSSl S. BU. 1 ** .bat tSwe. superior beings.
‘“nists and mos, of a- l»ing
have alway:5 like to see join the party and very few party

SrwCw^uid like .0 see "“U as a stepping stone in

£ StZSZZ
r fS. advancement possibie for non-party men,

- - - - - ---- ssstr^aE

t° pLSytfasU,: oiU state and

11 a
126 Introductory Biography
differently;
sophism, since I know both the previous and the present practice. The frame of everything
mind in which those in power exercise power is not indifferent. ences of v
Of course, the decisive factor is how the mechanism of leadership mstitu blows until
tionalized There were changes in that respect, too. The party was no longer directed The esse
by^^arbittar^will of three or four people. Kadar has been . first— g equal initial enth
among his fellow-leaders right from the beginning; but it is also a fact that t they thoug
leading bodies, the Political Committee and the Central Committee, have become then the pt
lea?bodies of leadership again and the scope of authority of local party organization they based
socialism \
^ThtpaSyTas burdened by another grave legacy. It had to prevent-; by this cc
thecounrty that it was capable of doing so-a recurrence purse out
crimes culminating in the show trials of the period proceeding : ^ “Suspic:
people who played a major role in those events, among cannot be
Gabor Peter, were put on trial and convicted. All were freed in 1962 under the Whoever'
amnestv Rakosi Gero and twenty odd associates, who were primarily responsible people. A:
for'what had happed, were expelled from the party. All those who had had any Twenty
connection with the illegal proceedings were removed from ^ Mmtsffy of H which son
Affairs the prosecutor’s office, the courts and the party s disciplinary organ . mental cb
sajn^tbne proper respect was accorded to the victims: their famtl.es were provided But Kada
for and rehabilitation came not only to those who had been We have 1
those unjustly brushed aside, among them veterans of the Republic of Councils and The usi
national i
Thet^ttion^may^risc—as it did at the time-whether Mityis Rdkosl, the one achievem
countrysi
country \
at the tin
ashamed
oMeaving guhty people legally unpunished. Rdkosi was never again allowed to “If we
happy wi
’^WhaHs^the^mraiitetthat thttcrimes of the past cannot be repeated, My answer what we
is that there is no absolute guarantee. There is no constitution, legal system, soc living sta
and political structure which could totally exclude the possibihty of ^anny ravs g Indeed
S head in any country, and not just in Hungary. Naturally, the more elaborate nomic lil
and more democratic 7he machinery of power is, the better it can thwart: There
Rut a similarly important guarantee is to transform the country s system of P° of the Si
®oUImsTo S people wilHnstinctively refuse to tolerate A* tog*** and soci
tit
the politicians, too, not to desire and aspire to tyranny and not: to cotmde ones. Fr
panacea. T do not claim to know how long this process might take “ ° with a s
country. But Hungary has taken no small steps in the past twen y ye and stee
resource
^KidlfhaHo^fighta1 tou^h battle before it was accepted that a policy based on mostly i
his dl^as noT^ome sort of liberalization, a tactical step, a necessary transition, Italian-:
Yet I
at what
twenty years ago. It was not natural for many people, because they had learned things
 Rebirth 127

differently and were accustomed to different things. Whoever thinks that in Hungary
of
everything is decided by a central will, that there are no political struggles and differ¬
ences of views, is fundamentally mistaken. There was a lot of giving and taking of
tou¬
ted blows until the Kidarian policy became consolidated.
The essence of the policy “He who is not against us is with us” is trust. After the
lals
initial enthusiasm, as Rakosi and his associates encountered ever new difficulties
the
they thought that if the country did not share their wishes, or not in the same way,
>me
ons then the people were either hostile or stupid. This was the twisted concept on which
they based their policies; according to the infamous expression they had to build
socialism with nine million Fascists. Their activities and methods were determined
nee
by this concept. It was Rakosi’s favourite saying that you cannot make a silk
and
purse out of a sow’s ear. He did not believe that people change or can be changed.
eral
“Suspicion was at the root of all the evil”, says Kadar. “Yet an entire people
and
cannot be suspect. This people is our people and we Communists are for the people.
the
Whoever was appointed to a post of responsibility was there to serve the good of the
ible
people. And you cannot work for the good of the people despite the people.
any
Twenty years had gone by since Hungary’s Liberation; they were stormy years
3 me
which sorely tested the nation. Even for an individual it is hard to cope with funda¬
the
mental changes every three or four years and much more so for an entire country.
ided
But Kadar could rightly say in 1964: “The dreams of the past are today’s reality.
o to
and We have the basis for the national unity.”
The usual sober Kadarian approach. He did not speak of having already achieved
national unity, but only that the basis was already there. Even that was an enormous
one
achievement eight years after 1956, and three years after the transformation of the
not,
countryside. As a result of the Kddarian dictum, the predominant majority of the
ntry
country was indeed united on the fundamental issues. We were justified in hoping
jliti-
at the time that after so many trials, a calm, relaxed period would follow. I am not
cost
d to ashamed to say that we were somewhat optimistic.
“If we go back to the morning of November 4, 1956, then I can state that we are
happy with what we have achieved through hard struggle. But if we start out from
swer
what we want to achieve in industry, agriculture, public education, culture and
aria!
ising living standards, then we must be very dissatisfied.”
Indeed, a new and serious problem, the necessity to transform the nation s eco¬
irate
nny. nomic life, was already hammering at the door by the mid-sixties.
There is a widespread view that the reason for all the troubles, errors, hardships
itical
of the socialist countries is that socialism was established not in the economically
ition
and socially developed countries, as Marx had imagined, but in the underdeveloped
as a
ones. From the end of the forties, Hungary lived in the atmosphere of the Cold War,
of a
with a siege mentality. This also explains why she aimed to be “a country of iron
ipart
and steel”. It was not an easy task for a primarily agricultural country poor in natural
resources. Hungary was the bread basket of the Monarchy while industry developed
d on
mostly in Austria and Czechoslovakia. The roles were the same in the German-
tion,
make Italian-Hungarian alliance during the thirties.
Yet Hungary became an industrial-agricultural country within fifteen years. But
tural
at what a price! The great projects, first of all in heavy industry, were completed at
lings
7 78 Introductory Biography

decreased by 20 per cent. economy was not a fortunate matter

The totally centralized management of the economy ^ k was possible to
either. All production quotas were set «n 5 > ^ production unit of the
determine at a desk in the capital what unked t0 the power structure
country had to produce This structure waof a few people,
in which all significant deasions w contrary to the original ideas,
It did not turn out to be all that cxpedi> w£rc nationaHzed; not only the
practically all the production un coffee sb restaurants, shoe repairers,
factories, and the plants the bank , P eration I could say

locksmiths, barbers and f^J***’™Tn'Zfnd was of a single foundry,

that the ideal picture the leaders of t sinRle cooperative in the whole
a single bakery, a single food trading1«JJ’ a ^ ® 0Pf a button.
country which then could be thatquantity was the sole consideration
It was another peculiarity of ^ Pen0f , A as it was impossible to mine as
in production. There was a rea is ic a_. many ci0thes and bake as much
much coal, to produce as muchi steel, 1t > ^ demands. Quality was not a
bread as was needed to sad y ^ other socialist countr.es
consideration even in the case of export p & for evcrything in every
had the same shortage proWems and th notwi,hstanding, tried in

She had tohnpor. she rndispensab.e raw utatenals

-jzs risxssi-
all the way; not only were the cog-wheeIncentives were
the wheels, but the whole structure wa. which did not exactly boost people's
essentially eliminated from econom f’tastic 0ne thousand per cent overfulfil-
enthusiasm for work. On the one= hand. f' ^ ^ tradc ^ best lhat it was
ment of norms was achieved-those f increased the norm was raised,
a lie-and, on the other hand, as soon as perfor situation whereby the
too, and overfulfilment became compulso^ This ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ fulfilment
factories, production units, brigades an enough to lead to the
which was enough to gain P^^^Tthe day said that “Work is a matter

srt,y 1 M-st
this was a new development in Flung.jry Aal hjP archy lhan the best trained
clerk occupied a considerably higher rung ^ why should not tens
skilled worker. One was a gentlem , -oentleman” status for themselves and
of thousands of workers and peasants & ^ desk jobs although they would

hat" TZyZtlZ* beat or in .he ft*. 1 -»ve known n,a„y hke

that; their lives often ended in tragedy.

 129
Rebirth

SS^r5SSS-'JS5Sfe^
smsmsmm
m§mmm
35=^§@1§232S
=SiS^:ssf-sass
CL And although the artificiay id.fifties on and PP ^ People want

of the previously clo ck» economy whereby

was economical to pr
ISO Introductory Biography
Introductory Btograpny horse, which hai
coach. A counti
The history of the revision of title ^gcessity'for^refonn^as seen as early handsomely wa
political, intellectual and scientific I f • ft r force debate. It came up again at the Of subsidies,
as 1957, but at the time it was dlscarded ft he Centrai Committee session in De- asked for two di
beginning of the sixties, and it was stressed h in parliament that in a For the wine-di
cember 1964. At the beginning of 1965, management would be put on the The service ii
year’s time the fundamental reform o took part in the debates, a letter written
agenda. Hundreds of economists, potocw,* at the 1966 Party Congress working in the
the planning and the preparation, and Kadar on January h 1968. At the men were supi
that the new economic mechanism launched and was function- wedding. Tuesi
'97° e^Tn^the begfmdng^oTthe seventies tl^reform process was halted, but in a few said they could
waiting for it t
;rtcominuedgwith increased ~ 1965 specch to Parliament: hole will have
This is how Kadar put the essence of the_ reform^ ^ ^ radical change m
lived in Paris,
“Except for the agglomeration of rad P ’ jn the st fcw years, in part be- the kind of k
economicorganization, or in‘economic mum* hoPever, there are more and today.”
cause we quite rightly wanted to achieve: s‘ ^ our system of economic manage- I remember
more indications that we must t o g y development. A strongly centralized cco- of reform in tl
ment, and work out the n»n. of ***£*£ this aPCCOunt that a portion of the goods “The reaso
nomy is slow and cumbersome Jt is partlyon. ^ maleria)s has failed to meet the says Kadar, ‘
produced with considerable labou . 6 ationa] and has remained on stock, plans, but in j
demands of the market, domestic and1 im ^ ^ up.to.date n0w that, under the effects. Initial
It is particularly important to produ gt>tition between the two social systems is itself. The ma
circumstances of peaceful coexistence p ^ that are modern the shock of
growing, economic £ international markets if we are no achieve unit)
and competitive in price and a“ - B t , must add that the times are over The above
to lose out. On the Western goods from us, just as the days said: “I’m th
when the socialist world accepted p q ^ Unfortunately, the economic me when I s
are over when we accept such good'r° ^ promote the quantitative overful- make for a r
incentives we have at the moment '^^ion and improved quality. The more difficu
This is he
think, he ki
It was the si
for national
from Kada:
ij,e average man. And when
significant:
J&ZttZS-*
tions and conditions.”
- ca“BOries’but “al s,toa'
Hungarian living in Canada who said that he
vince those
It is typi
In one of his speeches he 9uotedaId. g in Ca„ada. Since material incentives requiremet
would like to work in Hungary andget themselves in their jobs. This then showed fully accep
were very little used1, people drf not ovwwc> h could be paid. On another occa- “The man
up in the national income and ‘n *e ^g ^ ^^ ^ 1S how he capacity tl
sion, Kddar said that T a peasan g 16 vaiuate it accordingly. Once regroupinj

assess ^:2ir~s»■-
 Rebirth 131

handsomely waves its mane .... tf a man went into the tavern and
Of subsidies, he had tins to say. S y g & for consuming it.
asked fo, two decilitres of wm«he Msl the stt,e."
For the wine-drinker paid less for th either - “Permit me to quote to you
The service industry did husba"d Wh° " "7
a letter written by a ^"^S^^your room is still there. The work-
working in the provinces. M . But they didn’t, because they were at a
men were supposed to come on M d y. ^ but it was raining, and they
wedding. Tuesday was a hohday ,untii k stopped. Now, they re
said they couldn’t work in the ra , y the time you come home, the
waiting for it to stop raining. But I m hop Jok about the 1880s; its writer
hole will have disappeared. I read ‘his i ssionist painter, Renoir. But its

‘timber well how impe.ien.ly pa« of ““

of reform in the mid-sixties And owwom of the reform for three years”,
“The reason why we had to work o hJJ nQ jdeas There were economic
says Kadar, “was not ** b°d to take into account the social and political
plans, but in judging the reform one ^ unified and neither was the country
effects. Initially, the Central important than anything else at the time;
itself. The maimenancem on staling a, lone as we could to

achieve unity. behaviour and way of thinking. As he -

once

sai^rs
more difficult task.” negotiated constantly, although I
This is how he argued in 1956 when n ** convince all of his partners,
think, he knew from the beginning hat coanlryside,andatthe time of the call
It was the same with the tranf°^U° £V new proposal and thought originates
for national unity. Let us no reality and from others,
from Kadar. He himself also right is not enough if
And when he had worked out accept it. Therefore, he tried to con-
significant sections of the popu a °" abandoning what he himself wanted.
vince those holding differing view ^ ^ formu|ated one of the fundamental

It is typical that, as early a* mechanism. one which he has not managed to get
requirements of the new eco .’ . second flowering of the reform:
A accepted by public “J^SSop. and the productive
“The manufacture of uneconomical, obs P a certain planned
capacity thus saved be put to sensible use. This will q
rrorounine of the work force.
m Introductory Biography 8th Party Congress, one of the

largest factories m the c°u 7 ide indignation and the p nobody

hfd tppeneTin ^he not

Many things have gone onwards the populattothad to steal before he
thing is certain: from the ef insecunty. A perso fa h or not his
being threatened by even tteshadow ^ performance, ^nd^ ^ shortage
was fired from his job. = gecure He was protected y nism_ As far as em-
work was needed. hisj b and by a misinterpret t an advantage;
of manpower, by bad ^“la“°ncerned, undoubtedly the^rw^ he **
ployer and employee he had an argum . applied to the
Phecould change jobs at any offered more ^^ndnew jobs,
not like his environment^ or tf ^ alike. and threatened

majority of work J ^ & country where f^ement to have total job

It is understanda people, it was an enormo < today, to this
hundreds which stem
security. And.Us understand ^ ^ ^ want to see the d.sa ^ introduce,
achievement: it do expianations why reform ith difficulties today.
_from
_it it. It
« IS one ot
, / tne and
halted f why it is sun ^^--^ witn . . „u~,aa
... strUgghng he no need
houiapeiio..^-

iAJSJyJhome indwa"
people,while shows a defiat, »>*•«** ' j^g the violet,oh

b - - to chang;
tX^r
The fault IS, °f ^ ^ reform was Probab y , st be transformed with-

s S?5 i-**s.vci
KMta a” Sutedtothism^c our
 Rebirth 133

a revolutionary: which is
the point of view of our socialist rcvo • or of agriculture is not im-
being misunderstood—that the tQ ePmphasize is that today, and in the
portant, only economic reform. , deveiopment is concerned, reform is
next few years, as far as the-socialist revolution
the link in the chain on whic e pp p , . i ask you to consider the
and the further growth of working class ?u°rther explanation,
matter in this light, and to deal with it democracy is

for os is .he .form of—£

pearances, this is an economic que , ’litical mood of our working class: has

s£2=
follow the party and the Communists _Tha ^ was halted in the begin-
Nevertheless, the implementation , . b nrooonents of the reform
ning of the seventies. Several leaders 'v ° ^ disquieting rumours through-

Committee session. He was tired and worne . , . panic”, I said, “but

^--
“ Al“iC most people, i. is also noticeable with Kadar when he is very decisive,

hhaTeS,o S'carrful of many things”, he said. “Bo. .here is no turning back.

You can tell that to anybody you meet. hetwcen the workers and the peas-

Zl^yTo^s^n
mud huts. During the sewn
mfsT^SSr
1 .
w^rin
had two Westem-made cars.

Those who thought that the econouuc reform a much towet

industrial worker forgot that, ec°nor™^ ehold p\ots were obtained not in an
level. And the extra incomes produced in.to ha(i both
eight-hour working day. The number of shaded ^ of tbe wo
worker and peasant members, was on the > of 4e will of
classes could not be totally separate ^.^ad^ by material incentives, while

SS'SEX ”od supplies for the workers and the urban population, the
134 Introductory Biography
country th
reward hii
simply wc
depended on this. It was gr motivation of the peasantry instead of working
not to di
restricting the more X wanted to raise the stand-
conscienti
fairness ai
man is be
hStt aftefomth^peasant feeis that surplus labour to utru ou, surplus unable tc
In gent
produce is not ScoS the majority of private craftsmen
according
It was also an undoubmdfect toeas ed after the introduction of the new econom-
and tradesmen whose ^ workers. Bnt dually this problem The reasc
tarian spi
ic mechanism, f“Jx“e<i - [estricting the private sector, and claiming that the
could not be solved by once again restri g P bccome clear that the slow state thedrawt
high incomes irritated other "orto It of a solution to countries
enterprises were unable to solve the_que #g much unsettled state of this means th
that problem irritated the P°Pul*1 * of the “seCond economy” which had avoid an
cannot d
question was plainly signalled by Pomically but socially and morally, too.
There
ever increasing consequences not y ^Hungary, barely thirty years after
debates s
I cannot unequivocally condemn tfe- which variouS
she had emerged from ttie seini-f ^ of egalitarianism prevailed and many of the rel
prerogatives played a dec » P could afford a ]uxurious villa, a week-end between
considered it a mockery of sociali everyday financial worries. But abstract
quality,
cottage, a car and high incomes were,
egalitanamsm should not lead us.to g , s labour, or they came from taking ri
with few exceptions, due tooutstand g P problems of an appropriate Thed
sectors where the state had not managed tc^ spread of unjustified and trary, gr
production and distribution!mecfaamfl brib£S can be attributed to similar populati
immoral supplementary incomes, P * j had released the genie of petty public ii
Comf
causes and no. because <h'"™^“^,Taud avowed by many,
bourgeois mentality from the bottjc, brok£ out wel, before the introduction trial pro
The so-called “refrigerator socialism ooinion Many believed that abun- cultural
of the new economic mechanism, stirring p P Hungary, if people strove fold, re;
dance was dangerous and if a was on the nursery
student:
to have cars, refrigerators, wee •’u reproduced. There is some truth in
While :
increase, the petty bourgeoisie w cannot imagine a socialist society which
this, and the recent period proves it, poss}bieSto urge people to accept ascet- 14 mill:
travellii
is not striving to !mp;°V^°P'CveSnWnccessa y. But in the longer run it is unimaginable.
cent of

Sm= = There '

there w
receives his .are I car
crackli
according to h s d Sf2 set cou
to his needs. We have been professing tins too; in a certain sense house;

Whose"ork is a hundred times more valuable to the

10
 Rebirth 135

country than that of the average person; yet I do not believe that it would be right to
reward him a hundredfold, if for no other reason than that, in our soaal system he
simply would not know what to do with such a sum. At the same time it » wrong
notPto differentiate between people working well and badly, honest y and u
conscientiously, with talent or without. Engels’s formula that in socialism general
fairness and justice cannot come about is a bitter law, but it is a law nevertheless One
m" is bomSong and talented, the other weak and unta.ented, and society is
unable to equalize these aptitudes. , .
In general, everybody agrees with the principle that wages should be determined
according to the work performed, but it is not so simple to implement this principle.
The reason for this is not only the strong and in many respects understandablei egali¬
tarian spirit, but also partly poverty, and partly the faulty economic structure. Here .s
the drawback to the fact that socialism has come about in economically underdeveloped
countries- social justice demands that every worker receive a certain wage. This also
means that nobody can receive wages above a certain level Hungary has managed to
avoid an economic crisis so far because she has adhered to the basic principle that one
cannot distribute more among the population than is produced by society
There were general political, ideological, conceptual and econom.c ref °^°r
debates surrounding the economic mechanism, for the slowing down and uncertainty
of the reform. With slight oversimplification I could say that there_ wasiai ■ rvgg
between egalitarianism and incentives, central management and independence
abstract public interest and specific individual and group interests, quantity and
quality, price subsidies and world market prices, and doing things the old way and

13 The difficulties do not mean that the Hungarian economy is bankrupt. On the con¬
trary, growth has been permanent in practically all spheres of life so much so that the
population grew accustomed to it. Nowadays it is quite a problem to inform the
public in a way which will ensure that they see things realistically.
Compared to 1950 figures, in 1980 the national income grew fivefold gross indus¬
trial production more than eightfold, construction activity six- and a halffold agri¬
cultural production two- and a halffold, both exports and imports more than twen -
S reaf income more than threefold, the construction of flats two- and a halffold
nursery capacity more than tenfold, kindergarten capacity fourfold, the number o
student studying in secondary schools and institutes of higher learmng threefold.
While 37 000 foreigners came to Hungary in 1950, in 1980 there were more an
r4 Sllion, more than the population of the country. The number of Hungarian
travelling abroad in 1950 was 19,000, in 1980 more than five million. In 1950, 47 per
cent of the population received free medical care, and in 1980 all Hungarian citizens.
There were 600,000 radio and 16,000 television sets m the country in 1960, in 1980,
there were two and a half million of each. in front of a
I can still recall my childhood when neighbouring families gathered in. front1 of a
crackling radio set to listen to the Budapest station because that was the on'y o"e ‘hL
set could pickup, and I recall the time as an adult when tenants of a whoteapartment
house squatted in front of a television set. The highest ranking persons I knew before
theJ h“^'Spopulation “""f “^Sddlerfseventiesput 1
had a oar. In 19»“' f iosion which toot place m the eent more
Tho W^^SSSb^PO^J^S^SSTp* cent core than
SaXe Tears ago for ,“'S',°„^^ beTnKVWId^^'”^.

^£S=“==~SS£I£
ian economic ref or • > nu;iosophizing over the changes
“Instead of lamenting and ph P balance the country
payments.
P >
I might
of the
iLd see what« - a who,e even so

toi^-£SZ£~ “f

rSSSIS he summed up

economy and the sho.r market had to be combated by _ mentin practice was
the adverse changes in development, economic ma - 8 hanged condi-
stmeture and selective mdusWal deve P flexibiy enough totedW

unable to of " “jSSStbeW

tions. The switch-over Uon and the streamlining o P rate made
nteu. in the efficacy*P ^ required by f'.^ihe national economy"
uct Structure lag be"‘"v tcchnicai and technological level o can be more
possiblebythe present-daytcc wQrld ec0nomic condition and thc
If today, unte oonj^n^es it is primarily because both struCture
optimistic thanin the d ^ significant transformaUon f b n£w social tensions^
leadership teajM* idable necess.ty even tf tt Jea wrangUng> tirae and
and mechanism is an u things; there is too m . the narrow
We still do no. know how »££con^.ato „ is no. fa-

S"Sreis hope —which is suitable lor the

SSTino, very fond of «*£•£ %£

zv^^sS^=Sz ssss
casion when tne
 Rebirth

heads of government was the General arercon^ni^>t^^|^®

arrived m the Unites States on the and the Hungarian Peoples’
day will come when relations betwe 0ctober 1958. “Only one factor is required
Republic will be good”, Kadar had ^n°«obe^ shouldaccept and recog-
forthis: that those who are ^^nutand Tisza rivers a P-P^.^et

- *—and who wlU ne

h'^tlmetot'KadarAajS?
and Hungary were tense. Jozsef Mmds™rnment had declared the American ambas-
Embassy in Budapest. The f atic note had demanded a reduction1 in em-
sador a persona non grata and in a dip . f thc United States had no wish to be-
bassy personnel. It was obvious that th socialist state. Time and time agai n they
come reconciled to the fact that Hun^,r,y‘ agendain the United NaUons; they gave
put the so-called “Hungarian question onth emigr6 leaders who declared
i significant material and moral supp t ’ ^ spies and agents to Hungary to orga-
r

r
t
5sr:£ss:sts*- -
bv a member of the Hungarian intelligence
s—■ ™s orgam“d
jn l%0 It was only in 1962
:t
JS r«r.S0ondtoppmg the -Hungarian —-
,s
i-

e-
d- not -it lirst want to allow the Baltika to Groups of demonstrators,
ie had to wait before receivingJ&S2E* people hired and
. »» partly Hungarian emigrants and party^a d Kiddr everywhere in New
>re trained by the American intelligence se were not flattering is self-ex
he York. That their placards and slogans ye d example, the group demon-
ire
ns. planatory. »**«*£ZE£££ *£» >—P "» * ““
ind American authorities restricted Kadar’ ^Se restrictions put on
ow This is the report Kadar gave Parliament up unjust and insulting. But 1
fa- oJ frUdom of movement in New of The New York Timex
:re. had another feeling, too, one that I exp ° of movement was insulting, but
mic Look’, I said to him, ‘this restcompany. As you know fou
the not unpleasant. For one thing, I was m p ^ Khrushchev, Comrade Mehmet
people have been accorded this ‘honour JOb****^ ^ ^ j couldn’t help recal-
this Sehu Fidel Castro and I. The company, ’ ison> i was accosted by a head
n he hng February of 1932 when, Wormed me that I, being a Co»-
ivic-
ancc
nent,
y oc- •* -—-
y the
10*
,„ W roduaor. Biotrap* fc a tUn6 of .he P“‘-“

SS.=if2§s^I'.
session. The States authonUes, circumstances that in ^ & measure

Mthmt?J2S
who’ve been a>,ajnst it on PnnC p ke a personal remar ■ of persecu-

cause, and 1 Hungarian pe°P j had to be, and di of thc United

1 *£ SSo-S* «tWs tod hap‘

Wh° S' He led the Hungarian deleg ^ visited Poland and ^^oslovakia in
seventies. H £urope in August • 6 to Bulgaria an .,e Conference

mmmm

src*«* %es£&*» *5ss r isJ-W-

be such in the futuie
 Rebirth 13 9

, 11 T-r orTha/of iT^EST to^nal

«°P° «? «* "* m££^£?££Z* — the symbol of .he

that regime and held its symbols an sy Qf the nation> and not of Horlhy and

lT^'a«s,^Sre iSrlaod is the land of Ac Hungarian people, and no.

that of the Horthy regime.” internationalism is the product of the

aointernationaHstlhe is a proletarian of.be bind

T" of bis youth .o 1S.2

statesman when he learnt that peac international working class move-

mS. tITcouW not have been^asy, particularly after the spokesmen of these coun-

triW^n^"^
S altXs conviction lha. .be socialist order was on-

‘■^ssi.'sss:
r„r^myF:—^s^tU*********-**
socialism.”
He smiles. in Moscow it’s not ne-
“And they don’t underSt.^ W^" ‘ Because they don’t understand the essence

ISS=- - - -■-*
learn, and we’re glad that we was built on the com-
lt is well known that he liked Khrusbdicv,P ^ Kbrush.
mon struggle. I re“e“^^ Was still too close and the fear was very real
chev was dismissed. The Stalin P l0 the old methods.

sSndToreriio-
—^^^^^-licved Of bis post, and Com-
140 Introductory Biography

rades Brezhnev and Kosygin have been elected to take his place. In every counti y
and in every party a matter of this nature is up to the party and the country to decide
on. For my own part, I think that Comrade Khrushchev deserves a great deal of credit
for his fight against the Stalinist personality cult, and for the fact that there is still
peace. He worked for peace. I think that those hundreds of thousands of Hungarians
who greeted Comrade Khrushchev in the past, and this year, too, when he visited Hun¬
gary, and greeted him cordially as the representative of his country and his people,
and as the indefatigable champion of liberty did well to greet him, and need have no
second thoughts about it. As far as we’re concerned, what is essential and decisive is
that the policy of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party and the Hungarian People s
Republic on the issues of peace, of peaceful coexistence, on the socialist countries
commitment to unity, and on the international working class movement has changed
not one whit, nor will it change in the future.”
A storm of applause shook the railway station. Kadar cleared his throat, and
continued:
“In matters of human relations, relationships can vary greatly from person to per¬
son, for everybody is different. But I should like to emphasize that the Hungarian
Communists, and every Hungarian who has the cause of socialism at heart-and they
arc the majority - will always respect the representatives of the great Soviet Commu¬
nist Party, the great Soviet state, the great Soviet people, and will always be willing
to meet and cooperate with them as good comrades. They are the most faithful allies
of our people, their strongest support on the international scene. The comrades who
have now replaced Comrade Khrushchev in positions of leadership, Comrade
Brezhnev and Comrade Kosygin are well known to us, are our friends; they are known
to represent the political line-have been its advocates in the past-that the Commu¬
nist Party of the Soviet Union has again taken a stand for, declaring that they are
following the 20th, 21st, and 22nd Congresses, and are dedicated to the preservation
of peace and to the unity of all progressive forces on the international scene. That’s
how it is; there has been no change. And there will be no change as far as Hungarian
Soviet relations are concerned either.” ...
Rakosi, too, had been forever lauding the great Soviet Union, the preat Soviet
party, the great Soviet people, always putting the emphasis on the word “great”. His
policies, however, hardly encouraged people to give credence to that adjective.
Whereas the truth is that the Soviet Union, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,
and the Soviet people are indeed great. And not only in the quantitative sense of the
word. Kadar was able to make the country understand this, because for him, great
and small do not mean dependence, a relationship of subordination, but a fact.
His policy restored the nation’s lost and violated self-respect. The words truly had re¬
gained their real meaning, because for Kadar, cooperation with the Soviet Union and
the other socialist countries means respect for other peoples, a deeply fell interna¬
tionalism, and the true representation of national interests.
Peaceful coexistence is in no way just rhetoric for Kadar. Nothing proved it
better than his insistence on it even during the years when the majority of the Western
states did not exactly strive for such a relationship with Hungary. The vile attacks,
insults, and allegations against him did nothing to change this; he always subordinates
 Rebirth

KSSS£=Sp=i
sis==:Sises
=S =SS =S====
3 3

HSli
on alliance systems affecting ^ what their population, strategic

^'SESSs&sssgssS
X
is

n,
nc
at
ct.
SisSSSsSS
re¬
nd
na-

d it
^SrS.SEE£2=%«-“
:ern
cks,
ates
142 Introductory Biography

seems more beautiful andsi™pl^r ^from them^d^To'teVthe truth, I must add

know the problems and the headach everything here through dark
that 1 like it just as little when a lot to be desired,
glasses; it is not only their knowledge of ' orilative Western papers
As in the case of a report which sugar in Hungary, that
not too long ago, declaring that **^°j£* "ere were no bookshops.

fUSist"
too. But these are no great reasons foiconccrning the country's

s''t?*-* .o

Tad^took a stand against the change both at the Party Congress and in Parha-

m “The official name of the country”, he "^^^^blic to this day.

state of affairs.” And Hungary snam Kadar. “We arc people of socialist
“We are fond of the expressmn omh* socialist commerce,
conviction; we speak of socialist ind , in Hungary, industry, commerce
In the primary sense of the term, s socialist If, however, 1 consider the

5
commerce’.” • Hnnearv’s development into a socialist society:
There were four decisive stages iri Hu _n & ? d lhePconsolidation cf power, the
the nationalization of the mean P ’ f the new economic mecha-
collectivization in the countryside and the nt^ ° ^ be developed
nism. Thirty years were needed for all this^ For myy part, , don’t think

of the population become socialist.

This is how Kadar put this: cnrialist society we need considerably
“For us to complete the construction of a work, 0f educa-
more developed means of ^^tancSdof Uving as well. We are very well aware
tion and of culture, and a higher stand ®d ahome Gf one’s own, a refrig-
that socialism means not only ai larger si fb , ng ncw social relations

fUnnonious contacts between the individual and

society, and for their development. si„nificantly transformed human rela-

U„S„"ron;e™Ltg“8L,^
 Rebirth

if the basic conflict between crty^ dvic status, and once everybody receives

of a socialist type or the word moans the people s power.

Democracy in tne merai,
In this sense, there is democracy to'HW ^ organization; this is the everyday
The other sense ot “democracy ^ jdea ar£ of Greek origin, the meaning
sense of the term. Though the WOT<i before the law> constitutional government,
evolved in bourgeois society where equ y of political parties came to replace
universal suffrage, parliament, and the y of ^istocraCy. This was the period
feudal absolutism, and the closed f organization, went over into everyday usage,
when the word democracy, as a form * ^tarism bui]t on a multi-party system^

SrrC'S 5SS- »PP°si,e P* “ Fascist dictatorship, and,

many minds, the embodh^nt of from the significance of this political

Far be it from me to takean*to S socialist democracy, however has a
system for the achievement of civil lib > ^ j, why it 1S a mistake to
different meaning both as a con“P oponentiof the bourgeois social system who are
compare the two; it is notonlyl P p { ]ack of this structure; the Commun i
mistaken in calling socialism to accounls dcmocracy because it does not square

-
js&zttzzs* rr 00 ,hmb0‘,hat pe
tation and allowing forthis of parliamentarism. A multi-party

°f p“p,e's rep"sen,a,,on were 1 e

Paris Commune and the ^“^XrowniasystemofloeaUyelectcdeouncils;
Hungary developed a slate structure of n at generai elections, but not
a parliament whose members wnturoed^to h - ^ the constitutlon of
according to the rules of a mul -p.Marxist-Lcninist working class party

through various types of institutional systems^

- -—°f p“p,e 5 power
ihrough legis,atlon.
144 Introductory Biography

of people all the public life this involves is that every so many years they vote for
some party or other. Universal-if not day-to-day -participation* “
a much more complicated matter. The first thing that is_ needed l is_ the nght toiL
Then the opportunity to participate is needed, in order that the ng
than just dead letter. What is necessary beyond that is that people shou
need to participate, that they should avail themselves of their r.ghts and their oppor -

"^Hungary, these rights are given, as are the opportunities; and as far as I know
the country the people do feel the need to have a say in public affairs. I think tha
the major shortcoming is that our system of political institutions has not been su

SS radical means to go to the root. The root of

man is man himself.” Socialist society is not the goal, but the
of the emergence of socialist man. And recent decades have taught us tha* the tra
formation of man is a most slow and difficult process, particularly when we

simple: we .hough, .ha. a s^iahs. was

someone who placed the public interests ahead of his own^Such self-denial, however,
while imaginable for a time, certainly cannot serve as a bas^ princp . h
age is over; a consolidated socialist society looks back with respect at the
sacrificed their lives for the cause, at the shabbily dressed
to dusk on empty stomachs, but cannot regard them as examples ^^ Mlowed
Rather the example is looked for in those who are able to.coordinatepublic intere
with their own. those who strive to harmonize their individual goals wlth tho^ °
society. Socialist man is communal man. The elaboration and realization of social,s
democracy is of key importance because socialist man is unimaginable without
some form of participation in public life.
This is how K&dar writes about this in memory of Peter Veres.
“He felt everything belonged in his sphere of competence, this ceaselessly th g,
2e fef. evening .ha, happened around him was to tajess- H
could never look disinterestedly or indifferently at anything great °r small. He wa
of the opinion that however difficult or even insoluble a probe“ he knows
iust shrug one’s shoulders. There were those who said: Uncle Peter thinks he knows
everything; he has an opinion on everything.’ But this commenting on ******
not to some selfLportant need to be in the Umel-gh. to some
off- it was rather, due to his passionate interest m public affairs. He never torgo
that history and society were created and shaped by the working people; it was the
people s°duty and right to know something about life, mo^poh^ and the
economy, to talk about such things, to speak up on matters ofPlJ the countrv
The demand and the need for such participation is formulated ,n the coun ry
every day; ideas, desires and theories are being voiced, but they have, as yet, to

reaWhedn one writes about a contemporary, one must interrupt the stor>'more or less
arbitrarily at some point. For this story, there is a fairly obvious pom at which tod
so. Janos Kadar, in addition to being a member of Parliament and the Presiden
Council of the —

Workers’ Party, of Khar’s lrfe different from that played

which I have traced th ^ outim ^ and political rolell^List Workers’ Party «s
history. In Hungary, ^ The Hungarian S ^ specifies. The
by the parties m b°urg ^ kader of society, as * nds essentially to the
at once a mass par y, Political Committ t0 their parliaments

:rr “.si'—fsrss-- - -——“

Set party ^ £tlid p^y IhrougMhe party
The Hungarian Socialist organizations ana p 3 p fun(ja.

- -- -

ssssKts5£—■ * rjxs&z
^,ife MS“tia,,y
been said in co,nne^.ratizalion of the party level asweU’ . u t Workers’ Party has
holds good for democramatf The Hungarian SocwUs^ rf ^ members
A few figures might organizations. °" p 1944 and 1948,
800,000 members m2AS*» J^on, 16
had pined the P^Y ^ 1956, and 74 per cent after 1957 - ^ g per cent are
9 per cent between 49 ^ par(y,s members are,* Uar workers, 16 per cent
Twenty-nine perce ^ intdtectuals and basis of their original pro¬
in agriculture, P cent work in other jobs. cent are peasants an
are pensioners, and P members are worker , P f the TOembership
fession, 63 per ce^ J white-collar workem, 6 pe^ce cent i# between 40

,s ^ are -is*:sWS
It is no mistake to P , a few thousand g Communists who had
estimated that there Social Democrats and the ^ aCttfal SOCial
thousand alive today include date are clear refle s on the

upswing: the num

146 Introductory Biography

considering that party membership was the largest in those years: only 7°,°00 people
joined the party during this period. Three-quarters of the party members, the p -
dominant majority, joined after 1956. It is particularly noteworthy hat the Hungarian
Socialist Workers' Party has almost 300,000 members old enough to have.beet mem¬
bers of the Hungarian Working People’s Party, too, but who did not join the party

lh<The significant difference between the current and the original occupations of the
party members shows considerable social mobility. Three-quarters ofth=PdJ|y, n
bers were originally industrial and agricultural workers; now only one-third ofthem
are. Even not counting those who have in the meanwhile, retired, there are 300,000
former workers and peasants now in intellectual occupations.
From the figures for schooling, we see that the proportion of those^hoh^'^
finished general school is much higher among party members than for the population
as a whole- so is the proportion of those with university degrees. The former are
workers and peasants who had no opportunity to learn in the old The latter
figure shows that the proportion of party members is highest among the country

3f5S to wonmen in the party likewise fails to reficct the popuhdion

figures, where the ratio is roughly 50-50. But unfortunately, it docs reflecttheacual
situation. The discrepancy is due not only to the fact that Hungary s women acqu.r.d
equal civil rights barely half a century ago. It also shows the socially, econo«mcal V
and psychologically determined differences in the roles men and women PlaVP“b,lJ
life at present, the differences in the interest they take in it. Nine per cent of tb P‘ J
membership and 17 per cent of the country’s population18hlhe way
29. As far as I can see, this indicates that the party is out ofharmony with
young people think, not so much in its policies, but its structure and everyday practice^
It is some help that 60 per cent of the members received into the party in the past

yeu\Tn?eresttingtto0takea took^t the composition of the

party’s executive body, all the way back to the Liberation. All themonK.since so
far there has been no mention of Radar’s assoc.ates and colleagues after 1956
I felt that the assessment of their role is beyond the scope of this work. Yrt Rad
often emphasized them importance: -I eanno. Merer^ be^een my
own nersonal work and the work of others” he said on his 60th birthday.
The average age of the Political Committee elected in 1945 was 41: the youngest
member was 32, the oldest 53. Six of them were workers, five were intell“ ua1s.^
came from the Hungarian illegal movement, five from exile in Moscow. AHi of tl
had beerMo prison for their political activities. The majority
in exile were around 50, those from the illegal movement were under 40. More of
first eroun were intellectuals, more of the latter workers.
The average age of the Political Committee elected in 1948 after merger with
Social Democratic Party was 47 years; the youngest was 35■ tb*
them had been Communists before the amalgamation, five of oaa1 Democrats^
Twelve knew the prisons of the Horthy regime from the inside Nine o them were
workers, five intellectuals. The former Communist 6migres and the Social Democrat.
 Rebirth 147

rrrr.«‘-=JS-”"“

'HSS==s=
Ti£reE*s£S3S5=s=s=
and fiv Slectuals. Rve of them had joined the party before 1945, seven between
U)44 and 1948 one after 1956. Eight of them had always been Communist party
members, two had been Social Democrats, and two joined the party after the merger.

££*£ "f0'2?r<?rrwas ®rent: ,he

SSSSESjS
S£S“SrSS“s=
htlif. bu. aiso ia .he phiiosophy oflifc which

with logic, because what is not logical is not dialectical either.

148 Introductory Biography

T don’t know when he coined this philosophy of life in so many words, but this: ap-

total chaos they were already living in relative peae,: and

Ssss im.
es For a country which has suffered as much as ours , says Kaaar, me
porfantfinally to have a liule peace and security, a ttrae when t. could rest,

SSSSsss
lllifSIl
mmsws
^seTho^nly the consolidation, the equilibrium, have not really understood

"E Sy,o Kiddr’s career had really been tha,

simple.
 Epilogue 149

Epilogue

si-rrri-rrr
ttre°L"rJS IX for us. The traffic had no, beeu stopped for us

along the way. . „ . ctnrV tf) the schedule set to the minute.

agabfon the outskirts of Budapest. Radar took out hts watch. rry bomc'we s,OPPEd
“I told my wife I’d be home around six.
It was half past five. . t house of the municipal council in

Tis"'^ 00. .ike his piate full He belongs to the generation

which learned that it is a su, «„ ^e ^^ Kid4r
Late in the evening we walked thr g a professional
is a steady, relaxed swimmer; you can see thathe ^^ ^ a loQg
swimming instructor. He lets the lukewarm P |fom_one would not think that

S Shhf LveuTy ThTe “n him a io. more tired, a .0, more tormented in

’h& morning we get £3 «t

the county leaders at the headquar spoken in public several times,
brief: he has nothing special ^aysrecentlyh P naries, task t0 solve

rr^Srim^h SSS to ,ok around, to make acquaint-

ances, to visit; he had not been to ^1S “““ty t metallurgical works. First the manag-
The cars leave for one of ^"^ Jtheir work then we tour the village-sized plant
ers of the company give an account of with the peopie.
by bus. We stop several times o ge > retires for half an hour, and concentrates
At one o'clock, lunch in the facto y. Cultural Center in the after-
on his afternoon speech. There’ll be.> “SSSSS only now and then

SSZS.'tStrng, a coid drink. Khdar takes off his coa, aud he.

T w^off fmffie town on foot. U* puts o„ his jacket, ponders a little, sighs.

“letter without a tie. But I don't want people .0 think me lacking in

respect for them.”

,50 introductory Biography human if he 1
in Parliament:
“Confident
affection, at le
and confidenc
it is not so ea:
“The seed li
by the experii
He drank £
“It’s not n
“You have
you see as yc
And what ar
corresponde
“Everyoni
garian Peop
to the unity
with them. Kadar P Cimola Hall of the people; the;
I have had;
vain, and tl
“Of cour
by life; it 1
endure the
for myself
by and lari
“Finally
always pla
Socialist \
single per;
the masse
My yoi
alily cult
this day.
procession, it wa. roeci all over the streets m Wherever we Marx:
applause, no hurrahs People surged a gripped to the
“It wo
the strug
other ha
These ac
SemOlder idolize him, do not^ms,

rSS|SSsSS=2;=£
and are
very me
head th
To n
NoUnfrequently 1 feel that in our aspirations. But l have attribut
pay att

SISSi-HSSSrra^ fate of'

 Epilogue 151

moved. In difficult times, in the spring of 1957, he said

human if he had no e occasionally. So is
in Parliament: ■ great a thing that it scares y Q gratitude

“The seed has borne Irui ,

by the expenences ofthe day^ slowiy, with moderation.

And what are your personal plans & ^ at the Hun-

correspondent conditions fourteen years agoand place due

“ £K- years of ny persona, - were no, in

?have somewhat ,o ^“etbeenspoi,ed

Va“Ofcotu"se! anyone can s^^j^g^°thin^^listiciiUy> and so speci^^ans

Slne^K
for myself and1 don^ have any n° m tbis Meal ealls fbr or^^rm m jmolved

SHSE=iE-S.fS=?-
'ls5£^2S=S“^==
this day. Yet l have lived throug ^ wetet0 start
Marx: r rcP he very comfortable to make world histoiy Qn ^
“It would, of course, . ytoUr chances were guaranteed P in it.
the struggle only on■****£Seal thing if ‘aeoidents’ tad no MUp
Cher band •« P»* of f ™K

1r“ °f m“ *

11
152 Introductory Biography

Kadar had become the leader of the party in 1956. As a contemporary, I can only say
that the fate, the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands, of millions would probably
have been very different, and I cannot study history in such abstract, unbiased terms
as to forget the people who live history. Not only has Kadar identified with the coun¬
try, the country has also identified with him. This is why I dare to write the bombastic
sentence: Janos Kadar is Hungary.
Kadar seldom speaks about himself, especially in public. Tn October 1958, not an
easy time for the country, when he spoke in Angyalfold at the meeting where he was
nominated for parliament, he felt it necessary to say the following:
“Every life is different: some are like this, some like that. For my part, I became a
Communist at 19. I cannot claim to have made no mistakes. T’ve made my share of
mistakes, some of them big enough for three. I’ve also done good. What I can say for
sure, and this is something that not even my enemies will dispute, is that I’m a Com¬
munist. The rank of Prime Minister - that’s a very different thing. The rank of First
Secretary of the party-that’s a very different thing, too. But there’s a rank that’s
above all else, and that is that a man can call himself a Communist and a man. Who¬
ever can call himself a Communist and a man has the highest rank. Anyone can hold
a post of any kind. I’ve seen prime ministers who later weren’t prime ministers. I’ve
seen first secretaries - later they weren’t first secretaries. But whoever is a Communist
and a man will always stay a Communist and a man, he’ll always keep the highest
rank. I can only say: my intentions, my thoughts, my feelings have always been those
of a Communist ever since I became a Communist. And I’ll do my best to remain one
as long as I live.”
It was this speech which he concluded with the heartrending confession I have al¬
ready quoted: “When it seemed that the time had come to die, I was pretty calm when
I thought over where I’d been, and what I’d done in my life; in 1944,1 felt that there
really was nothing wrong. If that’s how things were. I’d just have to die. The people
would live, the Soviet troops would get here, and socialism would triumph. The second
time, I was in trouble. Then it seemed as if I’d have to die under circumstances when
all my comrades, all my brothers, all whose opinion I esteemed, all who I’d worked
with as a young man would think that I’d betrayed the Communist cause. And this,
believe me, is a terrible thing. At that time, I was not fighting for my life. What I did
want very much was to live to see the day when people would know that I was not a
traitor to the Communist flag. This day means that you here know. And that’s enough
for me.”
 Notes 153

Notes to Introductory Biography

t A popular card-gameplayed w.Helvetian - <— — • - — *

three or four Players.

his age. Among these were f “Sis ui were decided around the card table.
(1875-1890), where imPortant Politicai issu«

SSsSSSs^
part of Yugoslavia after World War II, m 19 .

VnMrf thegwatost Hungarian poets of the ™

• Hungarian c.mncy bn.wean 1927

» Kirolvi Mihiily, Count 1875—1955 . , 0f pacifist politicians during the years

!B--a
—rosrsi
,918- January 1919. After Hungary was prodatm the communist takeover mJ^rch

lion until 1946. In 1947 he lived in exile in France unt.l b.s death. H.s
in 1962, and reburied in a mausoleum.

7 Garbai, Sandor 1879-1947 Chairman of the National Trade Union of

ConsLSpSworC^ ‘Ling figure of

rS'KS’aSlS^ntocrat 6m.gr6s in Europe.

«• — - “>■— “ P“"y

11*
154 Introductory Biography

on Nov. 24 1918. Imprisoned by the government of Mihdly Karolyi, Kun was released on

III3Sk3SSSS355«S
time of the German invasion, he committed suicide.

io Diminutive word for chicken, used by peasants while feeding them.

iEMSKKm—-ss*-—.—
with full powers, and instituted a reign of terror until 1850.

unspeakable barbarity.

>3 Horthy, Miklbs 1868-1957 Minister in the counter-revolutionary Szeged

lived after 1949.

Versailles on June 4, 1920.

“ Belhlen’ ,stvin’ C0U"t 1874'';i 1021 to 1931 A skillful conservative politician, he

conservative forwsKekingrapprochement with the Allies. He died as a POW in the Soviet Union.

>o Skilled worker who works for a master craftsman or tradesman.

O—
«»0»
On October 28, 1944, it was reorganized as the Young Communist League ( •>■
 Notes 155

18Peyer, KSroly 1881-1956 Secretary of the National Federation of Hungarian

Fitter by trade, r,gf of the Interior in the Peidl government
Miners and Founders (from 191 ). , d public Welfare (November 1919—
(Aug. 1, 1919-Aug. 6, 191 )a n (1922- 44) Following the German occupation of Hungary,

zzsss
pwty^n^^m^d j^nedThe b“s°rad?cal movement. He left Hungary not much later and

settled in the United States.

i3SS5jss=sm=^S5~sS
—■2 • ■ ■■ -

” Furst, S4ndor 1897-1932 in prison He was released on parole

Clerk, Communist leader. Brtwjjn 192J! f932 he was arrested again together with his
fello^rnember^and^rTtlw^ourse of two weeks he was sentenced by the summary court and
executed together with Imre Sallai.

!1 Landler, Jend1875—1928 _..... a ipaitine fieure in the pacifist movement

Lawyer, Social Democratic and Commums P^ ^ (he Hungarian National Council in
during World War 1, he managed the E with the Communists

- - *■——-
reorganizing the Hungarian Communist movement. He died in France.

Nazis. Formed in 1936, it united several n f and b tbe ear|y forties its mem-
Sz&lasi. The Par'>0®^dQ^Q^bCen'i5" 19-M?following Horthy’s unsuccessful attempt to break
bership rose to 300,000. On October 1 , . who then willingly cooperated with
ES "u?n“a? an” K2 deportation and extermination of the Hungarian Jewry.

** hMd'was'HOTIhy'hiniwlf^to

more moderate policies.

the petty-bourgeoisie.
1 ;.c/.if To achieve their goal the members conducted energetic propaganda
“J££EZZZ Z .w; i" M'and >h,y eWo>«, Led Ro0»™»-. -PP~
/56
156 Introductory Biography

26 Counter-revolutiona^OTgamMtum lowermiddle-classes.Usstrengthgradually

the_(S^
. , • ,919 by Horthy’s officers in the to Wav ,, The associa-
22 Secret association formed in 1919 J jan territories lost in World

the Germans.

J» Teleki, P41, Count W9- ’^’university of Budapest from 1919-0asPprime Minister

Professor of Geograp y < . { Foreign Affairs ,n Apn first restoration attempt.

K£ S S£ ——■ — ^
he committed suicide. economy” was passed

£ 60,000 Jews lost their jobs.

« V«.s,Pi», 1*97-1970 w the cMe ot ,he «H^W Tr^afSw*

Peasant writer and P°>'““ar'c*’ditfonf of the Hungarian poorSS of Parliament from
He wrote extensively on ^ Peasant Party; he served M 1956 president of

P«,'S -
1968^and'continued writing unUl his death. ^

35 Rikosi, Malyhs 189“'1971 f (he Communist party from 1941 ^nfst in"918 after a period
Hungarian Communis. leade^osi t0 Hungary a Commumstf Commeree> and later
Democracy from his you ^ ^ ^ Deputy People s Comm __ ^ with the triumph
as POW in Soviet Russia. H n in tbe Republic of C ' • 924 he returned to
People's CommissarorSoc^Pr^^ be was forced to flee ^ in ,925 and was
of the counter-revolut Hun|arian Communist part, b « on lria, again and was
Hungary to rec*f" * ,f years. Still in prison ini M5. 1 ^ the recognized leader of
sentenced to eight and a h > he was exlrad,ted to Mosc . Secretary-General of the
sentenced to Hungary in 1945 he bccam® p^^PrTme Minister (1945-

until his death, in ivoz.

s - - «• -
political crimes. ;™,rnal was the main organ of the

-PoUtol io«».l of * Communist Puny m

5-SSSf SSKK---—«■ U““ c“”'-

 157
Notes

dence movement.

s
1B8BS&*50
a fietCerhy8tow Cross terrors. H
discovered by Budapest from 192 ,
increas-
MoscoW

n-
he
ist

an
ster
npt-
ante
From
tory,
wilh
vith the
the Common,stP
Communist * _ _t
nt of Pu^
Public

>assed

■BBS**
; were
of this

gentsia.
of 1944
nt from
(ident of Union and an M J of the HSWP. Communists
Front in of the Central Comm HunBarian Party of Comm ^ ^

of Social
• a period
and later
,6 triumph
eturned to
5 and was
in and was -^^srt^s^ssestss‘'
He was consequenCe of forceu From
:d leader of
neral of the V4c Prison and returned home Com.
ster (1945- « Rozsa, Ferenc.»906- ‘9« d move^tm G« ^ ***gg*^ Nip (*»
>ut remaine^
i6 lived there
for his grave sswaSEesta*B.‘CWSK-
s“-—- -■
organ of the
unist Party m *■Textile
*“*■ worker,
“s sssr-o—*-“193
n*
•a
I58 Introductory Biography

and organized S££E** «—

liberation movement. He was
rogated.

o[ ,to BmBin br.nch

Electric .OT*"' 1“• ^3S ht «.s responsible for “W”1™ mo,emeni in bis

sSr.t - - -—ro
charges of treason, and executed.

SSSsHS5SSlS£
5». Aft« tb» "St™ »•*■ ”“w “ *•usA-
camp by the German - ovatad) In 1922 it merged with

holders’ Party ^ into opposition and «J““d «“°e™*ny of the party’s

the Hungarian ®0V^nrn^rJ^ itselfQf^9^the party^airled

1948-49.

“ Szfilasi, Ferenc 1897-1946 inted Major in the StaffService

Army officer. Fascist teag. In 193 JPP^ Qf ant,-Semit.sm Fascism ^ Wl„.
political programme which Socialist organization caUed P * He was

sissssss:
Ssssss®-----
role in the Fopotar ~d in a fierce gunfight with detectives sent to arres

forties, n u> Commu„ist, after the disbanding of the Communist

«Rajk,L4sz16 1909-1949^^ ^ iUegai Communist party from 1931. He^ ^"^tration

3^^
 Notes 159

r • He returned to Hungary in May

in l955-

“ Kiss, Janos 1885'19J4 d ■ 1939 in protest against the G«n»n ™*^a”a"tary branch of the

gSJjsrr-is and ex
■ssssazszsstes^-
December 1944. it functioned as an inde-

“Nagy, Imre 1896-1958 Taken poW by the Russians in Wwld ^rn ’y. until l927,
Hungarian Communist eahe Soviet Union. In 1921 he "“J?" jai)ed; afler his release he
Bolsheviks and "arked i ants of Somogy County. He ^ became a member of
he organized the Communis^ 1*^ lQ Hungary at the end of ^ Minister of Agriculture
worked in the Comintern. H -ca, Committee m 1945. Ued from the Political

Committee, but was ^JutfSime Minister (1952-53) and Pnme ' ^ hjs $tate functions^ In

^955*'he'was^ condemned as a

executed. ^ ^

53 Vas, Zoltin 1903-1983 q meraber of the f^^priso^ taSwh® returned

Communist journalist an P Union m an exchange P was imprisoned
arrested in 1921 and iUegal Communist ^^e of prisoners. He returned
to Hungary and was again later, in 1940, in an ex Public Supplies in Buda-
and was rescued by the Sovie - Government Commissioner Secretary of the
to Hungary after the war and became, ^ of Budapest (1945>• » office (,949-53);

pest (1945), and then9 m the »J»y Preside„t of J member of the PoUtica
Supreme Economic OwwHl Communist party <3 >’ government, and was
member of thei Centra l956 he took part in he ^ ^ rf his ufe to

SSSST-S*——he 'c,u“
literary activities.
“ Miklos, Bela D41noki 1890-1948^ ^ ^ Regcnl Horthys military ^t^^and.pm

Staff officer and genera > Commander of the First Hu“g» me Minister of the provisional
160 Introductory Biography

55 Gero, Ern6 1898-1980 . f 19,8, he emigrated to Germany in 1919

Member of the Hungarian Communist party f_r«™ (Q Hungary in 1922 and was arrested
after the fall of the Repubhc of Councils. H cxtradUed to the Soviet Union in 1924 and
and sentenced to 15 yeare* tmpnsonment H and returned to Hungary in 1944. H'sP°s,-
settled there. He took part in the Spanish Civ 945). Minister of Transport (1945
lions afterwards: Minister of Commerce and p (1949-52); First Deputy Prime Minister
49); Minister of Finance (1948- 49); Minister,>State (V94V of ^ Ccntral Ixadersh.p and of

sstss's *«, - -——

58 R6vai, Jozsef 1898—1959 . f the Hungarian Communist party in 1918.

SSSlSSVSc'Sblirof councils he toCze-

£r
—>»• - - • —
of the Ccntral Committee.

s? Farkas, Mihily 1904-1965 |92, he was imprisoned in 1925. He

Member of the Czechoslovakian Communist party f (1929-37). During World
played an important role in the Commun is Hungarian broadcast of Radio Moscow
War II, he lived in the USSR, and wor f parliament and member of the Central
He returned to Hungary in 1944 and ^eMemt^o^a, ^ ^ Affalrs (1945). From 1945
Committee of the Communist Party, e w Deputy Secretary-General of the P>t^
he was also member of the C™"1 S? £TwaVett pelled from the Central Committee
He was Minister of Defense (1948 53). er of 1956 he was expelled from the party,

SSiS
as an editor in a publishing house.
» - “•Af” “sh6 0
.Founded in 1895 on the pattern of the .ole N.ma.e Superieure, the College served
education of university students. It was dissolved ,n 1950.

>» Para-military organization for boys between.the age>of 13

zszszzzr- iszszsz, v- - - -
German fronts.
- “d

m Tildv Zolt4n 1889-1961 c™aiihnlders’ Party, Member of Parliament

Reformed Minister, one of the foundere '® of his party (1945-46) and from 1946
from 1936. After World War II, he became P resigned in 1948 and for several years
till 1948 he was President of the Hungarian Repu H f
,956. From October 25, 1956 he
he was under house arrest, bu‘^^S^rTu^Nov. 4, 1956). He was sentenced to
 Notes 161

mh,r 0{ parliament
, parly from Reconstruction

rom ‘ . „r of Parliament - . post iron. —

and Speaker ot r resigned h.s v
ssstitfs—* *• —4

« Varga, B61a 1#»- bolic prelate^^47 he £ «»«*»« ^ ^

movement. In e Affai« m
ihe USA- Undersecretary of Gcneral of

SttS StTi-.««—• . - »* £S
65 K6thly, ^;o£n, ^g^^l^March^^f ^^^ommu^st^^^^ovemher J*

»ttW in
SSS- 1956 - ““ „ 19M.

.. „„osi». w-sssM*-sw^ m .rsss

e
!,
id
■^sisss^si. rjrsjscs
~ -
.he
tftEsrSsh:'jssrau* --.stj*—- *•,972'
Council U’60-®'to 1962. He left the par ry.Geoeral of
ved Central Comm.ttee in 1939, Secwwj wrote
944
„ ,9io-1971 th. national *?““*» J» populist movemcn ^
and •t Erdei, Ferenc 19 & {ounder of th (eft wing of * l944hebecam Minister
Economist, PoW^ He belonged £ gananpeasanty' ^positions^ i of

sr the
krtieri-
ienna. Agriculture (19 f Sciences (1 Presidential
Hungarian A«gg£ 70); Member of the ^ national
people’s Fro founding men e increasingly
lament .,,3-1980 . n Dopulist movement, » „ut he became
m 1946 os Kovacs, imre l9'l Hungarian P P aCtive ,n the
al years
1956 he peasant ran)-
jnced to
162 Introductory Biography

isolated because he opposed the party’s cooperation with the Communists. He left the NPP and
joined the Independent Democratic Party. He emigrated in 1948 and settled in the USA.

69 Bern, Jozef 1794—1850

Polish officer active in the 1830 Polish uprising. Following its defeat, Bern emigrated and became
the victorious hero of the 1848—49 Hungarian Revolution. He was made commander of the
Transylvanian Hungarian troops in November 1848 and succeeded in clearing Transylvania of all
hostile armies. However, in 1849 he suffered defeat at the decisive battle of Segesvar. Bern became
the common symbol of both Polish and Hungarian independence struggles; this is why his statue
was chosen for the demonstration on October 23, 1956.

,0 Sulyok, Dezsd 1897-1965

Lawyer and politician, Member of Parliament from 1935 to 1939 and from 1945 to 1947. He
played a dominant role in the Smallholders’ Party but was expelled with his followers in 1946
and formed the short-lived Freedom Party. He left the country in 1947 and later settled in the USA.

” Journal of the Communist party from 1942 to November 1956.

,J Kobol, J6zsef 1909-

Joiner, party functionary, Communist since 1926. He studied in Moscow during 1934—36, and
participated in the work of the Hungarian Communist party from 1939. He was sentenced to
eight years’ imprisonment in 1942 but escaped. After 1945 he worked with Janos Radar at the
Budapest Party Committee. In 1949-1950 he was deputy mayor of Budapest. During 1950-55
he was secretary of the builders’ union, from 1954 member of the secretariat of the Central
Leadership, later member of the Central Committee as well. Between 1957 and 1961 he was
Deputy Minister of Building and Urban Development; MP from 1946 to 1958; in 1956 Secretary
of the Budapest Party Committee; since 1961 he has been department head in the Central Plan¬
ning Office.

73 Apr6, Antal 1913-

House painter, a member of the Communist party since 1931. Department head of the Central
Committee (1945—48), Secretary-General of the National Council of Trade Unions (1948-51);
member of the Political Committee (1956-80); Member of the Presidential Council (1948—51),
a member of government at the head of different ministries, and as deputy chairman of the Council
of Ministers (1952-71); Speaker of Parliament since 1971.

74 Dinnyds, Lajos 1901 — 1961

Politician, belonging to the left wing of the Smallholders’ Party, Member of Parliament; Minister
of Defense (1947); Prime Minister (1947-48); Deputy Speaker of Parliament (1958-61). From
1951 to the end of his life he was director of the National Library of Agriculture.

75 Pdter, Gabor 1906-

Former tailor, member of the secretariat of the illegal Hungarian Communist party from 1943.
In 1945 he became Commander of the Political Department of the State Police in Budapest,
and later became the commander of the State Security Authority (AVH). He was removed from
his post and arrested in 1953 and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1954. He was released
in 1959 and worked as a librarian.

74 Palffy, Gyorgy 1909-1949

Staff officer in the Hungarian Army. In 1939 he left the army in protest against its German orien¬
tation. In 1942 he joined the illegal Communist party and worked simultaneously in the Small¬
holders’ Party as well. In the autumn of 1944, he became the head of the military section of the
Hungarian Communist Party. In 1945 he became head of the Political Department of the Ministry
of Defense, and in 1948, he became Deputy Minister of Defense. In the same year he became
 Notes 163

,, in Mav 1949 he was arrested on false

rsi—'ssssss51*
'52S|§S"2-lg!^fll
German he was -PP^gJiS. and -as executed. He was

«s-s1sfi c *•* was arrested 0

rehabilitated in 1956.
f ni 1928 He became

-eSSS:
S*»~ 0fPtcS^K); Minister
iSSSff
0952^53); P-emoftrS= Research of the

k Srssx’IrsHl1-■
^ 1033 and again in

of the Communist Party, ne

rehabilitated in 1955.

-Russian word for rich peasant. movement (1945-49).

- “Splendid ^ ^ CdUCatK>n'

xtssrisss ****•■
The roovenioni -- • , • the Com-

83 Heecdus, Andr&s 1922- , Communist party fu'n), '^“iuee and the Political
Communis, politician, memb« oftte £| member of lhe ^nua^m,m . prime Min,sier

“■ comm““POT

.. VW S.maW. *0» Of Hungarian ge |S2»“3

” “pubBC
164
Introductory Biography

^jmssssiss?!:^
and prophesied the K4rolyi Revolution of 1918.
w» ■•* p”"“ '“',ud'
" Kossuth, Lajos l802"1^ , ,848 Revolution and War of Independence, ^hisyomh
Hungarian statesman, leader of the m ^ imprisoncd for his writings 0»37-40).
he had been active in the reform mow , a journal) and the leader of the Hun-
After his release he became editor of the Pest, J ' viclorious March Revolution of 1848,
garfan opposition (1847-48). In the government ofthe victor ^ leader of the fight
he first held the post of the Mmister of ^^^ d^ronement of the Habsburgs, he became
to protect the endangered Revotation Af th d the War of independence, he

ss*-died
defender of MunkScs Castle. He f fpdr.^“’Xnia, in 1705 Ruling Prince of Hungary
court in 1703. In 1704 he was elected P nce of Tra y ^ .q ml ^ ,eft Hungary for

tsa =Ld in Turkey-His ashes were retur

Hungary in 1906 and reburied in state at Kassa.

dissolved in November 1956.

« Dudds, J6zsef ?-1957 Communist movement in Transylvania, he was

Hungarian politician active in the pre- g t0 negotiate a cease-fire with the Allies,
a member of the delegation sent.by H5^. |ders. Parly. Arrested in 1946, Dudas spent eight
in the summer of 1945 ^ SnghoW« V ^ offices of the SzabactN p
years in prison. On Oct. 28, 1956 he wad his arme<1 g of lhe Committee of the Hun-

A - —- “ “
and executed in January 1957.

" Maliter, PA1 1917-1958 1944. He aUended Partisan School in the

Army officer. He fell prisoner to the Red Arn? fficer in ,952. In October 1956 he was
USSR; after his return to Hungary, he wa Budapest but he went over to the rebels^and
entrusted with recapturing thcKilian (Nov. 1-Nov. 2, 1956)

in 1958.

War II after 1941. On his way home, he paraenu

disappeared.
 Notes 165

01 Kopdcsy, Sindor 1920 hg became chief 0f the Budapest Police in 1953

£ PuOctobe" 1956 when he became Commander of the Revolutionary National

1K8-In 1,63 he ™ ”ta*d w,lh y-

In 1975 he settled in Toronto, Canada.

** Ki^iy, Bela 1912- defected to the Russian side with his troops and became
A Staff officer in the Hungarian Army, h d he Corarnimjst Party and became
a POW in 1944. After his return to Hungary.« >'”5, generali inspector of Infantry
Commander of the Military AcademyJ, d t0 death but his sentence was commuted to
(1948-50). in 1951 he was arrested andLf^.^^oitder of the National Guard at

FMmer’workerfciOTmunist politician. In w^and was'latcr'acffve in iheFrench

sss »*• »“cr ’■1956

- PoUfica, daiiy printed in Bndapes.. Founrktdi»IKJ.U

the newspaper of the Patriotic People’s Front.

00 Munnich, Ferenc 1886—1967 . mmmander of the 11th Brigade in the Spanish

Communist lawyer, Commander in the Red Ar y, Moscow during World War II. After
Ci.il War, editor of*. ££'$5^9)1™ a. dLmi-ed ■«» ‘he
1945, he was General and Chief ofThe B A Ambassador to Sofia
Rajk trial, and appointed Envoy to Heb.nk. (1949 “™?'E t0 Belgrade (Aug. 7,
(1950-54); Ambassador to Moscow and «a or ^5 !956 - Oct 31, 1956); Minister of

SnSf Commit and of rh. Politic Cotnmtt.ee from 1956.

itself from foreign domination.

98 Dogei, Imre 1912-1964 ...... „ mmnni.. p.rtv frora 1944. He became rnenv
Factory worker, politician, member of the illegal Co Speaker of Parliament,
be, of ,h. Central Commi.tee of rh« pa, , m 1946- £ ™ » Pekin, and

Ha notS1 rf Ma y61960 hfwas expelled from the Central Committee because of h.s leftist views and
anti-party activities; in 1962 he was expelled from the party as well.
4. At the May 1957 session of
Parliament
5. Visit to the countryside, 1956
6. With his wife in Gyor, 1959
7. Speech to the UN General
Assembly, I960
8. Mass rally in Debrecen, 1961
 9. With the writer P
national conferen
People’s Front, I
10. At harvest time o
farm, 1961
11. At the October I
Parliament
12. At the.first natio
socialist brigade
9 With the writer Peter veres u,„
national conference of the Patrioii
People's Front, 1961
10. At harvest time on a cooperative
farm, 1961 . ,
U. At the October 1961 session of
Parliament ..
12 At the first national e°"ferf™* °J
socialist brigade leaders, 196.
 13. Speech in the Kremlin
Congressional Palace at the 1963
Soviet-Hungarian friendship
meeting
14. Hunting with President Tito, 1963
15. At the wall of the Kremlin, where
the urns of the outstanding
personalities of the working class
movement are placed. 1963
16. With Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow

16
14
17. In his*1
Mikhai
18. In
in hono
and Go
19. In the
cooper
20. Visit t'
21. I" 'he
Btidap
17. In his study with the writer
Mikhail Sholokhov, 1965
IS In Mongolia, at a luncheon given
in honour of the Hungarian Party
and Government Delegation, 1965
19. In the horticultural section of a
cooperative farm. 1965
20. Visit to the countryside, I960
21. In the Ganz-Mdvag Factory in
fiuda pest. 1967
■inpic pentathlon champion Andros Balczd, 1968
He factory, 1968
he 13th district of Budapest, 1969
 *^ ■

L Jf’K-

29. Greeting tiaei e <

Ferihegy Airport-
30. With Olympic bo
champion Ldszlo
1972
31 In Budapest, 19>
,2 At the 1973 Ma
 ,
S3. Visiting a Helsinki market with President Kekkonen 1973
Selected Speeches
and Interviews
Address at the 10th
Plenary Session of the Central Council
of Hungarian Trade Unions
JANUARY 26, 1957

Dear Comrades,

When we began the fight to overcome the counter-revolution, we had an increasing

number of conflicts in the closing stages of the armed struggle with organizations and
groups which in name were workers’ institutions, but in their endeavours and objec¬
tives undoubtedly served the counter-revolution. Such a description also applies to
what was known as the Budapest Central Workers’ Council. I cannot state that all
the members of this workers’ council were traitors to the working class. But you know
as well as 1 do that the way the organization operated as a body, and the actions taken
by it, were designed to serve the objectives of the counter-revolution.
In the early days the counter-revolution demanded that there should be neither
party nor trade union organizations in the factories.
The counter-revolution wanted to smash the party and trade union organizations,
quite apart from its desire to overthrow the Revolutionary Workers’ and Peasants’
Government.
In the debates at that time I made this clear: as long as there is a working class, they
will also have their own party; that was the case during the Horthy regime, and after
the Liberation of Hungary from Fascist rule in 1945; and it will continue to be the case
until a socialist society is completely established. And my opinion about the trade
unions is the same.
There was also a lot of dispute concerning the railways. In my view the people who
put forward the idea of setting up a workers’ council at the headquarters of the Hun¬
garian State Railways were guided by military considerations, and not by considera¬
tions representing the workers’ interests. A workers’ council at the headquarters of the
Hungarian State Railways would have been a military institution; and as such it would
have served the counter-revolution instead of the revolution. Everybody knows that.
The comrades on the railways were in need of a good union. What they had in mind

12* 169
 Speeches and Interviews
Howe'
out in
one
interests. . . ... Yugoslav comrades on the subject of It is m
We had ^ flStoto o^nion it would have been a

3KSSSSSrSSsa
SSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Si-sSS^sssssss
HS=SSSE=H£5=
basis of ideology and principle. In is f think jt would be unreasonable

S=E£|Ssl?S.:ESi
WeMbs^sssb
-ssssss^*^
SS»^i-.;-=r.r=s=
 To Trade Union Council, Jan. 1957

However, this position is binding only for party members-^po^they^dopt must be

ymen s ouHn support of this position m a trade union^ is the correct one
it their one of conviction and principle. Theyma P arguments: do this or do that,

of
i been a
During ti There is an additional point concerning f|
central
Certain
is imposed on the membership in an o , that union. This is our
and the
ifcSSfor .ha. matter, .he u »mmi. the - mistake twtce.
at trade opinion. Historical experience has tau^ “S hat in some of the union organ za-
Thas been a fundamental error ir^rship merely by a numeric,
ersonally tions an attempt has been made to ensure P• Y ssib]y be followed. It is
, between
1, we will

nd in this
the wor¬ knowledge! and by .he force of .heir convicMm ^ to organisation.
It goes without saying that the proport J organizations the ratio of non-
thing that lt may well be the case that in thelowesIto* urn ^ not s0 high and on
lions must

in union activities. ni„<.,es electing their union leaders.

That is why we are not afraid of th 1 s0 that the members become con-
The unions must be built in th'S^ma ^ unions ft is a Leninist prim
vinced from everyday J^^onary school for the working masses and
ciple that the union movement is the wo ^ self_reliance. The union will never be
for this reason great care must be ta her after recognizing all the tenets o

ist with re-

n the point
'ore, it was
t practice is
why i. is important for the unions to act as a vast sc oo
if ideology,
the unions, for the working class. . . rvc the workers’ interests, and the
the basis of 1 must also comment on the ngh ^^union’s primary duty. The unions
the paTty as interests of the working people. Th s is t h e t^ ^ as weli as their funda-
he everyday must safeguard the day-to-day interes interest of the working class tha

fferent party
in analogous
ons on issues
sic— rmTn^oS»teUon. ftis .he du.y and interest of the

osition clear.
 172 Speeches and Interviews

trade unions to serve this fundamental objective. The other duty is to serve the day- gle, a stn
to-day interests of the workers.
is why I s
I should like you to recall the winter of 1945-46 and the spring of 1946. At that time Of cou
the working class was in an extremely difficult situation materially. There were trade strike is u
union activists who went to factories to check the wildcat strikes, and who emphasized of a strike
very rightly the need for the workers to hold their own, and continue to work, as can in no
otherwise it would be impossible to stabilize the country’s economic situation. Other taking pa:
actmsts, however, acted the other way: they also went to the factories but what they attack lau
told the workers was that it was impossible to work on empty stomachs so they had to In mate
be given adequate pay before they would work. That was a sort of “division of was invoh
labour which, m my view, failed to promote the aims of the working class, nor was for it. At
it a credit to the trade union movement. It must be noted, however, that it is possible example, i
to gam temporary popularity in this sort of way. But experience has also shown that and other
only those who tell the truth can acquire real respect from the masses. It is wrong to this policy
underrate the masses; they are not stupid; they have historical experience to draw on class. A d>
and they are capable of making a distinction between a really good leader and one strike whi
merely playing on mass emotions.
about the
When on November 3, 1956 we were thinking of forming the present government, There is
believe me, I knew only too well that we were not going to be welcomed with bouquets that wages
of flowers. I was well aware what we would have to face but I was convinced that what is pre
truth was on our side and that the people would understand our action, would approve The miner:
and appreciate that we were coming out in opposition to the counter-revolutionary radcs, that
flood, and that we were saving the Hungarian dictatorship of the proletariat. not only tl
It is the simplest thing in the world to draw up a list of demands. You need to have the miners
only a very little union experience to be able to draw up a very long list of demands. output unc
Satisfying these demands, and by this I mean translating them into practice, is a there is no
little more difficult.
higher thai
Let us take the strike issue, for example. Well, we already have the demands, or as former pro
Comrade Gaspar put it here in more correct terms: the list of justified claims
Under si
Now the question is this: how can they be met? Let us go on strike! It is possible to ing class. A
stage a strike ... We have already had a strike which was the first of its kind in the must be pa
worid: it was a strike complete with all comforts, including the door-to-door delivery mental met
of food supplies.
In conch
Comrades, there are partial strikes - struggles in support of day-to-day needs. class in the
Here, too it matters who the struggle is being waged against. For instance, if you to lend
I am employed in a factory and the owner is a capitalist, the point at issue is this: This is not z
how much of the profit should be his and how much should be taken away for wages
counter-rev
for the working class. This is a simple, clear and intelligible problem. But you Offer hel|
always have to know to whom or to what you put your demand and who or what is of products
the owner of the factory. If the factory belongs to the working class, to workers’ job in his o
power, the situation is quite different because income is virtually transferred from
one pocket to the other.
There is also the general strike. If it is staged in a capitalist country, it is termed a
political strike, a struggle for power. If it happens to be staged under the dictatorship
of the proletariat, its political content is much the same, for it is also a political strug¬
 To Trade Union Council, Jan. 1957 173

SS^^dedaratioa of the right »

Of course we can argue generally construction. But here and now approval
strike is useful in a state en^^vS°c^ter.revolution and staged by misleci workers

'atS Cchcfagamst the Hjmgari a,tanw'fc Sfc of the working people- Whet

for it. At present we are very much in n lCrs and the wages of workers
example, technical and intellectual wor er ie counter-revolution profited from

£ hS»&“tr workers’ interests. This ,s the trnth

about the right to strike. life The present state of affairs is

There is another issue: production is the ba 1956, while the value of
that wages today arc higher then they -re on ^tober 23, ^ .. ^ a few placcs.
what is produced is lower, in defending their honour. 1 can tell vou. com-
The miners have done a splendid J
rades, that what is being performed at the
not only the miners themselves bu
^
moment by the miners is to the credit o
as a who]e. For example
producing 82 per cent of their previou

is 88 s as 34 per "nt of"

former production. . . increase the living standard of the wor

mentaTmesins of rairing'ftevtorket!^ ntateria^ represent the interests of the

class^^rnwst^effe^ive^^nner powe^inthe'political^fhSgl6-
you to lend a helping hand J? ***®g as8sociated with the regime. If you detect any
This is not a party question , i < hesitate to take action against it.
counter-revolutionary vil ainy, do noth Contribute to increasing the value
Offer help in •<>^‘2^55 distribute. Everyone must do a good
^n°"r TeM so" at we can make more rapid progress.
]74 Speeches and Interviews
shown up in quit
gious instructioi
Address to a Meeting and enforces the
ever, the party
of Csepel Activists of the Hungarian must take up t!
counter-revolu!
Socialist Workers’ Party the women; to
we can see ths
JANUARY 27, 1957
carry on increc
dren.
As regards t
Dear Comrades,
Council ofCse
The struggle over the past few ftTstroggt wasabout who tion and imple
defeated bourgeoisie fougjrt to regwn P • cojsie now rack their brains for the interests o
should own the factories and the land- ^ such harmful attempts before it was i
his discussion
how to damage the workers po • portant precondition of this is that
assume, we must take action again. ’ unjted struggle to strengthen further than a direct
the workers should see things clear y how to help this country in the of the Counc
workers’ power. If every worker it was like when power The workei
best way possible, if some people ha ... ® uch further forward today. In fact tion, and thus
However, the
was in the hands of the unity is one of the most
workers’ cou:
thC ortant^objectives which Communists must struggle to achieve, shoulder to shoul¬ be managed
der with former Social Democrats and many occasions the converted to
Grave mistakes have been committed ’today errors occur, but of their mem
It goes wit
principles of socialism have ^e*n ybe ajiowcd lhat the workers should be taken
they can and must be eliminated. Itcann tolerated that the enemy device which
in by the manipulations of ^ a concealed or open councils an
should exploit some of our errors ands worker to turn against power every'
tive work in
- everything in their power
en our peop
promote the
and success!
This objecti
state that the charges that the Co™™u"‘ counter-rev01uti0n, the reactionaries, try
today very much outworn. That is w y methods; they devise various lies bership mu
to achieve their objectives by adop in~ f their positions. Naturally, The strer
strength of
shortest po
work and i
fact that th
sers ——* national pi
is to undei
now comii
The woi
base on w
and ^
 175
To Csepel Activists, Jan. 1957

gious instruction at school are virtually p

°SEES?
spiritual terrorism. How-
and enforces the necessary decteesm ordCTto putan endto^ P ^ in ,his V
ever, the party otganizatton must alsoh* of conscience. Firs, the
must take up the cudgels again it wanted to win the support of

“ **-,he souk of the ch";

*Z regards the issue of the workers'
Council of Csepel, which has ^resigned, s ^ Europe> instead of serving
. The
tion and implemented the ad 5 ,ared its own dissolution. Shortly
[ who the interests of workers power^atisw^ ^ of lhe Council, admitted during
is for
before it was dissolved Elek N. gy ’ uke itg dissolution would be worse
impts
his discussions with the g°V*™““r ^Tong after the discussions the dissolution
s that
than a direct provocation. However no \ g demands suggested by the enemy,
jrther
of the Council was declared, ^ the confusion of the counter-revolu-
in the The workers’ councils were estab!li^hed d^mg work their way mto them,
power tion, and thus several .nappropri^e dementsnu J that hok
In fact
wo^ers^'coundl rmist^discarde^T^ objecdve^s^lmHhe^worke^cminci^^^^e
2 most

shoul-

ins the
ir, but
s taken
device which can settle all problems a ,h serve the interests of workers
enemy
councils an attempt must be lhe further development of construc-
>r open power everywhere, and play an important rol standards and to strength-
against
five work in the right direction, in the ruggl ^^portfnt tasks of Communists to
• power en our people’s democratic order It is one ^^ Qnly perform really useful

:e 1 can
its” are
ries, try bership^mus^'carry^ut'dcvoted The enemy fears the
ious lies
aturally,
lerefore,
shortest possible time Every worker ?q class must be made aware of the
lies and
work and is working for the cause f in consolidating workers' power and
fact that the party’s strength is a decisive if the whole working c ass
capitalist
national prosperity. Idco logtca ^ “a" a.so h fought out because .« .»
18th and
is to understand this issue , ffont in the wake of the armed struggle.
wever, is
country,
constitute the pnncip
istruction
base on which the party and government rely.
tors have
176
I/O Speeches and Interviews
- today — constitute
Communists mu
The party is the leading force, the
put right and thii
the party, the working class cannot com P feer 23 what lies behind these
to defend worker
this is the series of events thatjWkpto did not have the strength
come earlier.
events is that there was treachery mside thepa ^ y’ossible for a series of counter-revolu-
to intervene in the drift of even . i t ^deadly threat to people’s democracy,
tionary actions to take place which comMu -v j ople have complain-
“ Regarding son,e
Regarding some w of the problems
r. re ated
, , to Qt yet been drawn up. I" factto prepare
cd that the party’s programme andrides
Cd and rul^ hha y oints> two
^ fundamental issues of
•_Rut
them is even at this stage
an urgent task But evenatthissUg v adi _„:0i:ct
ofa socialist cr.rie.fv
society and
and
our programme, are quite clean one^strengthening our power. Everyone Closing i
the other is crushing the c0^tcr' J,cforc the programme is worked out in detail,
can see these objectives quite clca y wswP will be a mass party. The at the M
^question may well arise whether cmnot Ufe; but even if the
MAY 11, 1957
reply to this question vnU be fmass party as the HWPP was, it is certain that it will

Honoured Pari

I think that
emphasized that the leading°f the mi be discarded. The working
will agree witt
youth, and not the working class. power in close alliance with the working new, healthy f<
class is the leading force ^ "Sals they the working ciass and the tions made to
peasantry. As for progressive intellectuals, tney
spoke about e

""rr: s ^- I have not f

they lamented
the writers, e1
Naey and Lo w which matters; and
the working class line predominate in the ranks of our party: have lost the
Care must be taken that aunifo ranks. We must constitute a unified
essence of wl
there should never be a double ^f^ter.revo,ution. By taking advantage of
But if ther
force in the struggle being waged ““ unter.revolution went into action with
then it is that
the justified dissatisfaction of he passes which being waged even
Very man
the aim of overthrowing and so it m»s. be opposed
Often it hap
sodaUs, consolidation , on, of the about the d
by the bourj
words were
qUThe°people who have been find that the arms
We often ta
eyes, but those who resortt0’HiTth^bo hatch plots against our state will find what it me
will be struck from their hands, an dictatorship of the proletariat, In the stc
themselves up against the ^P?" *id that many people tend to * people’s po
Speaking about the prospects, it must be Sv we grapple with economic
classes thin
today because unemployment has• *Pl*ar^ ^ But it is up to us to eliminate
The disc
in Parliami
himself tha

—at i5°'oo°
 177
To Parlia/nent, May 1957
f their conviction,

come earlier.

Closing Speech of Parliament

at the May I95
MAY n, 1957

ed Parliament, Comrades, t in parliament with Qme

H0 body who has ^rSorand the contnbu-

I think *at 'V«h^ytte ebal5, the the .P"*"

n policies, and
a wbich betray Hamm
matters; and it we through having Hungary of tom 1

ISfffliiis§§t
oaen h happened that at ^ proletariat-^However, essence

^ 00t ^Jwbat
178 Speeches and Interviews

Maybe this is a problem, but I think it is also useful, because we have reached a close
human relationship; we realize what the other is right about, we also notice his
faults, and I think that, luckily for our system, we also dare to tell him of them. And
only in this way can collective wisdom assert itself, and to some extent already does
assert itself; it is the kind of thing that we Communists interpret in our party as
hundreds of thousands of party members together constituting the wisdom of the
working class. This is how that popular wisdom asserts itself, which-I repeat-is
rightly represented by this Parliament, if we have the courage to hear the voice of
the people, take that voice into consideration, and express it in words!
During this discussion, very many intelligent, practical remarks have been made
-even if not in the form of sharp words-almost as criticism. When the miner who
is Member of Parliament for Veszprem County said, for example that it is wrong
that a very considerable part of the eight working hours gets lost as far as the national
economy is concerned, this can be taken as criticism, because the managers
could also have noticed this already since, as the speaker said, they were expected to
take measures to remedy it. A comment of this type was also made when our friend
Z. Nagy4 noted that relatively little had been said in the report about agriculture.
Our Minister of Finance did not discuss agriculture in more detail either, and the new
Minister of Finance can take this as the first criticism of him as well, and what is
more, as a justified criticism.
Another question also raised by our friend Z. Nagy was that it would be good if
the agricultural cooperative movement and the rural consumers cooperative move¬
ment did not represent completely different lines and did not develop completely
separately, independent of each other. This was not the first time this observation
has been made, and the time will come when we shall have to devote a lot of attention
to it.
The main problem with our rural consumers’ cooperatives was that they did not
function as cooperatives in the true sense of the word. These cooperatives could
better be called secondary government stores, for the spirit of the cooperative move¬
ment was not to be found in them. Let us not dwell any longer on whose fault this
was, but change is needed, that is certain.
To the great satisfaction of us all, the system of compulsory deliveries has been
abolished, and we will not restore it. Naturally, this presents a new problem. I remem¬
ber a peasant worker, I cannot recall where, who went to a district council in Trans-
danubia and asked whether compulsory deliveries really had been abolished, and
it took half an hour to explain to him that they had indeed been abolished. He then
said: “Well, isn’t there some document you can show me?” The man had the official
document on hand and showed it to him. The peasant was satisfied, and moved
towards the door, but then he came back and said: “Well, this is all right, now T
understand that compulsory deliveries have been abolished, and I am satisfied. But
would you tell me now how the townspeople will get their bread?”
And there is a series of similar questions. When the rural consumers’ cooperatives
become capable of fulfilling their real, vital function of helping the peasantry solve
its marketing problems and helping to supply the peasantry, then will they be genuine
cooperatives, will fulfill their specific function, and will even promote the socialist
 179
To Parliament, May 1957
v’ d of cooperative

. rf*.*^**--^“2SS££££
:tose £== »i--S2S.V£S * * «■ “opera'
population w e ionS they fiaVftUl Pe he bringS it up. questions,
: his
And
does
:ty as
of the
at-is with them. most important tt»”S condemns the
>ice of

i made
er who
, wrong
,ational

,ected to
1 mean this in the society, and » ^ay,
or friend
ricuUure.
d the new
d what is

se good it
within this, S nauon and coun y supporters of
live move-
oomptetely
tbservation
5f attention

I foreign p-* « » ££“£

3S- «*» *
been

rans-
s -»- £
, and
then “rf S’united States-whati H 8 Throng * „0w,and
fficial
noved
now I
d. But

who wish to live in

180 Speeches and Interviews

circles
in upsetting, let us say, for exa^P ’uestion However, upsetting the internal social
that it is even necessary to raise 1 * is included among the objectives of govern-
system of the Hungarian People P the United States; this is equally clear
ment circles in certain countries,for e P^ ^ supporters of peaceful coexistence,
to everybody. Therefore, whe > , cb otlier jhe American imperialists,
^inourcaseword.^d^^^e^^ and present

in vScase U* - »-

Of view of our development, it is /y P these main basic questions,

unity in the country’s is amexpression of the views, intentions
1 am also convinced that this conip^ y hereP but ais0 of the vast majority
and wishes of not only the_ 298 MPs ;estions as well.
of the Hungarian people who agree on questions logically and
The agreement whrch has ten evul n of Parliament sharply
naturally leads to the conclusion l“ nt which in all these questions, m

the,w°rking ciass and socia,ism’betray

the nation and the cause of in the debate about the policy
We have heard very many sh p, honestiy that the criticism and opinions

gather fo^rfnSr ma,L- A*1 they m ^ Nation

at the time, it was mevitable and 8 the basic interests of the people,
advocates the cause of thc people and s f g and & is difficult to misunder-
Therefore, if I have understood the *, Revoiutionary Workers’ and
stand it, Parliament endorses thebeen following so far. And I tell you at
Peasants’ Government and the mam m0ral and political support which

ADd 1 ,hank

differences of views on “rmn i^es. In y’ P that if SUch a feature is

this has been revealed by the deba . ^ domestic politicai development
already a healthy concomitant of 1S something festive in our present

because P^ular

say this?
 To Parliament, May 1957

his emphasmng the P e ^ differences m ^J^ated by different ideological

jSSutthatrealiyisL then «*£>«• ”

Xu. us put it another way.

mmmmssa
obligation to represent* honestly should not tale it amiss

^rrfeilow MP Bereszthczy Party in the 13th district

KM^m
ISiMs
 182 Speeches and Interviews

about. But then, to get rid even of our pangs of conscience, we Communists, too, had
our own confession: it was called self-criticism. There were people who called them¬
selves Communists and thought they could carry on like a bad Catholic who behaves
like a scoundrel all year long and then goes off to church at Easter tide, confesses his
sins, and then, reborn and reassured, goes out in the street; and on the Tuesday after
Easter, starts the whole thing all over again.
There are people who sit among the Communists, call themselves Communists,
and think that behaviour of this kind is conceivable and can be reconciled with a
genuine Communist attitude. People of this type listen to the correct instructions and
say that it is all right, but afterwards they work by easy stages and incorrectly for one
or two years, and when the responsible leaders bring them to task, they exercise
self-criticism nicely, become transfigured, and two days later, they continue with
their mistakes where they left off. This cannot be so. This cannot be so, and it has to
be changed.
Our fellow MP Beresztoczy started out by emphasizing where he disagreed with us.
This outspokenness can be applauded, because in this way it is at least clear, for
example, on what questions and to what extent Parliament can rely on our fellow
MP Beresztoczy. Now, for example, I as a party official, for I am that also as a result
of my plurality of offices, know that I cannot rely on my fellow MP Beresztoczy to
convert devout Catholics to convinced Communists.
Our fellow MP Janos Peter® said that they had been there in the countryside during
the difficult days and had waited for word about what to do, and the word had not
come. A similar question was raised by Comrade Ilku7, Comrade Csikesz8 and others
as well. What is the essence of the matter in this case? I think we owe it to the Hun¬
garian working class, to the Hungarian working people, and to the honour of the
Hungarian Communists, soldiers and policemen to say: the reasons behind the
uncertainty and inability evident during the events of October on the part of the
masses and certain bodies of the army, on the part of the Communists and the
police should not be sought in the masses. That much we owe to the honour of our
own people, because when we say that the Hungarian people defended the cause of
socialism, it is gospel truth, Comrades. Because every sort of historical merit has been
mentioned here, it has to be said that the historical merit belongs to the Hungarian
working class-and perhaps not even our working peasant-brothers will get angry
with us over this-who since the autumn of 1918 have been fighting for people’s
power, have shed much blood in the struggle, but have never relinquished their goal.
And it was not by chance or accident that the Hungarian people, tormented by an
especially villainous form of capitalism and exceptionally strong remnants of feudal¬
ism, was the first in the world, after the peoples of Russia who suffered under similar
oppression, to win the power for the working people. In my opinion, this is one
of the most important historical facts which the Hungarian nation can be truly
proud of!
Unfortunately, I cannot discuss in detail the personal experiences of the days of
October, but I should like to say something about this as well. If I view the leadership
— and here I have to take the party and the country leadership as one— then I have
to tell you the following. The leadership of the time can basically be divided into two
 To Parliament, May 1957 183

groups. One was the group that in July resolved that we would correct the mistake, and
I am convinced that had we been able to pursue the July line, even if not without in¬
ternal debates, differences of views, difficulties and dissension, then within a year,
and without great harm and sacrifices, we could have eliminated the mistakes. This
is an important question. One half of the leadership was led by this endeavour and
determination. . . . ,
In all honesty I have to tell you that this part of the leadership was in a state ot
serious confusion during those grave days. Speaking on my own behalf, T can tell
you that it was not easy to understand what was happening in the drift of the events.
And it was even more difficult to foresee the next step, what should be done. So it
was difficult to realize what was happening and it was difficult to see what to do.
Therefore, there was uncertainty on the part of the better and honest part ol the
leadership. ,, . .
At the same time, the leadership included another part, and here I have to speak
of the Imre Nagy group, which we did not fully know about at the time. This also has
to be said, because I cannot deny that I voted for Imre Nagy to become the Prime
Minister. And I shall never deny it, because I did it in the conviction and belief that
despite all his faults Imre Nagy was still an honest man, that he still stood on the side
of the working class. Later it turned out that this was not true!
What was the case with this leadership? This part of the leadership was not in the
same situation as the other part, which did not know exactly what was happening
Imre Nagy and his supporters did know, because in part they themselves were behind
it. Therefore, they had no difficulty in knowing what was going on. Consequently,
they also knew what they wanted, and they were able to compel, through every sort
of pressure, the other part of the leadership to go along with them for a while in that
uncertain situation. .
This is how we arrived at a situation, which was the disgrace of the leadership and
not the disgrace of the people: to the thousands upon thousands of people in all parts
of the country who waited for instruction, guidance and direction from the centre,
who demanded weapons and who saw what should be done better than we who were
in the leadership, to them we could not honestly give the guidance which a leadership
in that kind of situation should. ... .
This is how we came to see the drift of events when we realized that it was no longer
possible to go further along the way we were going. And I was also certain, although
the situation looked different at the time, that the vast masses of the Hungarian
people would understand that we had to make a break and we had to take the road
of open struggle. I believe that the prestige of the leadership consists not in concealing
all this, but in honestly talking about it.
I could not deal in detail in my report with that aspect of the October events which
threatened peace, the peace of mankind. Several of the speakers referred to this.
That danger was enormous, and there were even two variants of that danger. One
variant was the following. The counter-revolution, the face of which has become
adequately evident during this debate as well, was an imperialist and chauvinist
counter-revolution imbued with a desire for revenge-as everybody knows. Every¬
body knows Hungary’s historical situation too. Hungary has five neighbouring states.

13
184 Speeches and Interviews

There is not one among the five which‘

course of history, for shorter P ’^ path when we reject national-
to Hungary This is a historical • ^^ tQ the ideas of Kossuth, as all
istic revanchist ideas, and on th <1 thinlrine are aimed at implementing the
our endeavours, in the spirit of d fj^ntstruggle along with the peoples
principle of peaceful, fraternal coexistence this is in the interest
of the Danube Basin. And »e are ^"tto^so. W. ^ ^ ^ mKrests

of the Hungarian I»0Ple "°7™^re that had they once got power in their hands-

Orders i the country. This is obvious even

to the blind and to fools. comrades of mine -1 know their views

There is another variant as well. Szigeti9 represents a very serious
-for whom evaluation of the person 1 kn20W since when - at a time when
problem of conscience. They^w hl“ ^ Szigeti did not personally give the or-
he worked in a positive way.Well, even A B ^ gquare of Gyor, Gr for
der for those 34 democrats to be shot dea ^ ^ iQVolving lhe rival government
them to be burnt there w O ^ ^ episode in somc puppet-show, but a
in Transdanubia. It was m . , . : d the counter-government in Trans-
bloody historical reality. The basic id Not in the form of a North and
danubia was to turn Hungaryin o a Hungary, and imperialism sought

rr^idf»is ^ ***« in warnin8 that

this aspect of the events must also be • j cannot give a pro-
The question of the Patriotic PeoplePeople’s Front here and
gramme, or define the organizational fo f' k thc Patriotic People’s
S>w. However, I cau refer «oW ta the form of the Hungarian
Front was born sometime during Hungarian Front and other organizations
Historical Commemorative Committee the National Independence Front,
of similar designation It 1*.: became historically. At the time it
and the Patriotic People s Front is its d ^ ^ ^ ^ for such a content,
was born, it had a living con nat;onal unity and at that time too, at the initiative
because it was born in the spin ^ ^ ^ ^ for the sakc Df historical
of the Communists. I say 10 d othcrs-who took part in it.
truth. There are many-Darvas and o h^ ^ ar£ waiting for the Patriotic
I think that while we are sighing ^ akeady somewhat ahead of us.
People’s Front to become a rea’dy. ^ our very eyes since November 4,
Because in reality, what has take p in fact already means that the
the increasing activity in pub he and.&*** m ™ Patriotic People’s

bei”6 °veI the

past six months.

 To Parliament, May 1957 185

Look, there was May Day; or there were the four rallies organized under the aegis
of the Communist party and the Revolutionary Workers’ and Peasants’ Government!
It is well known that there are still sharp polemics among our people. Let us not
deceive ourselves! If there are seven million adults in Hungary, seven million of them
do not say “Long live the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party and long live the Revo¬
lutionary Workers’ and Peasants’ Government!” There is also opposition to this
Government in the country. We should not deceive ourselves! About eighty, one
hundred, one hundred and forty thousand people gathered at the invitation of the
Party and the Revolutionary Workers’ and Peasants’ Government at the four rallies '
in Budapest. Nobody counted how many people were out at the Budapest rally on
May Day, but I think we do not say too much if wc reckon that there were certainly
two hundred thousand. It is beyond doubt that throughout the whole of the country,
six to eight hundred thousand people gathered. You should compare the figures!
The Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party, let us say, has three hundred thousand
members in the country, and correspondingly less in Budapest. At the rallies called by
the Party, three, four, five times as many people as the number of party members
appeared. What sort of people are they? They are non-Communist, honest workers,
peasants and intellectuals who agree on the main questions-and in my view, this
is the content of the Patriotic People’s Front today- agree in condemning of the
counter-revolution, the defense of the People’s Republic, and the building of socialism.
Our task, and maybe a special task of Comrade Apr6, because at this time he is the
passive President of the Patriotic People’s Front, is to channel this healthy stream,
which in my opinion has already found its source in the people, into a suitable and
sensible form in the interest of the Patriotic People’s Front, and in this way to increase
its strength as well. This is our task.
Here 1 wish to mention that Z. Nagy is indeed right when he says that the building
of socialism is not a party question, it is not only a question for the Communists.
This stands to reason. I do not intend to get involved in party questions too much,
but I should like to say this much: let there be no mistake about it: we Communists
have always known that the party is not an end in itself.
The party does not exist for its own sake, the function of the party is to fight-with
the guidance of the scientific world outlook of the working class-for the interests
of the working masses, to lead, unite and organize the popular forces. This is the rea¬
son for the existence of the party. We do not agree that the party is destined to serve
its own ends.
Other questions have also been raised. Comrade Gaspar discussed the reasons
behind a certain discontent felt by the workers. For example, they could not have a
say in factory affairs in a way that would also have benefited the cause. There was
dissatisfaction concerning other questions, living standards and similar issues.
I should like to deal here with another issue: the relationship between the leaders
and the masses. I believe that the leadership can perform their duty only if they never
disregard the thinking and will of the masses.
What is needed for this? First, they must be there among the masses, to ask the
people what they are concerned about, and to answer their questions. Otherwise, we
do not even know what the masses want.
186 Speeches and Interviews

mmmms.
always safely tell it to the masses. leadership is not to realize the

mmmmm
msmmm
is an honour and dignity “tof the mLes. This applies whettar it is met

masses *» “ oVLtetuS^ than to one

SSSSSSSSSS
SSf“.#„S5sS«
=r™s“i;rr"=
 187
To Parliament, May 1957

J
we already had socialism, then we “ to young
questions
to get an
yith their
ne should
t, we can were greatly shaken. This « a “ld * very frugal in our useof to

calize the
opinion,
\/

make this , toJof “ adjSS™ “inappropriate, “rCuSTremember that

categories
Vhat is the
leas which
srship is to
gave broad coverage to it, and again ^fcl2 editonals of the kind t a
taken into Church, - but Nemzeti Ujsag an J . t th gotvos College trial was a pro
ithe masses
It involves
eader—and
, because it
ilways have
her it is met ^uT"^ oity g-. - £ -£
opinion, the
neral, which (liar;*and o *■" wri"ne in s ,one of dcspair
than to one “the Communists have captured our It is the path of human progress
gy. Because, I believe that what happened m 1932 (ho^gchjldren of the ruling class who tend
ier was cor-
d the dema-
. However a
f the masses,
^S2Ss=asss5Ssss&-
;ntary mood,
n the masses,
young people national independence should ratty m ^ We hav£ to draw the necessary
nselves, but it of worker or peasan ’!,ain. Only then will we have a nght to tell young
What is it that
ways inclined
^ta«
up to as para-
lyone's taking
iol in the eyes display tolerance and humanity, and we ^ who wish to return. In my view,
life should be either within the country or at the bord certain amount of amphfica-
:rs of people’s S^orrectdemand wlth those who are guilty.
tional grounds
ribed, is a very And we hayve0gonea long way in thiswe fight against mistakes; we should
i society of this
S—“aguins. people. , rhis import W. w
md difficulties,
mg people that
188 Speeches and Interviews

people advocating mistaken views to relinquish their mistakes, but if we link them
for ever with their mistakes and hit them continuously, non-stop, and label them as
wrong-thinking people so that the label sticks to them till their death — this does not
ensure a healthy solution of the problem.
Let us fight against mistakes without any apology. We hit the mistake very hard,
and with the mistake we also hit the man who makes it, but if he relinquishes his
mistake, then he can find the right path himself. Tolerance and humanity, unfortu¬
nately, have to be complemented with severity towards criminals. And I tell you
honestly that if we think about it, it is not true that those one hundred and seventy
thousand or however many people who left the country in their first madness are
enemies of the Hungarian people. It is not true, and quite a few of them have al¬
ready returned. That it means a sacrifice on the part of the nation, that is absolutely
true, however.
The same applies to the dead. I am very sorry for those who died on the other side
of the front, because they’d been deceived. Therefore, we have to be severe with the
criminals, because nothing is more precious for us than the life of the people. There is
concern over this, too. There are also comrades sitting here with whom 1 have recently
had talks, who are worried about what will happen to legality. Since we are always
advocating “the dictatorship of the proletariat” and speaking about “punishment”
and so on, will not the question of legality again be a problem?
I do not think that it will. Why not? For the following reason: because if it hap¬
pened in the past-and unfortunately, it did happen-that somebody was pointed at
as guilty, then the task was to prove that he was a guilty man. This was a bad point of
departure, and it also meant that some crime was invented which the person involved
had never committed. What is the situation now? Is there need to do any such thing?
Do we have to look around and say “I have not seen an enemy around here for
three weeks now!” In this respect, we are not so badly off! There are enough real
criminal acts against the people which undoubtedly have to be examined and cer¬
tainly punished in the most severe manner.
To avoid making mistakes, two things are required. First, we should take up and
examine the facts, and then we find the man who is responsible. Second, I say that
the crime has to be punished, and not the man. The two often go together, but it also
has to be said that if somebody did not commit a capital crime, he will have to find
his way back to life sometime. Crime has to be severely punished, and if somebody
commits a capital crime then he has to receive a punishment which goes with capital
crime. Why should crime be prosecuted? In order to deter others who have not
yet committed crimes against the people. And in this way I believe tolerance and
humanity can also be observed, alongside the obligatory defense of the life of the
people, because that cannot be given up. Because if the instigator is not arrested
and punished, then that is a crime against the thirty young peoplewhom he will tomor¬
row and next week incite against their own interests and their own people.
On economic questions: we cannot go into the details. There is already the need
to work, and Parliament will then have to debate the annual plan, because this will
also serve as a guideline for later work. It is correct that in addition to industry, we also
 To Parliament, May 1957 l89

„ «.v»r here I would like to mention the

deal with agriculture and other questions, ov , ant. the authorities

f0lwXve been compelled ■» -

wmmm
,enes, and this “

* argued with them.

wtter medicine, and

posed wage increases

with vltious wage demands,

hail „r

increases. They were » talketj to journalists. They a g . divl.

make mistakes, and the tas ^ ^ assumed lhat ihe government _ so that we

rEHiu
sion of labour. . t*> We told people: listen, this 1r. and said “We

^gSSSSsisisKsw
I90
IVU
Speeches and Interviews
- .
to sell our industrial goods, ana
Certainly, it is ottr duty! How«. “ ™ °“|c at a price which means that with
sometimes the wine, at the expense p nt from the nation to the per-
every litre of wine we also give five Formt P ^ ^ gQodSi the buyer puts

son who drinks it? Or is \Pe“^VffccUsthe same as if he was given an additiona

hc was kind enoughtobuy them? Thls ““

beit°also has to be said that thTsame^ortof measures in

but now we have to restore order J^Joduec in political life. And economic
economic life as we were tion has t0 be looked at in this way. T know
life will also return to norma', Th. f , id -We shall increase wages by another

"
s s?. tTR'Sfi £rir-s^?
ZttXSttZ* This is wh, WC had to -

measures of this kind. rnnfidence in the goverment, and I tell you honestly
In conclusion: as I see it, there it is needed. I should also like to te
that it is very good to see this emfidm « ^ j would Uke to tell you about ,t on
you how we feel about our_ ow 8 als’0 feel the same about it.
my own behalf. I believe tha n,cmbers of the Government, also lived an -
Wc, Comrades, before becoming way about it: our personal demand
least, I so believe-all my colleagues feel the sa Comymunist and an honest person.
from life is to live in the at least as far as I am concerned^
We do not have any other special a _ weli and at the time I resigned
There were years when I had had enoug became convinced that I did not
from posts which were by no lo be u§ here_, ten you, although it is
need them. However, now we feel that duty^
perhaps not good to joke about a senou
Sat around November 1 six nuUumH
^
Pf ^ kjnd but T imagine it somehow,
adults could have been legitimate
in question was to take

SSSSSSSen^abie. And , ,=» you .but a. the dme . couid no! see

keen competition for ministerial posts^er. ^ supportcrs who stand a little

Still, we have honest, well-mten approve of what wc are doing, but they
to one side as far as we are concerned Th y PP and they will appear on

^*ajf**
will wait a little longer, until we wash the linen e e

the scene of the battle when

There are people of this kind. We arc: not aj
%with them. We are convinced that
y tQ the pcoplc. We do not

they will help, if they still have a C°" that sinccthe government came into exis-
urge them on, because we are glad * more and more people have come
tence, and has been fighting and working, every y would like to meet
to support it. For us, there is no is so great a thing that
this confidence with ho°°“oSction, at least to men of conscience. For affection
it scares you occasionally. So is atlecuon,
 191
At HSWP Conference, June 1957

Reply to the Discussion at the National

SSwolS?^-i.,ed)

JUNE 29, 1957

Delegates to the Party Conference, decided, when organizing

The Executive CJ—- - S we SS^ *

full prowsed^* ^^Jportantpr^lemsii^acompletely

party's present most P & working conference and d g We wanted to
the Conference to be re y delegates from eslabl.sh a clear situation

ssr.
‘"£b out weed spohen open., an,

confirm the correctness m6. that the Party

frankly about the vanou^^ numerous greetings, ^J^the press.
Our Conference ha
Conference should pubhs
latitude for these warm gr

We have, ^^JTSoSfcience appeared

criticism, and many I*
g
P thought it wrong
comrades are
at the disposal

future; in fact it is possible tna

educational material as wellthat a series
^
* -— should
important questions
192 Speeches and Interviews

I believe we may conclude without exaggeration that the atmosphere of the Party
Conference has been good, that there was an open discussion on principles, and that
the delegates were active. Among the results of the Conference we may list that it was
completely united on the necessity for further struggle against the counter-revolution.
And this is of decisive importance from the point of view of the party.
We cannot, however, remain silent about the fact that there is adifference of opinion
in our party over the evaluation of the past. Comrade Revai’s standpoint diverged
slightly, but on essential matters, from that of other speakers and contributors.
Although here at the Conference only Comrade R6vai had a divergent opinion on
this question, it was not by accident that I said that there is a difference of opinion in
the party over the evaluation of the past. We had already heard some of these views —
although not so precisely expressed-before the Party Conference.
The mistakes of the past will sooner or later come off the agenda, but Communists
must never forget the experience gained from evaluating the work of the former party
leadership, otherwise great danger will threaten the future work of the party. In
appraising it, a strict adherence to principles must prevail.
Comrade Revai warned us against any misunderstanding in connection with his
remarks, because they were in no way intended to be the unfurling of the flag of
“Stalinism” or “Rakosiism.” We who stand on the basis of Marxism-Leninism, do
not recognize these expressions, although it is a fact that such expressions exist.
They were invented by the enemies of Communism, the traitors to the party took
them over and so did those who were confused by revisionist views. After losing the
armed struggle, the enemy attempted on the pretext of persecuting “Stalinists” and
“Rakosiists” to force Communists out of their positions. These catchwords, therefore,
represented in essence yet another attack by the enemy. Our party-and naturally the
Central Committee too-immediately took up the struggle against this kind of differ¬
entiation between party members.
Our standpoint on this question is unmistakable. In our opinion there are neither
“Stalinists” nor “Rakosiists,” and so we cannot speak of their flag. Nevertheless,
there does exist another flag alongside the party’s and that is the flag of the fallen
leadership. But this flag lies broken on the ground, and I am convinced that it will never
be raised again. The fallen leadership—and it is no accident that I use this expression,
in political life this is not unusual —fell in such a manner and in such circumstances
that they can never again return to the leadership of the party.
In the spring of last year, Communists, embittered by the party’s difficult position,
were angry at Comrade R&kosi. I too was angry, yet until the last minute I maintained
- as also did others - that the struggle must be conducted against the mistakes and
not against the person of Matyas Rdkosi. Together we wanted to find a way out, a
way to develop, because we were afraid that otherwise the party would undergo a
great upheaval. We did not cling to Matyas Rakosi’s person because we had liked
him. Earlier on we did indeed like him, but by the spring of 1956 this was no longer
possible. Nevertheless, this was our standpoint because we loved the party and the
working class. It was not our fault, or the fault of the party membership, but Mdty&s
Rakosi’s, that we did not succeed in putting our concept over. And however great
the historical merits which Rakosi may have, we cannot forgive him this serious error.
 At HSWP Conference, June 1957 193

i j„r .he Hungarian working class

:=4SSSs---';,=

i^ssssn-sisssssas
mmwmm
fallen leadership —which we a£ad*f interna, exile, and fsp°k'

mmmwm
doubtedly did have to examme peno 5^ considerations of pnne.^

sss=se®=
mmmrnm
‘•S Osa*. **——
^rssSSas=55“-a=
activities against it. In the case o*
194 Speeches and Interviews

wayspeabonn,en^

reasons been unable to place some comrade »» P°^ " must fight to place them
ity of cases they are as soon as possible,
in state, economic or party posts in keep g instances the counter-
How were these comrades removed!^ ^ ^ Budap£St were
revolution drove them out. It wi 2rass roots tke counter-revolution was
working on strengthening central power, a g ^ masters of the situation at
still raging at full force. c^ncils ru!ed. Under the leadership of the
the centre, in the factories the worker fight against us was carried on
hostile elements hidden m the wor er. ’ , e sacked from ministries and

s-r^ *- — *
•liTSSS. of those, ho-ct“
question. On November 4 we considera y ^e do not underestimate
we did not consider it sound that it uadoubtedly be need for a certain
the importance of the party aPP^at^- Th ^ have recently even increased
number of full-time party-workers-in certm ^ apparatus unjustifiably. Party
their number - but we are very care noJ oniy for the party’s activity,
bureaucracy is even more dangerous , ti ’s in staff, many comrades have
but also for the people As a result of the mistakes, are decent,
been left without employment who, even ittn y as poSsible. But
honest Communists. We wall do out of this. It is not the
we protest against anyone forging a weapo P > . has come about,
crime of the party, and the Central unable to concern
At the time we said to these comrad • ^ and join the emergency security
ourselves with appointments, you toomurt ^ t0 normal, your position,

^ " "ot ™'y y0”“ 'he

of the whole people will be in danger. number of comrades had joined
The enemy naturally ^^f/^^ix provincial Fascist delegations called on me
the emergency security forces. At lc P ftQm N6grid County), and as many
(among them those from Borsod, from Tat fe “Rakosiists” and

sr4S3S ^ .
proper reply, so that the whole P'^™e ^f^'^estill a few hundred comrades
Let me stress again, however Revai was thinking, but
without jobs at present-not only those <3 from machine stations and co¬
unknown people in the countrysi , b district party committees, riding
operative farms, who were possibly just of these affects us more
their bicycles to and from work- and perhaps toe p of this.
painfully Still, we cannot allow the party to be attacked beca
 At HSWP Conference, June 1957

-^^^vrA^“-rs^vis:
song-and-dance all over agam^U ^ would ensue withm^he pa^ ^

a*ainSt thC ^ n°W

grievances in Hungary* taken offence. under one ban-

ner is surprising, recent, and we had not y to seethe

asBas.aa'-s1-""'"'
ourselves guilty, ?°| *\ tercsts Qf the party and the_pe°P «• ^ b£ done to makc the
to act correctly, in point that something leadership works
Comrade Mesterhdzi rai*ai V_ ^ is not necessary. If the >e andFrespect.
leadership more P°PUith lbe masses, it will win t eirleaders have
we„, it will become popular with^ ^ ^ tQ the

vSZPS*» reTSTc"wA-S-*. “ “S ieFrsfX

government. I sa d t Uon_ after which they oep wherever they

being this was out
The enemy are end
I recall, for examp ’
6^
-JJ t0 foment dissension in cv ry
Rajkcame home m
hen the enemy struck P
J ^ had QQt even set
J J ch’orus that there were
. between them,
foot in the party headquarte a life-and-death strung Hungarians

two farn:S1 ihat X^a?theCd« was

They alleged that Rak lea(Jer. At that tune weking in fraternal under¬
acknowledged RajK.a . . strife. We were actually But the enemy

SB^ssiKSBSSssat.—
196 Speeches and Interviews

—5W56SM-«-—
"inhere are fault, in the Berber usefully for

SS2HS=S«SS
S tfany one of then,M*f"K

SEE^sSSSSSSss

SsSS-^jSSs

mmm
mmm
“:S5s«=!S.ss=
ESsSj32r.=-“=
 197
At HSWP Conference, June 1957

n thesc examples is because

rade Revai would

ed How would this supp agitation and propagand , ccrtain that there

£ vto» of the Ck*.-4«<££***■ A-

over to the literary departm. on this same matter that was ^ Qr ,et us as-
they would express an P one which was m t0 be asked,
the person concerned wonpother Comrade Reva.’s opinion we ^ ^ gQV_
same that over ^^dissatisfied with certain measures;of ^ P and respectable
possibly by someone who ^ who is also aver ^d turned

eminent. This cou P if, in opposition to t Comrade Revai to

Communist. Would it b PP ? Such a dangcr exists .and comrade
to Comrade R^vai ^omtnjj Comrade ^^^^toric merits, this

reckon with it. Just b enjoys great prestig ,

of itreproachabk moraK on1: »h ^ ,hat 0M Central Como.^ ^
. has debated a
x
danger exists. It 1 months over apologize to Comrade
very great deal during thepast^ _ ^ not fee I want^ course, not

have always stood h party needs Comra straightforward man.

Rdvai, or anyone fe ^f^Jcomrade Revai as an °Pfg R6vai should
alone in thinking this. W blems in our cooperaj'on, mpszabad-
However, there ar P j for example, about gr we should allow the

ZlTo^ » Pub,'s^'^^°^^radg^^vTi’s~contributionhere vms^also^useful-^am^y

revolution. In my °Llthy reaction from the h former leadership,

because it evoked a healthy sectarianism and the mistakes o ^ ft is still early

its apologies for d°gm c0’ncerned, as I already stress ^ ^ tQ the working people

As far as the in . jn any case, th' S' Inh^'anyone°in Hungary who has

matters for aat.oualpr.deh A ^ ^ achi6Ve ^ fcught after

found their own peoP1^ 8 Uved in the masses this connection

SSSr=y'sxss=- - -—-
visionism.l fully agree with this.
« V*-****" . .tat the traitors must be brought

«*®s3SSSm«sSS:
,~ -»-- i
I
.=^-EBbriSSS’ssiri'S
strengthening of p construction, must be solved‘n own specific condi-
of economic and cultu ^ fc> and in accordance w> h ^ expianatory
slant enhghtenme P g of reprisal must, there . afe being taken in the
lions. The necessaJ lhe people may see that th^SC Pnistor individual vengeance.

among the workngC‘*ar for thc people’s power workers’ Militia, in a

spheres, we need not ‘e and help the army, the pohce, whole wilh this spirit.
We must cher‘sk’^sPandwemuSlinsti1 public opu^ we see mistakes in the
Word, our armed fy ^ indudcs critiasfflu ^ se4rely, but this should take
anuei^forc^ — as anywhere^else—we^mus the good of the armed ^^*jatest achicve-

plCwoEMiht^^SSp or ^p—^liS
ments of the only the ^crsU^ °oldiers. Our armed

r„tTh&
£ST5T^ or *. — —■ -

Speaking of the ■»»* *““*1Never have any of os state Seeutity

With the State Sj^ly rsons concerned were^n i» « fui. We honour equally
our martyrs, whether t P ion would indeed be d sg whether they were
Authority, or not. Su^a<^b 0 foil defending working clwsp ’ the memory
the memory of the martym who « But we must no disabled or

=ss" ^=£SS-- - -“tke

we must ensure pre
universities, in filkng
_~;ntmeBts, and so on.
state, I must also
„=ak about something else.
to abol-

SSSSHS^-25^"stton8aim
 199
A, HSWP Conference, June 1957

' h tate security must be

ismadeeasier^f S £c

otter sphere »oftagain, we will d'® *"? Craters of tte State Secunty

“etraK ot the def““of *T

p Comrades, 1 stertld hke« <w• ,e the ^ “”^0UKe of danger to this

raised the question °f ” als0 ke to point out n°tta‘ unpublished letters
unity of tell, and so on. l*C>fcw „f Comrade Unm‘^t word for word, but tn

were made pnbho In *^2^^ » ^“"eteeted wit“nthe Ce“S

bouring classes, the ^ there ganger thaTwe will?

revolutionary party if we do not forget th ■ have more than on

For example,the Ml Je back 280,000 holds of fo would welcome it Whole-

Ministers that we should Thc rcply was - the P^leSneed not fear that in our
asked why we shou nQt a principled teaso> • W have active fighters fo
heartedly- I said that th into the background. nts with all the
country agriculture wi hePadquarters who w°uldP^ lo old.age pensions, t is
agriculture in our party investments and mach the tasks en

«*£££-
earthly goods in the
good and necessary, to •
should **•£*£&
committee must not fo g {
pa«y
and that we are
* *> ^1
^toMm-Butth^nttriC workers* and peasesi f^’that we can hon-

ShaTp,—«-o"nasoo,hstsomety.
- rs psasan,s also
200 Speeches and Interviews

Two other tprestions were raised here ro wMdr I *houU iihe to reply. The question

S£SSS5sS^?SSSS

=SSsss3^“jKSAjsa£
that would not be such a great misfortune
members of the young Communists orgamzat
**“ aIso flght, and take a
Now it transpires that the
courageous stand. If peer' ^ and confused
situation is not so perilous after all. The e y ^ ^ in normai way

Communist courage is needed, comrades, because even

who fight for their convictions. masses In the organization

&EL «contact, and thus a,so broaden our basts antong the

«**
post does not wish .0
theless, proposals have been voiced immediately be removed from his post,
join then he must rnmecha^te remove. ^ ^
In several instances this has happene . ts any other public office
People’s Republic ensure that, with the exception o p yP ’ ^ practice. This
may"be filled by non-party peopledemand a non¬
does not mean that tomorrow we should draw up a ns _ and this is the
party prime minister, and similar appom .^ why9 jf we remove a factory

Tn^^ “* post because he has not joined the party, we

 201
A, HSWP Conference, June 1957
,
hall be unable to stop it-

estion
Com-
ss.t-JSiStS=^ffiScS
t class-
Hsm in
;onsoH-
r to so-
tly high

tgCom-
that the

iMl®
rsity stu-
plied that
, we were
nd take a
es that the
i confused
^rrnal way
1 that he is
e must take

wmamm
list, then he

party.
, those

' our

mess
; feel
vhole
:mber

ount
ople,
ilarty

ever-

post.
if our
office
.This
i non-
; is the
wmmmm
mmssss^--
embraces tne
, we
14*
 202 Speeches and Interviews

writers - we must continue to work persistently and seriously for a long time to come.
We must apply wise methods and wise tactics, which means at present that the guilty
must be punished, the misguided helped, those diverging to the left or to the right
convinced by arguments, while those standing firmly beside us must be strengthened.
Comrades, as regards economic questions I am now unfortunately not able to go
into details. I agree with those criticisms which state that, in comparison with our
other tasks, we have lagged very much behind in the sphere of economic and cultural
work. There is, of course, a historical reason for this. In our present situation the most
important thing was the strengthening of the party and state power. We must begin
to solve the economic questions with the realization of the one-year plan, and for this
we must mobilize the forces of all of society. We must make it the personal concern
of every worker to protect social property, to be thrifty, and take part in socialist
labour emulation.
There is a tremendous amount of initiative in this sphere, which the journalists and
radio workers are popularizing. But it would be good if we got out of the habit of
thinking in terms of extremes, and learned to write and speak with a restraint which
suits the actual situation.
There was mention that in addition to the one-year and three-year plans we would
need a long-range plan for certain tasks. For example, we should prepare a ten-to-
fifteen-year long-range plan for the development of Budapest, the better exploitation
of sandy areas, the improvement of alkaline regions, and the solution of our energy
problems. When they are prepared, these plans must be submitted for extensive dis¬
cussion.
Little has been said at the Conference about a certain strengthening of private
capital. The party supports the activities of small-scale industry which satisfy the
demands of the population. We also respect the useful activity of private retail trade.
But inasmuch as some types of trading activity cause harm and increase speculation,
action must be taken against them. We should not at once take administrative action,
we must strive to convince the people concerned with wise words and make them see
reason. But if speculation continues to grow rampant and cause harm to the work¬
ing people, it may be necessary to take stern measures. There is no doubt that, as in the
political struggle, in economic matters too, we must defend proletarian power.
Of course, the most effective way to struggle against speculation is to have an adequate
quantity of the necessary goods available.
Over the question of the workers’ councils I agree with Comrade Revai. We cannot
approve the trends which aim at abolishing them by administrative measures. We must
strive to see that the workers’ councils carry on their activities in the interests of social¬
ist construction.
Let me call your attention to the fact that in the course of the struggle against na¬
tionalism, the particular Hungarian conditions must also be taken into consideration.
It is true that for centuries the nation was oppressed, and our glorious national upris¬
ings played a progressive role in the history of our country and of mankind. But we
have often stressed this circumstance far too one-sidedly, and did not point out that
at the same time the Hungarian ruling classes—in the name of the whole nation, quot¬
ing them as their authority—oppressed other peoples. The old ruling classes instilled
 203
At HSWP Conference, June 1957
S\V A*'-'"

ternal peoples who live theoretically correct and

sive heritage. the national question, > nnot call ourselves
As in every other sphere t> without patriotism fuses with
precise definitions aredeftnition is, for example, ^ Pg so that it can be
Marxists. Such a corr But, comrades, we mus 0 of patriotism and pro-
nroletarian internationalism se the idea of the uni y f .g understand-
undcrstood by the entire ^ for ordinary people to under d- Hungar.
““.ariaa intemationatem - HungariMK « ® as the Fascist,

■-SIs--rsr--TS‘* “
acbieved'thedd ^“Jg*** per ^ we bave

of^d^"

party building, we SS^wSe^and perhaps

About the draft .resol"10"ed into the final draft resolution shan enumerate
mittee has already .nc«r^ted ^ partl>' the
proposals received partly incorporated m the text P P lrade unions and
‘them only by topios- ^ ha ^ youth, about the ^'e arian^oviet friend-

£===£^S=^SkS3SSS
204
/u* -
Speeches and Interviews
, ft

In conclusion, comrades, I should like ^ the wholc party can act unitedly,
useful, because it clarified problems, and thi q of the party members, but
In fact we can count with assurance not^onlyo ^ ^ forefront of our struggU:

also on the masses of thc people whjchPevery honest working man can un-
those demands of public art«of which we can strengthen our
hesitatingly identify himself, an th■ affairs are conCerned, 1 propose th,
whole people’s power. As far as our we should turn over a new leaf
on the basis of the experiences of*» oureyes t0 the future. The important
within the party. Let us close the P^’ afJrcumstances, to activate party members,
thing now is, by exploiting the f^°“ ^ tQ force back the enemy more and more,
and thc wholc working peop , - ’ and truths everywhere,
and to have courage to proclaim ou our affairs wiseiy, calmly and patiently,
And in the party orgamzaticmslct u b be observed. whoever in-
then adopt good resolutions and the party discipline which
fringes the implementation of th p y thcrefore, is, comrades, to strengthc
requires it, must be severely dealt with, fundamental interests-and the par y wdl

“SgthenS in .h= sarce way .ha. .his Par.y Conference , a,so stre

ening our party.

Speech to the National Council

of the Patriotic People’s Front
JUNE 19, 1959

• . task for this year in the Central Com-

We summarized and published our P"n^P‘ decided that we would recommend to
mittee resolution adopted last Mar . ^ fields we reach the targets set for the
the working people that in a n course ^ does not mean that the Three
end of the Three Year Plan, this y ■ respects, but refers only to a few
Year Plan will be completed in two years to consolidate
oZc most vital fields. This is one ™ this also involves
the cooperative farms, and the achieve socialism, of our system, and our
the further strengthening of the ^ standard of living of the working
state; but it also means that we can i P ^ ^ raising the standard of
people this year. More precisely• «>^ or a somewhat more substantial

closing of this fiscal year-

 205
To Patriotic People's Front, June 1959
X v * —

Tte woris -we

I am convinced that ever> f last March are not desig c people,

the Central Committee resolution ol g of the word ot ou w£ have

SSE— *» "t xfiz*»

the national aims of out P«>P
"Sm tU ^ wo
he Central Committee 1 ver> that our
recommended them to J We should not^ forget,^ ^ ^ ^ The
join forces, our plan t month of the have to achieve
recommendation ^^“^qriddy. so in "year. Not that this
first quarter, however, ended ^ ^ ^ in threet0 remember this
aH that we have braced c ^ effort lt « of August-when,
is impossible, but it jffi req ^ Gf year - July and the >1^^ of the year.
now, when we are enter g ^ usuaUy n0t as high as in ^ bases for our con-

SuhE ^6 Front is the kind of movement ^^rnust ^reckon

jhP^ have borne lhe brun

Of S5SEremind the
We mean no offence, working almost for "built the factories
the industrial workers, »; «* ^ commumcations andjebu q & ^ ^ t
back to normal, «pjU«d^ this was the wish of the j j financial position. The
while at the same time an asants improved the was favour-
as a reproach-large numbers ^ hunger toWed into thin air
very inflation which undou debts and new^oan And n0W
abiyc for the P^dSs-^ peasantry were*“*£2 workers overfulfil their
almost in a matter of days e suggest that the ndust™' reduce costs and
took at our March res^Uom W ^ ^ where necessary, ^ to
plans, turn out ^ “Cse objectives are becoming ^ it is easier
improve productivity. slackness is rampant an P ^ are ra0re difficult.
achieve every year, fo —fulfill the plan. This yea . i-ifilled That is a tre-
to^improve ,s.t^al w, ^shoulderin^a great
By contrast, all we e p tbe working class i - intellectuals to show
mendous difference. Eve" ^he masses of the peasantry and ^ $olve tasks which
— that is why we are asking class ,s making; eff what gives us
206 Speeches and Interviews

'SHHSSSSSSiS'Sr
agib for our

°s: ^^^SSH£SS«n8I«
Of course, other matters will
—
D0litical line of the party. Those
not only Communists. One of them m P no rj ht to speak
members of the Central Committee who £ which engage our

txszz
Committee has been pursuing since November •
*. -—-— t socjetyi

jvsz
society. , , ■ .
,—
0. change-this main line will
That is the essence of our policy, and ^ tQ int0 this matter in a

^ "“tio" “d app,ka'
tion in given instances and in given s',l’dU""i ] hich concerns not only the
Take the cooperative intelligentsia, and also
peasantry — it is a vital questi resoonsibility due to one of the most
for the entire people. We are handling it wth the res^nsibn y^ ^ development

crucial issues of our national life, in responsibility that on two occasions our
and the future of the nation. It was We decided what was
Central Committee discussed ^ we may say that they
to be done, and we have earnedit deve,opment of the cooperative
have surpassed expectations. We actolly wg convinced that this is
farm movement necessary for two teass • ^ .g therefore) to carry through

the way in which the TricJIture in line with’the political conditions, if

the socialist reorganization ot a8n®““" Th • thcr reason too: it is in
possible without loss of time or mom . advanced farming
the interest of our national ^ better harvests
methods, the age of machmes, on y g ^establish the large estates, call
How should we go on from here then_ S^ou'd we r ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ kulaks

back the counts and the hurtowen. It J t alone! So we must take

are saying: We don’t need that! Leave theworking £«" lhe world when
the other road. That road on which the ^"^0fSe and his land. We are
large-scale agriculture comes into c*8. countries. We must not allow any mis¬
taking this road, just like the o ^ bg $aid that from time to time we will

ud;c"^^
m TThe^edsive factor is, of course, the political preconditions of progress. These were
given last December-as the results show.
 To Patriotic People's Front, June 1959 207

And what about the economic conditions? Some people held the view that we
should create the economic conditions for the cooperative farms first and that only
then should the cooperatives be formed. That sounds reasonable, but it is not how it
was in reality, in the cooperative farm movement. How can you go to one section of
the population and ask them: give us a few thousands of millions so that we can
create some sort of base for the agricultural cooperatives, because we hope that if
that’s done, then our peasant brothers will join the cooperatives. In reality nothing
happens like that, that’s not sound thinking. What was the peasant s dream in time
„one by’ The peasant would like to have lived on his own little estate, one dreamed
of six holds, another of eight; of how there would be two horses, or oxen, cows; of
fattening a pair of pigs, and so on. Did any of this come true? Some of it yes,^ndeed
alongside the big estates and the millions of poor peasants who had nothing, there
were a few thousand peasants who realized their dreams. First he went to
relatives for a loan, to the bank for credit at a usurous rate of interest; he began to
work by taking half the crop himself, half going to someone else; he rented some¬
thing too, and then finally there were his few wretched holds: his whole lifetime s
work and indeed sometimes his son’s whole lifetime’s work too, had 80ne '
realization of this small peasant’s dream. And if there was one bad season, if ere
was some natural disaster or a crash in agriculture or on the market, then one bad
year would carry off the “dream” which had perhaps taken father and son 70 years
of blood and sweat to put together. _ .
So we have to make a start. If we had first invested in everything which we had
dreamed about, and only then started to behave as though every,h'nj ^f ^ d ln
common, then we would have been like a peasant with nothing but a pair of trousers.
We must create a socialist framework, because the peasants already know that if
the state gives them no more than a twisted sickle, even then their strength is increased
50 to 100 per cent through the strength of the collective. The dear-haded joint deci¬
sion, the common will, the collective endeavour, multiplies strength This is the roa
of life The state will also help you; but you must also help yourselves.

By all this I do not mean to suggest that the economic conditions can be neglected.
They are, of course, important, but they must not be the conditions determining the
development of the cooperative farm movement. We cannot accede to de position o
taking a step forward only when all the economic preconditions are to hand But once
we have taken a step forward, immediately the obligation arises to consolidate and
strengthen our gains economically, as fast as we can! Economic conditions, therefore,
must not be placed in the way of the development of the movement but it would also
be a sin to forget about them. Let us send machines, let us provide all the support
to promote the consolidation and strengthening of the cooperative forms. That is
the course we are following. This is a manifestation of our Central Committee
policy and how this policy is implemented.
Contrary to hostile slanders, the development of the cooperative farms does not
entail a fall in the standard of living. The sum devoted to strengthening the coopera¬
tive farms, far from lowering living standards, will raise them year by year. The
millions of Forints expended on consolidating the young cooperatives reveal the
healthy features of our economy, at the same time strengthemng them. The eco-
208 Speeches and Interviews

nomy which got over the shock caused by the counter-revolution in yeryshort
timeand which today can boast of some fine achievements is able to ^^sub¬
stantial sums to strengthening agriculture, without
Our policy is straightforward and clear. It serves to develop agriculture, and to
further the interests of the entire people. . .
We are developing our existing cooperative farms-that is progress too as t
contributes towards the consolidation of the cooperative farm movement. That s
our task at present. After that, we will investigate the political and conj£
tions for further progress. We are not oracles, we are Communists, and the basis
of our decisions and our correct policy is a careful analysis of the Jtuatiom
To one Western inquirer I said: “We’re not going to do you the favour of spoihng
the relations between the party and the broad masses of the working people by
than is made possibie by .be ae.ua, station. Bu. nedber w,, we
do you the favour of marking time when we are capable of advancmg. We re
now looking at the facts as they are. At one time, we suffered fry 'he ^n^s of
not seeing things as they were in reality, but as we would have liked them to be.
We have “recovered from this. It would be best if nobody had suffered from this
sickness but if somebody must suffer from it, then it is better that the sufferer should
be some American publicist rather than us Communists. “Now you are not capab
of seeing the realities”, I told the visitor, “or if you do, then you try to see them as
you want to. This can be seen from your criticisms and invective There is noth ng
in them to influence the Hungarian people. Earlier, unfortunately a part of them
were influenced, but only when there really were troubles to be stared upand
were silent about them. Now we are not silent about our own mistahes’^hie Y
write and talk such nonsense that you have completely l°st your
don’t want to throw your money away completely, then te y
colleagues that they should lie more cleverly.” As for the heart of the matter, we are
investigating questions related to the further development of the cooP"ra ne f r
movement with a full awareness of our responsibilities, with resduteness on
of principle, and with the circumspection of a party called iipon to.lead a count ^
We will also continue to strengthen and deepen the healthy featu P
life. We would like to see useful, substantial and fruitful discussion whenever peofde
come together to discuss important public affairs-for instance, at conferences of
the Patriotic People’s Front. Let those taking part exchange_ views, let themt argu
and talk, let them expound their views, and once they reached an agreement * t
will benefit the community, let them work in unity. In general, we intend to.continue
to deepen the democracy of our system. This also involves raising ^ s andards of
parliamentary life. The democracy of our system today is of a
than that of any capitalist country. And we certainly will contr! * ’eTZs of our
if this should make anyone wonder if next year or the year after the enemies of our
system will enjoy greater freedom, I can assure them that Hiey wdI not For just a
it is our duty constantly to strengthen the democracy of our system for the: beneM
of the people, so we are aware of our responsibility to the people and the fut^
the country and of our obligations with regard to the enemies °^co Jrm ^our
are a few other aspects of our policy, which I only mention in order to confirm you
 To Patriotic People's Front, June 1959

belief that they will continue; indc^’ ^s°Veopk who cros'sedtbc limits of for-
example, you know abou- our pe ^ committed crimes against the people
bearance were imprisoned, wh mes- incurred the severest of penalties,
which could not be overlooked - hist0”f w£ said. «Be sensible, and work!”
To those who, in common parlance, w . a iot of muddled
This was correct policy, as eviden^d by he.^ mixed up have by

“ the past two years worked honestly and

^there was the amnesty. We have gone£

a number of times to say that not a sing e hostile circles to coerce us into
so long as there are attempts abroad or on the wcIcome to try to bring

*"*»*“°f —i*4
released from prison ^ ^ and the Hungarian people have
The Patriotic People s Front has sc something that both permits
passed the test with honours at t c e e ■ , That is the reason for the
and justifies leniency towards erring sons of the people.

amnesty last spring. . . Front very seriously, we count upon

We take the work of the Patriotic *«£»■»?“ “ JJ people it doing
it and back it. The political alliance o ^ up our progress. Cooperation
useful service to the cause of socialism P fn t?he People’s Front and the

^“""ntZSS in inbttantial snccesses. We wil, continne

“KSSave a,so devoted the *»?£?££

personality. We are aware not begin to work; by and

occur. In a difficult situation, Pe°P achievements made; the masses
by they do some things well, successes are « of their good work. Gradually,
begin to talk about this and appreaate t b be^n t0 believe that they know

some of the leaders who. ^pay no hefd to what people say. In con-
everything, that they are mfalhble, and they p ^ ^ Congress> we ask our own
nection with this, during the period P ? of work) their relations with other
people once again to examine their ^ mQre lest the old errors return,
people, to deepen their relations wi and socialist enthusiasm stirred
The appeal of socialism must be m 8 .{ wil, be done successfully!

up more effectively-that 'sian,imp0r,a"romic’executives see the enthusiasm with

Day after day, our political leaders an kbench and in the villages, on the
which ordinary people are working a t superior to, only worthy of-
cooperative farms! It is our duty to e „ arian working people have fought
our people, of the fight the “Xtf£ p^f/o of

wen for the cause of progress-

210 Speeches and Interviews
ment, gt
approva
Speech at a Mass Meeting The n
Congres
in the Csepel Iron and Metal Works The (
party, f
(Excerpts) Congre:
convinc
DECEMBER 1, 1961
Leninis
lutiona
Dear Comrades, ther de
The
folloWl
we are
People’s Republic. . f m Moscow and almost two and Party
Comrades! Nearly five hundredthere lies a large Soviet industrial town The
a half thousand kilometres east ’ , the at proietarian writer Gorky, repeat
with one million inhabitants, bearing novel Mother, and I recommend that the S(
No doub, many of you have of ,he life and struggle Twenl
those who have not, should do so becau about ,iving peoplc and events withir
of a revolutionary worker In this book Go V Qf the Sormovo Factory. The policy
that actually took place. Its heroe revolution of 1905 the workers of the it-dc
factory has revolutionary traditions. In tyranny; later they fought for in sta
factory were among the first to too, they are in Corni
the victory of the Great Octo^r Soc industrial production. It was this the p
the forefront in developing the So of Red Sormovo-which 1 Wc
town and this factory -which today b d h Hungarian working Cent:
visited, as a representative of H«n^—, ^ ™mm Jst Party of the 1953
people, at the time of the Twenty-Second Co g one being he)d here knov
Soviet Union. I took part in a factory meeng he ^ of the meeting one with
today. We talked about our common on behalf 0f the factory’s gene
of the workers of the Red Sormovo F y ^ * ship buiit in their factory, thinj
workers he wished to give me a red flag . iive far away. to y-
He asked me to present them to the working people ot Csepe wen
yet are so close. mnveved in person this heartfelt, are
! thought it would be fitting;and prop* 4 £ workers of Red Con
fraternal greeting to the working people of Csepel Cen
Sormovo extended to me. meetings with the working the
In recent years I had two particullarly worker, in January It s
people of Csepel. The first was a meeting °fco™numst p y ^ was
?957 The second was a friendly get-together in fto^***^ executives fre- to I
to Csepel with Comrade ^rushchev Lo 1 ^ ^ hdps them in their 1
quently urge government leadfs to ',sd ^ when we attend such meetings, our mu
work. I believe there is some truth in ■ but algo to gain fresh strength tha
purpose is not only to help the comra es CenJral Committee and the govern¬ an<
or our own work. For we, members of the party s central ^
 At Csepel Iron Works, Dec. 1961 211

men, gain strength and confidence when we feel that our cause is just and has the

party, fully and without reservation aDrecs d at the congress. We are firmly
Congress, and with the new party arcworking in the spirit of Marxism-
convinced that our party and our g • bued for 0ver five years with the revo-

tato^'“tactllstbSd“trby Z Twentieth CPSU Congress which have fur-

the4teTw0ePnty-sfcond Congress of^^fXTwenS

—S0CiaIist ”
Party have also been strengthened by.^Vommunist Party of the Soviet Union
The Twenty-Second C^of ^ parly of

repeatedly “f. “of ove^ome fe ^rsonality cult in good time, then the
the Soviet Union had not overco Pdecided t0 build a Communist society
Twenty-Second Congress could n • firm stand jn support of the
within 20 years, and it cou not j. cult and everything stemming from

r^gir^
the party and the masses. achievements registered by the
We can hardly Khrushchev, which has been fighting since
Central Committee headed by Comi gv£ agrees with this, however. You
1953 to eradicate the £ HoxJ and Mehmet Shehu, do not agree
know that the Albanian leaders, En n and ^ personality cuit in
with the condemnation of the^u bccausc th’e personality cult, and every-
general. They do not agree ^t^1 ^^t of ^ present. 1 need not describe
thing that goes with it, is thriving “ life of a party and a people, for you
to you what the personality cult me P Albanian leaders
were able to see and judge it for yourselves in international
are not pleased with the condemnation of te Soviet Union and the
Communist and working dass mo^m they publicly criticized and condemned

"
to criticize the Albanian leaders publicly.
S£5U -* « - - -— of the international Com-
The Hungarian Communists, the supported the stand
munist movement and almost every on mistaken attitude, patience
that pubhc criticism was nLss^y - lor a ^ in order
and internal discussion are possible perhap
212 Speeches and Interviews

to let people in the wrong come to their senses. Bnt if there is no sign ofta^change of
.... ,hpn ooen stand and public criticism are undoubtedly in place. Ihe
CPSU has taken an open stand before the whole world against the faults of the
Albanian leaders stemming from the personality cult. This was moral courage, which
chows that we are right, and the masses, the peoples, support us
? in assure you^ on behalf of our party’s Central Committee, that our party
! hin Hungarian Communists, like the entire Hungarian people, are fa
SJ 12 the personality cult and want no more of it! People have had too mud,
of arbitrariness within the party and of the practice of failing to observe the law
whkh had begun to thrive in our state life. We have done away with the Personality
cuU Work is proceeding normally both in party and in state life I believe all of
you feel and know this. Whoever takes part in party work or public affairs knows
from experience that the kind of situation which should prevail in a socialist state
has developed in our country, both in the revolutionary party of ^
and in public affairs. The rule of law is a matter of major importance for the peop ■
Hv this we mean of course, not only that no one will be jailed for something he d
Jot do but also that the spy should continue to tremble and thieves should continue
to no in fear because part of the socialist rule of law is that the guilty should fear
the8power of the law. We have done away with the personality cult and we shal

‘’"“Sdo we have in connection with the personality cult once we have

done away with it ? It has been a decision in our country that neither streets nor factor
L be named after living persons. We adopted this drcnto five jam »8o, “d we
have observed it since. But such names have remained from earlier times alter
a whi]c we shall change them. It is, however, not the name that is decisive, but the
spirit that prevails in the factory or on the cooperative farm. Even m0« attenUon
must be paid to overcoming the erroneous views persisting in people s minds.
A lthmiph the personality cult no longer exists, there are still people who think
^ dogrnatic^secterian manner. We are lighting against these views, because they

CaSerniSorS^years ago many people in our country believed that everyone alive
was Inspect Do you still remember that? Some people would have hked best to
ormnize a party of ten members in our country, because at the end perhaps they no
L8 o' Justed even themselves. What went on at that time ? Take a man and begin
to tell him: you arouse suspicion, you are flirting with the imperialists At his
becomes frightened, then he trembles. With these methods they kept hustling people
over to theScnemy side until finally a few of them really were pushed over to them.
We have overcome this harmful attitude. Now it is not the c^tral Committee
which needs to interfere when, for instance, in one of the branches of the Metal Wo
somebody longs to play the big boss, the dictator. For there are Communists in the
Metal Works who put such persons in their place. And that is how it shou d •
TWsTs a good opportunity to keep an eye on how people are acting m public
affairs how they are administering public funds. Generally, officials are perform g
SS.— way. But there is SUB a tendency towards-shne^ W^d,
extortion, that is, to grabbing everything which can be acquired for nothin*. W
 At Csepel Iron Works, Dec. 1961 213

such an inclination is combined with a leading position, it becomes a public menace.

We must see to it that nobody misuses his position. We have certain service enter¬
prises, like pipe-fitters, plumbers, electricians. Nowadays-and this must be said
frankly-the plumber still goes out more quickly when the ceiling of an enterprise
manager’s flat begins to leak than if something goes wrong in the flat of an unskilled
worker. Everybody knows this to be true. . . .
Therefore we demand that people in leading posts who exercise authority should
sooner forego the rights they are entitled to than misuse their authority and those
opportunities inherent in their position.
How do we picture the struggle against the old views? We should not call a man
to account for the sectarian views he held eight years ago. We have already over¬
looked that. He should be carpeted though if he continues to profess his sectarian
views today. If five years ago we told people who committed leftist or rightist mis¬
takes- look, you made mistakes, but we do not consider you enemies, come back
to the right path, work, and wc shall forget what happened, then we cannot take
them to task now after five years for the old mistakes, because this would not be
fair and honest. Everybody knows who committed mistakes, what kind these were
and how he went about correcting them. He who has corrected his errors should be
left in peace; while those who have not corrected their mistakes should be taken to
task in the light of the lessons of the Twenty-Second Congress and warned to correct
these wrong views and practices, otherwise they are bound to face unpleasant conse¬
quences. We shall not tolerate anyone in the party who does not regard all activities
of the party as being based on confidence in the masses. We can only advance together
with the masses. It is most important that relations between the party and the people
should be strengthened constantly and continuously.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union has once again given great help to all
the Communist and workers’ parties by its firm stand against the remnants of the
personality cult at the Twenty-Second Congress. In this connection various questions
arise We hold the view that the CPSU is a party which has accumulated tremendous
experience because of its historical past; therefore it is a party from which every
Communist and workers’ party can learn. ... .. , r • t
So the question arises: is there a leading party in the international Communist
movement; are there possibly more leading parties? The parties throughout the
world in the international Communist movement are now acting with full indepen¬
dence and equal rights. So there are no superior or subordinated parties in the inter¬
national Communist movement, and there is no need for a special leading party
-either for one, or for more. What is needed then? From time to time the Com¬
munist and workers’ parties of the world should convene, discuss common experi¬
ences, draft a common fine and a common resolution, and each should consider
these obligatory-just as at present the Moscow Statement of 1960 is considered
binding by the Communist and workers’ parties in their activities. In our opinion
the responsibility of each Communist party is equal: each Communist party is
responsible to its own people and to the international working class movement.
Another question raised was whether the resolutions of one party s congress are
binding upon another party; are the resolutions of, say, the Twentieth or the Twenty-
214 Speeches and Interviews

Second Congress binding on other parties? The truth of the matter is that not a
single party has ever put forward such a demand. It is self-evident that the resolu¬
tions adopted by the congress of a party are binding only on its own members.
They are binding on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its members;
they are not binding on us. But in our opinion, we Hungarian Communists are
obliged to study and apply in practice all the revolutionary experiences which can
be utilized. If the Twentieth or the Twenty-Second Congress of the CPSU gave us
an ideological weapon which can help us in our struggle, it is our duty to study and
apply this to conditions in our country. This is how we look upon this Congress.
We are convinced that the Twenty-Second Congress of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union gave a powerful ideological weapon to all the Communist and workers’
parties in the world and thus to the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party as well.
This Congress gives tremendous new strength and impetus to the struggle of our
party also.
Of course, some people do speculate. Their line of reasoning is as follows: see,
they have removed Stalin’s coffin from the Mausoleum, so a new season is opening
for the rightist. I have even heard the opinion expressed that we ought to rehabilitate
the persons who demolished Stalin’s statue here. Please do not mind my speaking
about this now, but it is a very important matter. 1 say that if that statue were still
standing, then we should now adopt a decision to have it removed in January or
February. But those who demolished Stalin’s statue here did not do it because Stalin
had faults, but because they hated Communism. We shall, therefore, never reha¬
bilitate them.
One can hear nowadays that perhaps the revisionists were not sinners after all,
for they too were castigating the personality cult. There are quite a lot of people
who did not join the party after 1956 and are now thinking that there will be some
sort of liberal trend in the Communist parties including our own. This, of course,
is an error. The principles on which we build our party are still the same after the
Twenty-Second Congress as they have been during the last five years. You know who
can be a member of our party. I do not wish to dwell on this in detail, but I could
put it quite simply. I suggest that we observe the following: we must aim to have
as many non-party people as possible whom we should be pleased to see in our
party. This is one of our aims. The other is that there should be as few party members
as possible whom we should be pleased to have outside the party. On this basis we
get our bearings properly. Let us judge people on the basis of our policy and always
consider whether the party will become stronger if one person or other becomes
a party member, or whether the party would be stronger if we expelled others. This
is the foremost requirement in building the party.
I would like to end by recalling the past struggles and the glorious revolutionary
traditions of Csepel and the Csepel works.
At one time we used the term: Red Csepel. Of course, one can always tack the
adjective “Red” on to the name if one wants to, but this is not absolutely
necessary. It is much more important that it really should be “Red" Csepel in work,
steadfastness, culture and socialist firmness. On the basis of Csepel’s revolutionary
past and its achievements in socialist construction I can say: the workers of Sor-
 215
At Csepel Iron Works, Dec. 1961

i a tn take it and hand it over

Spu do not kno»iof big ifdriven

K2™ h- =s; and he k”ows bow “

7S " s spirit „ this - wo - — -

J.” f„T fn"u nave in the Pa, «»=

15
216 Speeches and Interviews

Speech at the Budapest Party Conference

(Excerpts)

OCTOBER 31, 1962

Dear Comrades,

sssasssiisis
asEsass
&mmm=m
asSSSSfSsSSSS

wrnmmmm
both to you and to the pubhc throughbut the*0LioL are aS

possible occasions.
 A, Budapest Party Conference, Oct. 1962
—r -

in what does the

either ourselves or th P fa indispensable!

—-
tQ which the Central
persuading those w depends primarily on the a_million members
PThe genera,^ °te" °OTt ^ r^atu” of thihgs, for
Committee is firm an ^ _t .g physicany mipossible, by th takes a

The useful and —r4*t"-^

(“the forefront, the Sf* ”^Sl comnhttee,

* SfflS h p-*«“

iSro/three **£*5^ classes student youth accords to

The first is the abolition ^ and .q Hs
social origin. . to students, in essence, directive state
Although offi.C1^l yitt^e^f admission to the uni**sittes Do»J^“ makes clear

kernel of tl'etrafa““’^e perspective of the we.ghty P“b''”s, °ge stratum of Hun-

TliXg *e problem “^“e'e^cel enter university

polemieists consider .1.to£Pngw. If the by

that our proletarian h origin, ,tas ,pn“nP„.mI men are admitted,
to abolish categories *»sed on^ ^ * num„et o such young men a^ ^ ^
Sep=r neater.
September next ye . L P ^ ^ startil1g point, it w letarian homeland

Tat“^E^i.iou to perhaps endanger fte saf V rf p5riod „ based

-if they wanted to, a d th years of practice fo n will even

on the growing so much that ^ October
social development will ha ^ ^ ^ our discussion n S.pt^ student youth
remember these p everybody. The distin • d of our historic

^aagsaassss--—-
15*
218 Speeches and Interviews

to the universities and colleges of the sons and daughters of the working class and
peasantry who for generations had been denied opportunit.es for education. This was
a Communist stand; it was beneficial and helped the cause of the party.
But Comrade Lenin warned us that every slogan is bound to become outdated
because of changing circumstances and relations, and if we stubbornly cling to a
sloean it becomes a dogma, which is no longer a help but becomes detrimental to ou
cause As far as this problem is concerned, we must realize that continued restrictions
would become harmful to the cause of socialist construction, mstcad ofhelp'ngit
The question arises: how can we ensure the admission of working class and peasant
youth to the universities and colleges from now on? This question is Jus‘lfied_
Y It is my personal conviction that our society must extend assistance and support to
those woSX and peasant youngsters who start with a definite personal han¬
dicap SO to speak, because of the lower cultural standards of their parents; they cannot
iuhelme help in their studies at home as is given to the children of parents w, h
higher education. I am convinced that if we tackle this problem correctly and turn
our socSy's attention to this task, then the help will be forthcoming, nsteadoffewer
working-class and peasant youths, more will enter the universities and colleges than

^ IwouTdiike to ask those who are concerned with this problem not to
categories in their minds mechanically, and not to judge on the basis of whether the
oarent^ were workers or peasants before 1938, not to take only th.s into consideration.
Instead they should pay greater attention to youths who are qualifiedto
in fact enrolled at universities, and whose parents are working in the foundries,
digging coaHn the mines or tilling the soil for our people even today and should
extend greater assistance to them. In this great discussion we are apt to forget a very
essential internal factor of this matter, namely that as a matter of course we should
help those parents who are working in the factories mines, fields or otherspheresor
productive labour. They must be given greater social assistance and help in doing away
S,handicaps .heir children may face, so that their ch.ldren may study
at the colleges and universities under pretty much the same conditions as others
Why do the directives state that we should end categorizing student youth according
to Ssocial origin? Because although this always referred in principle to universities
and colleges there was a period when party work and work in general was unfortu¬
nately qufte bureaucratic, and subjected the entire student youth to scrutiny, register¬
ing them on the basis of their parents’ occupation in 1938, something which was ne
necessary They stated that if we must know at university admission level what the
student’sy parents did in 1938-whether they were workers, peasants or s°mel^‘nS
else-theifwe should know it in case of secondary-school students as well. And they
went aheadlmd registered secondary-school students. This reasonmg led to the follow-
ing- if we must know what the parents of the secondary-school student die1 in^1938
then we must start registering this information in the sixth grade of the general school
at least And that is what they did. Now let us take a young man who will be 18 ncx
September According to present statistical data his average life expectancy i, at leas
another fifty years. And he will develop into somebody. Who he will be depends to
a great extent on us andour society. And wedonotwant to raise the children of the
 At Budapest Party Conference, Oct. 1962 219

3§S«s£§3Es35S=
to people, Jth0"^^S” raetorking^of

to urban petty

mwmm
iiSiiisis
appointed to leading positions l ne g . the interests of building

=25??k4=====fS
wmmms
Wmm,m
msmmrn
220 Speeches and Interviews

the party whom we would prefer to be outside the party’s ranks, and to have very
many people outside the party whom wc would gladly accept as comrades, as party
members. This is something to be pleased about, it is a fine
to have many more such cases. It is on this basis and under such circumstances that
the demand is raised to have non-party people m leading posts
Objections have been raised by comrades on several occasions that very httle ha
been said lately about appreciating Communists, whdewekeepontatong^about
anDreciating non-party people. Is this so? We have to admit self-cntically that it is.
The party and functionaries speaking on behalf of the party, in various places and
over several years, have hardly dwelt on the appreciation of ^om“t^^estio^
have continuously advocated that non-party people should be J?
might be raised whether this is right or wrong. Is it a Communist staiadpoint^or isn t it /
Well it would not be difficult at all for the Communist party to keep on endlessly
Communisls. What would this lead to? It would be quite dangerous, hke die
famous phrase of Stalin that the Communists are people of a special mo *
it be in line with our world outlook to divide mankind mto two categories, super
and second-rate people? This would not be right, it would not be a Comn
Marxist-Leninist position. Let us just keep on praising non-party people, and
until non-party people start praising Communists. This is much better
way around, with Communists applauding Communists and non-party p P P
plauding those who are outside the party’s ranks. It is far better ,f Communists have

words of praise for non-party people, while the non-party peopl^f^aUv Jorrlct fo^
which spring from conviction, to say about Communists. It is not actually correct t
me to say that we will waii fo, that time - because that time
have reached a point in our country when non-party people speak w g
appreciation about Communists - and this is a healthy state of affairs
is what we should tell those comrades who ask in good faith iJV^party^for
several years been saying so little about the recognition and aPPr^n of ^ves
munists, while talking all the time about non-party people. You can^eefor y 1
that this has led to the appreciation of Communists. Generally peakmg. this whrie
political line can only be evaluated in its overall effect and its ent‘rety, m a Marx
Leninist manner. One cannot separate and isolate the problems, the policy °f a fiance;
the placement of non-party people in leading posts, and the ending g
cording to social origin; they should be taken in their entirety, together and

t0 Wha^was the result of the policy consistently followed during these six years?

It can be summarized as follows: , . , . „_n_t <a»rimislv

The leading cole of the working class in our society's hfels »rm md ““°*fb"°"aw
be contested by anybody. It is incontestable, not because this is prohibited by ,
bm be“ the workings, the leading class of society,
recognition by the other classes and strata of soae^owing to thetf ooMSten^an
-this is the proper term to use-heroism, to their efforts and struggles, thus proving
that they are indeed the force destined to lead society. iodine
As we are discussing the consistent policy of six years, let us compare the leading
role of the party with the situation six years ago. It is an incontestable and g y
 At Budapest Party Conference, Oct. 1962 221

recognized fact that Communists■»*>

did not grow stronger, but it was extent and under such conditions that
gathered strength; this took P1^ we have iaid the foundations of a so-
we can point to a tremendous change , b d creative atm0sphere prevailing
cialist society. To this^one shouldadd^*e unre^x ^ u the most surprising
in our country, wh.ch cannot be J may be. Let me add to this the
fact to a visitor from the West," broadening and consolidating popular-
establishment of a continuou ly strengthe g . and the safeguarding of

“riinS - - - -*« “r-

conferences and meetings. Some remarks^
xz: £ sss=
jn ^ factorieS; they were

meetings, party conferences turned into production meetings. It is, of

criticized for having at times practica y Wr ng are not discussed at such
course, a political error if the esJbadifworking people, and creative
gatherings. But it is not accidental and note of whether putting non¬
people in general, do not meditate too mu^on the ^ ,f they simply

party people into leading posts generally normal, one can go ahead and
state that “the situation in our count y usgdiscuss the ways, and means of construc-
work, and as we are building s°cialis,n, le ^ wQrker has the same view-
tion”. This is not such a big problem. 1 ^ ^ defeated feudalism
point as Lenin had. As is well kn ^ and & abundance of goods for
by ensuring a higher productiv y defeat capitalism by creating a high-
society. Socialism will also finally an of goods. This shows that the work¬
er productivity of labour and a 8r And we can learn from them!
ers and Lenin arc on the same platfo -A We staled, during the
How do we stand now with regard th Pnoress directives, that we should
meetings last spring and m connects ^ whifh we have left behind, and the
use two kinds of yardsticks, om p and the Central Committee also took
world standard. We have starte of productivity was examined and we found the
steps in this connection. The question P’ .g ahead jn standards of labour
following: at present the United Statescapitalist countries, the Soviet Union,
productivity. Then come the ad^an“d,W^echosloPvakia, all more or less on the same
the German Democrats Repu 'c standard, and this is where we, the Hungarian
level. Then comes a considerably lower stan ^ the most essential prob-
People’s Republic, stand. 1 trust everybo y ivi in industry, agriculture,
lem of our entire work is the ™*^*£*£^ creative work. Because our
and everywhere else where people <*rry jn ful competition-can only

and through nothing else!

222 Speeches and Interviews

Interview Given
to Andre Wurmser, Correspondent
of “L’Humanite”
JANUARY 6, 1963

ANDRh WtiKMSBRt No single government

Sk year's ^Ir'youare pTaTsed byAemost varied organs of the press, often quite un-

1956, when anarchy was at its height, with shoo gg * w? That was aU i needed!
notified that a journalist wished to in ervi - Andre Stil wanted to see me.
I asked for the name of the journalist andwas toldbe no interview.
All right, let him come. Stil came and I told him that there w ^ ^ tQ
bull would describe the situation to him and my■sta comrades of what
— use of i«, he coukh My — *—the £-* • ^ , was only

SSmtSJSr. U was very '*££££%^£Sh~

Andr6 Stil came to Budapest manvtvonlein Budapest at that time who

1. K.: Frankly sp«lking4herewerenotn™y^^^^^
knew what was going on in the' 7]a short time You also mention the question
situation changed so radically within nQt in the everyday sense of the
of popularity. This is extremely imp nnnroval and support of the people for
word, butfrom the point of view ofgaugtngis aPyardstick

of th^^rty’^authori^'6 when the party is^n aJeople* anti'^foreign

ence among the masses the party m ursc the response to our rcsolu-

elneous ideas, these saute people would have

tSCh that the working

7S25S2ZZZZ thaTthe working utasses have ideutihed themselves

 Andre Wurmser Interview, Jan. 1963 223

“"pie became f»n*r

which leads in the long run tod® £“>£ ’ people and in the long tun also m

SS?ss=Sr2
's

speeches ^realty ^something ideological theses

has discovered anything new. remade Kadar. You undoubtedly belong

AW.: Allow me to interrupt you, “‘"“todayme least criticized by the.West-

SSsBf^si'SSSa
^sSSSsSsssassss
consciousness, who are primarily interc.'f , the personality cult is Profo“^
ditions They are not much interested notion of revisionism either; all th y
unintelligible to them, and they have very ""they are h agreement w.th us.
say is that life has become =“‘" and “ al relatives of the men ^
ZTJSZT^TA ^ amount of recogmuon. Why
 224 Speeches and Interviews

For two reasons. First because they tried in 1956 for something more to their liking, member
a sort of a coalition consisting of Mindszenty, Imre Nagy, Ferenc Nagy and their kind, ments c
but it did not work out. They resign themselves therefore to something which exists socialist
and which—as they say-is not the worst. The second reason is that they lull them¬ people 1
selves with illusions. They believe that we are facing a development which they gladly For si
label liberalization; they imagine and hope that we will swerve from the fundamentals livered I
of socialism. we took
A. W.: They still keep on confusing freedom with liberalism. mould.'
J. K.: Yes, that is what it is all about. They keep on hoping. Well, let them keep on pic, wit!
hoping ... The development which took place in Hungary during recent years re¬ objectivi
peatedly proved the correctness of the Leninist idea that nothing is as important for party ha
the masses as their own experience. Our people lived through all imaginable experi¬ gratulatt
ences: they became familiar with a more or less correct Communist policy during the about C
first three years after the Liberation, then they lived through the years of the personal¬ Well,
ity cult, followed by a period of revisionist treason and the counter-revolutionary Our Pec
insurrection; finally during the past six years they could learn from day to day how Commu
correct the principles of Marxism-Leninism are. tions of
A. W.: To top it all, what has happened is exceptionally daring and new. Your means o
government threw open the doors at all levels of state life to every Hungarian, making means o
only one demand: that they should be qualified, honest and loyal to the system. more th
The social origin of those applying for admission to universities is no longer consid¬ tions, wi
ered. Since June 1, 25,000 Hungarians with passports to travel abroad were given That i
seventy dollars each in return for the required sum in forints. Your theatres put on non-part
satirical programmes which spare neither the government nor the system, and which Commui
are playing to capacity audiences. And these are only some of the characteristic novel¬ believe t
ties. I have a number of Hungarian friends. Frankly, some consider these measures as means i
the guarantees of socialism’s stability in Hungary, while others wonder whether this A. W.
confidence and liberality is not premature and risky. them so
J. K.: You are right to raise this question and I will give a straightforward J. K.:
answer. This problem is being raised here, too: in fact some people even say that sooner o.
this or that of our measures is not correct in principle. We do not resent this, since it munists
is quite natural that at certain stages of development such questions should be raised volution;
by some people in such a form. I will therefore try to answer you. when wc
The measures referred to are parts of a whole. What we are faced with is no less people’s
than the Leninist answer to topical problems, that is, answering problems which Marx, this hole
Engels and Lenin could not deal with, because they could not guess that they would restoratk
arise in Hungary in 1962. We have to solve them with the aid of the compass they rcorgani;
bequeathed to us. What.
Our resolution springs from two sources: our faith in the justness of socialism and masses o
our confidence in the masses. governin'
A. W.: Only good manners stop me from applauding. dous pol
J. K.: Is this faith and confidence justified? Everyday reality answers this question. We ha
For six years the party has been repeating that Communists must join forces with non- have still
party people, and the party carries out this principle in practice. Is this right? One A. W.:
cannot answer this question without knowing the reason for this cooperation. If party mined an
 225
Andre Wurmser Interview, Jan. 1963

, to destroy the achieve-

people know, of fur^’\as not boasted daily about its lead S ^ Morcover
For six years the par y . t the dictatorship of P , 0f a special
Jred loSU^.-P^SiSHn that Communists
we took a stand againstare of ^sa"C world! a clear-cut

w=rnever be sun8
gratulated when they no g
about Communists • • • . question about
role of thc party,
hip, is vigorous;
Well, what is -fission of the proletary dwt;atorsl** ^ ^
Our People’s RcpU^ rcp^lalion which is higher than eve , ^ expropriation of the

srsssE ^ co— - zsfszz^zsii^

That is why we feel people to maintain reason we

sssrand by
A. W.: I k“ew that soo ^ ^ optimistic enoush? MMUKS woul<i be taken
them so soon. P P r~iinWc* t was convinced th on cither. We Com

sooner or later, but di during the most crlt‘^1^° could not say how and
munists were convince, f , ictory of Communism, bu and ohcy ,n

?rsr£>“ ^
What does it prove? That the —«>*• “rsss'S"**
^ nQt on,y the ^ral trcmcn.
226 Speeches and Interviews

it is certain that this holds good the other way round: the mistakes, exposed and cor¬ and
rected by the Twentieth Congress, acted as a brake on success and retarded the victory tion
of socialism. . to t
J. K.: I will only deal with the experiences here in Hungary which I know best. poli
We are indeed working in the spirit of the Twentieth Congress, whose fundamental geo
feature was the return to the Marxist-Leninist line, free of all deviations and all con¬ mei
cessions to the class enemy. The Twentieth Congress, by freeing the international Hu
Communist movement from the curse of the personality cult, brought about a regener¬ tha
ation; we Hungarians arc also enjoying the benefits of this, which is expressed in sho
the onward march of the international Communist movement. Because the mistakes act
did indeed check, hold back and, in fact, fundamentally jeopardize the achievements am
and advance of socialism—especially in Hungary. the
A. W.: They did jeopardize it. .. and yet when all is said and done, whereas in gre
1876, five years after the Commune, MacMahon refused Victor Hugo’s request that
the deportation of a young communard journalist be postponed, you declare, six years the
after the Budapest events, that 95 per cent of the political prisoners are free and the gre
defectors have been invited to return. Does not this throw light on the October 195 He
events? . . . , wh
J. K.: Our views have not changed ... We have been proclaiming since November 19:
4 [1956] that the party and the government are not guided by the spirit of revenge she
and we must determine through thorough analysis the forces which rallied against the rej
People’s Republic. They included, first of all, our sworn class enemies: the domestic Pe
bourgeoisie and international imperialism. Then came the rabble: the counter-revolu¬ ree
tion released 9,000 murderers, thieves and criminals of all types from prison. What ou
stand must be taken against these people? The answer is clear: the class enemy, i it of
uses violence, must be answered with violence. As to the criminals, they should be sent fiv
back, as far as possible, to where they came from. wc
There were many other people, however, who came into conflict with the People s his
Republic; yet the prime responsibility for their attitude lies not in themselves, but in
the wrong policies which for years undermined the rule of law and violated many en
things without which people cannot live and work. The revisionists also played a co
detrimental role and misled people by stating that they wanted to implement the spirit Oi
of the Twentieth Congress in Hungary, while in reality they leagued themselves with les
all kinds of enemies of people’s democracy. The fact that so many totally different an
forces could be rallied against us is a proof of the excellent tactical sense of our ene¬ as
mies. Their real objective was obviously the abolition of socialism and the restoration
of capitalism. To accomplish this goal they wanted to sever Hungary’s ties with the tii
Warsaw Treaty, thereby depriving her of protection and delivering her to the mercy P'
of international imperialism. At the beginning they kept these objectives hidden, but sc
later proclaimed them openly, during the days of the open counter-revolutionary in¬ w.
surrection, as was done, for instance, in the infamous radio statement of Cardinal pi
Mindszenty on November 3. ti
But what slogans were used during the preceding period when the hostile forces
were consolidating and rallying, that is between summer 1953 and October 1956. h;
During the summer of 1953 they demanded the restoration of democracy in the party. m
 Andre Wurmser Interview, Jan. 1963 227

■ , 1 QSfi thev called for the implementa-

and of socialist law and order m Jbc country ^^9 V ^ Nagy and his groUp
tion of the spirit of the Twentieth Congx • ^ ^ nQt able t0 differentiate
to the forefront; they werefollowd byp P ^ ^ background were the bour-
politically between the Right^and the Let , tel|i statements from the sum-
geoisie and imperialism.We av ^ y y’he counter-revolutionary leaders of the
mer of 1956; in connection with Imre I gy, ^ ^ ^ ^ disturb them in the least
Hungarian emigres pointedc£mmunist; the important thing was that they
that the movement wasi headed by October 23 when Imre Nagy and his group
should achieve a breakthroug. Then everything changed with
acted as doormen: they threw the -fthe background moved into the front line, while
amazing speed.The forces st“ ,g forefront were pushed increasingly into the back-
those who till then had stood inthe}°? , already being played by Mindszcnty.
ground. On November 3, the pnnc.palrde wasdre^y P y* ^ repeated
We had had a similar experience 0 there was a counter-revolutionary
.hose of 19,9 with imperialism. In 1919,
grouping in Hungary, which w pp backing of the French imperialist army,
Horthy’s counter-revolution M ***£**£ ^ ^ happened in Hungary in
whereas in 1956 the Americans p y it was socialism they wanted, but it
1919? The enemies of socialism advo the Rcpubiic of Councils and
should be a democratic social • ment„ headed by a certain Pcidl. The
replaced it by a so-called trade ur» ^ ^ ^ sixih day about fifteen counter-
Peidl group was in po*" 0 ° y t building and declared: now you are to get
revolutionaries entered.the= gov coats and left. This was the beginning

Sh:«&"^sfge«np and ge, out. And he would have mhen

his hat and coat and left. essential problem was not to put the sworn
Coming back to your ques > ^ who> either because of ideological
enemies of the system in the same categ y ^ ^ People’s Repubhc.
confusion or for some other re^°n’ • criminals who were arrested, was
Our state meted out severe pumsM to the majo^c were told t0 g0 home
less severe with others, while o er P® P ’ alized have been amnestied - and
and think matters over The inaj>”ty ^ have been freed .. .
as you pointed out: 95 per cent o P nPQ Hungary, we do so in the convic-
Then again, when inviting ^ find thcir p,acefn our society and get along
tion that the majority w . 1 [hQSC who do not want to return to Hungary for
properly in their homeland. As decently in the country in
some family or other reasons, we caU them to the cause of peaCe and
which they will become, natura .zedpp _ sold out to reac-
progress. One group of Emigres - the s^UesUnnum ^ ^
tion. But we want even these peop . t me to ask another question. You
A. W.: Your humanism and Pa«^ eatchphrase “He who is

SrjST! ZXSZS- wTd. me Ph^ of trust: “He who is no, against us ,s wnh
 Speeches and Interviews
farmers but
us ” We know how much trouble came from vigilance changing into systematic between far
distrust, but undoubtedly you are taking up the cudgels against more than just sus¬
never in a:
picion when you speak so emphatically about “the party of the entire nation . _ to our regir
J K : Let us look at this question more closely. The Hungarian Socialist Workers
weapons to
Party is the revolutionary vanguard of the working class. However, the party is devel¬
of a coope
oping and its role is changing. We can state now that our party is on the road to be¬
A. W.:I
coming the party of the entire people, while socialism is becoming the objective ot the sion from j
entire nation. With this we wish to demonstrate that socialism will bring into being J. K. : T
the national prosperity forecast by the greatest Hungarian patriots. Socialism is no
it has incre
more the exclusive goal of the party or the working class, it does not serve only the
struction.'
cause of the working class, but is being achieved for the good of the entire people, the princip
and can only be achieved by the entire people. problems <
There are no longer classes in our country whose interests conflict with socialism.
and the pe
The ideas of socialism and Communism are widespread. Moreover, there is a growing
party.
certainty that socialism ensures prosperity and coincides with the interests of all wor - A. W.:’
ine people. We can therefore say that understanding is also rising constantly and peo¬
period?
ple are becoming, ever more consciously, builders of a socialist society. These facts J. K.: 1
cannot be reconciled with a lack of confidence in the masses or with a distrust of
A. W.:
people belonging to various social categories, something which prevailed under the J. K.: I:
personality cult. Distrust engenders distrust, while confidence generates confidence.
socialist ct
I can cite two examples. , 1,1957. Bi
Early in 1957, when we still could not entirely isolate the anarchistic elements and Following
there were still a large number of weapons about, though we did not know where or preceding
in whose hands they were, we organized and armed the Workers Militia. The Work followed 1
Militia by the way, does not consist of workers only, but also includes peasants,
whom we
office employees and intellectuals. Thus many Hungarians have possessed weapons
people wfc
for the past six years. When we provided them with weapons we could not guarantee not belon
that they were in complete agreement with us, and on every question ; we were merely
A.W.:
convinced that they were supporters of people’s democracy. This is Social De
them: “Hold on to your weapons, and defend the regime, if necessary. As the p p J. K.:1
we armed saw that we had confidence in them, they, on their part, answered with
was form
confidence, too. In not one single case, not once, was one of these weapons turned
Party was
party in I
aSLetus now speak about the countryside. We have approximately 4,200 cooperative two parti'
farms. Discussions were carried on with some peasants for eight to ten years, and After u
many who did not join the cooperatives were excellent farmers. Such a peasant finally
which inc
makes up his mind and joins. When it comes to the election of the president of the
consider
cooperative farm, members vote him into office. Our man just cannot make sense of it,
there is u
how does it happen that he who until recently was farming on his own and disputing
members
with cooperative members is now elected president? But the members keep on in¬
aries in s<
sisting- “Never mind, just accept it, since we know that you are the right man tor the
kasits am
job and we have confidence in you.” Hundreds of such cases took place and the before ui
“presidents” had the same idea in every case: if the entire community, including t e
and desp
party organization, trusts me, I cannot disappoint them. A few of these leaders
then aga
perhaps less than five in the entire country-were later replaced by the cooperative
 Andre Wurmser Interview, Jan. 1963

filIPJiiiS
If aPcooperative farm. brings in returns. But can one draw the conclu

PT W.: Will the party membership, in your opinion, grow or dechne

period?
J K.: It will increase.
A w • And is it increasing? somewhat from that of the other
tl: In this respect Hungary’s I—November 1956 and May
socialist countries. We ^^‘“vSrdsS not done automatically, it was conttolkd.
1 1957. But the issuing of new party cards w appr0ximately 40 per cent of that
Following reorganization, patty^ **qualitative change had necessany
receding the counter-revolution. This y q the young generation, to
fo llw d by a certain growth. We are faced.first of aU our ^ attracted
wLTwc LuM not of our present membersh.p did

t hat is the relationship today between former

A W ' While we are on this subjec , v. . Socialist Workers Party .
Social Democrats and Communists in the Hui* ^ Marxist_Leninist parties
T K ' The Communist Party of Hunga y, however, the Social Democratic

narty in Hungary, born during the victory for the working class,
two parties fourteen yearsagowasagre ^^ suffered under a repression
After unification, a number of ^rmcr We condemn these measures and
which incidentally did not spare Comthem our responsibility. At presen
consider restitution for the damage “^>of fonner Social Democrats.who are
there is^umty^inoiu'^part)^Ieou^t^^ e^id jjQportant^aU^positions^OT Sza-

TriS in social and trade union bodies, SEXStS&ZS** Defats

t •. onH S7urdi2". One has to think hard today logical, too, since a long
230 Speeches and Interviews

building of socialism. There

clashes that selection has taken place on. ^ ^ tQ the communist
between party members on the grou f sufficient to know their conduct during

ses?srsss&in— -
go back to an earlier period IDuringth<elHo YJR ^ Federation 0f Young Com-
eanizations were driven underground, J kinthe Social Democratic Party
munist Workers. Then I with the progressive elements of the
and the trade unionSpIn that epo h P ent j was also a trade umon shop
Social Democratic Party on th« b“ . . Democrats; some of them were conscious
steward. I got to know tho^ ^ Socm l3 ssed pctty.bourge0is views,
and staunch partisans °f.the became Social Democrats as they developed
while some were progressive liber with Social Democratic comrades about
I had plenty of discussions in * * h ^ CommUnist Party was m power,
the lessons of history. There was a county ^ oduction and laid the founta¬
in that country they had nationalized ?t Union. Then there were other
lions of a socialist society. ^f^^atTc^r labour governments, like Great Britain,
countries with socialist, ^}D^^TcoLncs ... 1 maintain that it is
France, the Weimar
by no means a matter of lD^™*'°™choosli between the rule of a socialist or Con¬
or a conservative government KI always“Vote” for the socialist
servative government in a capitahs.count y socialist governments secured at
government. Yet what does luster' ^ 1 “ Britain, for instance, five million
times considerable benefit. ^ *b«r £ ^ a matter of indifference to these five
people received free dental care It y But history also shows that the
million people whether their teeth are goodo countries. j believe lhat we
structure of capitalist society d^ we must unite with all progressive

forc^^^chteve some 'democratic institutions and push through some social

m AS XV.: This is also the attitu* of the FrendiCOTimun^' £eronists> and they
j. K.: The Communist Party of Argentm P petty-bourgeois, radical and
are right to do so. One can ^ the socialists are the closest to us.
other movements, but when -ocialists - and they have to answer it themselves.
But there is a question that faces th ^ servicc, if they want to achieve a new
for their struggle to go beyond hand offercd them by the Communists,
social order, they have to accept 1 P ^ who will understand this when
Our experience proves that there are both illegal at the time, worked
history poses the question Our parties 'vh ^ ^ Communist Party, driven
in the fullest unity after May 1944 th u and the social Democratic
underground for twenty-fivei yea Then ^ struggle began for the seizure
Party was als? reorg^lasSsaa struggle which lasted for three years, from 1945 till
of power by the working class, a svrufcB
 231
Andre Wurmser Interview, Jan. 1963

mmwmm
party, y

P‘“when “look back on

- - - ri
„ ,vip Hnrthvera.and on tne

Cn tow'^ conclusion: whenever rela-

ZSSSSSSSsSs:se=
’W?3k now like to P--«3SS S^SSM*** trends in

16
232 Speeches and Interviews

T K - The relations between the party-and, let us add, the government-and the
intelLu^ ie good It is indisputable that the intelligentsia does not always have

of them they want to be treated as adults, they expect us to tell them the truth, tney

££& el—ry «<!— °f ““f" C"do nri ,hS

ensured, they want us to take their opinions into account, they do not wan
dignity to be insulted . ..

t'lT-'tathta Sy^aSau'oTTstgood one, and the intellectual, are satisfied.

^KW4C0^™dAfaSrofWa»1ttis, there is a very rignitantpohtiea,

rappwcheme*. Once the proper atmosphere for creative ^t>
lecfual accepts, indeed demands, the ideological guidance of the pa^. jot w
to imnlv bv this that there is complete unity on ideological matters, t he c g

—
“ajSTsSSJS; Lc Bourgeois Gentilhomme, who neither wished to write in

PTeKn0ExaJlyr.SNeither the dictatorship of the capitalists, nor the dictatorship of

the proletariat Well, of course, that will also come about in the future ... but rig

nTwh°iCdohn’Stwant ^0^ you" national pride, Comrade Kaddr, but these are

not s°lcl^U^y1“ f deed prevalent in other countries, if we had wanted to engage

J. K.. Yes, tney F vjews of minority of intellectuals who do

not1 agree with our principles, we should have taken up the cudgels against at least
sixty erroneous views, some of which have only a handful of supporters in the country.
Forus the essential thing is that Marxist ideology should permeate the masses. Six
hundred thousand peopled hundred thousand more than our party membership -
are taking part in extra-curricular party education which embraces the study of
Marxism-Leninism. Moreover, four hundred thousand young people attend classc
“ MaSism“ism. This add, up to a million people, and approximate,, thre -
fifths of them are neither party members, nor members of the Young Communis
League. And this million includes several tens of thousands of intellectuals who regis-

ter,Wetire witnessing,tn addition^a great^ferment in our entire cultural life, which has
its repercussions in literature and drama. A perusal of the recent
reveals the names of all our living authors. There is not a single writer in Hung try
who keeps silent. You should have the programme of our theatres translated, clas
 233

Aniri ffmnser ^ m3
often in Hungary than

, ShaKesPca 1
Stek«^^^dp“taps

trBSa"y P°P“ _ , „toed — ^ d;*,_*--*«•*-

r^.»VsaeSS?eSi ®
problems and f yesterday a -^^etb*
2
^
istoSSSisSfflS&S'—S
the Communist DobozT ^ Three P** *£nt; one of them. The ^rJ^IS
understand is a t re(jinour theaties- counter-revo u works, for

’“y.’SSJSSS “ “°k rCe SU »* 'J&ZSL** <• «■**

3 SsS^.SSfS££
^ * a",ues,ioM and
^t‘p<S=y.let ™“ Comrade KMST, but .. Ireached a

“r^«i-d °f ,her"d “ go through

. sS^SsSsss®:1—"
starting P°inl’m
234 Speeches anu
Speecnes and «>«■
Interviews

years aBo; we had no S"avl

-£Z EiSSSSS tZ Vis a common eanse.

A. W.: That is my only excuse .. •

Sneech at a Mass Meeting Held

oSe Occasion of UN Secretary-General
U Thant’s Visit at Csepel
JULY 2, 1963

Comrades, . ,
• Pi>nr>le*s Republic invited the highly esteemed

Mr-u Thant> to visit

gary. The Secretary-General accepted ^ ^oday'to friends, to impartial men of good
The gates of our country are thrown P AUhoUgh we are by no means satisfied wit
will, and even to our ill-disposed cr • ^ ^ jn our country is bound to
our achievements, we are convinced while thc well-meaning inquirers get
give strength and encouragement toonr fr d. ^ ^ ^ iU-disposed critic cannot
somewhat closer to u"dersta^'"8 -th £c same conviction as before his visit,
spread lies about conditions here with ntative of the positive impartiality
We consider the Sceretary-Gener^^ ^ friendly feelings towards all peoples,

imdudin'g our people^and the Hungariancomplicated position

jss rr£ -a,s° eel 8°mewha

closer to our people in sentiment talk with the Secretary-General

yeL^f^
 235

WN.VT„*«<»+**«*
i ’ this eighteen years ol

have been a
^^<*X
personality cult,
^b‘mrnla"4 Otheropt'o» was coa-
,. of these politi , . Qf 0ur Pub'! p . timperial-
development. As a t accumu\ated as a P,stem, and by 'nte™ embittered and
and dissatisfactio 1 J by thfi encmies ° ded in turning justly .nsurrcction.
cerned. This was p resentation t c5 counter-revolutio the straight
ism, and us, and m found our ^f^ancing along
dissatisfied peop B overcaroe this, nQW OUT people ar tQ year.
ButtheHungar s deVClopnien , achievements, ft VOutput is three-
and bright Path °f.confidence, chalk.ngup ^ Liberation and cxport-

Sg^Xrrproducts we could not eve^ ^ ^ task of^ociahst

reorganization a d ^ & higher level- J ^ other spheres- wC have

"d rsJSESE". o' *g%£?JZ

pie’s Republic ^^^ds it, nor by ^tne hundred per o«t« ^ much
those who bear dl ^ socialist ru e oHaw o^ ^ Hc st have sQme ^

about those who wete_) ^ ^ duty to pr^ we also punish^But he

were not released- d and, if ncc J was imprisoned f whcn an

did

amnesty. w
236 Speeches and Interviews

in the press. It was tejw* ^ «nd<* ~

5£S—
not wish to mislead the Secretary e > ^ firm in our country and our peop e
The fact of the matter «that peop P objectives. Are we really satisfied
are working in unity for the ac^eveme^t of °aa ^ at things. If we consider

country was — I - - ««

we are happy with what we have achieved pubtie education, culture and

SgtatdTrdTln « must be veryaHc t0 poi„, out with a great

Workers' Party, the leading force m "“"feared that our people's advance has
tions of socialism m our countty, rf ^ 80Cjt|ist sodety is the objective. This is our

"““—.'and this“Xlfcng of peace. Hungary

the world and its nations^ But Hung ry Unjon_ and we are in friendship with he
closest and best helper ^friend, thS ourselves become a part of the
great community of soaahst count ^s. Thus ^ dcdsive role in influencing the
mighty international force which is P J wjth all progressive forces, with
destiny of mankind. This mig ty' orcc . ^ with ap those who are still fighting
the peoples liberated from the colon . » n d ecent peoples the world
for liberation from colonial oP=om peace. We are adherent
over who agree with us on one qu ’ ^ differing social systems. Yes, w
of the peaceful coexistence between countn^^ we ^ to maintain normal rec¬
all countries, and I must state 1 too. Frankiy speaking, we do not a
tions with the government of the• Ujltcd ’ ,Q build our socialist society without
anything from the United States. We are g Z thc face of their opposition and
their assistance, just as we havc b“ d calling for an international conference
interference. We support the UN resolut ^ to the cauSe of peace and to
„„ world .rude,because«betouttatth ^ of Md increasmg trade

ITokZ L exchange of ***-—“££ at first by the imperialists.

The small Hungarian People s Republic, P S so far failed to realize
is gaining in strength that it would help us
the benefits of mutual trade may their profit as well. We view the work
speed our development, while lettmg t amount of expectation and hope.
of the United Nations ^“^^ations Organization will indeed serve the inter-

2f of or ano
 With U Thant at Csepel, July 1963 237

group of powers We hope-.tint*go-

will be able to play a postltve rol.forthebom« ^ ^ ^ end

of peace. , Thp pinhth Party Congress laid down the

is n&z ~=«
tary-General on the date of his visi , decided to go to Berlin to extend, m a
a lot. In the meantime it so happened tt^ tQ Comrade Ulbricht who has
fitting manner, our best w,sh German Communist movement. We si-
a record of over fifty years of strugg lh Geman Democratic Republic, which
multaneously expressed our solidarity wi ^ workers- and peasants’ state on
at last represents an anti-impenal.st, an , had J0 come back quickly from

BerlhTto^udap^stl^t^our honoured guest should get here ahead of me, because at ,s

bad ^ewfortte hMU^w^^^t.^^ Novotny> Zhivkov, Fajon

You all know that Comrades Khru ^i class moVement were also in
and other representatives course We talked about our common problems

maintain our unity; then our causeJJ'1'llhoUoh I do not like to make prophe-
I thank you, comrades, for Your advancing during the last few years in all
cies, yet I believe that, just as we have been ad g In order to
spheres and in all respects, so we wi. "its job properly,

achieve this, out form ge™n£,h„e separately, we can only advance

Sm workers of the plant good health, good work and

plenty of success.

alists,
ealize
elp us
: work
hope.
inter-
uother
238 Speeches and Interviews

Interview
with AP Correspondent Preston Grover
JUNE 1965

Preston Grover: At about the same time as I left Moscow the East European
countries started to examine the West more seriously than previously. What is the
meaning of this interest in the West on the part of the East European socialist coun¬
tries and how are they studying the situation there? At the same time there are definite
signs in the Western countries that they also want to have a “new look at the East
European countries. ... ........
jAnos KAdar: Our countries have always taken what is happening in the West into
account. This was true even in the period of isolation. In my opinion the reason for the
change is that there have been certain changes both in the international situation and
in the evaluation of issues in recent years. „ ..
The best way I can put it is that both sides have realized more forcefully over the
past years that the outbreak of a world war has to be prevented and peaceful coexis¬
tence somehow achieved. Iam thinking of the past four to five years. This is the situa¬
tion which made the East European countries, including the government of the Hun¬
garian People’s Republic, study how to implement peaceful coexistence with greater
attention and in greater depth. But I must also add that the development which can,
to a certain extent, be regarded as breaking the ice of the cold war, does not go in a
straight line. There are situations hindering the process, and there are events which
can even set it back. At the moment there are several factors on the international scene
which are unfavourable to this process. I mean first and foremost the situation which
has arisen in the Vietnamese area and the aggression of the United States, which we
condemn. In connection with this I should like to state that the Hungarian government
continues to be of the opinion that peaceful coexistence and normal diplomatic rela¬
tions are necessary and that it is possible to establish contacts in trade, culture and in
other fields between the socialist and Western countries. In my view it is still true that
the only alternative to a possible new world war is peaceful coexistence. The interests
of the Hungarian people and the Hungarian People’s Republic call for peace. But we
are convinced that this is the interest of every nation in the world.
P. G.: I do not know if you have adequately studied the American opinion that
aggression in Vietnam comes from the North to the South.
j. K.: I know this American view, at least the one that is officially proclaimed, ana
T find it unacceptable. In our judgement there are two clearly distinguishable things in
Vietnam. One is the question of South Vietnam. What is happening m South Vietnam
is that the United States is interfering in the internal affairs of the Vietnamese people.
The other is the issue of North Vietnam, the military aggression against North Viet¬
nam, an act running counter to all international norms.
P. G.: The Americans have the feeling that their position is not understood in this
part of the world ...
 239
Preston Grover Interview, June 1965

j K ' I think those who believe that this is• theP1J^^StoWs Administration

o/view is sot *”d P"^^i?5££2

point of the pr The issue of Vietnam haa ,;oc to an unani-

European
is the sore U““d Tndt SS the British
Vbat is the
ialist coun-
are definite
at the East

ie West into
:ason for the “FrCSnited States is fully aware of the “SSSS
ituation and

ally over the

ceful coexis-
s is the situa-
t of the Hun- sion is always that there Ban Indo-China issue. ^
: with greater national law and w States has to decide is to intensifi-
nt which can,
es not go in a
. events which
national scene
ituation which
atcs, which we
an government
5SS=SS.=%===
progress in another Part * ‘he ^ same emphasis ^
iplomatic rela-
, culture and in
,s still true that
e. The interests
^^SSSSSSrsas
,r peace. But we
fo?'The conclusion P— of
an opinion that United States carries on ” ^ t_wSt relations? . , m only

proclaimed, and
lishable things in emphasize my °P“0° *countries with different social systems. ^ ^ ^
n South Vietnam relations and coopera Vietnam which is extremely P Hungary,
etnamese people,
linst North Viet-

nderstood in this #g§

UO Speeches and Interviews P. G.:U
am more di
socialist co’
given situat
J.K.:ln
Still I would ask whether It IS posb.u ,. normal an
People’s F
each othe:
live far fr
It is in or
system of
relations:
Of cours
People’s
the Hun
States.B
has exist
with the
between
has exis
to a cei
econon
cessary
the gre

sr—- - I also
and c<
every
five a
Amer
the day in the long run, say in about ,M also add that the Ad-
Peopl
further ahead? .. ; y conviction. I would <■ iSSue
j K.: Peaceful coexistence. This s my revise their position on tn_ lows!

ministration of the earlier to thej^ton of

0fVietnam.Tho«^youMMm^o,JcOTtKpre8t.ge!si ” 1954.
^
The United States is a big coun Y s a glVen situatio ring

righ, way to »PPt"S MS*

s-'i=ssr^;ica'iS-t
ISlSESipiSS
lent °f abte^itMtaw without los,ng face,
the point at which they were a
 Preston Grover Interview, June 1965 241

P. G.: I can understand this position, but this is not the American one ... What I
am more directly interested in now is the following: how are relations between the
socialist countries and the United States going to develop, considering the presently
given situation in Vietnam?
J. K.: In our opinion, and according to our intentions and efforts, there should be
normal and indeed good relations between the United States and the Hungarian
People’s Republic at some future date. Our peoples have no reason to be angry with
each other, we can have no special demands on each other and geographically we
live far from each other. But I am convinced that we also have common interests.
It is in our common interest to live in peace. It is not our task to change the social
system of the United States. In our opinion it is possible and in fact necessary to have
relations in every field where it is to our mutual advantage. In economic or other areas.
Of course we do not think that good relations with, for example, the Hungarian
People’s Republic is of vital importance to the United States. Nor do we think that
the Hungarian People’s Republic can be a major business partner for the United
States. But there is another aspect to be considered. The Hungarian People’s Republic
has existed for 20 years. In the major part of this period we have not had good relations
with the United States and there has not been any de facto communication and trade
between the two countries. In spite of this, however, the Hungarian People’s Republic
has existed, has become stronger and has developed. But if relations are normal, it is
to a certain extent to the advantage of and useful to both sides. I think that on the
economic scene you also are governed by the rule that international turnover is ne¬
cessary. We too need partners, we are looking for them and we find them. I have lived
the greater part of my life in the capitalist system, I worked with capitalist companies,
I also know trading companies and I know the rules of the game. Undertakings
and companies with reasonable management know that they have to reckon with
every customer, with the small ones as well as the big ones. T know that you have
five and ten cent stores, but even there the customer is made welcome. That is the
American side of the thing. The Hungarian side is very simple, too. The Hungarian
People’s Republic is obliged to have a considerable volume of foreign trade. This fol¬
lows from the position of the country. A considerable part of this trade is with Western
countries. For us it is all the same in theory and practice, whether our business partner
is Italian, French, English, West German or American; the only important thing is
mutual advantage. I want to mention something else as well: trade relations between
the United States and the Hungarian'People’s Republic are on a very low level and
within very narrow limits.
But I also know that besides trade proper, there have been more considerable
indirect economic relations between the two countries over the past twenty years.
The ways of commerce are very complex and I know about certain channels through
which West European enterprises buy goods from Hungary and re-export them to the
United States or the other way around. It is all a question of approach which is the
more'rational: to pay commission to the go-between or to eliminate him.
P. G.: Coming to the situation in Hungary; there is obviously a tendency to have
less concentrated central planning and to make certain companies more independent,
either on a regional or on some other basis. How much has this trend developed in
■>4? speeches and Interviews
red in scope with similar tendencies in Romania or
Hungary and can this be compar altention to
C-*" when we reconstrncted the tot time we intro-

changing ^'e-omiem— " -*

duced certain methods anmng Mependent fotetgn trading.^“ „c also intro-

m=smms-
S=33g3=SgS=
fimMtwm
mmsmalization at any cost,
agrarian into an mdusmal on- N^
m0re econ0mic system
MSwer
b t the
in out

self-sufficiency on the labour is coming into the foe trade.

ass
amiable in international trade on —
a„eement between

mpUG“dThere were reports a^ent-^ ^

 243
Won Greer,n,ern^ June 1965

yder it possible to develop

d“s “

'mr‘te 71 that ,t does not exist, 1 only said *l ** ^ W*

between ^

and the Hungarian wQuld Uke to have discussed in detai .

S0VP. G8"There are £«e ^^ndTzenty issue ^J^fJSed about this matter
should like you to talk.a .f fewer questions had wd such exCitement
J. K.: I should ''ke tO SifYthc international press had n the Mindszenty

Hsss^ssfcssa
IfSi
difle^. conflicts Z »>1“ ^SX^***??*
s^sstSsiffissa
the separation of church and sta^ and the church. That ^ Mind.

are issues which are not d ve y fc ^ Vatican, for the Hun8 in this matter m

This is a problem of P 8 United States, too,^dsz8enty himself there is prest'S®

244 Speeches and Interviews
Converi
the Mo
JULY 2, 1966

"'f rmi^“sSTc»s« ^ ^ wi,h pcisMai matttrs in tte way

Henry Si
„d style
and yon often.
style yon often adopt• *
in the
*>orUnited Mates ^^what you Uke
like to
to read.
read. economic am
P. G.: Perhaps something about your w y not only from
JAnos KAr
K.: I have plenty of work winch tomtom to atlitudls
the Hungaria
that. Even someone with the simp■ es J reading because I am a student of
result. This e
to his work. I have little I am in favour of reading, under which
the old school. I rarely watc a res[ j read fiction. 1 read books Irom the
cal and ecom
If I have time to spare and“ 1 ive Am’erican fiction and prose writers and 1
and they havi
most diverse countries 1 kno P bQoks at the same time, two or three
the socialist
like them. The way I read. read it untii i fall asleep, The politit
them synchronously. F'ctlon re1^ ’1 f example jack London’s works. Proba- past to an en
I sometimes even read a book sn^ times P and bke lo read about people
cooperation
bly because I like nature and know{ Ukc and know Upton Sinclair and
Hungary’s
who have had a hie of many P pursuits? I like to play chess. At the age inevitable di
favourable \
per cent hig
of the popul
wages of wi
% a IZlSilSSZ .0 discuss, bn. . an. afraid I have income of tl

.1£
Sound de
health care;
have also w
" J^^SEE-S- A. .he sun* dme ,e. me take .his opponn- three-fold ii
the figure f<
population
^is'tihe united s,a,es to discuss

svrr«- ■ —
Last year a
such questions? _ned with me personally. By nature 1 am Cannes Fill
award at tl
prize at the
^ HowererJ^anTready ”to travel anywh^e^iml^any' time i^I c^D ^weer^tbe’unhed work carrii
tional culti

s-r=
coexistence. Of course several conditions are necessa y and p These ar
of the situ;
writings b;
present a ti
of a broac
has intend
 245
Interview, July 1966
Henry Shapiro

the Moscow-Basea »'UP1

m.ot a„n. * -

>m
ide
of
,ng-
the
nd I
;e of SSs
•oba-
eop'e
rand
sS=£2^€ £SB «2S
ie age
ecause
lay for
lescrip-
ss&s* - -
[ I have

health care andtional recognition. ~ pending secon with a

ts of the
the right
opportu-

to discuss
LaSt yCap-L Festival; the same year s an0ther feature ^ UeCtua\, creative

iture 1 am
inderstand

rvice to the
tional cultural h think they sp h increasing n ho try to
lhe United
nd peaceful
246 Speeches and Interviews

to our country and have been able to obtain firsthand information about the real
situation in Hungary today. -
When taking stock of results achieved over the past ten years, we must not forget
that ten years ago the plight of both the country and the people was very ser^
When the party and government stated that they would lead the country back to the
path of socialist development many people maintained that they had undertaken an
impossible task. Since then even our opponents and our enemies have had to admit
that we have accomplished this task. Today the Hungarian People s Republic is strong,
she is making progress and she commands an appropriate international authority.
The world at large is aware of the fact that on the international plane our people are
taking their due share in the struggle for a better future for mankind, for progress

alf°sr ^i^there any institutional or other type of guarantee that the cult of the
nersonalitv will not revive? ,
J K • Yes, there is. I sec this guarantee as embodied within the socialist system
itself. In addition, on the basis of historical experience the laws have been appropri¬
ately supplemented so that they can ensure the lawful order of the state simulta¬
neously with the protection of its citizens. ... . „
H S • What are the limits to the freedom of intellectual and artistic expression.
J K. : There are only the limits which are prescribed by law. In other words, works
of art which incite against the existing legal order are not permitted. Nor are works
which arouse hatred against other peoples and other races, nor those which incite
war. There are legal limitations of these and a similar kind but in other respects cre¬
ative work is free.
H. S.: Is abstract art acceptable? ,
J K.: In our country there is no state law or decree designed to regulate the style
of works of art; therefore there is freedom of style-and this apphes to abstract art
as well To complete the picture, however, I should like to point out that although
abstract works are put on display at certain exhibitions, a large sect.on of the pur¬
chasers are public institutions or social bodies and when they make their purchases,
they do not give preference to abstract works. There is no ban on them, however.
Individual citizens can buy whatever piece of work they like.
H. S.: Yes, it is a matter of taste. Abstract works will go out of fashion in the same
way that any fashion comes and goes. D •
j k. : They had already gone out of fashion but the fashion has revived. Periodi¬
cally it keeps returning, like the waves. . ...
H. S.: In 1962, the same question was put to Fidel Castro and his reply was this.
it is not abstract art which is our enemy. Do you agree with this reply?
J. K.: Yes, I do. We are interested in the social aspects of the arts and cannot name
anv style as being in itself an enemy of society. . ,
H. S.: Is the Hungarian party of the opinion that “those who arc not against us
are with us”?
J. K.: I can reaffirm that.
H. S.: You said it, Mr. Kadar, about ten years ago.
 247
Henry Stop.™ lu'y 1966
At one of the meetings of the

, K, M, memory tor
National Councilof "a°roe into my mind. It it also describes the
t the real
considered, this expre ^ ^ esSential polrtiw y, ^ Uving from work and
ed. However, perso Y state every citizen wh wQfk of construction which
not forget
•y serious. way things are. In a . is aiso contnbutmg political decision to that
practices his profession hon Y thisown, separate , p person who
ack to the
ingoing on in **£?£%£be harmful and to de.r^ ^^ . indif
jrtaken an
effect. In a PollU<*J ^ certain questions of ideo^oY unrcasonable to increase
d to admit
ic is strong,
| authority.
does not take an interes
ferent to w* ^^ by designating people as
In general I conside
J therefore 1 am op-
. ^ ^ designated an

: people are
'or progress

s cult of the TS' •subiec,ive tema^k,

1 K • Ves, go ahead. >e who were in a situa

:ialist system
:en appropri-
itate simulta-

c expression?
words, works
At the same time we d foture. Since then h fitical nature against
SJor are works
been committed and not to committedcriminalMte^ havebeenar.
,e which incite
many, in which some citize t them and so so not more
;r respects cre-
Te s^tem. Legal number is recidivists
rested, sentenced and a J as , know, there are the provisions of

gulate the style

i to abstract art
it that although
H. S.: Do you conside organized state, every
tion of the pur-
privilege? this issue in this sense. As me Y to 0ur present
their purchases,
j K.: We do not treat tn for a passport, acc u there arc
them, however.
citizen in Hungary haf’ *Cob^acle, he will be given his^asspo. • made on lbis
practice, if there is no,lega£ ^poseS. When f^^g^rency and foreign
shion in the same certain regulations^^ons-questions rel« to fweg 8tatc. But what
question, economic consid in the same way as in a Y known, a corn-
revived. Periodi-
exchange, etc.-may play a ^ ^ ^ some yearn ago « « Rungary and the

ris reply was this:

Jand cannot name

are not against us

Yugoslav type?
250 Speeches and Interviews

As is known, in line with our policy towards the churches, which ensures liberty of
conscience, and through our efforts to solve outstanding issues, our government
was the first of the socialist countries to conclude an agreement with the Vatican
which is acceptable to both parties.
H. S.: Regarding relations between Hungary and the capitalist countries could
you say something about how ties between the United States and Hungary could
improve ?
J. K.: In my opinion, if both parties approach the outstanding issues with the
sincere intention of solving them, there will be no unsurmountable obstacles, and
the relations between the two countries could be normalized.
There are certain problems, certain material demands on both sides, commercial
restrictions and the like; these are what I mean when I said that the gaps between
the two positions on various issues can be bridged.
By the way, negotiations on this problem between the two countries have been
in progress for some time.
H. S.: Since when?
J. K.: For about two years now. They are in progress right at this moment.
H. S.: President Johnson’s policy of building a bridge towards the East European
countries is well known. Have you any comment on this, or anything to add to it,
Mr. Kadar?
J. K.: We know these statements which have been made by President Johnson.
However, his performance as president (of the United States) gives rise to doubts about
the sincerity of these statements, because the actions which we see exert an influence
in the opposite direction. The expression of the desire itself falls in with our sincere
intentions; in fact we try to coexist peacefully with every country, irrespective of
what social system they have.
H. S.; Does the case of Cardinal Mindszenty constitute an obstacle to the develop¬
ment of good relations with Hungary’s Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican and
the United States?
J. K.: The Mindszenty question has been at a standstill for years. I cannot say
anything new on the heart of the matter. But so far as your question is concerned,
I can say in reply that Mindszenty’s position is well known. He now lives as the
guest of the American people.
H. S.: Do you mean to say that he is a welcome or unwelcome guest...
J. K.: Life has gone past him and past the Mindszenty issue as well. Our relations,
the relations of the state with the Roman Catholic Church of Hungary, are tolerable
and acceptable. This applies to both parties.
In essence the situation is similar as regards our links with the Vatican. The so-
called Mindszenty question has not been settled. We have, however, conducted ne¬
gotiations with the Vatican and a certain agreement has been reached.
There is one more element involved in the problem: to a certain extent the Mind¬
szenty issue acts as an obstacle to normalizing our relations with the United States;
it has a disturbing effect on our relations.
H. S.: Can the unity of the socialist community be achieved despite the differences
of opinion between the Soviet Union and China?
 Henry Shapiro Interview, July 1966 251

J. K.: What you are alluding to is the difference of opinion between the leaders
of the Communist Party of China and practically all the other parties of the inter¬
national Communist movement, and not between the Soviet Union and China.
Our starting point is our principles and our fundamental common interests. The
Soviet Union and along with it the Hungarian People’s Republic and the Communists
of other socialist countries strive for unity with the Chinese Communists. This unity
will sooner or later be realized. Tn our opinion it will come about even if differences
of opinion prevail for some time; united action against the imperialists is possible
and necessary especially now, to assist the Vietnamese people who are waging a heroic
struggle for their freedom.
H. S.: It appears - and this came out at the Bucharest Conference, too, — that the
efforts to achieve unity are very much on one side, and the Chinese reject every
endeavour aimed at unity. At the same time they say that the Soviet leaders are
renegades. How is unity possible under such conditions?
J. K.: As a supplement to what has been said I can mention certain historical
experiences. The international workers’ movement and the Communist movement
itself have existed since Marx. During the past 120 years there have been differences
of opinion and debate, but they have always been ironed out or settled. Everything
in life changes, including the circumstances, and the evaluation of questions; thus
the debate carried on right now and which is often a heated one is a problem asso¬
ciated with a certain period of time and so it will be settled.
H. S.: It is true that since Marx there have been debates in the international work¬
ing class movement, but over the past 10 to 20 years the antagonisms and disputes
in several socialist states have also come to assume the form of conflict between so¬
cialist states. Does not this bring about a change in the picture in a certain sense ?
J. K.: In a certain sense it does. On the basis of the principles of Marxism and in
line with interests held in common they can also be settled. The current debates cause
problems for the adherents of socialism and afford pleasure to people who are hostile
to socialism and so they attach different hopes to these debates. Now, as you men¬
tioned, the socialist system exists, but there are also debates, and problems may also
arise in the relations between socialist countries. Well, so far as I am concerned, if
around 1930 when I became a Communist someone had asked me: “In the 1960s
there will be socialist systems in many countries but there will also be debates; do you
want that or not?” I would have been only too pleased to raise both my hands to ex¬
press my approval.
H. S.: Mr. Kadar, you are an optimist.
J. K.: I am. This seems to be a matter of constitution and ideology. I have seen
and lived through a lot of very bad times and then they were over; things have
invariably taken a turn for the better. Therefore I cannot be anything but an optimist.
H. S.: What role is played by nationalism in promoting or slowing down socialist
development, with special regard to the coordination of the policies pursued by
the socialist countries?
J. K.: Communists are internationalists on principle, for this is at the heart of
their ideals. Therefore they also follow this principle in the international relations of
those countries in which they govern. They also try to implant this principle more
 H. S.:M
252 Speeches and Interviews _ runs parallel Isitnotthi
China and
the confiic
J. K.: ‘
nationalis

SS^S&^S-sSSs
to an increase of nationa56
same as nationalism^
^ reacU0nary,, pride into nation-
J^c0untries too, distort justified flare up ,n one
a negativi
H. S.:
ing class
interests
ternatior
llism .^s 1^U^tr^1tt>^the^>sameSet^I^||;^w^^)^a^nundermS^tfi® ^sses J. K.:
interna

S3TJS- A-f*-52r^ “ - major

to the c
ests of
now trying to bring a . or at the very least . These manoeuvres H. S
ing and encouraging nati ^ socialist world > ^ untries and the settled'
S tb. soviet »«■*'££, the id®** **•» P*» J.K
are also doomed to tail than any kind ot such attempts. positio
ideas held in common ate s» ^ IP gain ^ upper hand 0„
opinion to nationalism h policies pursued V country to act
PIt is possible to coordinate tb^ ^ not «g»»^ inde-

?^n-ooTdlnmed interests of the sociahst com-

***. in - socialist —
H S.: So far as nationalism . Romania m particu other socialist

**sprak 's

j K.: I do not think heir indlvidual pohtica PP countnes ?

say and how they say > °un g problem in the soc’ countr,es and
H. S.: Does nationabsmjus tQ in the EnW^ ^ tQ play at a
j K.: Nationalism has take f thinking had a P' j my opinion,
in the minds of their P^J^d when nations were emerf ng. coun.
certain stage of in Europe, ‘^^fich emerged in times
however, it no longer has.**» role. *^°Xts to ensure the exis-
tries, nation^ism cm e^en play^aiis^ _ taking existence and deve -
past under the banner essential conditions for its c a Communist. It is
tence of the nation, and the times. As you kno . d 0f friend-

^"Sndship and a socialist pohC-

 253
Shapiro Intend, W 1966
Henry snap*1".
Henry
. „mpnt of nationalism.

H. S, Mr. Wdar,
Xs5not«h=temn;;ntsof»®countties1Does„.™t, ^
“
parallel
deludes

of each
nationahst elements and rem ^ inlerests of the ^m^o national
me time
s not the a HgSiVeArre0there ^aU^ority ov^ U own Conflict with in-
vhich are
o nation- i^ss-eS^^U " ,onal and common
up in one
i interna-
»successes

major imPort e on fundamental qu countries be

nspir-
i them rstf0\^^
icuvres
ind the
public

to act
t inde-
wever,
°SZPnSL and «*-«£ ~S£t2a* »«£
ocialist
alists has ‘nvar J play them off one ag an end once an breaking
jt corn-

re quite
ed.Why
socialist
speak. Is

and WC I vnow not long ago there? Romania and the countries.

and
at a

un- “ “'"r^rSanese Soda- " > Asia as

mes
sxis-
evel-
.lt is of the Warsaw Treaty^

her claims on each other •

254 Speeches and Interviews

J. K, I do no, wan, ,o add t

respect of European security and ish_ unambiguous officiai statement, based

£*£££ - i* *—— a11 c““s * ““

“ H°t ■' Can the policy of peaceful coexislence be compatible with support for

the national liberation movement? ^ Secretary of state of

J. K.: Only a few years ago John Foste • coexistence as “Communist

firJS'M-i- is the only alternative to a new

world war. ;« not designed to govern relations

However, the principle of peace u c°f colonizers and the oppressed, the
between the exploiters and the exp o ag the foundation of the interstate
aggressor and the victim of aggress , systcms. This is the way we have

we are ,he u~ s""

porters of the policy of ■*“*¥'^ScxpS^iosc suffering under colonial
In other respects we are on the s . stru„„iing for their national mde-
oppression, the victims of aggression c p f that struggle legitimate. On the

sovereign states^he pominkmrf Republic and Vietnam) are compatible with the

policy of peaceful coexistence. conflicting views as to what is meant by a

- genuine, true national

liberation and which side should be ^Sfaueiob^ if» Possible to give a

J. K.t If someone is stneere ,n posrng.tins Pachieve national

completely clear and 'ma"*1i>“0“ le for liberation from the colonial yoke, or,

ofanotta ‘.St'emute inde£nden, national existence or to defend the

groups, for example, in Iraq an > struggling for national liberation.

other countries have nothing to ^ p^pk’s Republic on the question

of^t: r p^[ » * necessary to strengthen further

r^Heminaud"^,. on the initiative of the Unimd States, the aggres-

 Henry Shapiro Interview, July 1966 »5

1«.

«££'*«. Treaty — * s"™lhe"ed' but so much has

-;:- .-rJ^S^SCSZ**-“
SSf i J — Ration., was present,. -now wda,

——--——■ -

"^K1: The unification or «**

=?
°^J-^rhe^wi^iirt^ation^o^an a”a

agenda in the foreseeable fntute? 0f the

SOTS? --
®Sspspgsa5;:s
il rfpt;.e?Re°prfc as a sovereign state «-•*■£«£»«., fc * *>

gfeSSSSsM*-*
256 Speeches and Interviews

presence of Soviet troops here is to be sought in the international situation. Since

in general quite a lot of people are interested in this issue in your part of the world
T want to mention that at the moment there are countless initiatives and proposals
on the part of the Warsaw Treaty countries in this connection, ranging from the
possibility of withdrawing troops stationed abroad to within their national border^
to what was collectively repeated recently in Bucharest by the Warsaw Treaty
countries: that we are prepared to negotiate the disbanding of the two opposing
groups, the military organizations of NATO and the Warsaw Treaty and ttehqwda-
tion of the two treaties and groupings as well. This is how the question of the Soviet
troops provisionally stationed in Hungary stands at the moment, and this question
can only be negotiated in substance in the context mentioned.
H. S.: This means that the rumours . ..

H.S.: Can^^effective^lan for European security be elaborated without the

participateonhe United S a ^ legaUy> since the United States has

neither mandates nor trusteeship territories in Europe. In addition it is the European

peoples and countries who are primarily and directly interested mtheissueofEu
pean security; they know better than anyone else what they need for th’s se^r“y .
In the sense that the question of European security has an influence on wor d
affairs as a whole, naturally the United States is also affected by the issue and could

today, however, is not whether an

European security could be worked out faster and better with or without the direct
participation of the United States. The problem is that dunng the period wh ch
followed the Second World War, the United States did little to contnbute to the
security of this continent, but did many things which threatened and still threaten it
The things which constitute a threat to the security of the peoples of Europe today
are, first of all, the United States military bases which have been established and
maintained for offensive purposes in several European countries, her tre’ P
are stationed there, her aircraft and warships which are supplied with nuclear bombs
and which “patrol” European air-space and European waters, and ^erman ™
tarism which has been revived in the Federal Republic of Ccrmany w.th the support
of the United States. It is no secret that, ignoring the opposition displayed by e
her allies, the United States is aggravating the sduationstiHfurtherbywan g
make nuclear weapons available to the West German militansts. Tb> policy of war
and cold war should be abandoned by the administration of the United states and
then it would immediately be easier to tackle the problems of European security
H. S.: Mr. Kadar, you did reply. However, could I hear a little more about the
problem of whether any of the responsible world powers can be omitted from
European and other security plans, apart from moral questions and those of .nter-
national law? In the space of one generation the United States was twice forced to
take part in a world war involving the future of Europe. Can there bepcacein E P
without fundamental agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union,
naturally with the agreement of the European powers directly interested .
 Henry Shapiro Interview, My 1966 257

72 outside the
without the owing to the or play a
At the same time in question, they may in this sense
because of the size ofth^' of ^ worid an influence
considerable role: ,n the d P must have a say in matter such impor-
some of the great powers na ThuS for example, in my ju 8 arma-
on the world situation as a whote.1 preventing the expansion ofnu ^

225^^
on this issue. Soviet standpoint on the question

—■ w“1 said was con“med w,t

--
i‘S»c£^ viemam have -* * ~£*5S SSL."

ir" ' to quite a of the —s -£

of the intervention torces,

own future.
 Henry Shapiro Interview, July 1966 259

Chinese flatly rejected this allegation. What do you think of it? Is it possible to
inh increase the military and economic aid given to North Vietnam without the coopera¬
ted tion of the Chinese or at least without their hampering such shipments .
ght J K ‘ It is possible and this is what is actually happening.
H S Can there be a way out of the Vietnamese situation through negotiations?
t to i Y - We have always maintained that disputed international issues must be
ech settled through negotiation and this obviously applies to the situation in Vietnam
leva “ tell. However, in Vietnam today the problem at issue is not simply a disputed
, . that tht* United States is waging a colonial war in South Vietnam and
and Committing armed aggression agains. the Democratic Republic of Vietnam day
turn
ains ,e‘tr^“"i.ed States wiii no. be able to achieve
ved. anything In Vietnam with weapons, apart from political and military fiasco and if
anything in no alternative for her but to acknowledge the four
ndo-
must ShC 7anronosed by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the five-point proposal
ffSSES of South Vietnam, and accept them as a basts
ivith-
States can also end the whole matte* on her own hgh'ing
outh and negotiations: she should withdraw her interventionist troops from South Vietnam,
cease h« agression and in that same hour there will be peace tn the whole of Indo-

gular
ChHa<! • What are the possibilities of avoiding a third world war?
•nt of f K Today mankind is protected agains. the outbreak of a new world war by
the superiority of the peace-loving forces, or if 1 want to be more polite, I can pu
U like this- by a certain kind of balance offerees. This, however is not sufficient on
t like uas. y mankind from the threat of a third world war.
mean 'TreaCring^ shuatton willTn,?be created in ,h. world if the parties interested
in various issues set about seeking a solution to the problems with sincere readiness

itnam.
>nnel?
;spect.
etnam S It is also necessary to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, to end
made the arms race and to solve the problem of disarmament.
the arms race ana t ^ e cffort must be made to prevent a new world
At the
umber ot onW bv those sincerely anxious about the fate of peoples but also by every
loment
> is the
able io save itself from a new. third, world war. For our part, the Hungarian people,
reports

of the
*° -
something more? question ^ ^ evl!ry country and every
he des-
ihe Sfa of the outbreak of a third world war. The way to solve this
hat the problem is through peaceful coexistence between countries with different socia
m. The
258 Speeches and Interviews

<==-—- :^r::r,
:f#SSSSS|S2
SsajSSSSSfcaasas6
r,^. knowthere are no North Vie.nan.ese troops of any htn a

V hT It is said that there was a ..port from Hanoi saying that certam
miliary units were deployed of the National Liberation Front of

«iSvr»r-
J„Ks::^n"aBs« conn.ries speak of sending volunteers, do the, mean

sending them to North Vietnam ^ Vietnam.

JHKS • Spears to me that there is no *?**££££ technical personnel?

What would be the importance of to give assistance' VieTnam
1 K • This statement indicates Democratic Republic o
.hat if the government ot tne rountnes which made

S SSS;-KlifflS?
the statement are prep f North Vietnam has so far re- moment

- “is *he

t5Ss ixzt- sen rr -

Democratic Repub how many should go. Hungary that the

Chinese are hampering t P

 Henry Shapiro Interview, July 1966 259

Chinese flatly rejected this allegation. What do you think of it? Is it possible to
increase the military and economic aid given to North Vietnam without the coopera¬
tion of the Chinese or at least without their hampering such shipments?
J. K.: It is possible and this is what is actually happening.
H. S.: Can there be a way out of the Vietnamese situation through negotiations *>
J. K.: We have always maintained that disputed international issues must be
settled through negotiation and this obviously applies to the situation in Vietnam
as well. However, in Vietnam today the problem at issue is not simply a disputed
question but that the United States is waging a colonial war in South Vietnam and
is committing armed aggression against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam day
after day, thus infringing international law. 3
Many people have realized that the United States will not be able to achieve
anything in Vietnam with weapons, apart from political and military fiasco, and if
she wants to negotiate, there is no alternative for her but to acknowledge the four
points proposed by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the five-point proposal
of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and accept them as a basis
for negotiations.
But the United States can also end the whole matter on her own without fighting
and negotiations: she should withdraw her interventionist troops from South Vietnam,
cease her aggression and in that same hour there will be peace in the whole of Indo-
China.
H. S.: What are the possibilities of avoiding a third world war?
J. K.: Today mankind is protected against the outbreak of a new world war by
the superiority of the peace-loving forces, or if I want to be more polite, I can put
it like this: by a certain kind of balance of forces. This, however, is not sufficient on
its own in the final resort to save mankind from the threat of a third world war
A reassuring situation will only be created in the world if the parties interested
in various issues set about seeking a solution to the problems with sincere readiness
to reach an agreement. In addition, it is also necessary to observe international law
to refrain from aggression and to respect the sovereignty of countries. In order to
avoid major problems and trouble - and this is an acute question now - it is
necessary to end the aggression committed against the people of Vietnam without
delay. It is also necessary to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, to end
the arms race and to solve the problem of disarmament.
None of these issues is easy and every effort must be made to prevent a new world
war, not only by those sincerely anxious about the fate of peoples but also by every
man with a sound mind, irrespective of the country in which he lives. For my part
I believe that this will be the case, that is why I am confident that mankind will be
able to save itself from a new, third, world war. For our part, the Hungarian people,
our party and government will do their utmost to this end.
H. S.: I have no more questions, but perhaps you Mr. Kadar would like to say
something more ?
J. K.: I repeat that there is a question which is common to every country and every
man: the prevention of the outbreak of a third world war. The way to solve this
problem is through peaceful coexistence between countries with different social
260 Speeches and Interviews

systems. In order to accomplish this genuinely and completely not the least important
is that peoples living in countries with different social systems should get to know and
understand one another better. A wide variety of factors can come into play to
promote this. They range from appropriate work from the press to reciprocal
visits by tourists. That is why we have accepted the initiative taken by the news
agency you serve in seeking this interview. And if it can contribute just a little bit
to the better understanding of the real situation and opinions on either side, then
I am not sorry for a single minute that has been devoted to it.
So far as the people of the United States are concerned, with them we have no
problems whatsoever. We wish that the American people may prosper through their
work and may settle their social relations according to what they consider most
appropriate for them. We think it possible, and it would also be a good thing for
relations between the Hungarian People’s Republic and the United States to be
normalized. I sincerely wish it; and I thank you for your work.
It is said that the news agency you represent tends to be fair in its reports. If
this is the case, only good will come of it.

Report by the Central Committee

of the HSWP
to the 9th Congress of the Party
(Excerpts)
NOVEMBER 28, 1966

Distinguished Delegates, Dear Comrades,

Over the past four years our party has been working on the basis and in the spirit
of the resolutions passed by the 8th Congress and has been leading the Hungarian
people’s constructive work in the country in accordance with its historic mission.
The policy pursued by the party, the assistance given by the masses, the work of
organization and guidance given by the Communists and the purposeful efforts
made by the workers, peasants and intellectuals have yielded outstanding results:
the country has become richer in material terms, living standards have been improved
for the working people, the socialist social order has been strengthened and the
international authority commanded by our country, the Hungarian People’s Republic,
has increased.
 Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966 261

Our party has made rules

rss z
sr rr rs”
consistent implementation. dj i
-—- ~
were discussed and opinions on them
In response to our nvttaUon the duecUves w ^ Fronl,

were given by the ^^Sf^nSTrSZittee of the Young Com-

the Central Council of Trade U > National Council of Hungarian

o"o"“r5SS, end are prepared ro eooperare in their imple-

mentation. . rvntral Committee by the member-

A large numberof proposa s were^“"and the appropriate

^ *** *dad >nd by performmg

creative work. _ ,, f th. 0,1. Congress of the Hun-
Dear Comrades! Conditions are *v WOfk for the benefit of the people
garian Socialist Workers Party r^n nests ihe Congress to evaluate the work
and the country. The Central utilize the practical
which has bee" aceomplishe^ d of Marxist_Leninist theory. We pro¬
experiences gamed by the party on Ci.rther develop all the elements in our
pose that the Congress should approve and furtherdevelops shoold
party's activities which prov.de then of the time
change everything that has to be changed to-J ^ working
and changing conditions. Our mend*^“i^our work of socalist con-

SSoX'drfpeKrqr & “*
in detail, let me extend my centalgrf l‘"®e Hungarian revolutionary working class

movelnent^arid th^norHtarty representatives of the Patriotic People’s Front who are

262 Speeches and Interviews

with us today. In their personour non-party

XTh^fshTu^ to shoulder with .-d the

I welcome the delegates to this Cong > the Central Committee greets
comrades engaged in its orgamzatton. In * ^ unselfishly and untmng*
the whole membership, Comi"u™st ’ Jor <he socialist future of our people, without
f0rthnMh^sXy;Tnd0who are always prepared to give the assistance w

the key to every success achieved by the party.

THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION

and our foreign policy

Distinguished Delegates, Dear Comrades,

The Central Committee has been S'vi'ewof^soS construction

which are of decisive importance from P radictory development has taken
work carried on by the Hunga ™^ years. This Congress is meeting
place on the internaUonal scene over the P ,exity of the situation dur-
under complicated internationall condU, *». events as the Caribbean
ing the period under review is Republic, the continuous attack
crisis the American aggression in th Congo, the reactionary terror in
“r £d on b, the imperialists°Vh‘^Id ^ e™i and presently and most
Indonesia, the right-wing coup in Ghana ‘ United states against Vietnam, which
crucially, the barbarous war waged y pursued by our party
is colonel in its objectives. The powerful allies and in com-
and the government is that in c P successful in safeguarding the peace
plicated international conditions w J ^ conditions necessary for constructive
of our people and ensuring the ntern which constitute a threat,
work,thus upsetting all ptan. of
The fundamental contradictions in ■ / and the international working
and socialism, between the 'nternational b g u for the elimination

skss
K*
£2 sri^'r =r
which determines the development of the

international situation. forces of peace and socialism have con-

Since the 8th Congress of our party dedsive ^ tQ play among them,
tinued to grow. The socialist countnes h ic 0wth of the socialist countries are
 Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966 263

fourfold. During the same period industrial production in the socialist countries
grew to 510 per cent. Meanwhile the corresponding figure for the rest of the world,
that is all the non-socialist countries put together, is 225 per cent. In terms of
the rate of development we can hold our own in the competition with even the
most industrialized capitalist states, for while the annual growth of industrial pro¬
duction since 1950 was 7.2 per cent in the Common Market member states, the
annual increase in industrial production in the countries gathered in the Council
for Mutual Economic Assistance amounted to 10.9 per cent. Twenty-six per cent
of the area of the world is occupied by the socialist countries whose production
amounted to as much as 38 per cent of the world’s total industrial output in 1965.
It is obvious that the economic and, naturally, the military strength of the 14
countries making up the socialist world system has become much more substantial
not only in absolute terms but also in comparison with that of the capitalist
countries. The above facts fully support the highly important statements made at
the 1957 and 1960 Moscow meetings that the socialist world system is becoming a
decisive factor in the development of mankind.
This is the most important and, for peace and socialism, most favourable factor
in weighing up the international situation. However, we cannot keep silent about
the fact that at the moment the increased and invincible strength of the socialist
world system is divided and its full effectiveness is hampered by lack of unity.
The present disruptive policy pursued by the Chinese leaders, whatever their inten¬
tion may be, in practice serves the ends of the imperialists. The temporary disruption
of the unity of the socialist countries offers a tactical opportunity to the imperialists,
but it cannot alter the fact that historically our age is one of transition from cap¬
italism to Communism.
Asia, Africa and Latin America constitute essential areas in the worldwide struggle
taking place between the forces of progress and reaction. Following the establish¬
ment of the Soviet Union and then the socialist world system there was a force in
the world which the peoples under colonial oppression could rely on; they were
able to launch their victorious independence struggle against the imperialists who
subjugate them. The imperialists fought desperately to defend their colonial
empires, but the struggle waged by the peoples rising to annihilate the colonial
system is irresistible. After the Second World War sixty new independent states
were born in the place of the former colonial territories. Fifty years ago 66 per
cent of the world’s population occupying 77 per cent of the world’s total area lived
under the colonial oppression of the imperialists; today colonies in the classical
sense of the term occupy as little as 4 per cent of the world’s territory and their
population accounts for only 1 per cent of the world’s total.
In the countries where there is undisguised colonial rule and open oppression,
such as the Portuguese colonies, Rhodesia, the Republic of South Africa and else¬
where, the struggle waged by the oppressed is growing more intensive. The newly
independent countries are strengthening their independent national economies
and the other guarantees of their independence. In this situation the imperialists
adopt new, camouflaged “neo-colonialist” methods and use economic influence
and blackmail in an attempt to continue exploitation of the countries who recently

18
264 Speeches and Interviews

gained their political independence. In ?„ SnZf

i"1-places-,ike in Ghana',hey ha,e

“Spidered ^ i^vetoped Sve

colonial countries and the fact imperialists to carry out their counter-
and do offer a ^ ‘ «ont langnTge'and reiigion, often
attacks. Territorial and tribal division c°' nfficts between groups and indi-
created and induced artificia y, p us resistance of the newly independent
viduals boil down to the “'“2""oiTy /nationally and left
ST^ge^Tilers were responsible for the anned coniiie, between

PtTe dependent — the

Should follow comes very much ^ where ^ jnternal
choosing the capitalist or non-capit p • made an alliance
feudal, bourgeois and ™Utanst elements and forces werc not
in order to prevent social to prevent reaction from
sufficiently organized or vigilant, t y example to this effect is the crisis
gaining the upper hand te™P°ra" LembcT last8year; the carnage involving masses
which occurred in Indonesia in P division of the Indonesian people
of Cotntnunistttandother national tragedy,
who were united earlier aga p ■ f t f our Indonesian comrades, the
We are filled with profound gnef over the trag c i revolutionary forces of the
best pattiotsof It u^our ^ ^ again bc important factors

5STS5S5J2 SSS*^ national advancement

X great sociahst community have furt

^2s
country’s growing bilateral
Hungarian People’s Republic Thts anluNESCO-and in the
relations, in the Internationa organi Nations Organization, as is known,

°mfis“r,eteand to" one of the deputy presidents of the General

Assembly this year. _ . , develonmcnt of the closest

SrS«ss---“
Cr^“X^"riUrian People's Republic are unchanged.

The principles underlying this policy are as follows:

 Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966 265

X We defend our national

, have orga-
n the form of Twe ^"^3 *e soLis. countries - “ '
na, they have

ndent, former
eveloped have
their counter¬
religion, often SST- i.55—— of As,a;
tups and indi-
ly independent
-* «»= "ata,ion ot peacefu' coun“es w,th
onally and left different social system. our whole intcrnational activity • «'«•
inflict between
,J „Tnl“^wortdCw“ in collaboration with all pcacelovtng manltn, .
al development
the problem ol
ere the internal
nade an alliance
forces were not
it reaction from
ffect is the crisis
involving masses
idonesian people the PARTY’S ALLIANCE POLICY
national tragedy,
ian comrades, the Distinguished Delegates, Dear Comrades,
nary forces of the
important factors
advancement and

ian foreign policy

n more the sta-
-2SS3S?3|§g=S»
Confess that the fonndations of a
opened up a new stage of development, 1* Con
complete building of a socal-
that the period of major class
5 a member of the • , society It was also concluded by th had been established for the real-
>nal weight of the
5 growing bilateral SSunder
ESCO-and in the
ation, as is known,
and representatives
lhhip'TheS^
of a socialist society.
COmPlet,n8 thC bU' "8
place in the class structure of our^society
,e of the main com-
nts of the General JKESS *—“—*
nent of the closest
as well as our direct
rsaw Treaty and the
Sssssa^SaSS^
ublic are unchanged.
2«56 Speeches and Interviews momto easier
duced
and in the industrial cooperatives where introd
192,000. a quo
192,000. Meanwbrie therewas
— T .*££, dropped to
1949 and tas dropped to ,42 ,000by£.
” ortion

^SS&sscss^stt^
,he figure s oodwhich has gone atodjr*p,Sypr t»

of people employed in agncuiu- — —»

As a :
gary’s
they'
in %49 to 31 per cent. _ _rnnriation of the landowners and capi ahs , digni
cialis
As
SUb*e^Ugj ares^tof agricultural the s
is pr
erati
has brought about a tremendous increase has ako been a considerable opei
that
whi'
assc
tun
dar
and Editions for completing ^“^^ganan working class wemnot^woricers 1

before Z'u^ot^n^ ^
cd.hfr reason. This accounted for a ceriai , this has resulted in the

SnSSSS&SS:sSs
ssss,s,ss,==s£bs:;'ss=
=£Ss^=ri=r===3
the alliance of workers and peasant _• strengthening the workers a

SSSiS£SS==
SissE^iisss
■^ISSBSS.«
 267
Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966

easier for our peasantry to take the ^operatives. Besides

duced for the establishment and manage Spensions, and social insurance,
introducing the system of paying!'and renti WJ ^ &m and h ard work.
a quota system also became widespread have been consolidated m Hun-
As a result of all this the foundations ofsoc 1 ^ jp the coUective farms;
try’s rural areas. Our peasantry mana ed^^d^ work has acquired a new
they work honestly and are now bette ff *^ ^ everything else; a united so-
dignity in the Hungarian villages an tQ becoming a reality,
cialist cooperative-minded peasantry is jsmj agricultural organization and
As part of the reform of the econom d and developed To this end it
the system of production a national congress of agricultural coop-
is proposed by the Central Comnutt^th incipal questions relating to the
eratives be convened for next year to P^ It is proposed
operation and production activities ofthe ^ be electcdby that congress

that a National Council of AgnCult“ ; h nf of regional agricultural cooperative

which should also National Council of Agncul-
associations. Following the formation. o: ^ oat the legal provisions and fun
tural Cooperatives the state bod'es sh<?^ cooperatives together with the Council.
damental economic policy issues wPorkers and peasants, the two funda-
■s
tr
le
le
*nce “,and “th£,r sp“‘.
af
lie of inters and ,h.
il- hand with the growing role played bythe: scie ^^w the peasants and the
il- professional classes work shouldj'0. f Baalism. The most progressive professional
on LCople to achieve the common objective, s as members of the
ric people in political terms work and ttuggk££*£ °dasses agree with the policy
party. The overwhelming majority P socialism is practised at horn .
its’ pursued by the party and government and w-Hth J constitutes part and
as- Es confirmed by the work Standards of training, culture and
Dg- parcel of the people’s newly seated wor^ lnghe ^ da88es have contr b-
are education. Over the past four yearthe international arena by several out-
ow uted to the reputation Hungry comma^ asweU as literary and artistic
isly standing scientific and technologica ach uhcfact that certain groups of the
ible works. However, the party must take in o ^ which have arisen, and to the
and professional classes react sensitively to jt is esscntial to be untiring in
deal impact of bourgeois idcology and P^ in establishing and strengthening
lote popularizing Marxist-Cemmst theory hrevo)utionary firmness and constancy,
>rdi- community-mindedness and the spin . and retail traders are also re

ance
itry,
and
,te soda,,y
<e it
268 Speeches and Interviews

.
rPta;i traders and since their activities meet soc.al
certain number of craftsmen and retail trade ,
demands they will also be necessary m future.have confirmed as weU the correctness
FxDeriences gained over the past fe y nlPrnhers of the former ruling classes,
of the policy which has and are doing an honest job
All the people who have abandoned thei P ^ m buiiding socialism.

°fTh°rpa«y ke diversU, °f proWems wo^en

play is constantly on the incre ' than 900,000. During the same peno
the national economy has "^.^^^has grown from 30 per cent to 39 per cent
proportion of women in the tote1 workf ^ houscwives going out to work m
This sharp increase is largely attributable and the abso\ute number
brger numbers. It is a welcome.developme* that «ie and skilled working
of women arc steadily on the increase in lhc ^ccondary school teachers, nursing
people, including skilled workers, pnma y work consistently to ensure

vorJ as mothers and .ha member of .he y

carrying the heavier household burden the way of thinking and the
STecent years .here have he ®**sSsh^lso been voiced in .he eonrse of
attitudes of Hungarian youth. Extre eration gap some people have a
these debates. By generating debates on j people and the adults ot
tempted to bring about a S of themoral and political aU, tude o
this country; others have painted adarK pic condemns these extremist views

not alike, they are different, m the way

Overwhelming majority of young^ by their

whichever the case may be; \hf. sociahst society, tlowever, it must be taken
country; their thinking is ni0“ldcdb; ^ciety is a provisional one and, for that matte ,
into consideration that the state of our soae > n V that the system in which
young people are subjected to diffe™^influence, tQ make ,hem socal-
they live is a socialist one is insufficient ^ . which stiu exist exert a particular
ists. The fundamental shortcomings f adequate experience of life, y
effect on our young people, and in the -A*««£* drawbacks. It is a primary polit-
do no. always draw correct concto® 0„To the yon.h- We have to work so
ical hrsk of our party to pve sooahrt edn^ ^ ^ ^ befittl„g a ma„
that yonng Hungarians wi socialist homeland.

A complete proteeboni a. the

 Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966 269

future, too. _ f ople has been well served in

—* ~ -
the democracy of our state and society. accomplishment
The Patriotic People’s Front has tan'
of all the major tasks facing our socie y. , and in rallying all patriots
cooperation between C—- - S.

s=-as
operates and leads society. This state of^urs
E zrzz
"^osest possible cooperation
not decreased, responsibility in respec o \ renrescntatives of the different classes

there is no aggravation of the situation or decrease and will increasingly

— -
L,total work and to £->>«it necessary

sSassa^sSsasSaS
=ES:E==j=5E“=
s,s-“srr=r;-ss.n.-m..a
270 Speeches and Interviews

so-called “socialist connections” and other unhealthy influences; even bribery and
corruption at times.
The further strengthening of democracy in our state affairs and of the efficiency of
state and local administration, and the elimination of incorrect features and weak¬
nesses in their activities call, above all, for the improvement and development of the
system and methods of management in general, and the simplification of the
system of administration in local government in particular. It is the conviction
of the Central Committee that the fundamental principles underlying the reform
of the economic mechanism can help effectively specify clearer, better defined
and more independent spheres of authority involving a greater measure of respon¬
sibility at every level of state administration. The bureaucratic approach and
other abuses can only be eliminated if the right to take economic decisions is delegated
to the place where political responsibility rests. It will thus be unnecessary to have
an army of signatures verifying agreement on each substantial decision.
The strengthening of democracy in our regime means that the working people, the
population, are offered the opportunity to an ever increasing extent to have a say either
directly or indirectly, through their representatives, in matters in which they are inter¬
ested. In order to make this more effective than it is today, a broader range of author¬
ity must be delegated to companies and institutions as well as to county, district, town
and village councils in economic, cultural and social matters and also in a number of
questions of state administration. This is the path along which the work of our state
administration must be developed.
The false belief that the complete realization of our social endeavours, the obser¬
vance of our laws and seeing that they are not broken by others, the ending of abuses
and injustices, are the exclusive tasks of the top management of the country is quite
often found even among people most loyal to our regime. It goes without saying
that both the Central Committee of the party and the government have their own
specific tasks in this respect, but effective action can only be taken in matters of
this kind if the leadership and the masses act jointly and simultaneously. Our socialist
endeavours and the democracy of our system can be enforced to the fullest possible
extent and the possibility of abuses occurring can be eliminated completely only when
the central and local forces of socialism and democracy are unanimous and firm in
taking uncompromising action. This is the key to finding a real solution to the prob¬
lems, along with the development of our institutions and methods of management
and a better-defined spheres of authority.
So far as social issues are concerned, I want to make mention of the demographic
problem. As is known there has been a sharp decline in the birthrate in our country
in recent years. This can be traced back to several reasons, and in this context quite a
few exaggerations can be heard. Although the decline came to a stop about two years
ago, and a slight improvement can be detected since then, we still hold that it is an im¬
portant issue for our state and society, and must be treated as such. Many people tend
to confine the question of boosting the birthrate to the material implications of the
issue (shortage of creches and kindergartens, the housing problem, low family allow¬
ances). Beyond any doubt there is more than that at issue, for the question has
social, health and financial implications as well as those of outlook.
 Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966 271

The Central Committee is of the s^'anlo^opps

implications which seriously influences a . ^ the birthrate can only be taken
lives, measures suitable for Promotinga" Nation, and on the basis of detailed
after a thoroughgoing and ve^ COnS‘^e ,t seems essential that the issue of demo-
consultations with the interested parties.. I t government bodies and that

of the -
resolutions passed by
complete building of a sodahst our major objective winch

— &2SSKSZS*- * “ “sks m“‘

"fS, power of the working class, of the people, must be strengthened and further

SStorld outlook must become pmdominant, socialist soca, awareness

and community spirit must be strengthen work, and that between town
5 The gap between physical labour workjng for higher overall standards

Sr^cP"us;rinSd in industry, agriculture and » all the

and
living standards must be raised.
272 Speeches and Interviews

THE TASKS OF COMPLETING THE BUILDING OF SOCIALISM.

THE REFORM OF THE SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT

OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY.

QUESTIONS RELATING TO ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION

Distinguished Delegates, Dear Comrades,

In the period of completing the building of a socialist society the most

of our party’s activity is the economy. It is the task of the eadlnJ pa'J d
work out correct economic policies, and the party as a whole should mob.hze and
organize the working masses for the accomplishment of these economic tasks.
Our activities in the economic sphere have been guided by the economic pohcy goals
set bv the party’s 8th Congress. Starting out from demands for the intensive develop¬
ment of the national economy, the Congress specified increased economic efficiency,
the raising of productivity, the lowering of production costs and the improvement of
onalitv as the guiding principles for economic activity.
Over the past five years industrial production has grown by 47 percent the outpu
of the building industry and transport has gone up 35 per cent, while there has bee
a10 per cent increase in agricultural production compared to the average for the pre¬
vious five year period. A 25 per cent increase in the national income has made for a 3
per ini r^The fixed assets of the national economy and a 22 per cent increase in
the consumption funds. The living standards of the population have been rai ,
socialTnsurance has become universal and there has also been an improvement in
housing. The rise in the living standards is largely due to the '"crease in the numberf
people earning and to the substantial growth in social benefits. The savings
population have increased fourfold over the past five years.
During the same period there has been a 37 per cent-increasem the vadue <of the fixed
assets of the national economy. Production has been motenwd, « :has tech
nology, and the productivity of labour has improved. There has been a 21 per
cent rise in the use of electric power per worker m industry over the pa.t
years In the course of the fulfilment of the second Five Year Plan the increase in the
productivity of labour was responsible for two-thirds of the growth of industrial

"ming0 into account unfavourable weather conditions and difficulties during the
inM sfaies of £ge-scale f«, -he 10 per «n. increase m total
output in five years is a remarkable achievement of socialist development. This is all
fte so if we consider that in 1965 the total production of the agnculturri CO-
operatives was 27 per cent higher than in 1961, the year which saw the end of the
socialist reorganization of agriculture. Collective property, ^hl7iond
basis of the agricultural cooperatives, more than doubled during the second
Five Year Plan period. Calculated in units, the number of tractors almost double
during the same period.
 Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966

investment were used firs and Pecs during! the secon ^ the rate

mmsms.

mrnmm

~=3BS=^=^zt-~

SS^s^sSSssasssa

isssisgisss
S£=t=S3SSr:
SaS^SsSSESsSS
Sag^isassssss-.
274 Speeches and Interviews

to build a developed socialist society; augmentaUM growth in the

efficiency of labour is an
P^ The rdevant objective of '*&£*. The success of economic
should be derived from increasing t e P increasing production, but rather y

ESS
^S2=£^S5s»?4

Central planning will continue to p a>. and accumulation, the mam propor

S^ISa^'SS^ division oi « «»= s

 275
Cen.ro, Con.m,.. Report ,966
Central commit —*

S3ssiSS|s=S%|
ized the prerequisites io
S* will have financial resources^
investment funds a central state plan. 1 ney
^ object„eaof tte ce negotiations

will be specified centra'^ Von their own on the bfJ* d of market conditions,
have to draw up their: PU of their own knot 8 of enterprises but
central bodies and on the g wiU regulate the op state will not
he capacity of p*^U undergo change, n genem o f the
the method and form ^tstructions direct* ^poUcy, regu ation

SSr^gSSsssssaK
^ -a,s
settlement must be rea • of sociahst construction,

^Tht^niforni andlhe

Spfe of toXtion accorftof1 “^^^pte's «aS^ “ ’shonM“*«

working people s actua. v the m0K “

276 Speeches and Interviews

those workers and employees w o J d J manner in which incentives for

SaSSasasssss~

MM
igUiiBis
I®®#®#.
the Central Committee has made a.thorough study certai„ questions awaiting

:SSS&S=2Ss
working in industry tie end of 1970. It is proposed that the pr
 277

Cm>ralCo^™°r'’N°'m
Central .
., and
_I V>u tV\ end oi
by the

«r«‘SP~I*> '”pl°Sed S WOBen, and

ffisfesfs, r—s,iaiEht
away are al P J make it possibl maternity leave in g from

the child unUliUS‘ begivenasumofW>r working in

^§ss@§ @ £ 2 3

@gg§§&**=«5
E^^«
- vzi£St*‘ p«^rrin SS3»Se£?S
were built as p . «*«■" *"'ra p S ,
th;rd Five Year Plan.
2 3
central

issue for the party a raising of the ^ ^ out to be.

SisSSSss-——
1. We must ma
ment of the third Five
plan,
278 Speeches and Interviews

ishybh; rx1"— b-s

“tXmus. make sure that the reform of are economic mechanism is introduced

and that its effectiveness is ensured. correctly and eliminating unnecessary

£zZT:^tx~^ - —- *—;he
tasks facing the national economy. ^ 0f ec0nomic activities, it is
5 The party must play the and Sarty branches in the locality
,he duty of the central and regional both on a nationwide and local scale

Z^LZnTZ locaPl interests are appropriately coordmated.

IV
THE PARTY’S IDEOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES.

RESULTS AND TASKS

IN MOULDING SOCIALIST AWARENESS

Distinguished Delegates, Dear Comrades,

Our party which leads our socie^ its activi-

ism-Lcninism, the developing constantly, interacting

^Marxist theory must be appliedM^RistSijist theory and the

answers to the new and spread and a strug^e waged
^"r"^aXaUo„of.= masses, theory shooid he

‘converted into a material power m ^ciey. ^ ^ p£nod oflaying the foundattons

Under the conditions of acute c'“s ;g d ith a number of questions of theorel-
of socialist society, the party ^^f^naged to give correct Marxist-Lemms
ical importance and, as pracUcc p dr J am0ng other things, in the most
replies to them. This achievement came 1M ^ soc,allst reorganization of
important issues such as the stmgg f ^ moment the party is giving top pnonty

rS1—" iST-k ide^caf work. The

J&5-SZZ&ttZ paX resolutions ,ouchtnE on theorem,!
 Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966

ust be f,n-
—-
ition being

introduced 'the"famTand otto P™bl^y j^d and partly

unnecessary
ganizations, tional society »«= f ***££ are
alltUsiS»atnral.nthectotot»np]iPatU)no{ ^"J^Xtc into the right
councils, are
iplishing the themselves from a s ofa problem and guiding arising during
capable of penetrating to the>0**^ ^hne^fd°evelopment of the
activities; it is channels. At the pres of a socialist society, t ep movement demand that
in the locality
SSSSSr-i*- tabe a stand on and «. pm.
nd local scale

some of the S^^e^ca, .eld,

first^f adtlie'^plia^b^'^^^l^g^Qaji^'re^ntly' ^era't^y^^use^f different nega-

rial interests and mo y' g standards and par y b money-grubbing

«> tba. b“r“oLdonar, spirit is —«■'^UtSS with the danger of

tive influences, th . . around and our society 1 . socialist awareness
attitude is increasingly gam> gS with the call to strength material
becoming 4'bourgeoi^®^” tbe party often voices the economic
and pubho-spinted thinking these through the refo two phe-

nomena; one of them tshamfuland a ^ ^ practlCe ^ brought

by Marx- is in complete harmony d counter-revoluti !nnorters of socialism,

1 its activi- The well-known ^ntmSintheranksrfthevwBaWJJJ^^tothe
inleracting about temporary 1S‘‘PP f socialist ideals, in som bstantial increase
ideological and caused them to move a»aft beyond any doubt industry and

Ler to give
ory and the
?S«SSa »ays of —.
ould be

ng the foundations
uestions of theoret-
:t Marxist-Lenxnrst
things, in the most
it reorganization ot

3 giving top priority

bing belong to another catcgo y.

;ological work. The
ching on theoretical
19
280 Speeches and Interviews

compromising struggle based on firm principles must be waged against them. Giving
working people material incentives to build socialism is another matter. It is in com¬
plete harmony with socialist ideals and practice and so we want to strengthen it.
We declare and proclaim that the building of a socialist society calls for conscious
action on the part of the masses, their readiness to make sacrifices, their unselfishness
and the strengthening of community spirit. However, these two things do not run
counter to each other. Quite the contrary: they supplement each other. While
working to strengthen and deepen socialist ideals the party is simultaneously proclaim¬
ing that the building of a socialist society must go hand in hand with the regular raising
of working people’s living standards. At the moment our immediate task is the more
effective enforcement of the principles of the socialist wage system, mother words, we
want to give the working people more material incentive, that is to say, we want to
ensure that those making a greater contribution to society through their work should
have a larger share in the wealth produced.
Practice has proved that the party’s position is correct on this issue too. In the years
which saw a considerable increase in the living standards of the working masses
-workers, peasants and the clerical and administrative workers-there were hun¬
dreds of thousands more Communists and non-party people who did not hesitate to
take part in carrying out our major social tasks as conscious builders of socialism.
These people who were the active members of the party, the mass organizations, the
local councils and the Patriotic People’s Front, were ready to contribute without any
material recompense and they sacrificed not only their leisure time but quite often
their health, too. It was in those years, for example, that the workers’ militia was
established and became a strong organization. Its members have been and are pre¬
pared to defend our regime at home, people’s power, and our socialist achievements
with arms in hand, without exacting any material recompense; they do this unselfishly
and out of social awareness, while they carry out their duties at their place of work in
an exemplary fashion. These years also saw the birth of the socialist brigade move¬
ment, this new magnificent movement of the conscious builders of socialism, of people
in the forefront of socialist construction, which soon assumed mass dimensions.
Strong patriotism is a characteristic of our people, in the sense that they guard and
foster our historic past and the valuable traditions of our national culture.
Our party considers working-class internationalism and friendship towards other
peoples an essential part of socialist patriotism. The identity of the interests of our
socialist homeland, of the international working class and of the socialist world system
and loyalty to them are united in the idea of proletarian internationalism.
Among the ideological questions, I wish to touch upon are our attitudes towards
the religious outlook, religious people and the churches. Basically the position our
party took on this issue has been correct throughout.
Our party’s world outlook is opposed to an idealist world outlook of any kind includ¬
ing that of religion. This involves a battle of ideas. In Hungary there is freedom of reli¬
gion, and our party avoids everything that would hurt the feelings of religious people,
but it refuses to relinquish the struggle for an enlightened approach and to spread a
scientific world outlook. In our opinion the front line of the class struggle was never
between believers and non-believers; nor is it there today. Whatever denomination
 C^ralCo^ueeBepcrU^.1966 281

V on- they are not discriminated

l

is
ss
an
ile
til¬
ing
ore
we
SS3&332g&%z
construction. of maj0r importance take^^y background and the
t to
auld • °of°l daSationofpeo*^^f^ducationaladmission

(ears
asses
hun- SS their ownSsWely U account than ear-

wmms^
ite to
ilism.
is, the
ut any

wmsmm
; often
ia was
re pre-
ements
selfishly
work in
e niove-
if people

vumm
ons.
aard and

ids other
its of our
rid system

;s towards
Dsition our

jnd includ-
dom of reli-
ious people,
1 mmrnmrnsaw
to spread a
le was never
enomination
19*
282 Speeches and Interviews

ist transformation of agriculture actfvities. However, there is still consider-

for new strata of society to joi sentimentalism.
able fascination with petty bourgems ^ tra ^ ^ ^ more ^ than
Foreign classics are being widey ^ ^ within that, our sociahst tradi-
before of the rich heritageof ou ‘ natio ^ appropnate way has
tions. It is a welcome development that ^ ^ increasil)g number of places. The hon-
evolved for keeping local traditions Hungarian public has got to

es££M?;£«— - - *rts ftora the rea,m of

both socialist and valuable bourgeois wor ^ ^ by the means of ideas, that
The fact that cultural life has been gu. , b forceful interference
it is decentralized and democratic m **»«■*£ ment has been ensured has led
in'questions of style, and that the lr«dom » expenmen ^ ^ ^ ^
to a considerable improvement inl he crea jn their message have recently

•» ,he

we are in favour of: sornhst ■assistance *° “™“ist,.workS °f

in building socialism. We will continue >t» ^ ^ masses. They must be spread
art, socialist in spirit, which have an PP . the radi0; television, and press,
and propagated in more definite terms than hith^ foms of adult education.

Se^^
the ideas expressed, not adherence to the

customary forms.

the further development of party work

Distinguished Delegates, Dear Comrades,

Over the past four years the party ^P^^qqo new meinbers
have grown by an average of 3.5 peiwshio Sands at 584,849, including both full
 Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966 283

42.5 per cent of the members are blue ^collar forces

account for 37.3 Per cent, . P . u professions and students, and old

°f mem-

^strength or the parses no,

foremost in the awareness of the memta-, , aim at a massive
and in the unity and concord of ^1ran,Thattw why^ fi„t of a„

~ ™rk aDd
from among cooperative farmers, "°“™ “ *hal f our party the Leninist norms
The Central Comm.ttee reports to Stive leadership is in
are the determining factors of party lu. P Psibj]ity has t0 a certain extent
force. However, in our Party ^or P n ‘ the principle of collective leadership is
weakened in recent years. Strict adher* and taking decisions, but the pnnciple

of indivhtuaTrespon^bility She better enforced in implementing resolntions and

the higher party bodies actually y .of authority, and party life is
operate independently Party
carried on in a democratic atmo. p . course of the preparatory
democracy developed further and grew' s r mination committee turned out
work for this Congress. Thes pn<*> election ^nomm lhc selec-
to be a good method, and t e Par y secr'et banot for the election of the ofli-
tion of nominees. The extension o j of thc branch organizations fur-

sss °f party democracy

must in future be further developed stren^ened^ bcing ablc
A critical spirit is very much alive P ^ [hcrc are conC€ited people who
to voice criticism freely, it is ever m * f t officials who can cx-
are satisfied with everything. There are sUU quite ajew^pa ry ^ ^ jt

plain everything, who thank pcop e u. if instead of ruling, it plays the role
Our party acquires respect by is binding on every] official and member
of leader and serves the people. This attitude oin b . d Qr bad IS
°of,be party. Whom ,he,

**—has abU5ed the powtr de,egated “

him, and shall continue to adopt this Practice. morals - manifested
We have a,so seen .hat a «na“a«Ld advantages, pre¬
in money-grubbing, pressing P influence on individual party

^»-arf ~ apd ^
284 Speeches and Internes ^ purity and
, pffec,ively aeainst every symptom
lie life firmly and effects e y ~ neW way in which
honour of our Party' bers shoW a lack of understanding f ]opment and
Some of our party"'^"r^nce with the present stage (0 the abo-
problems can be S0J^ of opinion have been detect d of the equal-
present conditions. 1*®™ family background, over to aS Wellasm
lition of classification j ^ retadon of our policy to^rdS standards. Basically,
ity of citizens, and the d the development of ®f the complexity
judging
udg ng the
tbe economic sitoatuwi the individual partially arise f the pre-
Ihe
Se differences of opmronmjud^
opinion mjud^g« ^ ^ Partly
of our situafion and ParOy^.^ ^ ^
.c oop in which we happen _ Th^e differences are _•oftran-
sent state of our soac y party members mistakenly be why they are at a
the fact that Quite a Je P JefQne free from con^Q __ phenomena in our life,
sition to socialism will b eral-often contradictory P tablished again

There are people who ten ^ decision even on matte an incorrect

fty °2e"Sateand -dalbo^top^ldlead to the decline of the

vkw8 Such a concept ofjthefadingro^ ^ ^ organizations instruments
independence and ing role with the use of ^ an ^ ^ leadership
Others tend to iden y fundamental Lenims p . There are quite
of power. This run, «»^period of social.,. the role to he
of the party. espe7g«ywho identify the leading role of pa Jantotions. There are
a few party “'tfe” authority of, the individual party « ^ that every
played by, and the rang condition of party's leading role is m
others who believe thawe d by party membera The Pa y^ ^ and

leading position ^ party’s policy is beinglrnp'translated into practice with

force everywhere wh oarty’s resolutions are not Where the party s po -
some places, however, the party ^ sometimes even d.sto^Wbe ^ ^ ^

sufficient consistency^ th> ^ of the party >s obvio y ^ role

icy is not implemented than one or two cases -oiial cases. Local
sense, in some places wrong to generalize fr0™,ce’. be confused with the fun¬
is not enforced. But s But this should no policy is being
problems can md mus be se« ^ the country,
damental issue which of economic manage-
'monrCM^l Committee dwidei^on^r^irm^of^tfey^^^^^fthe^pMV^s

ment in May 1966, wluc^’ scientlf,c analysis of comP1,c^ P development

fading role. A revrewandand continued gu£an^m t ^ be

Tsoa"r Po“* — - °f P
 Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966

of party leadership development of the party’s

velopment. leading role makes “h sent practice slows down
Increasing the par V t work necessary. The p often makes rt
guidance of state ana g administration of affairs, at h■ the interpe-

of 5ta“ bofe

The mass ot^ntatsons and ms® ” ^^ ^ 0„*cuves

active part m sha!"”%Party and the masses, are organizational frameworks

relations between th P * the same time they also act a g . masses carry
oftheparty’sleadmgrole.Mth^ ^ ^ within ^.ch the wor established

to rally the forces the building of socialism. and movements

on a diversity o e guidance of mass o S effected by using the

incompliance ^j'jde^gy^Hwhite^r^mi^ttonal indeP®^^”^ organizations

but on the Communists active is the trade unions, which

ncouswork. wr.rkina-class, mass organizatio become nec-
Our most important, working c , and salary earners^ ha them

embrace the ^^dSsphere of rights and,-growing

essary to settle an P unions have an mcrcasg cultural circum-
increased respons'bilffy- T g involving the material, wort ^ dccisions. They
responsibility for tak g and in controlhng the execu and contradictions
stances of the working P P ’ eliminate differences of P d unj0n bodies

cooperate in the " Lwstm.ion bodics king £

arising between*^ common objectives. Thetnclusi enterprises must be

^ them ""or reUevinB

s fM ^ ConfreSs the Central —
While making is being i">P“e^rmct A generation of
analysis of how the party hC gresshave proved t°b' akj g an independent
the principles adopted by the who arc capable of matag ^tions.

leaders have beenbroug^P^ ^ party.s pohcy even^increase in theoretical

 dinate tli
286 Speeches and Interviews ^ • „pkmenttd consistently
the comr
period u
st. c-*.r.ri ^ ing to tl
meeting:
the Con
tasks. By ”“S"“P kadi„g posts in the state andI the <»o 50 ^ Thc party the maj
sided priority when steadfastness and to abh y^ rf m not
munist
and us1
for bila
It is
the M;
2££-es-s
nation
fcaturi
.^£bss
When seleettng cadres ‘t ran k political and ^"hosen for leading
misint
people's orgaidze and give it is demanded by the of cor
possessing the ability matters of person statistical approach over t
positions. When dectston -e ^en » ever, type of stahstma P^^
coorc
An
whicl
5JSsSbafi-.w»-

", n» ™. »""« ™>

WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT

Now I am going to discu q _ whose past and

movement. Sociaiist Workers’ Party is anmovement and these ties

The Hungarian Soci international Communis Hungarian working
present are closed ** the ^ party on the

S'ss^piple,the U0nTnTsm,band if

S^nniatmo^ntUthemos^P^-^Se

active in almost every ^ everywhere. between of

thethe
Communist

-— - -
 287
Central Committee Report, Nov. 1966
cenirui

ic
e-
ed
the Commums Eur0pean Commur-st pa ^ ^ discusses was
ny
;x-
are
out
don

in places it Is a 111
our
and
iding
y the
roach
jrson,

always regared might be, those w ti.Soviet attitude. -workers’

Whateverhe nds of the imperialists with^ of the Hungarian Socmh ^^
pr°Tr Cental Committee and which .^^nj Communist and

ring class

c past and
these ties
n working
idly on the
Qe spirit of
^HsSSsSBSSsSS?.
ional work-
h a respon-

• of our age.
ety; they are
the ideas of
*|Bf»t§ii
: Communist
ces and coor-
288 Speeches anil Interviews

»-SS S:-s= 3

®r :,r-—■”=»=
SS^SttrA-Jssswrj 5

ts;ssss«--**-r
sss?iis=gs=
ISSSHSS

mimmsssB
Sh^as defined by our previous

country and the people in the future as well.

 “Budapest" Magazine Interview, Feb. 1967 289

Conversation with Lajos Mesterhazi,

Editor in Chief of “Budapest” Magazine

FEBRUARY 1967

LAJOs MesterhAzi: Comrade Kidjr.

First of all we would like to ask you wtoty ^ a small village in Somogy
Janos KadAr: Until I was six I was broug P It was a tmy mud-
County consisting of thatched-roo ^ soul, every tree, bush, hill and
bound nest, but it was my-wo rid,.1*™ J tQ the capital from there, at my
stream. In the autumn of 1918 1 moved ra gn^ ^ and become a townsman,
mother’s wish because she wanted me* 8 1 Railway station and caught a glimpse
When I stepped out of the Deli ( ) u had an indescribable effect on
of Budapest which I later became ' hcre that I first saw asphalt, hard-
me; but this is understandable enough. lt trams, the underground,
surfaced roads, electric lamps, unknown wonders. And it wa
motorcars, aeroplanes, cmemas and other fom ^ strangers. ^ this was at
here that I first saw enormous crowdsof P P^ ^ confess that Budapest remained
once wonderful, alien aud awe-inspinng f ^^ & number of years,
alien to me, something I didn tike J ^ ^ the 7th and the 6th districts,
I lived in the Inner city, and then 1 Particuiarly so, since my mother was
gradually, I came to know Budapest Quite ^ and i had to work a lot
an unskilled worker bringing UP h«‘wo chddre y But! liked to walk all
after school, at home and also running enwtoj ^ tQ the forest, to he
over the city in my free time, too. In the cou ^ tfying to move towards the
fields, and plains, so irJ ®udaJf ’ ’frJely and where the horizon was not blocked
outskirts where one could breathe m * of thc Danube, the winter docks,
by a multitude of houses. I discove Varosmaior, Szunyog Island, the City
Lagymanyos, Kelenfold, Gellert Hi , ^ and thcy all became favourite places.
Park and the People’s Park one a ’ wjth friends of my own age.
Of course, besides studying and working I U cfJCQu]± 0nce I knew my letters
we played ball games when, where and wrbook j could lay my hands on.
fairly well, reading became myP' ’ d paraffin lamps here in Budapest too

zzsszz **«■**-* -* thc dim

U8“ y-—ttat you had read m fl”'

fashion when you were sixteen. was the first Marxist book 1 got
J. K.: Yes, that’s right. Tins great wor^yE ^ ^ ^ tfade umons in

—1 ,h°"6ht 1 “a
290 Speeches and Interviews

it In those days I did not yet know that a basic Marxist work should not be “read”

“Si w"d you say you because a “Budapest dtixen” in your feelings and

"7k • For about the first ten years of my stay in Budapest I led a

?K «fuudirenmlly aUeubo* here and

T M.: How did the meaning of the word “Budapest" change and aequtre new

^ J^K.^Itwas ahm^dMtyl yearsago that I has

genuine city, a great capital, a metropolis. generation, I have witnessed

Over the past half century, together with my ^ole generat.o fi ht during
and later actively taken part in historical Se Republic of
those years, we lived to see the the
Councils, the counter-revoluhonrn toe autumnrf ^ AfteI

^Jbe^L^ewCdfug of dre country by the people was a common ex-

^Oumfate was united with the city in a rich

Budapest, shaped the city, and the crty shaped ™ here, I know

^SLW«rld0a^=.^caurwer all strong,y linked

evaluate the work of our architects and our city planning.

 291
“Budapest” Magazine Mem™. 1967

: be “read”

'eelings and

of “double”
ther “Buda-
eads, for the
the country
four years of
which was a
\ apprentice,
ce there were
wback of the yroweK
for it; in Bu-
boy”, so that
>oth here and
the 20s, since a situation of . legahty,.«** SonB Communist party members, mc^ ^ ^
e, the country
of the Soeia, Demons, wo
man, a worker
>r everything I 1942. Then m coop Qf city development after the Liberation.
zen, to my life

id acquire new As the deputy of Cor^J^, J tty to establish to not easy

, and since then

,f Budapest has
1 its culture has
it has become a

have witnessed On my next ass g . lhc work and ngn f the population
V V* V* •

.ublic of
ion, the of the capital. As >s w ork and struggle of the wo » in Budapest.
rs. After
mon cx-

itizens of
ic here as
e, I know
■ and feel
somehow
jly linked

jvould you
292 Speeches and Interviews

I believe that everybody who attended the magnificent mass rally on May Day 1957
willalwavsremember the enthusiastic atmosphere of that day. In a way I think that
half a million people, citizens of Budapest, who met there again were those who de-

*2 £ rrlai

re^ld to th^^pedal portion of Bu^a^st^On'eM^of the Filiation live*

hem 40 ncr cent of Hungarian industrial products are manufactured here.
J K ‘The very facts mentioned in your question mean that everybody should pay

HSSSSpiIs
Budist. On the other hand, not only the problems of Budapest citizens were con-

wmMwm
conservingna.ionai monuments than in the "^ToTfc P=o^ both

SsSr5=5ss#Sr«ss-a«
"^ToSon ttTocal” interests of Budapest with those

iiS
 293

“Budape*1 iT+~o—
there is development in

interests in this «sPec^^

J
.t

e,
le
at
of both the p 1
ist
of role of Budapest. We wou lhe internationalist
)Ut your personal renmto»«'' bfea,io» of docoure^1^ here are
y J. K.: The research »ap rdations between the ”a ^ that Budapest-
the
vith
ives

pay
unit
t ten
Iding
:ssary
lered,
ion of
^sssss^i - utjs
ments concerning “"Scours ate always «»»»
p“b,icapproprial£
h period and history of
; con-
^rrc^
w°Id war II. Biseommohkhowledge^ ^ Hungamn ™ ^ parties

X. ‘>fNKiJT:«aedon”to"' the Czecho-

here'andi'n^neighho^J^t^^ organizations ^^^er Hungarian

respoM£

%£?££?*£. here in Badapes, as well,

SSsSiSSf^SSrS
3S were distributed in two languag
294 Speeches and Interviews

L. M, Finally) Co.rade Hdh *ow do yon eva,un,e the — Utween

patriotism and local patriotism? devotion one feels towards the region
J. K.: Patriotism and }°“' ? ‘" and complement each other. The meaning of the
one was brought up m dep , related in our langage. In the broadening
words fatherland and his closest, everyday environment widen
mindofachildknowledgeofandde fathcr,and and love for his country It is
and gradually turn into knowledge o' without loving his native village

StStS'tpha^oTsm is coupled with a certain pride. What is important ,s that

we should always know what we arc proud o^ ^ ^& certain place cannot be a
The mere fact that someone' " JV be pr0ud of the historic monuments and
reason for pride. The at^ of our ancestors, our difficult history
buildings of their capital. The strugg bc d of the Elizabeth
and today’s anxious care axe embodied ^ ^ Wg ^ workcd to
Bridge, since all of us have cont new and beautiful city areas to replace
see the capital rise from the twos, to nfBW ^ and before long in Zuglo
the Valeria slums, in ^agymany d of an Wc created with our hands and
Bekasmegyer, 6buda. We canto g VP ^ righl and just> this vvc deserve
minds, each of us of his share m the w k^ triotisin. However, the reverse of
This is the essence and real mcam g ^ good local patriot if he neglects
my former statement « aiso true^ ^ ^ home town, let us love Budapest
the general interests of the co y .L^nd let us iove our country as befits our re-
for the sake of the whole com >'• ^ mission and socialism,
sponsibility to humanity, as befits ou touched upon arc questions constantly on
I think that most of the matte ^ ufe These problems will be duly dis-

“ -..-or«—.
3rand
 Irtande

If % 4m £0* *

j! a.
*w’

„ Havanna.

nal Document oj »'

ference on Securit.
i, Helsinki, 1975
with the members
legation, 1975
 40. Meeting
Kreisky
Airport,
41. In Bonn
Magyar Nepkozt Chancel
1977
42. With hi.
Rome, i
43. Receive
Patti VI
Vatican
 40. Meeting President
Kreiskyat Schwechat
Airport. 1976
41. In Bonn with
Chancellor Schmidt.
1977
42. With his wife in
Rome, 1977
43. Received by Pope
Paul VI in the
.. / 077
..*
-*
 295
, Nov. 1967
To the Central Committee.

Address to the Session

of the Central Committee
NOVEMBER 24, 1967

f the Central Committee, Dear Comrades,

Distinguished Members o reform. The checks which
We are now in ^g^^ba^th^measures apiwopriate to ttosl^s^fulty correspond

v tiraes far as the P-g--

It has been said many the biggest undertaking icuUure had their
we are now dealing with o socialist reorganization _ &between
Both our fight for power ^ 0 has lhis our Central
own social tir-h-ss ^ figJlt for power was nefi^ ^ agricuUure
these three is that t the date for the socia' , recollect those days now.
Committee, but they d should begin. Whe point of view too,
and they did decide whentha weU from an biston * successfully car-

I can oily say that ‘he ™ “ “he “eorganization ^ “‘.Twould have been
because-to well:known «tad the opportunity th mentlontUsis because
ried through earlier ' effect later. The reason y ^ me that ,t can-

"““l^ueSriU V- of wo* ■?£

December 1964 Centra of our discussion the ( wou,d like to say.

our reform, even ^intensive work and on i Committee apparatus
It has taken three yea , this activity m the c des_both managers
all those comrades who <J ratus, and all^those. ^ have worked
and in the government and i W ^ and took an kWP to add something
and economists-who join ^ withconviction. 1 shou Coromittee of our
well and successfully. Y in my opinion th due responsibility
which follows from wta ^ ^ elaboratlon of the ref ^ ed by the results

of ,he refom

20
296 Speeches and Inten’iews

concerned, I believe they cover the most important and most timely questions of our
socialist national economy. First is the question of profitable production. We must
stress this openly, because it is not in opposition to socialism, rather it is a need and
requirement of socialism, to have profitable production. I can confidently extend this
principle to other fields as well: it is necessary to have profitable sales both on the
domestic and the foreign markets. Obviously in this context, too, I am referring to
a profit which can be made on the basis of the principles of a socialist national
economy. The elements of the reform concerning the decentralization of distribution
and management are also essential. Summing up, I believe I can say that the reform
is a Marxist reform, a socialist reform.
This is something which must be emphasized and we must not get lost in the details;
we must make sure that even those sections of the general public who are unable to
take a comprehensive view of the details should be given decisive answers to the major
questions. This is a Marxist, socialist reform of our economic management, it has
socialist goals, it is aimed at developing socialist production, at increasing consump¬
tion, at constantly improving the standard of living of the workers and finally at
promoting the completion of the building of a socialist society. In fact this is now
our party programme.
I believe it is right and necessary to introduce the reform in an ordered way.
I also think that sufficient guarantees have been attached to the reform as far as our
commitments and potentialities are concerned, up to the limit which will still allow
for a real reform. It was clear from our debate that it is impossible to introduce and
establish a price system reflecting real values immediately, because the implementation
of such a system can only be the culmination of a process. In certain fields this is
a programme for decades. Nevertheless it is extremely important that we have already
taken this direction and that the work has begun. The principle of gradual change is
necessary and correct in this case; some of our measures, for instance, are deliberately
aimed at curbing imports from the capitalist countries-controls which may be
reduced or completely abolished in the future. It is a good and important thing to
introduce the reform in an ordered way.
Ever since these questions were debated by the Central Committee one aspect of
the preparations which has constantly been raised —and rightly so —is that the
government, as the supreme executive body, must have sufficient reserves when the
reform is introduced. We need reserves in raw materials for production, and in con¬
sumer goods, as well as in both national and foreign currencies. We do have some
reserves but for preparations to be ideal —if such a thing is possible —we would
need to have more. It would be better to have more; still 1 want to stress that
we have ensured all the reserves we possibly can, and we can say that in a whole
variety of respects our reserves are bigger now than in any year before we started a
new plan period. I should also like to add that if we were to introduce the reform
three or more years from now, then we would have smaller reserves because the
continuing unfavourable tendencies would certainly absorb even the reserves we
now have. So, as far as reserves are concerned, I can only say that although they
are not too sizeable we do have the guaranteed minimum which is needed for the
introduction of the reform.
 To the Central Committee, Nov. 1967 297

iquestions of our One of the positive features of the reform is that we have made serious efforts to
iuction. We must provide information for, and to get the support of, all those leading officials who are
:r it is a need and working in the state economy, in the local councils, in party organizations, in the
dently extend this trade unions and in many other fields. I can confidently say that mutual confidence
sales both on the — a feature which has always been considered very important by the Central Com¬
I am referring to mittee - has been characteristic of this activity, too. T think it is an essential and very
socialist national important feature of the introduction of the reform that the Central Committee
on of distribution and the goverment are working together with the two or three hundred thousand
ly that the reform leading officials on a basis of mutual confidence. This is a very important fact.
We have given information - and we shall continue to do so - about the essential
lost in the details; points of the reform to millions of workers and farmers, and to thousands of the
vho are unable to intelligentsia; we want to convince them of its necessity and ask for their support.
swers to the major Because of the nature of economic management only two or three hundred thousand
anagemcnt, it has leading people can affect its course; the millions of workers cannot exert any direct
leasing consump- influence. And it is not their fault. We can tell people, we must tell people, to pay
ers and finally at attention to what is happening in the workshops in the spirit of the reform, to voice
n fact this is now their comments on it, to stand up to any attempts to oppose it, and so on. But the
workers who actually operate the machines, the farmers who cultivate the land,
an ordered way. those many white collar workers who have ordinary jobs ... well-because of their
form as far as our position - they cannot exert an operative influence on the realization, implementation
ich will still allow or management of the reform. These things will mostly depend on those two or
: to introduce and three hundred thousand leading people. I am glad that our relationship with them
lie implementation is based on mutual confidence, because in this case it is indispensable. Because most
:rtain fields this is people are not able to get to know, accept and follow each detailed element of the
at we have already reform; they are familiar with some parts of the reform and they accept the rest of
gradual change is it on the basis of confidence. Based on the experiences of many years they will say:
ce.are deliberately “The party and the government have never deceived us so we have confidence in
)ls which may be them.” This confidence is our biggest moral and political capital in introducing the
mportant thing to reform, because millions do not have-and will not have in the future either-
enough factual knowledge for it to be a substitute for this confidence.
ittee one aspect of One of the exceptionally important, decisive conditions for the successful introduc¬
y so-is that the tion of the reform is our unity. I can say that we do have that unity in the Central
reserves when the Committee, in the government, in the leadership of the major social organizations.
ction, and in con- We have unity in general on the major issues of our policy, as well as on the principal
We do have some questions of the reform. When we discussed the reform more than two years ago
jssible-we would there was a great diversity of opinion, even on the principal questions, not only among
vant to stress that economists but among those present here. We took the proper course in line with
y that in a whole the principles and practice of the party; we conducted our discussion in a comradely,
before we started a principled manner without any personal disputes; we discussed and clarified all the
troduce the reform basic questions one after the other and achieved a unity of opinion in a normal,
serves because the partylike way. This unity, which is demanded and expected of us on all major issues
:n the reserves we by the party’s rank and file is our guarantee that we speak the same language and
that although they we will strive for and stand up in unity for the same cause.
l is needed for the We have been reassured by our comrades, the ministers who took the floor-in case
we had been worried - that there are going to be mistakes. And indeed, in a cer-

20*
298 Speeches and Interviews

tain sense there is a critical period of the reform: the first six months or even the first
year. But I believe that even this initial period will be far from being as critical as
some people are inclined to think. The basic tendencies in our economic life,
from production all the way to consumption, are not going to go through a radical
and abrupt change. If we act in the spirit of the unity which has developed during
the period of preparation and which can be now regarded as total as far as the
principles are concerned, if we speak the same language and if we work for the same
goals then we shall be able to overcome the difficulties which may arise; then the
real results of the reform can prove ever more effective and ever stronger year by
year as we progress.
I am confident, that we will already achieve this result in the first year and will be
able to reduce the still existing negative trends in our economic life to a considerable
extent. I can say this because we are going to introduce the reform under good time and
- considering the circumstances - after sound preparations and in good conditions.
The introduction of the reform will also be made easier by the decisive fact that,
as with all major social changes in our social system, it will necessarily be pioneered
and directed by the party. When I speak of the party I mean both our Central Com¬
mittee and our party organizations, as well as the rank and file of our party. To this
I must add as a second precondition: we must continue to take the same attitude to
the leading role of the party, to the methods we have already worked out and intro¬
duced in practice with good results. In the upper, medium and lower levels alike
there is a proper division of labour between the party leadership, the state administra¬
tion and the officials of the social organizations (the trade unions, the Young Com¬
munist League and other mass organizations).
We will continue to interpret the leading role of the party in the following sense:
the party does not want to assume all the responsibilities, or to take upon itself every
sphere of authority; in other words, we want a proper division of labour. Indeed,
the independent but at the same time coordinated activities of the party organiza¬
tions, state officials, the local councils, and the trade unions, the mass organizations, as
well as the management of industrial plants and cooperatives - this is the healthy,
multi-stage system of our management, already in existence, which will have to
function in implementing the reform as well.
Communist party history shows that when the necessary policies, economic and
cultural, have been worked out successfully, then the question of cadres arises, because
there is a need for people who are able to implement a specific policy in practice.
This holds true for our reform, too. Cadres have been, and still are being trained,
something which was indispensable during the preparations. But there is some
contradiction here because the training of cadres in preparation for the reform was
done using the same system and nomenclature which is in force now, before the
introduction of the reform. We will solve the question of cadres because we have
to, and I think the solutions will in general be the right ones. For we will continue
to rely on those people who have been leading our economic activities and who have
worked successfully. But later a certain selection will no doubt have to be made.
Let us not think that our work on cadres will be completed on January 1, just
because all the appointments will have been made and approved. I propose that
 299
To the Central Committee* Nov-
1 0 ine
1. . supervise
Those who

e first
cal as
c life,
•adical
during

#=SHSSig3gzss&
as the
ie same
hen the
year by the nation, th pd.v.dual AsComrad ^ umons and As far as

i will be
siderable
time and
itions.
fact that,
pioneered
tral Com-
ty. To this
attitude to
and intro-
levels alike
administra-
oung Com-

>vving sense:
n itself every
,our. Indeed,
<•» rs;X^°\a
rty organiza-
anizations, as somewhat b g management, ^ d in improving its lndeed, they
factory, tvery i manager - is >n c al incentives as we that

wmmsm
s the healthy,
will have to

forward means. .imMove tto achievem«n« ot esti

* We Win have ,0
300 Speeches and Interviews

i„,o details but in tact it miEht

be the district or town party committee in ri|t princip,es and
council, that will have to be on guardand ee to * th^ ^ ^ cooperatives. As
public interest predominate in the ketone although there will be indi-
a matter of fact one cannot deny one s own imere^ alth^ ^ functionaries
vidual examples to the contrary, it w f a factory. This is something
in general to challenge the local public op ting in unily. Should such
which the superior authorities W.U have , ext session or meeting of
problems arise, then they ^^^^“liSumous and fitting conclusions
the party, the government or * d^fnLssa™ - instructions will have to be given

“d - "
proves the stronger. aWrvnne- the auestion of consumer prices.
There is a big question which concerns > ^ that whiie the party
Comrade Hay24 mentioned during the break i unjons arc well prepared for
leadership, the economic organizations a ^ Qur Central Committee has
the reform, this is not so iti the case= ^ ^ d, organizations which can influence
passed a resolution in which w nuhlicitv campaign on the essential points
public opinion to conduct an intensive p y . ■ just, socialist price
of the price reform. Let’s pubhaze our P^ PO^ ^u e l ^ ^ional economy.
policy.it protects the interest of the porkers the 1^^^ j ^ ^ they are
Basic consumer goods will have centra_ y P whjlc there wffl bc some pro-
quite low prices; on othergoods wi 1 P c ® ’as a whole( and the princ-
ducts where the pnees are free It P .^P.^ articles, which the party and
pies it is based on, rather than the p persuade the public to accept,
the social organizations wH have to pubh tofnforce all elements of the reform,
I want to mention again here that we' ed and issucd in good time,
and consequently statutory P™VISI , fiteering and price speculation, no matter
stipulating severe punishment for frau ,p rollect}ve or simply by an individual.
whether these are committed on behaMa “S^rd, profiteering
This is something that can be and characteristic features so they should
and price speculation all have their well- nmvisions should be made public
be described in legal terns and thejs ^fficult to arm oneself in advance
as soon as possible, even before Janu ry theS£ too> as they arise; but we

noz»****~ md we wi"

international connotations as well. simple - they don’t buy anything

market. Our relations with the capitalists a q P . and we pursue
from us they don’t need, or which. wctJe capitalist system as
the socialist world. Our existing economic
 To the Central Committee.
, Nov. 1967 301

relationship with the of°l commercial character ^A^reform^^^

idustry, it will point of view as we'*’c simiiar in nature to our\'Shave in mind

:haps the local economic management peop)e in the socialist w Id the indi.
principles and socialist countries. I administration and manag etween the sociafist
,operatives. As similar principles of^ ^ aDd cocjcf^nW^ development.
•e will be indi- vidual countries a an iotcrnational necessity al Committee as an
il functionaries
is is something
ty. Should such
>n or meeting of %££ * »«■* ** *
jng conclusions principles of our rt o j economic cooperation continued suit-
lave to be given
not allow situa-
c party organiza-
vhich standpoint

consumer prices.
; while the party measures andma^ f the ref0rm. I cannot sayexactlyi h ^ ^ three months
well prepared for
al Committee has
hich can influence
ie essential points
just, socialist price and of the—
national economy,
can add, they are We have some other ell it atjon_-whether we like « that there are thou-
e will be some pro- Firstly, the interna l with them. In add* be ansWercd
e, and the princi- some tasks. We mas ““ ia„ people’s *“0° cotote, scientific
,hich the party and sands of quests.mtto Mds of publ agriculture
jublic to accept. on a regular day question of power is tQ say- without any
ments of the reform, life and so on. Now are on our agenda 1 wou have t0 examine our
issued in good time, and economic managen j thinkthat before long economic life,
leculation, no matter intention of makingi it urg her or separately) iust as ^e no longer really
W by an individual. scientific and culturp^ m0? f^ysis of the situation
Fraud, profiteering
atures so they should ™rdrr.^
ould be made public
m oneself in advance
Sir*r “rput lh,s subiect on
as they arise; but we
cculation, and we will
As a matter of tact :«v22asiMi
our scientific and cu . n,:ous political
Dur reform has certain influenced by the can achieved without “”^Sant’improye-
id about the capitalist at our party Cize fl«t our major objective «a» ^ „ not
iey don’t buy anything
:^^4"on strengthen the view that-
prices, and we pursue
he capitalist system as
Our existing economic
** Speeches and Interviews

of vita! importance ,o

s'ra-s^-“"-rSSfsS“-
^hineforit-cvenUfc, if necessary. socialist consciousness
everything tor u . n mind. This is w questions of
This is something we mJW ^ „e must dcal more

it Will be a long time betor ud of _ and

ness is done. internationalist party-sonveuu 8 wcre the hosts to
Besides, our party noble sense of the wor ■ CMEA general
this often entails duties m» ^ we will organize the meeting which
the conference on the J$q host a large international consu ^ or seventy
assembly meeting, mrnes but which will be attende y have many
will have limited Pr°fX of work to do. So we, the hos s w,U a^so * t
party delegations with a kjoffCentral conmitW
tasks. There are duties ofbe proud of, but they * ^ --We ^ cope

t0°‘ Tua “ TtSs something we are used to because we have ^ have

^stbedone. Th confident that the Part>'^’ 0,ganizations and so on -

topic on our agenda, firmly m the hands of P' l by the masses

the fruits of that strugg ■ confidence in the party and it is The socialist
widely respected, PeoP’ working under better co completed it
of the people. thrce years’ hardworkoutw^ ^ P ^

to solving the largejanetyof ^ Jd tQ thc state and when.^ ^ ^ ^

land, and whether t e P ^ have been greatly ‘“P***® party, our working
The conditions °f™ eyements of the historic s«uggles°J thePonfidcnce shown
years by the signifies h Qn ajjrm, principled policy, * ^ masses of the
class, our people. S ' , on our good relationship don>t have so

SiSsSiSS--"
 303
Radio and TV Interview, Jan. 1968

Radio and Television Interview

A
JANUARY l, 1968 . ,d;ence. I feel honoured

T’d like to welcome my radio and the Rddidujsdg (Radio

jAnos KAdAr : I d like questions to ^ gahead and ask
that so many people h be Df sonie use, so p the cause of peace.
Weekly). 1 hope my answ ^ addressed to ^^ the inter-
Question: Many know how you, Co of the New Year.
Many people would like vietnam war-on the ^ New year most

question is raised within y generation h** J the fact that-fed-

lowing a slight temporary > ^ found expression ^ ^ radio or watch

extent, again become tense-J ^ ^ read the papersthe Vietnam
which are certainly fam h d local wars and ^ leading power-the

SssSsjSS23S-ar»--^
everybody condemns. The u_lhe world Communist
to their knees. _ most pe0ple kn°V^nd the social system of Com-
I am a Communist and ^ for lhe ideals and g for peace with
movement has always linked t We ar f Jussive-minded
munism with a *

^possible for the imperialists

--even if
day8. j am convinced

sS^ssasr-
^^^sssssssss
Of the progressive-minded Pi P^
world can prevent a new w
304 Speeches and Interviews

Question: Last year Hungary’s role and prestige in international political life
continued to grow, and most people expect-as they write in their letters-that 1968
will be another year when we will take further steps on this road.
J. K.: In the past few years or—to specify a period which is easier to grasp and
to evaluate—in the last ten years the international reputation and prestige of the
Hungarian People’s Republic have strengthened considerably. When you examine
what accounts for this fact you’ll find that the prestige of the Hungarian People’s
Republic was boosted and strengthened as a result of new progressive and consistent
policies—a policy at home which promotes social freedom and a policy abroad which
serves the cause of socialism and peace. The Hungarian People's Republic is indeed
among the leading progressive countries and nations of the world and although this
country has a relatively small population and territory, she can exert some influence
on international developments through her policy and by belonging to the socialist
alliance, thus serving peace, peaceful coexistence and social progress.
I should also like to mention that in the complex world of today there are large
power groups fighting in the international arena, and naturally there are also attempts
to set the socialist countries against each other and to disrupt the unity of the pro¬
gressive forces. There are certain voices which sing the song of sirens, so to speak;
they ask quite frequently why doesn’t Hungary have a more independent foreign
policy. What they actually mean is why Hungary doesn’t move away from the Soviet
Union and in general from the community of socialist countries. The only answer
T can give to that question is: we do not deviate because in the long run only a policy
true to its principles can be successful; by adhering to our principles at home and
in our foreign policy we can gain and maintain both the respect of our friends
and to a certain extent even the esteem of our enemies.
Question: The population of the country has been concerned for quite a long
time-quite understandably, I think-with the problems of the introduction of
the economic reform. There are a lot of questions expressing the same thought:
what can we expect from the new economic management? Some people phrase
it this way: is the standard of living going to go up?
J. K.: Today a large section of the general public shows great interest in the reform
of the economic mechanism, and this is in harmony with the intentions of the Central
Committee of our party and the government. We are implementing a necessary and
timely change not only in economic management but in fact in our whole economy.
It is quite natural that most people link this question to the standard of living,
but I cannot restrict myself to this aspect only. I want to emphasize, if I may, some¬
thing which I never fail to mention when I speak about questions like this. According
to the laws and logic of life, I feel the following to be the correct order of importance:
by means of the reform of the economic mechanism we will improve our economic
efficiency, we will develop production and productivity and in this way we will be
able to raise the standard of living. As we have said many times, we expect the reform
to speed up the development of production, the improvement of the standard of
living and the pace of building socialism in Hungary. We are convinced that this is
indeed going to happen.
 305
Radio and TV Interview, Jan. 1968

♦w the neople of this country

T think it is a welcome phenomenon informed, even though some
want'totake part in P^'^^j^ca'Li^T'the0con:espondent who asked who first

of the ideas are a nu v ^ mechanism? First of ail the

new mccham of thc acw mechanism was P . characteristics in the

idea. The establish £0_with thc recognition of changc certain things
time-about three y y/c reahzed that if we ai achicved

adirdnisb'^tio'nand brought together a

have .toady donem«*tosdv^Pn ^ ; d , ^e^ous.ngj^^

solution for society a we stipUlated in our earlier awns* blem can be
have failed toP»4 raise the question whether i ; ic mechanism.
f°: X'economic reform, by Cher year maybe,
solved by means ot will use the word rctori t0 use it as
I think the answer is positive sort of rcform but about k lhc

houses from their said before, we expect the , capacity which

^■■sKSSSSafiSSaSSa
Sfirs •—“r* - r-J‘ “*
306 Speeches and Interviews

tion rather than restricting ourselves to the question of construction. In order to

distribute the flats we build according to real needs and on a fair basis, we first o
all need a true picture of the situation. If everything goes on like it has in the past
then even though we have built one million flats in fifteen years, the numbers on
the housing lists will be the same or even more than now. If all you need to apply
to get on the list is to go to a stationer’s shop to buy a piece of paper and a pen for
a few fillers, if this is enough to put you on the housing list like anybody else, then
we won’t be able to achieve any progress. But if we speed up the construction of
new blocks of flats and if we-at the same time-set things right as far as applying
for a flat is concerned, in other words if applicants are allocated a flat under a fair
system of distribution, based on their real needs and conditions, then we can solve
this problem satisfactorily.
Question: It is well-known that most of those who write letters to us so diligently
are women and pensioners. So my question now refers to women and pensioners.
What will their position be like under the new mechanism?
J. K.: I feel great respect for the working women of our socialist society because
they arc just as diligent in work as in writing letters. Women arc outequal partners
both in life and in work and they deserve the greatest appreciation. When 1 say that
our new economic method will improve the conditions of the working people and
make life easier for them, then the same applies to women, too. The general public
is surely aware of the fact that our government and our social organizations pay
constant and proper attention to the social problems and special questions of work¬
ing women. In line with the resolutions of our party Congress, further measures have
been taken to ease the conditions of working women and especially those who are
mothers. Our attitude is not going to change in the future and we will always devote
special care to these issues.
Question: And what about pensioners?
J. K.: I could say almost the same about pensioners. Boasting is not usually a charac¬
teristic of our party or our government. I don’t like to boast either, but now t aat
you have mentioned this topic I think I should say that our pension system would
bear comparison with that of any country. Everybody must be aware of the fact that
we are very concerned about the problems of elderly people, taking into account
both the social and the specifically financial aspects as well. I must refer again to
the main resolution of our Congress, as a result of which several measures have been
taken to improve the conditions of several hundred thousand pensioners.
But T should also like to say that honest intentions in themselves are not enough.
I must start with the basic elements of the reform: the conditions of life for pensioners
will also continuously improve in the future, because it is the reform itself which will
enable us to create larger and more reliable financial resources for the care of pen¬
sioners. The essence of the problem is easy to understand if you make a simple
calculation. In this country often million people, one million two hundred thousand
people receive a pension of some kind. To illustrate this ratio along with the economic
and financial questions involved, let me tell you that the number of workers and
employees in industry, too, is about one million and two hundred thousand. So this
is not a minor question. Good intentions - and good intentions we have -arc not
 307
Radio and TV Interview, Jan. 1968

enough * further improve*^

s s=^—"d by

was a memorable stage i J n in industry. That a semi-feudal

it In 1930 I was already a journ y Grcat Depressl0n. Hung* y’ricuiture. Tbe
people can still "»>«>*M, by the crisis both in industry and^ ^ of those wh„
agrarian country w olc Were simply despera Iuroueh my own work
conditions of the ^ ^esire t0 live a ^^tflbrough -y trade I
were in that into the lab.opposition movement,
that took me, as a young ^ members of the ironworker PP ^ union m0ve.
came into contort* hresented lhe revolutionary 8jtfhowtolaboW move-
as it was called. They r p This 1S whcre 1 got to k j tQok part in the
ment under Comn^^S. ‘and what its political st™gg ted some of my friends
ment worked m p unemployment and later on Communist youth
demonstrations a^^rc!as I learnt-members of Ae «U ^ ^ j asked them
and acquaintances who w( about the movement. underground
movement. They g Communist League, w jjfe. 1 can remember it

-—- -a mem'

question : How old ig twenty years

-
personality one day,
s rrsas - - - °f -
j ^ answer more
million people? . . oersoDal question, that si leader? Naturally
J. K,Let rue begin tweut, that I would ^fof the question
easily and briefly. ?“0^n a young twenty-y®-^ ™ were sharp clashes

a turn which led to me

308 Speeches and Interviews

first the district committee then the Budapest city committee of the movement. I was
twenty years old when I became the secretary of the central committee of the under¬
ground Communist youth association and 1 became a member of the party. So in
a sense I can say that I was appointed to a leading post at the age of twenty.
This brings me to the second question which is linked to the previous one, namely:
what is it like to care for the fate of ten million people. I must say honestly that it is
a great responsibility although I almost never look at it in the way in which you asked the
question. Whatlhave in mind is that I am assigned to a specific post with certain tasks,
which I have accepted to do. Instead of too much soul-searching and contemplation I
consider it my major duty to do the job I was entrusted with well and conscientiously.
In this post I have to take a stand on questions of great importance, and in this
respect it is not an easy job. But the feeling itself is not so difficult to understand, a
lot of people can feel the way I do if they want to. We are living in a more developed
society and a wide range of people have a certain social awareness; there are tens,
no, hundreds of thousands of people who concern themselves not only with their
own problems and affairs but also with the fate of their ten million fellow country¬
men. They can judge for themselves what this feeling is like. It’s a feeling of great
and heavy responsibility.
As far as our youth is concerned, I would gladly have a long talk about this if we
had more time because it’s one of my favourite topics. 1 have worked a lot with
and among young people and I have always liked to do so. People often ask
me what Hungarian youth is like today. It’s a very difficult question to answer
because there are hardly two people alike among adults or elderly people.
Young people are also very different. But if you want to answer the question in
general, it is useful to quote some statistics. Only a tiny fraction, a barely recognizable
percentage, of our youth is without some decent work. So the great majority are
studying, or working in industry, or in agriculture; you can find them in a great variety
of fields of production. I believe our youth have found their place in the building of
socialism or—as students—are conscientiously preparing to do so.
But there are problems too, and they have nothing to do with our social
system. One of the laws of fife is that the age groups farthest apart do not easily
understand each other in certain matters. I always draw the attention of people
— and not only young people—to the fact that being young, just like being old, is
simply a certain stage in human life. It’s neither a sin nor a merit to be young or old,
so once we accept that we should not make either a sin or a merit out of it, then it
will be much easier to approach this question and to do so more sensibly.
Youth is an extremely important stage in human life; this is the time when with
relatively little experience you have to take a stand on great questions, stands that
will influence your whole life. Already as a young man you must define your rela¬
tionship to society and start looking for a partner—as they say— you must lay
the foundations of your family. So young people must live accordingly: when
a job is to be done, they must do it; when a serious matter is to be decided they
must give it serious thought; and when they have a little spare time left, let them
spend it enjoying themselves the way young people usually do.
 Radio and TV Interview, Jan. 1968 309

Many people attach too loTSakef radical, crucial

when judging young people I W^veour * have already seen trousers loose,
issue of these; because fasluons com with unusually long hair,
and then tight. Occasionally we -eeww^ L in fashion. I think, whatever
some consider them fashionable, others s j ^ ^ bQunds of cleanliness, health
the fashion is, the important thing!» to k P h bums. And our young people

t S?X- “S'sr,“hiir ,on6

h%e^N: You’ve gone through a lot of hardship. Where does your cheerful

from the (^pessimism

manysevere ^ps whichhave a/e optimistic although
may also come from one’s character^ think peop ^ ^ ^ ^ t0 play proph-
some of them may deny it while o and if it really does fail they can
ets of doom who say: It s not going ’ one is going to blame them, dhis
say: You see I was right. But ' ^ peSsimists. I think human nature has
is the advantage of those who caUthem^ P goe$; As ]ong as there is life

nists are optimists. ,iki ror cheerfulness and humour and

*7t!\ TXZp
anKry but if there is also a humorous or J Qri -n indicating the state in

it comes to state affairs, public ate Comrodc K4dSr. Qulte a number

^ have time to tea, to go to .be theatre, to

"to tell you the truth, 1 haven't go, ~>

J«£*£ I ffo have
practically none,but 1 do try to.keep J
sincc my early childhoodl have
spend them in a traditional way and Iar.d get some rest. 1 don t
always enjoyed reading novels and thy h P and sometimes 1 go to see
310 Speeches and Interviews

or in a pa* an, . — ~ I —S ^
the time I believe that recreation means pe d ^ parks because there s

^Question: Thank you for yojr^ and

day of the New Year we on the first day of 1968: what message

1 - -?I
of the amount of work we shall have to ^ fidd we will have to challenge old-
will have to work for progress, b thc international field we will ha
fashioned views, and often even ourselve’ ’ 0ur nation can look forward
toface the forces which threaten and now may I refer to a
to the New Year with justified confid lhemselves with the happy future
previous question, if ten million people eonce' th■ eac„ other accord-

5r «*££
i a h”--- - - “ "
the whole nation.

Speech Made at the Cultural Centre

of the IKARUS Body
and Vehicle Factory (Budapest)
FEBRUARY 1968

Honoured Assembly, Comrades,

l am happy that, in accordance: with of common

we now have an opportunity to spea Central committee and government,
interest, on questions which are^eng ff S oliticai situation, the state of our
First of all, some brief words ab°^1”ian pile's Republic are in good trim
c„m,try.ThcinterndmbnoM of tt« H^^^ a commonly determl„ed, dear

ro^^TS^cemenUumn—.
 AUKAMSCu,malCen,re,Feb.M8 311
II

not in the habit of entertain-

. if I had
3tnething
se there’s
are a real
of Sa “^society. Tbmtoe ® dLytbaJ: even is
t the first
iealth and
it message

, wish you
dry, I think
in 1967. We take this into consideration t . dasS) the peasantry acknowledge
allenge old-
ve wifi have
Dok forward
1 refer to a
nappy future
ther accord-
Thcre will be is a,8° i
lunity to wish
fience, and to
P You know the mam d wi ^ quote these fi5 , economy underwent
that the Hungarian People s ^ the went up by 9 per
fidence before he whole ^ ^ w£ kn0W, industrial p ^ reachcd QUT target for

ScoVtJal product.™ and,fe a actaevementlnm ^ ^ up

per head of popular by jjatamt of the J*>£ ^ngr ^ state in the floal

actory,
nmmon

of our
d trim:
into consideration, for myp
3. clear
312 Speeches and Memews attended this process.

which brought ro^aSJ^^iity. The six years JavP^ was the lasting and
ment got of that time was no flash in h P^. workshops, and indeed
the promising beginni g . Because since the whole we may
firm determination ofwon the title'“socialist Taken( ^ which n
one of the office sections - weU and accurately the outskirts of the
say that the factory Life at this faC^’entire population is reprc-
eeneral going on m th ^ might almost say that countryside, even whole

1967 on my own behalf an

£££2E5K Si
for large-scale dev P taking the enl,r P wlh Df the plant, a large-sc
Factory. At present the P idcas envisage the growu. surely know and
about 7,000 people, but long oPment of technology- decision that

££ase in £££ 5S» .^3Si W«y. *

to be continued-that is, wiU haVe no easy task. SQme older workers

■iS iz^&jsszsssti ssr«

Somehow this IS one ofprob,ems are not identic^ ^ ago> ^ t al
 313
At IKARUS Cultural Centre, Feb. 1968
Sit - --

What will it manuf^t^^ Wko willjt rfthe

factory is assure already going on. IKARUS Factory what 1 once

not mere words, to , the WOrkers of the IK. look to
I should like to recommend to ^ rf s Jnme time to keep an eye
recommended to>t^ e sc[ oar lo the ®laes, but at t e ^ sturable and
the future and let. then * because if they did not y ^ ^ ,arge and
on what was at the r ieet ^ distances. i shou d U mind the
would not reaohfhe ^ehcig ^ IRARUS ^^of

St and l°nS'^r^ Soals^i^e’^^ ^ commo^pjace expression, ^

fident that you will a so u i plementation of the 19 P an you have

health and much r^SSieSecewry f« tb» w°rk‘ ^ Df conditions

Naturally ^n conditions are^^^^ T waS thinking tot conditions
the required conditio ^ conditions are also n^^ and ^ workers

within the plant. factory community, ® hand. Again I am

which are not dependent on tM ^ als0 cxist and will beat ha ^ and

at the plant. These cond c?rnnmS°Ufirst of all the fervour work

thinking of our gre Because this is the prima y ing and in my
it. Beneral “u“anan People’. 2p.« * "ave
alS0'TherS tooTooks hirteaiag. We ^farther and complete

ssssl=r»rs==-»“~“
2sSSs.-s==®:
Ssm^si-ss
s concerned, the eco socialist transformation o
the following result: wdh^the so^^ ^
g socialist founda-
being. On tto»^ from year

tional economywi economy is growing and wi t heavens, will

ti°n. *e somah^t national ^ ^ present tasks and sigh _ ^ Js already

to year. Therefore tasks7” we must recall tha y helping us in our

there battles we have fought, have borne frui^c 1^ & great job it was
behind us, and wisb to go back too far. L consolidate working-class

SeenToH1956 and

SSS *--"1 •*“ "

21*
314 Speeches and Interviews

up and had its effe* here too a, the IK.ARUS Factory. Because people also talked

about it among themselves arrive at approval for a socialist soci-

It is not a simple process for ,h« ind in simi,ar political spheres compansons
ety. Among journalists and people* theboUrgeois countries addresses at meetings,
are sometimes made which show that ® are «shorter” than in our country,
speeches in parliament and even ^spap to a certain extent this is inevit-
I thought about this and arrived at the conc u somewhat stronger
able. For bourgeois society to sumve tadsuffident. Such is
the system of concepts already inj? Psurvival of the fittest atti-
idealist ideology. Such .s for either God or man, so
tude of that society: Root hog, or d , .,jt society. People instinctively
long as 1 have mine!" Such a^e, and of course through
gather this point of view bit by bit, sta g t schools, churches and various
the way in which the capital, system is We have to do dou-
other places. Our task, however is r ^ ^ thjnking of a great many people
ble or triple work. First we have to up ^ and working in a socialist
the weeds which are bad and cannot d■ new jdeas We beg for forbear-
society; and then we have to implant and g -longer”. Because the ideologists
ance; but this is why our easily. One does no. like to

forever, amen”, then our speeches wouid also ^ ^ ^- -^*- —faas

■

Every politically conscious Pe[fn in £ J’e born of this and today these arc
done great work in past yeMS^G have to argue with people any more about
helping us too. Because when one dws no, h ^ be socialism m agri-
what kind of system we should have, a h fundamental questions of society are

day life brings with ,t and S° ^phalist countries who scorn Hungary:
Undoubtedly there are people m 8 P has she been able? and what docs
what is that poor little country capering abo , ^ ^ ^ rcmember what a great
she want, to achieve? But we who are g That they created life out of the
many things our people: accompfished ^ sJcial order, defended it
ruins of the war, smashed “^^^^‘founitions of socialism and are
in a separate, by no means easy, > rightfully say, therefore, that our
now working on completing its bmld g- - matters, but they also have

sarjssrzys? ^ ««—* -
"tot long ago I met a Western “o^e5
had been no socialist system here, t in the system they
 At IKARUS Cultural Centre, Feb. 1968 315

not have *ot started, and the country would not have developed to some extent. But
! said what oUr people have achieved is, first of all, that they have become fre then
that everyone has bread, if he wants to work for it; that what lawfully belongs to
cannot be taken away from him; that he has human dignity; that as far as material
IS development is concerned, in twenty years we made up the handi^p of at l^st e,g y
3, years which the capitalist system caused in Hungary-this could not have beenac¬
/■ complished in Hungary by any kind of old regime. For this a new system, a socialist
t-
:r Sy Such Therefore^are our general conditions - good and encouraging. Naturally we
is need to cSe both the lork of building, and the ideological and pohhcaw rk.
i-
so
iy
=h
us
u-
)le
rcas„„ the *
ist
ir- ZSSOZ W brings U * new things, which
sts
to -r'XSE SL «s geneta, poiicy and you ate
lis, Party spares no effort whatever in working to strengthen our regime and power and
his to make our socialist aims understood. In our party, in the mass organizations a
sd, even'in stateamieconomic ieadetship. it is a genetai 7,“''"o'f

las ^wer to® ntohe'pwpaga^da brides, Lt the armed forces which

are
3 lit
Sn¬
are
:ry- force of arms, but it is not possible to build a new society with force of arms. This
our general standpoint, this is our endeavour and whoever ^ammes our dome
iry: noliev carefully knows very well that this marks the course of our action.
oes P Onthe quesdon of defending power and socialism, our stand^mUS unequivo^ .
reat we will not allow force to be used against our regime, against socialism. When^some-
the one has acted with force, we have responded with force. When they understood
d it to be ou ruleTnd abandoned force, then we too stopped using force -m^ately
are To ask questions, .o argue, to bring up ideas, to carry on a genu^cha" of
our views-not only do we not oppose this, but indeed we want and actually needlit
lave keeping with the needs of our society we want people who reason and expre
heir ideas because from this meeting of ideas must emerge what is indispensable for

here aCWenii-consWenred, proper decisions are forged in debate. But we also have a funda¬
snt? mental rule with respect to debate. We debate various matter* at£*0*^^
they when we have concluded the debate we say: comrades, we have reached agr
ould
316 Speeches and Interviews

ment so we must no longer debate but'wort-Jet

unon- tf we do not debate at the outset to work-then people
ply declare that this and that “ cf work. But if we have debated and have
will debate during work and at l^e P what we are going to do, then let us no
reached a decision on the bas.s of th^bo^, ^ ^ ^ me(hod. Everything has its
start to debate again instead ofworkg h ^ customary to ask before we start
time and place. Whether we go this ^ ay o ^ then ,et us g0 that way
out, but once we have started offm the d ^ ^ already know well and
We will continue the policy whichjx responsibility: they have to lead,
approve of. Communists have a^difficultt a*> d > in an exemplary manner.
In addition, they have to work andstend the ^ ^ dcpendent on party mem-
The building of a socialist society *S. I ciety wjH not be a society of party mem
bership, because the compk3e; therefore, everyone will have to
hers but a socialist society of working P 1 as the Congress also pro¬
share in its construction. Our political en ^ ^ person who plays his or her
claimed, is to regard everyone cv socialism as our friend and ally, an
part with honest intentions in the building ^ Js the essence of our pohc>.
we wish to work in sound understandi g jn the near future. In our country
The Patriotic People’s Front is to hold its co political rallying and

the“s front movement is Sli that if .Us People"

=iSS-Sr^.ss--
throughsocialist aims. .
rommonists is how we judge people. Some
A question of primary importan^fM Co—* is very liberal, We are not
comrades have said .hat m that it is impossible to judge a man
liberal, we are Communists, therefore because paper is one thing and a
“ the basis of papers. fommunist I believe that

-:r,rK
, J°X3 writers, artis.s, *-*-“£££* Hare to claim that this
reflect on how and in what manner we settled thc Chnstmas issue

of Nepszabadsdg. If you will recall, d Gyorgy Lukacs27 gave a statemen •

Tllyes2® and Peter ^Veres wrote articles™ 5 ago it would have been difficult
As I read the issue it occurred to meThai e ^ Qf the party’s official paper
to imagine that they would appear toge ^ ^ boUom of my heart. It means that our

^6rsi" - -—p—- - the ^ *

 317
At IKARUS Culturd Centre* Teb. 1968
..
1

and then either - £££«S£s2 SSS<?

and was able to lead t - ab about. Because ludcdroy social work,

what genuine C—to take
conservative, reaction > But sometimes it m y PP who does this
this can be finishedhra>J^ someone on the the correctness of our
pains for years on end ~ with tbe strength of our de ^ indeed deveiop and,
kind of work may be picas to perccivc that peopl ig tbe work we
party’s policy. Because he tbey ultimately find their pta ^ This is real
except for a few >nc^ ^oth on a na«ona land a 'oca^ ^ thc y0Uth
must continue to.do-to0, the party orga"’^ons aTe working m the right

ideascan concur with themn directlon and work m it. Because if we

them, guide them in the P P ^ and decently we app ‘ en years ago, we
And when somebody wor^ Td wha^mne, a cWr
again began to deal^^°over a certain period ofadapl to matters in
would return to our^owconcluded this battle so^owkt ^^ deal witb bim 0n the

Sa‘newmanner. As Si ourselves; to thi, the reform

of economic managemen and jt was time that problems with it

Committee the refo^^^Snanagement bnnff many is; the
Naturally the reforrn ° e Jbe first thing 1 t0 devise some-
for both managers and w and approve the refo ic management
Central Comnuttee
thing to make peoples
-
nodifflcult. The
,
«^££Z*** and the devel-
n because our social d_ 1 d to make up out-
had to be worked out a"d bad reached a point whe for socialist
opment of our naUonensuring a suitable must reconcile
minds: either we want to , ent 0r we get bogged the essence of
construction and o, « P- —^further
ourselves to bump"* riong W ^ ^ ^ greater enew a ^rodoctio„, of the
the reform is thatJ b the development of t hand: if one rises

lhe W"g SMd

3IS Speeches and Interviews

One of the aims of the economic reform is to introduce methods in the sphere of
production prices which until now had been determined by government decisions and
decrees. Earlier production prices were determined on the basis of criteria which were
then perhaps acceptable and necessary. But the prices were not on a par with actual
values, and they did not express them precisely. Consequently there were factories and
there were products which were nominally lucrative, but in reality, with prices calcu¬
lated according to their real value, they were unprofitable. And conversely: there
were some factories and certain products that were listed as unprofitable according to
the old price; on the other hand, at prices corresponding to their real value it will
turn out that they were lucrative. A certain length of time will be needed and years
will pass before production prices come close to the true and actual values, but this
will have to happen. Tf we hand out equally and to everyone the task of producing
more quickly, at lower cost and in greater quantity, but without their being in the
same circumstances, then not everyone will be able to fulfil his task.
To mention only a single question-and this also affects people in the IKARUS
Factory - there is, for example, the question of three shifts. Anyone who knows wom¬
en working in the textile mills is well aware that for twenty years this has been an
everyday issue there. Women in the textile mills say: why must it be a law that we
women in the textile factories have to work three shifts? We understand that the means
of production must be better exploited, but why is it a law that my husband and my
grown-up son in the metal factory opposite work only two shifts? Are the means of
production there not just as expensive as they are in our mill? Should they not be
striving to make better use of the newly purchased means of production there?
The reason I mention this is to make it clearer that this economic reform does not
by any means only consist of how much soap and bacon cost, but it touches on the
substance of the economy as a whole. It is very important that we learn to work with
the means of production intelligently and effectively. This is generally done, of course,
but in many spheres and in many places it has not yet been achieved and this situa¬
tion is intolerable. One comrade related that in the old days among the horses hitched
to a coach was a trace horse, which had to do no more than to look good, because the
other four pulled the coach. A country, a people cannot live in such a manner that
four pull, and one just handsomely waves its mane and in the meantime eats a double
portion of oats. This is not just, things will not work out this way.
The issue of consumption is a part of this question. We claim that man in a so¬
cialist society should receive a bonus as producer, and not as consumer. Because
the very same person who goes into the factory to work is both producer and con¬
sumer. We ought to see to it that this man should receive more for his work than up
to now, he should earn better, but naturally in proportion to the work done. In this
respect, if possible, he should be given an even greater incentive as producer, and not
as consumer. Because it is a strange thing when we give him an incentive as a consum¬
er; a quite extreme example of this was that six years ago a man went into the tavern
and asked for two decilitres of wine and received a state bonus of 80 fillers for con¬
suming it. For the winedrinker paid less for the wine than what it cost the state. And as
far as production is concerned, people do not all work the same way. If someone s
earnings are largely the same whether he works more or less, then he would have to be
 At IKARVS Cultural Centre, Feb. 1968 319

the sphere of
decisions and
■ja which were What we would bice to a ereat deai he should also ear h■ should
ar with actual should not earn, but if attain ;s that if someone cons digd in the reform.
e factories and
h prices calcu-
avcrsely: there
le according to
>1 value it will
eded and years table distribution. wjth the socialist morality sta'® Q y^es to run beside
values, but this
ik of producing
eir being in the

in the lKARUb queue when distnbut ‘

- - >-
much closcrto our fun-
k-ho knows worn-
this has been an
be a law that we
f"
nd that the means
husband and my
Are the means of and'our plans are re^ cooperative farm and
lould they not be
uction there?
ic reform does not
t it touches on the
learn to work with
Jly done, of course,
eved and this situa-
g the horses hitched
k good, because the
such a manner that
intime cats a double tive farm, but not right away, le ^ , replied, you people^ ^ a Uttle time

y.
m that man in a so- of retiremwit^ension ^^J^Q^d|tlons for^v Com-
s consumer. Because
h producer and con-
for his work than up
*£sSt-«
mittee, somehow^ ^ ^ Pthis: in this ^Xs^Mhe problems of
»Vr
ie work done. In this and that. I should like to P > stratum; we concern °unf . tvourin« to stimulate
as producer, and not
ncentive asaconsum-
n went into the tavern
s of 80 fillers for con-
t cost the state. And as
tme wav. If someone s
en he would have to be
320 Speeches and Interviews

Careful regulations are needed so that certain classes and sections of workers may
live in certain ways and not otherwise. There must be proper proportions in this
respect. The most important thing we would very much like to achieve is that every
working person earn in accordance with the work he does, that is, in keeping with
the principles of a socialist wage system. Another thing: in the sphere of consumption
we also require regulations that will provide guarantees that Communism will not be
realized too early, and only for a few. We want to realize Communism for all of soci¬
ety. In the meantime we have to establish an intermediate order that will be in con¬
formity with the character and stage of development of our socialist society. Until
then, let there be free benefits only where the interests of society require it, and at the
same time conditions make it possible. Such are infant welfare, public health, and
so on. . ...
It was with such thoughts that we embarked on this great undertaking. We are cer¬
tain that we will attain the aims of the economic reform in the same way as those ot
the earlier great battles, the struggle for power and the goals of the socialist transfor¬
mation of agriculture. We still have a great deal of work to do for this, but this too
will come to pass.
The transition, the conditions under which we start the reform of economic man¬
agement, were favourable. Since we were unable to set for ourselves the goal of creat¬
ing an entirely new situation in production from January 1 immediately and at once,
we were intent on entering the first reform year without any hitches cither in the sphere
of production or consumption. And this was how it is. By now the first experiences
are to hand, and I am able to inform you that both in respect of production and con¬
sumption completely normal conditions prevail within the country. What is more, the
1968 plans are better founded now on a national average than earlier ones. The
quantity of orders placed is no worse than in other years. The enterprises have also
prepared themselves with materials, and production results correspond to the normal
and customary increases. The same is true of consumption. The defeatists and the
hostile tried to frighten us by claiming that because of the reform there would be
unemployment. What the “unemployment” is like in this factory, you know well.
Campaign plans have to be drawn up in a manner of speaking, to decide where to
get manpower. But even if this is not general, throughout the country the tendency
is to a shortage rather than a surplus of labour. Therefore the foundation of the
reform was sound and the transition proved to be healthy.
As far as public morale is concerned, the situation is one of calmness and confidence.
One sign of this is the fact that in the first two weeks of January savings accounts grew
by 361 million forints, which is three times as big an increase as a year earlier. There
was a certain amount of growth then too, but now it has trebled. I can add that at
present there are somewhat more reserves of the most important goods in the country
than at the start of other years. The conditions, therefore, which are necessary for
work are assured. .
Speaking of the international situation, again I do not wish to go into detail. In gen¬
eral, people interpret and handle these questions properly. Our domestic and inter¬
national aims are in harmony. Just as we are working for socialism and democracy
and prosperity for the people here at home, similarly we are fighting for the same thing
 321
At
At IKARUS
1KARU* Cultural
- Centre, Feb- 1968

We regard the promotion of ^f^J^peace^this

in our international end^^ important international aun • ^ -n the future,
rkers may vention of world war as ^ ^ and tbls is what ^ firm> her prestige
ns in this
that every
eping with
nsumption
will not be
all of soci- ^ „ concerned, ^
1 be in con-
iciety. Until
t, and at the
health, and

. We are cer-
y as those of
alist transfor- described it as a revo u ter-revolution, they arc c wQrld know that the
, but this too

:onomic man-
: goal of creat- l«s ‘"Kf°”the grave provocation which
y and at once,
■tin the sphere
rst experiences nadopda^Oon ^C S^ “ ^ M«ul deface forces of the Demo-
kind. Not long ago * ™ri*„spy ship »Wch the coastal dettn al„ays refemng
iction and con- Lsionarosc over an AmernfaSW 0.^. The .m£na^, as the angels of
hat is more, the
cratic People’s Repub , (aw and representing d her and took her
lier ones. The
prises have also sanctimoniously to inter waters. The Korean P the captain of the
td to the normal pea«, sent a spy ^ uTted States was onrag*hN°w *nfessed that she
ifeatists and the tato their arbour. A. of the of carrying onesptonage
captured ship and.‘ n Jwith instruments which had t ^ waters ,n order to
there would be
was a spy ship equipped The ship lurked in Kore decide what the
you know well.
, decide where to I ’ ns,PL socialist-"®-2™ ^ .-e^W. piane »hfa
provoke a war. Now a stin n0 doubt rememo states do then’ First
ntry the tendency
'oundation of the future of the vessel wdlbe.^ ^ And wl,a, djdi fa had ne,er existed,
was shot down over the claiming that su states thal the
l denied the existence of he spy ^ not y t know m the U ^ too> ^ Anien.
nts grew either now or in the F WhenThe world 1 ^ ^ right to spyover
:r. There oilot was alive and ;ha “r„rnoses of self-defense y this, and inter
d that at cans then declared that fo obviously have no ng ^ ofthe socialist
the territory of every counttr ^ unlawful acts. Th^P sovereignty and tern-
: country
ssary for
counSes'tS they imJeriXstsare
il. In gen-
and inter-
lemocracy
saroe thing
322 Speeches and Interviews

s»-=^«ssSaS=K£t
As far as the Hungarian People through
interests of peace and progress in every way possible m g
international policy,
Union,

friendship among the p p • . cal] for the instrument of war,

coexistence. The victory of Com ] ws Gf socjai development, as
because Communism will win is also suited to this.

munist policy based on Marxist a"^S1’ and our people finds expres-

-.—-
-s^A^^-r.-sisrst-ss
of pnnciple, and not a matter or a seaso & frjcnd today and not tomorrow, if today
ally we mean this literally. Becaus< • < nnhodv will want the alliance and
1 am an ally and tomorrow act the contra* fb»™™^ on in critical
friendship of such a country, because i frjend good ally and comrade-
times. That the Hungarian People s Republic ^d* sgoo sodalist

p,e. This friendship and alliance «^ who ha,e lived in

It was often mentioned in P Sh no relatives whatever near
this part of Europe for more than a thou and y ears, ^ amongst ^

S as tood relations are eoncerned.

 At IKARUS Cultural Centre, Feb. 1968 323

this is actually true, as the Hungarians have blood ties only with the Finns, the Esto¬
nians and a few other small peoples. But these are not the only kind of relationships
in the world.
When we use the expression: the fraternal Soviet people, the fraternal Vietnamese
people, and so on, naturally the intelligent, thinking person knows that this is not
a blood relationship but a relationship based on common ideas, on solidarity and
a community of interests. This is a true fraternal relationship. We know that in the
family, in human personal relationships it is not always the ties between b\oodbr others
or sisters which are the best. True, unbreakable fraternal relationships can, however,
come into being pursuing the very same noble aims and in fighting together shoulder
to shoulder. Such a fraternal relationship binds the Hungarian people to the Soviet
people, to the Vietnamese people and other peoples.
Now for the first time in history we can say at last that the Hungarian people are
allied with forces who have the common characteristic of being in the vanguard of
social progress. Now our allies are countries which are leaders of social progress. The
peoples with whom we live and cooperate in fraternity know where the Hungarian
People’s Republic stands. Since we pursue an open, principled policy not only those
who are pleased by our affiliations can reckon with this, but also those who are
not pleased by them.
On the other hand, I can say that people who dislike our affiliations also raise their
hats higher than in, let us say, 1957, because they acknowledge that, although they
have done everything they could, still they have been unable to cause the downfall of
the Hungarian People’s Republic. And if the Hungarian People’s Republic exists, she
will have to be reckoned with. I am thinking of the United States. It too has normal¬
ized its relationship with us, as this is the trend of things today. The United States is
a great and developed country; it has more than 200 million inhabitants; it is the great¬
est imperialist power. Not long ago I said to a United States diplomat, in the course
of a conversation: If it were up to me the regime in the United States would fall within
two hours, and if it depended on you, our system would fall within five minutes. But
it does not depend on me or you. Whatever we do, the United States exists and is
what it is, and whatever you do, we too exist and will continue to exist. Do whatever
they can, the imperialists of the United States are unable to turn back the wheel of
history, and they never will be able to, because now they will always have to reckon
with the invincible might of the Soviet Union and the world socialist system. It is in
the light of this knowledge that we pursue our foreign policy, that we work to rally
the socialist countries, the other progressive, anti-imperialist countries and all pro¬
gressive forces.
We are working to unite, to join forces and rally the strength of the Communist
and workers’ parties also. We are striving so that the whole world Communist move¬
ment might be united. At the present time, unfortunately, this is more a goal than
reality. There are differences of opinion among the socialist countries too. This is the
kind of situation we have to live and work in. If we were united, it would be better,
but there are problems.
We hold that the differences in views appearing on various ideological questions
should not be allowed to prevent us from acting in unity against the imperialists. This
324 Speeches and Interviews

is our opinion. Unfortunately we do not agree

The socialist revolution has P~du*d foro: upon which we are
countries are in existence. ^ * xhcic was a time in history when there was

fd!^
People’s Republic in foreign affairs 1L we always speak unequivocally. Stemming
familiar with our position; faCt that When **
also from this, a fec!al ^ remesentatives of the Communist and workers’ parties
fraternal parties decided that tepeKOOX ^ ^ ^ for their exchange of views
ought to meet again they proposed Bu p t internationalist policy.
j„ this connection. «° «“< « T* ^
We are honestly working for «* definitt SMps towards initiating a large
cratically compare our views and t the view that the main forces of
and extensive international “nfwjneC; PPhou]d constitute a united anti-impe-
progress, the Communist and workers pa > leading nucleus is
rialist front, rallying the "^SteSithcConimunisland work-
needed; and today there can be worldwide scale Various progressive endeav¬
ors’ parties in taking the initiative replaL the initiative and
ours exist, there are progressive couutr » parfies> and the socialist countries,
the vanguard role of the Commun consultations and are working
So this is the way in "a7ur^
honestly for their also be only one amongst the rest, and will
of the participating parties. Ourp y 1 . B t the office of host devolves on
put forward its views and represent its position, bu
us and we want to.discharge:* *^ country is sovereign, but in our opin-
Every party is independent and every 1 go in as many directions as there
ion it does not follow from this act than as there are countries.
are parties, or that there shoul *- framework of a constructive exchange
Independence and sovereignty mean . compare our views and formulate
„f ideas we should draw m<2»i.h all our interests. We are
a common endeavour and political line w the interests can and must
convinced that this is not only ^nTtSat eLy party must decide with
bc harmonized. In our view sTueTXh have an influence on the fate of
even more responsibiity on . n peopie. Because independence also means
their own country and the life of t F' J needed, not a leading party, but
great responsibility•1J^rt“^°^^Lenini8B., the common Com-
?£££?£ nah sm. We have worked in the interest of

this UP to now, and shall continue to^Mention to remind you of certain

In touching on these AuesU°ns “y h the future you take these into considera-
of our essential aspirations, andi to ask th J more I would like to salute the
SJ:tSoughwehav^n.omauypar.sof.hefac.ory,
 At IKARUS Cultural Centre, Feb. 1968 325

unfortunately I have been unable to meet with everyone. 1 would ask you to be so kind
as to convey my greetings and best wishes to all those whom we did not meet today.
And please be so kind as to pass on what you have heard in some way; perhaps it
would be even better if you added your own conviction and belief that whatever the
mechanism is like, and however the economic management is reformed: it is necessary
to work. And if we work properly then the reform will create better conditions for
making our work really more productive and more effective, so that better results
might be achieved, and we might distribute more and distribute it more equitably
than up to now. .
If everyone at his own place, the workers of the Central Committee, the Budapest
Party Committee, the Ministry for Metallurgical and Engineering Industry and the
IKARUS Factory, carries out his part of the tasks which await us, then we shall pros¬
per. If someone among them does not stand his ground at his own post, does not carry
through his own work, whatever it may be, then we will not be able to achieve good
results. I believe that among them all, and between the Central Committee and the
workers of the IKARUS Factory in particular, the necessary unity exists; we are all
working for the same purpose. Retain this spirit, this manner of thinking, and there
will be new results and we will make progress.
In the international sphere, of course, we still have many battles to fight. The present
international power relations are such that the imperialists are committing provoca¬
tions and will continue to commit provocations, and we have to struggle against them.
But so far it has been possible to prevent the outbreak of a world war and we will
continue to prevent it if we fight properly. And just as we have until now, we will
continue to strive that our people may live and build in peace, because this is what
we need. We want no gifts nor anything else from other peoples, only this, that we
have the conditions in which we can work, and then we shall create what our people
require. In cooperation, we will work and fight shoulder to shoulder with those of
our allies, the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, with whom we have fought
together up to now, and with whose help we have come thus far. Everyone can work
in tranquillity and honesty, and the results will follow.
A few more words to the Communists. For some years I have often repeated over
and over again that one should respect non-party workers, and I have never mentioned
that one should honour the Communists. In this I am guided by the opinion
that it is much better if non-party people say of the Communists that they march
in the vanguard, are ready to make sacrifices, are worthy of respect and should be
followed, than if we said this about ourselves. We have had to earn respect for the
party, for party membership, for the name Communist in a difficult situation. I dare
to assert that great results have been achieved. Our society is united, and this is due to
the fact that the party, the leading force of society, enjoys great prestige and great
respect among the people. The masses of the people in truth have confidence in the
party, and they follow it. I believe that Communists, each and every one, feel this.
We should not preach that “we are of a special mould”, because by this alone we
are unable to convince other people. We are of the very same mould as are the working
class, the people, but we have become Communists, we have Communist convictions
and principles. This, the name Communist and party membership, goes with certain
326 Speeches and Interviews

obligations; moreover, with the obligation that we have to live and work in a way
worthy of this. Now in factory and village, everywhere, the name Communist enjoys
respect, and we should very carefully safeguard this respect. Belonging to the party
does not entail additional pay or anything like that. But it docs go hand in hand with
something extra on the moral side, which none of us would exchange for however
many thousands of forints or any kind of bonus. This also adds something to a
man’s conscience, to a man’s aspect; apart from this it adds something to society
which is indispensable to it: the fact that such a force exists and there exist such
men as can be followed.
I would ask you, all the workers of the TKARUS Factory, to strengthen our com¬
mon cause with your work and attitude, your deeds and words. Work in such a way
that throuah your results the factory and the country may thrive, and that the honour
of the party may grow - that party which will help your work, your struggles and your
successes in the future as well. .
Thank you for your attention and your cordial welcome, and once again allow me
to wish you the very best and much success.

Closing Speech at the 10th Congress

of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party
NOVEMBER 1970

Honoured Congress, Comrades,

The four-day debate, and the 56 contributions made in the course of it, demon¬
strated complete unity on the main issues. There was not one contribution which
differed on any essential question from party policy. Therefore, my first words to
the comrades who spoke in the discussion, to the congress delegates, is to thank them
on behalf of the Central Committee and the Central Control Committee, for their
completely unanimous support.
In addition to the delegates to our party’s 10th Congress, all the delegations from
our fraternal parties addressed the Congress. We are grateful that they accepted our
invitation and sent representatives and we are grateful that the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union and in general all the fraternal parties who took part at our
Congress honoured our party-perhaps even more than was merited-by the compo¬
sition of their delegations and with their speeches. e
I cannot mention each speech of the fraternal party delegations. On behalf oi
our Central Committee, we express our sincere thanks for their putting such emphasis,
both in a general and in an international sense, on the 10th Congress of our party.
 , Nov. 1970 327
At Wih Party Congress.

The internationalist standpoint taken by ^ ^"^CS'to our sStrfn whieh

:SSiiErr=~S
and worthy of the ”“ss»n of the Co gr.^ ^ ^ kc , «

«l@ISS25i3
responsibility and spoke ” result 0f

^Tco- hution.

mwfimm
‘no SU'r^ . -^»ntf.-S to reekon with re-

Wmmrnm
22
328 Speeches and Interviews

opinions during these days took place not only in this hall, but in the entire country.
And there were discussions, as we know from the response along the same lines and
rvnthesame Questions throughout the entire country; the broad masses of the
££ “ SL views jus. a, we did here a. the Congress. Th.s is

“ 'confess also heard ,he addresses of .ire fraternal parties which showed U* inter-
nationSst position from which the various parties evaluate our Party. Our Congres
has met with a broad response in the fraternal socialist countries and m all countne
where our fraternal parties could ensure publicity for it.
Our political opponents and our enemies also followed the 10th Congress of t
Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party with attention. Our deliberations surprised t •
Their guesses were all over the place. Finally, they reached almost the same conclusion
^ cTp our own party membership and people, the fraternal parties and the
fra tern aTpeople s building socialism. Adversaries and foes alike consider the 0 th
Coneress of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party as the consistent continuation

Sh orn M *"s “ <*■ “ U8efl" f°r ,hem *° kn°W

- ,hh cerccon,r::
Committee is very widespread. It is quite obvious from the speeches at the Congre
Lt the 56 comrades who took the floor not only expressed their own opinion, bu

tH B^refgreement^stifl broader; it has met with the accord of our entire party
membership public opinion, our allies, the working class and of our people. With
the^onoarrence of all those who in a good and noble sense, consider the can of
nqrlv „nd socialism their own. And as I have already stated, the basic position
and die main line of our Congress meet with the approval of the great majonfy o
the Communist and workers’ parties and of the fraternal peoples building social¬
ism. This agreement and solidarity - both domestic and international is gre.
source of strength for the future work and struggle of our party.
After this, permit me to reiterate - this time factuaUy-what emerged ^e cours
of the preparatory work for the Congress as the opinion and demand of our party
membership and working people, what we only proposed on Monday in the repo
of the Central Committee and what has been confirmed now: the party will commit
its political line even more consistently and will implement it more firmly. This concur¬
rence is a new source of great strength to our party: it shows encouragement, ap-
proval and is a. the same time a compelling demand from those whom we wtsh to serve
according to our best conscience, and on whose behalf our party often speaks, takes
a stand and issues statements. We have to regard this as the demand of our work g
class working people and of all the positive forces of our society, as the obliga >
task of our partly. This united stand at the same time provides us with new oppor -
nitL to accomplish even more consistently and more thoroughly what our party

h“ ‘shouTdTket touch briefly upon a few specific questions winch have arisen in
the debate Several people spoke about coal mining. It is just four years since
^“^tpVamme to transform the energy structure of the national
 329
At 10th Party Congress, Nov. 1970

. qti. Congress; this set as its aim the

economy was one of the important t< erne use of oil and gas.
reduction of coal consumption and an mere micMy correct objeclive and we
We set about realizing this unquestionably ^ was nQt smooth, because

achieved good results. At the same ^ P d - perhaps to an even greater

SS rST* "sion of energy sources did not keep pace

a small error occurred. The 9th Congress nlincd at great cost, but to continue
production of low-calorie coal whichLwasbe o ^re ofgQur miners who could no
mining coal of high-calorific value. We also eratiQn their great merits m
longer be employed in the m'nes-^^ lutl0n We made sure that they found
rebuilding the country anc?'" J j^ s however gave the appearance of the genera
jobs in other areas of work. All interpretation. Internal, loca
scaling down of coal mining. in order to increase the mining of
changes will also have to be made in th f ]ower calorie coai at higher cost. But

Sreco'nomy, textile industry, linking

anyone familiar with the new, foortb> Five ^ a great future

national economy is aware that the ^ng industry and this wiU be put
We are planning large-scale ^"f ^not only to the modernization of the means
through. This reconstruction will extend no y sjtuation of the textile workers,
of production, but also to an improvenen beahhy and rapidly growing branch
The Hungarian textile ‘^ustry w - situation of the people working
of our national economy, and it is necessary
in this industry should correspond to this. and this year’s difficulties also
The present state of the cooperati Pc yCOODerative farms damaged
came up in the debate. 1 am thinking now not o y wcather conditions there

rirrrs^ - -—of mcomc

is crop growing suffered a percepJtWe tenjtw consdentioUS work of man and
Agriculture needs more than S0^. ^ Hmfhcine, and I believe for a long time
the necessary material resources o naturai conditions, among other things
to come, it will depend to a large exte particular but indirectly for
on the weather. This holds good for crop^ ^ accustomed t0 the fact that in
animal husbandry as weff Our peasant b h ^ have thought in the eighth
agriculture there are good and ted yc .• out for ram. That
month of this year that by the tenth monthje wo^ ^ be ^ that. For the
is how capricious the weather has • ^ with human resources. By the

X the'natioiwTaverage *£in Iheafis about 12 quintals per fa* Not long

22*
 Speeches and Interviews party,
-
. j r„, in the meantime our agriculture fulfille
ago this was celebrated as a ^«onal record.^ ^ ^ ^ an(J kst year was ment
has developed, we had a goo ’ Now that we have fallen back a degree mobil:

’zzcsss rr/s"«- >-» - «" as a with.

cultie:
Ma

“they sWd
keep them and continue to work with dacm. ^ them are concerned: first
And as far as the difficulties and y . ■ ful) Gf vigour and has changed
of all our agriculture based on socialist foundat ^ difficulties. More
into a branch of the national were it not for the collect, ve force
than once during a drought or flood w ^ workcrs’ state, the results would
thtgfare, however, we can overcome the unforeseen

°bi?thei'r awareness and sdf-confidence^ thc ^castern counties

the people were able to pull themseWe t&plan’andyindeed even overfulfilled plans.
cultural work in full measur ’ f ry kjnd Df trouble.
This is the principal and bes rcmedyfo yw and I may say ■ntheircol-
Thc peasantry have greatly deudopdexample, by the fact that abou
lective and socialist awareness. Tins i > Pr° direct assistance to the cooperatives
two thousand agricultural cooperatt J8 meanS) to a total value of 140 million
affected by the floods, according th ^ of human beings, especially of
Forints. I believe that people who know h do _ are able to appreciate

to the building of socialism. doubts about the decision of the 9th Con8rebS
There are perhaps people who tod dovi ^ common efforts of the working
to increase the income of f*hfS<Tstrength of our people to the level of that of
class and the peasantry and the un comrades, was a histone step.
the working class, nationally and on the av ag ^ ^ should be proud

ruU - - — °f - “

’USE*- to *. years »"rrsS

down. Today they are also ^ported b^he^sta ^ ^ ^ continue to criticize
frequently criticized the building _ > • fl d.stricken area, even if only on tele-
it for a long time. Still, if one at the beautiful, modern lines
 331
At 10th Party Congress, Nov. 1970

MMM-and i. a very short tune at ttat. Tk Cen® ^ peasants to

ment took the necessary steps and h PP themselves they vnll he assisted

« -*—they d;
the soctat po^ —" SS

- - -and * is sood *at “was 4

tioned here at the Congress. laid down the principles and

The Central Committee, as was.s^^rehensive resolutions on all these questions

the Council of Ministers approved compre complele fulfilment, because

will improve as the signs already mdtea^ ^ ^ women in public life-<*fr ;

Let me mention, for example, th P . and not enough has happ
short time has elapsed slice the par^ ^ certainly there was one even ,
for a considerable change already to be ^ ^ cxample. During the prep
within the party at that, and this generaly oliticai and moral weight of the
"for the Congress, in consequence of tt-po* ^ ^ ^ formed
Central Committee resoiuUon, ihe one-third compared to Jhe fo
party committees increased 33 of the 90,000 members of the party
situation. More than 19,000-abou 21 p this example and *«Plc™
branch leaderships are women^If we«concerning women in other

JS^°S3r XJTSL - — ^of women

government resolutions and not even by a 8^ respect and how they shouldshow
by resolution, for example, whom P^p h deba£ at the Congress, the speakers
this. But when everywhere andlaHohc“ $ taking paft lD production are

consider ourselves Communists, °r en '^orkL women have to be respected,

resolution can be passed concerningthis' nQt so obviously important con-
This has another aspect which though m&ny limcs do wc see that backward

a.man meets a wo -
332 Speeches and Interviews
bal
ths
an he should greet her
offer her a seat. All this may seem to be tnvi 1, ^ ^ ^ fact that women no
does not lie in, and our struggle sh we sometin)es do
te?
are free to work just like men so be ehanged by anybody,
in
not greet each other. After al , e physical sense of the word,
ce
— y«
th
when they take on great burdens. advance a bit faster in some specific
quesdon^,^sudi as ^ implementation Jf the principle of equal pay for equal work, te
tl
tl
"f am°veryS happy that
u
spoke seriously about this question “ something, but local ones as well,
0
have the ways and means in^f^X'S-a! Committee, bn. ten
If not a 23-member government or u seriously tackle these ques-
thousand, a hundred thousand, resp.unutilized possibilities, reserves and resources
lions, then they will on the spot find u ^ &] P a parly resoiution, unlike the
question^ etiquette^^hich ^ on my part nevertheless recommend for serious

C°Wh1leaon°S,is question,, shouid *

The 9th Congress passed a decision l P P - We stiU need many other things:
care allowance ’ *“iae the intention of complementing properly the

tremely dilhenl. to no. doming.-out-

comrades, that we must also ch g J* is of her own conscience, the choice
look. If someone is wc.glungup, accord JS * ^ is his or her business
of buying a TV set or a car, raatter8 but if this degenerates to the point
There are no compulsory laws on ’ because they have not looked after
of speaking disparagingly aboirt expectan ^ this. Those who live accord-
their own well-being, then we . traits of human nature, cannot be scoffed
ing to the normal laws of s°cie'y-th h thing as vanity too; there
aU ^s cannot be condont^ ^ their figures. This
are women who think that gi human and general sense,
may be so, but they will be more beauhfu ncce and if they have the time
Those who like to calculate shou > ^ not cannot be simply a matter
for it. But the decision whether to ha ^ ^ of a pair of socks, a baby car-
of calculation. One must a ways re future generation cannot be a matter of
riage and diapers, but the “^“^^0^ a young couple even one
simple calculation. We realize how dtMt rt^ ^ ^ ^ ±ey to

ZV:X aft“»r"VSa« ><h^ * another teem then they wiii have a

 At 10th Party Congress, Nov. 1970

, rn hprore the Liberation must realize

; should
equality
: women
n°Many a-— - W. -
times do

he word,
respected

e specific
ua) work,

nterprises
ral bodies
:s as well.
but ten I could enumerate what we need believe it to be a good practice that the
hese ques-
i resources
unlike the

mmmm
for serious
*‘££22- *—*•> r ,he,p;°r i1 V
io mothers.
i of a child-
ther things:
properly the
the 10th Congress: Qur enterprises. This was the proper, the so ,
; are needed
tat it is ex-
dare to say,
linant - out-
e, the choice
her business, sirg—for a minut"thcy ha,e a,ways T a
to the point
t looked after
3 live accord-
rot be scoffed
ity too; there
figures. This

5^£SiliESSSi
SS — an increase of 40 per cent
334 Speeches and Interviews

national income in the fourth Five •°«1 “

Parfemmi^pass^^h^bni^the envisaged pla^become^s law, nevertheless

there is law and order, every,* posseSs this would undermine the living
begin to distribute what w<* do ^ workers, the metai worlcers, the teachers,

rial incentives received proper empha • tfae spirit Gf selflessness and readiness
requires the strengthening of of enthusiasm, and also that incentives should
to make sacrifices; moreover, thespi f jnasmuch as this is a question of public
exert an influence in the sain* S/Lr socialism to be built by even one man as
morals, it is our opinion that it is diff f cannot regard as a secondary job the
a secondary job, but a whole: peoplecerttu V Fortunalciy this is the way we
completion of building socialism, it is their main j
do it and this is how we are building >b butQr t0 the debate, speaking of work
At the party conference in CsepeU> under the capitalist system, then it
morals, said work was once a it as a favour. In our society it is work
became an honour and now some peop oflabour in which people who
which is the basis of all rights. Socialism s, y ^ ^ ^ only the opimon of
are able to work must do so in order to g^ decenl person. In our country
every conscious suPporter of socialis » g should be some who do not accept
work must also be a matter of honour.^And fth ^ ^ ^ social classes,now it will
this, then, just as in the past work was: P to them that they cannot live
be a compulsion for certain pec>ple. ^^ ‘ se of the working people,
without work, and live well at that if field cf party activity. From the
Comrades, the report was unab d ^ J ^ different mass organizations,
point of view of party work, actm y without distinction, is of equal im-
in the state and social organizations, ew^ g, ect and credit the work of
portance. This is also valid forfield,
everyone who carries on usefulsocn\ a the heads of the party branches as
I should like to address the Communist This ear j paid a visit to the
well as the leaders of the ^Acting room of the Executive Committee
Eighth district (of Budapest). - f Fenin. Time passed and afterwards
where we were talking, there was . po«a^to (Un^ ^ P ‘ ^ At the Central

•i is “i. wXr.viri.
wc should make haste as much as we eam
—.- ■—■
all comrades emphasized

Ever, da, — of tenants and

 335
National Assembly, April 1972
To

nt which
! soon as
■ country
>ertheless
wmmssss
he living
teachers,

of public
ind mate-
socialism
readiness
res should
i of public
me man as
iry job the
the way we

,ng of work
tern, then it
y it is work the strength, the unity, *^outlook^ 1
t consciousness and ^rnat that
people who
: opinion of
our country
o not accept I thank you for your attention.
,,now it will
f cannot live
pie.
ity. From the
irganizations,
s of equal im- Sneech at the April 1972
it the work of
Session of the National Assembly
y branches, as
a visit to the

T~--S=;=S=
e Committee,
,nd afterwards

wmmsmm
At the Central
This expresses
it to do and in
at time passes,

des emphasized
ions — that they
ark for the real- iSr-o?: 2£— »«, » —•

if telegrams and
 Cheches and Interviews basis of the

’ The Constitution is *.

over a thmisan-J of socialism and Hungary National Assembly Hun.

5'^S2s-j *£rSLsf.
^ssm^mss
Sp^^ffissS'SS
 337
ToNationot Assembly, Aprit 1972
of the Hungarian bour-

Austrian ruiing
iasis of the geois revolution; it me maintaining thfj°PP nd goals of the fight for
1 Assembly gof protecting then ^
:ty which is peasants. Then the rukrs the framework of the si over the workers

ikeable and freedom, thereby ensur d landowning and caPf. It was to their shame
lay. The Bill garian Monarchy the ™^onalitics for a further half ««• ^ve the country a
i, will be the of Hungarian and Exploiting classes "ere people, lived
,te, the Hun- that the Hungarian ™^ognstitution> &Q thal tbe labouong J ^ ^ shame alsothat

,f all the his- genuine basic law, deprived of then rights, an for a mess of pottage,
1 to socialism for over a thousand y - Hungarian nation, the ’ ^ way that, follow-
they often betrayed t e , Q history took shape the great

,er the strug- Honoured N«f»»^'S‘Councita of 1919, it^ and legal rights,
itephen29 and ing the H^n^Petdfiformulated - th^ofho rf ^ XX:1949
5, Tancsics31,
f our nation,
martyrs and
workers’ move-
ng people, who
kept alive, and ,inition and a constitution of ^ S
overcoming the thelnb order foro
this far, eternal
which preceded
ed with honour.
t^FaSst army of ^p^°nfrom foreign op'pretsors.
■ulers of the old
! of the nation”, OXS^Union, C
n, clear and un- The Constitution accord lowards their 1‘berat° ’ d under the leadership
never ceasing gratitude of o^ ^ -n thcir own handstand ^ their statc,
hich significantly
untry, but a true The liberated peopl (lh{. working class, achieved p arized the achicve-
of the Communists, and ° lb c The 1949 ConstttuUon ^ ^ structure of
living and consti-
B who maintained the Hungarian Pe°P through our struggle and ’d0f the dtizens, and declared
rs; the laws were
• their own power,
tc, King Stephen,
;t the young feudal toric experience of nea y Qur constitution; they

the interests of the met its purpose. d sinCe the adopUon thc working
More than twentyjea* ^ ^ self-sa^ng tni^ ^ ely
Bull, enacted in the
have told the story f ^ ^ althoUgb somc^es o of socialism
eges of the nobility
people and of the n^ ot incei949freeof conflicts^ 1 Qf our party, our
erboczi32 in the six-
served with brutal difficult; nor was the per numbers; the work nfoeress and great, truly his-
1 oppress the people

orld was in the last

t was the “Compro-
tions of a socialist sociery.
ment, which was the
g dynasty, with the
„s Speeches and Interviews cialism is
the prospe
. nomy and our people are working today for the building of a com-
Hungar
along this
most advi
social sec
overtake
But techi
socialist ’
out the i
;“d “rap‘rison M,h the in the sc
with me
by no n
technolc
humane
Thus v
ennobling values j,as opened the road ^ between the
It is

SSiiSS'fHrrr-s= and to
social
people

tss 5S£ t “£^ SIS.

quarte
An iir
that, ’
Hungarian PeoPle’ ^ conditions before_ UberaUon.^ Penury ^ ^ memory.
indus
surably compare “three million beggars intrv there is a washing
this a
starvation, the BJJJ*, “ a, that throughout the visio„ se,
systei
He
suit <
polit
*“ ^*5 60 per cent of the age group e®*™?;' nice acbjCTement. . try,

=£*
StTS?« eu^peopte.
Ss J ssk?
r "e"n«e.hat, however great the tashs

millions', and *eywj ^ them too. socialism would not

patt^shndar country 'And^we con-

 to^ **-*'>•Apri,m2
the only certain road to social progress. t0

cialismis for ” th6 road ,o

the prosper^ of the ^ have entered on lhe condition care

^sair.---s3Eis?i s£ ss s
SS^SSSaS-rSsa^
technology for
humane in hfe
safeguarding the re
Qn our r0ad- modernization of the eco
of our country,
edtion between the
Thus we advan plan the m fact in the comp. d stry which the
It is in this sensethatj ft i$ ath a backward than a
and to raise it to ‘ ~ ^feudal Hmy < eiopment over d countries.
social systems that ^se ^ ^ of sociahst dev m^um-devdo^ ^ wa
people inherited, ha ranks of the e l0lh Congres advanced

----

long-ranSe '^'^Kl^egtes^ought a&a'^''^asa^try5 and. in ^^'^rhe struggle Por

5SK £»** sSSSS lbC?*-3££, -'»T5SS?iV

of *e ““f*4
or an
£ “voUonatS transW™ d against ,t m
tested indondoalst & beginning of * otheIS who who m this
.he ““ a‘,om beginning ate a Et=a. manV
re^ oHU sttnfgte and faded- A
340 Speeches and Interviews

same struggle, recognizing the truth, became comrades instead of opponents, and
K whomwe now wo* and ^t^di'cT—°by*e capitalist ruling
By conquering the remnants of the between lhe classes, the
classes, and armed with the expeneii‘ Ja, finding each other in a recognized
Hungarian worker, the peasantan inthe building of socialism; Commu-
community of interest, are ac ye - believers work in common for the good
nists and non-party people, believers and non-behevers wort ^ ^ ,g republic,
of the country. Only in the conditions o w o g the’assertion of the Leninist

of“

must be done to strengthen thisjnity “.l „e tive millions gathered in the

Socialist national unity is a reahty. Toda> y izaUons and mass move-
vanguard of the working class, the p y, majority of the adult population
ments, and in the Patriotic Peoplethat the Hungarian
££5E2£S socialism is .he programme and future of the

Hungarian people. enactment of the Constitution in 1949,

by the fourth Five Year Plan for ever to be a

The wheel of S tb“ ipMists the imperialists have lost the
country of parasitic lords, of explode , P them. 0ur dass
country and never again wdLatea ft is a moral imper-
enemies will never forget this, bu ou P P , h and achievements of
ativeforeveryson of the socialist home^nd J»^rend po with the
the people in all circumstances and ever>continue to develop, to
mind and the heart, with w Hungarian People’s Republic, which is dearer

“'S'- all this

class, our people have not strugg! ^ Evcrybody who in the past quarter
work and the struggle have b building of socialism may be proud of it.
century took part in the strugg es and “ cause. L deserves the

“lhe ""people “d
the homeland faithfully. th-rnnrse of Dreparing to amend the
Co"a"„T^oPshavuner^rny arisen.and the proposals sub-
 To National Assembly, April 1972

, number of essential amend-

mi,ted by the —
ments. By the “^^^^deraBonandd^on^Naho^ ^ ^

gss-5. "'ss* -°.n^s •s. *»• > - -,hem

are among the proposals snbmt.ted, ^ spite of the very

opinion ottheC-J-JJ"?£'& £££SSZ££

i^— ** - *-which tave

‘^“^CStttd are appropriate; the,,£* toZ

apptove

bechanged, p^^^^e^wd^ietlhiE^bnt lre“^j^timm "already

rnts;:^
been attained, and is not “£? e „t opr sla“; ™ "““rnlle" of our working
is also mamfeste in ^ greatest achievement o * Republic means, and
Republic” expresses * cf the Hungarian Pc°P ‘ f our working
class, of our P^.^^here and to everybody'. *£^ is being built.

reS; =>lbr^J.rrn^n« -public it a -*

„ate in some less declarative ■» rf society. It tan
1st State. , is thc most revolutionary at the same time
In our age the w > historic objectives only > to general prog-
realize its own and stratum, and by opening ^ our country
every other c*pn«**“ This i$ what has happened' «™g ”e constitution deals

and correctly lay.that tbelea ^ ^ by a class

naaon-ltis^e first time in position to themselves but

which does not use that P° commensurate with their rig • ■ impor-

tance: they have gained power, tney

 Speeches and Interviews
342 Co:
Centr
organized and are developing soc,a'ls^^ socialist transfer- comn
landlords and given it to the peasants and h mon ly of the old exploiting
the ai
their
state.
an example in the building usc the expression “the power of the He
In everyday speech we the powcr 0f the working class toda;
text,

-arssnss
formulated in the new text of our
;s s*~ of *. **
h Marxist-Lcninist party
thef
pcop
prim
ety,
The amended text of the Fi
of the working class is the leading force of s J ^ # vanguard,and through which of 01
nization of the highest order is the party wh ^ historic goals. Qur party
and
this class solves its governmentaldu simullane0usly the historic goals of the tive:
has always considered it its duty P interests 0f the workers. The proposal lega
working class and to represent the day-to ^ ^ fundamenta, law should record
we
£*53r^r0“y ifa^eat honour for our entire party, and for every Coi
alik
Ion
has always *****-
1
and its governmental tasks, as some t lhe relevant formulations of the
per
faithful service, to the PcoP e’ responsibility for the Hungarian Socialist pol
Constitution primarily as an increascd P * whole of society. Hungarian wis
Workers’ Party, for every in future too, to serve the l
^ Patriots in making the Hungarian elf
de
PCA^hniwrt^^hMact«^sticof our^onstitution is^eo^tia^ify its
of
th
kr
One of the greatest achievemen Constitution on the one hand widens the It

rgeTri»"rssrnr -—<°-— th
th

w
cise of rights in harmony with the JaffairsyIt extends to the whole of society ir
duties; the ensuring of participate P ing the interests of socialist society, C
and makes the rig* of life, hmb and health, to social insurance
P
s
amlha education are also exte[£^ emphasizes more than n
1;
s

£££ " “—— emphas,s'

 To National Assembly, April 1972 343

Concluding n»

SL-7 ^ Comtude, one - i-S

Honoured National A the National Assemol*pf and ensures through
s today through the resolu re exactly than bef , Hungarian
f text,' the Con«^—— the historic the lofty
d
people whcThave t^^^^^^^f^e^an^tan People’s Republic, ofoursoc,
iy

ty
a- Fr°m tUC.roTevery Hungarian citizen, to observe and enforccment and effec-
ch of our society, offc y ded Constitution to the full. ^ duty n0t only in the
rty and principles ofth f the Constitution is for us d f au of us that
[he
isal
ord
rery

,ety, long-term socialist goal. ion today does not

and
the
ialist
5=M -—«*—1 a,so
arian
e the
SK* £££!£& -—«“5SS* "t
;arian
development of state hf , ^ process. Thc full^ effect . succeed in drawing
state, itself is an important a tde extent to whicn ... alYairs. We
)bliga-

uction
cns the
roadest thinking and acting 8 science and technology,
than has been the case imaginable without advanc wjthout the constant
he exer- Our socialist P^V^e anf services of a high ^ lhan this,
its from without industry, agneu nces Bul socialist progres - treasure are indis-
improvement of materia cj and making culture a comm q spread
f society
society;
isurance

\ore than SS5EE£** ■* “tte> “to 6,1

large families, in a
on of the
ication of society.

23
344 Speeches and Interviews

i5~£^£Sg£&
Pla”d't?to iTw= S a realistic national ;, fa a planned and

SigS
a^^SSHSsSS
 To National Assembly, April 1972

, tin have reserves at our disposal in all

For the raising of work of our plans does not always go
spheres of life. We know that the ®P symptoms, too. In our society

sssck’.slss —■“ou, everywherc'

solutely, against these adverse symptoms^ man hinlSclf, and our mam trust
is”^ S^q^pline and the sense of responsibility of our

W°^I^tnessday°aft« d^^h^^s ^^^^^tbout'oTtent^on^Th^increasing

fulfilled with self-respect, but at the sa 0f society, the rebirth and progress
host of the activists working selflessly for spreading of the socialist way of
of the socialist brigade movement gT of our society, of the enhanced re-

SS: "“*■,ron ther

further building of socialiism for progress not only w'tlun^
Honoured National Assembly! We mu * as weU. We will ensure the m
boundaries but in the arena of J our plans in future too. For this
ternational conditions for the reah socialist homeland, because do
will on the one hand Seal activity and international

reliable ally, the Soviet Union Hungarian people, the peoples of the wori
We declare our goals openly, in S against jmpenalism, for
may see an active militant and reliable ally >n m ]o>tion and for the prevention
the liquidation of all forms of cap'^ 1 ^ and continue to urge peaceful cocxis-
of war. At the same time we have bee«i u g ^ The Hungarian People s

re'ations w,th "

C0Thusethe°i,etter of the wpartome world sodafet sys^.

Of peace and human progress wishcs P rve as security for ourprinciples,

the world. Our actual deeds and the stends^^ problems of the international situa-

23*
346 Speeches and Interviews

In Europe we work together

the Soviet Union and the Federal ReP" „ as by the coming into force of
^WicandtheFederalRepubhco bet^ the German
the quadripartite agreement.West]B of Germany. The Hungarian People s
Democratic Republic and the Federal P b because they strengthen

Zi £w5 SS, ** - Z

and Saedthepaopteaon^hadtanfr^^ po]icy in our s„„d against ,he

--»7 - s
of the right of self-determination to th P p actual solution to the prob-
discontinuation of ta-» Z^Ze*" gcnJal interests of peace and security,
lems of the area and serve at the same tint b and of the Provisional Revolu-
The proposals of the Democratic Rcpin«>' ^aed a (his aim; they are just, they
denary Government the termination of the war and deservedly en]

W-SrfS “ v”yTme is bringing

£2T>S5n aggressors and ***£,'**'^tension of its mi,tor,

fr°m " d0

Vi?heavie,names, people, the

not threaten the security Hongariw.^ 5
freedom and independence against inv actions 0f the American impenal-
Republic categoncally condemns the agg
 To National Assembly, April 1972 347

ists and the outrageous resumption of terror bombing; and we resolutely demand
that1 the United States should stop prevaricating, should stop sabotaging

wmmmrn
lasting just and peaceful solution of the Indochinese question through negotiations

with .be Arab sbi.es Sghting

“ "„EgSr„°people and .be

llfSlisp
loTof tte “ro^ommuni.;, family and colleague., and for .he wider eonmu-

.bib a.
present, to a more beautiful and happier future.
348 Speeches and Interviews

Honoured National Assembly, Comrades! The Bill before us is good, and recog¬
nition is due to all those who-as befits the task - have worked with care on the
amendments to the Constitution; thanks and recognition are due to the committee
appointed by the National Assembly, who have completed this great work.
It is well known and T repeat it now: our party, the Hungarian Socialist Workers'
Party, has always stood guard over the observance of the Constitution, has acted in
the unconditional observance of its letter and spirit; we will do so in future too. The
aim of the amendments to the Constitution, the main questions of principle, are known
and supported by the broader public too.
In the spirit of these thoughts, T accept the Bill on the amendments to the Con¬
stitution, and in the name of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist
Workers’ Party recommend its adoption to the honoured National Assembly.

Closing Remarks at the November 1972

Session of the Central Committee
Twenty-seven comrades have spoken in the debate on the agenda and five other com¬
rades have submitted their comments in writing. Over and above this, a number of
proposals and comments have been made regarding the draft resolution.
All those present can confirm that the comrades speaking in the general debate have,
without exception, agreed with the Political Committee’s report, analysis of the situa¬
tion, and proposals regarding both the implementation of the Congress resolutions
and the national plan and budget for 1973. These comments have touched upon prac¬
tically every area of our work. If I were to categorize them according to some sort of
time factor, I could say that one group urged quick, immediate, action; others spoke
of things to do in the present period between congresses; a significant part of the com¬
ments however touched on general lines to be followed over a longer period, the re¬
maining years of the fourth Five Year Plan, and in some cases to an even longer
period of time.
The oral and written comments have, without exception, touched on very important
questions. Even if not all can be accepted, all deserve attention, because they have
dealt with topics which are timely and very important from the point of view of the
work being done in the party, the state and society.
We have all followed the debate with attention. The remarks, comments, observa¬
tions and proposals have been made in a room where the representatives and officials
of the main leading bodies of the party, the state, economic, cultural and social life
are present. I think that they will all take these remarks seriously and will endeavour
to make use of them in their work. We do, however, assure you that the remarks and
proposals will be systematically worked on and studied as well.
 To Central Committee, Nov. 1972

The very wide-ranging ^e^atc ma^e^e'^)°eS''l^shouldeiike^to' deal *w^th

K— r*jSKSXS KS.™—
^SiKS£^"JSSSSSSSS5£
MS^fSaSsiraerBW
«r=55=S£S=sS

SS^SsSSSaSgs
revolutionary. Forthe sake of evolution if a party worker or sta want

This ’is how things stood atQthat ^ time of the 1957 party conference. What was
 speeches »»<»** „ patty membership.jurt

s much as it go tbe full P'ctur « tv,e summer °f 1 , , v ,^e ruth-

Of course one mu -mning 0f 1953 a bccn liqutda e 0f the
differences the ^""'“^ievolution and the offens ^ ^
which still ''ved A.s a result of *e resistance a'ld ' of ^56 the party
less criticism of his > e not capao he aUtumn o , in tbe
class enemy,our own fo^ ^ ^ s to £ *£ and an*^ a
blows Of the enemy. ”°toms, the regime "J'Sat it could come ^ f^ This is
bad disintegrated come t0 pass, a d ification from h P rty, in
country, ^.^demanded **■* ^d practical work o^onstruc-
massive social scale ^ Ac theoretical practice of *oc & lQSS to

ments and thmk ^ today. in the - -•

Leninist turn as f*tsi mass ela-
What is the situa chievements ol tn d. in party hie. of the
safeguarded •»*'£££ a"d >” For «
public spirit with t J . Leni»lst no m P possible any0* t hinge on
tions of the party, ^ ^ prevalentin «**»*££ be is moon-
country soci prevalence ° workplace or no , esent meeting

* can already ®»r oM gIea, rgantation of

5^ilK^sL*=SV='-> “ ““ "
that oar “e”“SJropaganda machine can nationaltation

Finally, they have e^s cannol be touche , -,hese

things. m today s

inner party life

 351
To Central Committee, m- 1972
To Central ^ ^^
.c .v.o nartv-

flMSH
up just

md the

uth-
f the
the jubilees,x These trends &t nQrms are alive ^ h mistakes ca
r the
party
,n the ^ ^
uch a
rhis is
the pubhc sP't'-J manifestations 1 question- Sp of things is in
rtv, 'n

Sto
to
IS

on'y

SSs^jSScaifssrts“T.
%SSfi= £ . 5

PSiSllli
SfejS»'?Sss.-

forward manned even^ building soc.ahstnor anyboj^ ^ conscious

nation

a that
ihieve-

today’s
>und in
:eva\ent
 Sneeches and Interviews
352 ^P a T g* not allow

stjxsz
baMns of >«**«£*» sweat and toil, but there
, would cbamctenze the ^ ^ regcnerateu -‘we

~ ■*« tTi^—TIngs have *«**■-»

‘bad to cart, out a.and right-wing P^”Sn StSSsV

",h oor
Sff 10 ,te COnSW hen ta ou! actions we gate greater apprceiadon ajjd ranh to on.
There was a time whe mbers This was necessary, < , . Commu-
allies than to

his memory as a man. ideological matters. But we alw y S tters cf basic

peared in our public °P>™°“’ £ lhe major guidelines of the P^_induding, for
of decent people are«***^ have bcen reproduced m our ranks and

JSJS®* sss s»sfr—s gS

sir'^3r—
CaIrrkof*eULS communication media. ml vested materialinterest m

t“ is “‘^’^StSsSsi S“iaU'toa^^Stsa^p' that we

we wi8h 10

fluence people m au wa> v

 To Central Committee, Nov. 1972 353

It is a shame if, because of the weaknesses in our work, we are occasionally unable to
counteract these harmful processes properly.
We will maintain and defend against one and all the appropriate public spirit in the
party and the socialist standards of public life, primarily through good mass political
work and,in the case of party members, through warnings and disciplinary action.
The Leninist norms within the party can only be maintained in their purity, and
socialist norms within society on a mass scale can only be assured, if the phenomena
alien to our principles, to socialism, disappear from our party. If we work hard for the
guidelines and the policies of our party, if we continue to represent them without com¬
promise everywhere and on every occasion — starting with party life, through pub¬
lic life and including our circle of friends - there will be no problem in adhering to
standards. But if this is not the case, no sermon of any kind will be of any use.
Taking the second group of questions, I would like to mention a few economic
topics.
We have worked out our system of economic management together, we have voted
for it together and, I dare say, not only we here in this room are its originators but
many tens, and hundreds of thousands of people in this country. We did it together,
and it is good that we did it. This management mechanism, however, has to be
continuously, constantly, corrected, developed and refined in such a way that we
maintain and strengthen its essentials as we polish it further.
This is not the first time that we have spoken about propaganda for the reform.
We have established that at the outset this propaganda was not of the very best.
We have since partially corrected this error and today we properly emphasize the
socialist traits of the mechanism. Today, when we debate about one or other of the
elements of the mechanism, we can give the proper answer. But let us beware of
national conceit. We have consolidated power, the socialist reorganization of
agriculture has been successful and the reform-the third major undertaking of
the party since 1956-again seems to be a successful matter. We should not,
however, forget that in these very same years the Soviet Union, the German
Democratic Republic and other socialist countries have also developed rapidly
although their system of economic management is different from ours.
The new economic mechanism in Hungary is a better, more efficient implement
than the old one. It is a major factor in assuring that we stand better today as far as
the economy and the growth of living standards are concerned. But we would not
have perished without it, either. There arc socialist countries which can live under
other systems of management. So we should not preach to others. And the press
should also be cautious in what it writes. Our system of economic management should
be propagandized honestly. As far as the capitalists are concerned, we must always
point to the socialist traits of our system of economic management; they must accept
Hungary as a socialist country the way she is, whether they like it or not.
The planned development of the people’s economy is an important task. We want
to go forward here, too. We must prepare better plans, national, branch, company
and local council plans, which take interrelationships, links and chains of relation¬
ships into better account. We must devote greater attention to the practical
implementation of the plan.
? 14 Speeches and Interviews

sis?ssasssssss
^C«o-d.L^

The proposed drat and there,as wc go along . h new Five Year

Plan with the econom c regu ators t ^ ^ ^ ^ lf we wer tQ

A further question P twins, so to speak. B P propaganda,

is
wotk * *^-g2&g£Z
££££■*■ £issr« -
started to iraplemcn -J q{. {he comp0nents of a ^ factory manage-

tmUhere was a^voodenclub worlTare^ndispensable0^^8^^® show”tha^wiTcan

radically decreased the num _ feut we have injected them, a‘ ( accept that

0r,hr“tomie,radrims.ra.ion and into Bne »idt the laws of

into medium-level ber of manual workers is technological
the relative decrease m ^ that this goes hand m h But i definite-
development of society. ! ff ^ of intellectual work in far ahead of

rst1js?“4 —— u^s-
 355
To Central Committee, Nov- 1972

he forefront. We muslf

—sssssst&^sSSi,
inevitably dea we have not done Qur seSsion. I
efficient products, have also come up i should

tute °» pI0“toi questions °f'““TL How shonld the p^Y ^ tbE central
A &* pKC '^tribute to that dison®™- „my7 The part* Arrays deal «>*

SST'
.0 - -*tte

sometffing, they may he P r organizatton^ party orgamzaUon ^ of

ss* frrxr^ »-sja

5.« » £ P-2
«*?» * s&ss *■
i^-\£SU it
Sfunt";. Here. as best everyone
organizations or the machinery * ponSibility. rk. Natural-

human is, and is ^^significance of -^people are willing

knows what kers have spoken o of soaahsm is 1 certain commu-
A number of sp k ^ 0ne cf the strength thc common good, f ^ many fine

S£!tS*--; gS .”5, s"pS,Sns'so™e^fS

tivity. For volunteer ^ talking about so should not be J Therefore,

356 Speeches and Interviews

In summing up the results of the discussion I am very pleased to state that full
aereement has been expressed at this session of the Central Committee.
SThis fact in itself expresses very well the unified interpretation of the guidelines of
the 10th Congress, and the prevailing and living spirit of the party; and it reflects
the ideological and political unity and concord of the Central Committee. If ito ay
at the start of our ercat political work, the spirit of unity radiates out it will be an
'important factor for the appropriate execution of the present resolution by the pari*
We are starting a very significant political campaign, and great work, following the
meeting of the Central Committee. Everyone will have assignments enough dated
to the resolution. The contents of the political campaign will be g^en by thc full
published text of the resolution. The working out of the local tasks will follow the
publication of the resolution. Local tasks will have to become part ofThe^action^prog¬
rammes, the working programmes of every party org-.zat.on, of every .£**“*.
This is the task facing state, economic and cultural leaders as well. We will request
something similar-naturally according to a healthy and normal division of labour
from the social organizations and movements, the trade unions, t c you 1

deciding those questions which require a decision at the halfway mark between
Congresses. Let us consider this resolution to be a working, fighting Programme which
will give an impetus to our work and will help in the realization of the Congress
resolutions. I believe everyone will agree that the times ahea arc "01^
meditation, for philosophizing, for desires, and for unrcsolved deba es but for
vigorous work. We will have to do everything in order that this clear stand by o
party succeed and be realized without reservations. Right now the ^>n task is 't
fullest possible implementation and the continuous supervision of this implemen-

taT°he Central Committee, the medium-level party organizations and the full member¬
ship of our party must stand up and act as one man. R.ght now it is this demand
this unified stand and action which is the most important thing If we do not fail then
we will have done a lot in the interest of the better execution of the resolutions of the
10th Congress and in the course of our work we will have eased a number of our othc

djAt<the<closc of the Central Committee session may I join those comrades who
have expressed their deep conviction that we will implement the resolutions o
the 10th Congress with good results.
 357
Vadis, Europa? June 1973
Quo

Quo Vadis, Europa?

ate that full
JUNE 1973
sidelines of
id it reflects
ee. If today, The word Europe has
it will be an
by the party,
following the
iough related
n by the full,
nil follow the
e action prog-
< local branch,

v'c will request

,n of labour -

wmmm
youth federa-

fillcd its role in

mark between
igramme which
,f the Congress
not times for
ebates, but for
ar stand by our
"r, -s'-a-rjssirsu. - *
main task is its
this implemen-

the full member-

is this demand,
e do not fail, then
isolations of the
nber of our other

se comrades who
he resolutions of

s§Pii^iss
?58 Speeches and Interviews
:’-,a 1 „ . *1,- recognition that tne

cold war is » 8«*^» “SnS’l »«W

“aUn^X^^^

“"*« ,te sa"of 311

Needless to say, a P
.^s=r-a-£
nunierous questions. Part > i very complex
system, requires the systems, there ate several
and partly due to the dtffereneearaOP b re,aU0M. These mJ ^

questions .*> ““*£££ way. but a "e tber-cunt of the

responsible for'the fate of historyoTber reatntpa81- In this case

Sliiiss^s
that peaceful and y
governed by an anna
various conflicts, an
were often accompanied by^
. , There was no
^ was the only
influence and^“£8ulted in a peaceful Europe ^ G^T,an imperialism and its
way this could 1 War , ended with the defeat United States,Britain,
natural outcome. World*V rthc outbreak of the conflict.TheUn. m suffered

- —tiy intu

rSne“-,, »* for securtt.

 359
Quo Vadis,Europa? June 1973

Events accelerated fromaso-calWanU-Connnnn began ,„ Katas

jermany and .>“P“-“"d"CIeasing f*?^?£spJd> ^“*1

rtfSCS «>*-. r..aS"”B'

SSS«SSSssS2
“S^hJovakta

i*2^iss=s
■*IS§Ilf§
WMSA,

socialist countries, forgetting the lessons of th

aB

24
360 Speeches and Interi lews Wesletn Europe,

Dulles Adenauer and , iv a glimpse of the PP war, and the

nSSf
of
outbreak the war The b ^ £urope were becomS assistance agreements
rate; the new soc'al^ c° n established them ownmut * cmpires of

Hungarian counter-revolution waf could be reahzed. By ^

was no way that the for all that the series of new and
1960s it had become cl lhe socialist coun that there is on y

H^sassr-^-s
% £2££?~ - »«rr r= ss
Union could They have also ^^^duals are far from
sought to mask their re 1 ^ cQurage0US stand ofw threaten the peoples ot

S£13k * "*-SS- -*• lesso”

EuI0tt™Xs^ SS** stre”eth of *■ peopks'
must oe me i vj
 QUo Vadis,Europa? June M3 361

that anti-Coromunism is a weapon dueled againSl

History has also taught us tha ntries and the Communist pa^ • who believe

=5sSs£=SSSssSSS

5rt-«ss.' ~——”
=£Si%:sS^L~S'=S

mMSsm.
«— - “op;
362 Speeches and Interviews

that the idea of a security conference was received with approval by the progressive
social organizations and broadest public opinion of Europe and by the responsible
bodies of almost every NATO country and European nation. There is a growing
recognition of the fact that a well-designed and firmly established European security
system and the development of economic, scientific, technological and cultural ties
and expanding tourism is in everyone’s interest. It is therefore understandable that
besides the socialist block, there are in Western Europe increasing numbers of govern¬
ments, parliaments, parties, and socially and politically active individuals voicing
responsibility for the peaceful future of the present and future generations. These
forces are moving in the same direction as the socialist countries and they are taking
an increasingly decisive stand in the interest of Europe becoming a continent of
fruitful cooperation between equal nations.
On the road leading to security, we must first arrive at the next station, the meeting
on European security. The reason why we attach so much hope to this conference is
because we are convinced that if that meeting adopts the basic principles of peace
and security and the noble ideals and objectives they embody and makes them the
basis for the relationships among the nations of Europe, then it will surely make a
major decision of historic significance. . . , „
Our expectations are realistic. This is also indicated by the fact that there arc ever
growing forces in Europe which take a stand in favour of a security system and for
convening the meeting leading to it. These forces have succeeded in getting the Euro¬
pean governments-due, among other factors to the influence of the clear and unam¬
biguous policy of the socialist nations - to take amore realistic view of the main ques¬
tions facing Europe. They have also been successful in following up the favourable
changes which have taken place in attitudes with the beginnings of the practical
implementation of the mutually acceptable principles. By way of example to illustrate
the significant forms this can take, let us mention the agreements which have been
signed and ratified between the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic ol Germany,
and between the latter and Poland, or the four power agreement on West Berlin, the
treaty signed between the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic
of Germany, and the fact that the NATO governments have granted recognition to
the German Democratic Republic. Negotiations have begun in Vienna on the possible
reduction of the opposing armed forces and arms in Europe.
One can say without exaggeration that today the question of collective security
and the security conference is on the daily agenda of European statesmen, politicians,
diplomats, and the leaders of various social organizations, both in their domestic
work and at various international forums throughout Europe. Public opinion in the
countries of our continent is keenly interested in and actively supports their activities.
The justified hope of the peoples of our continent is rising that Europe, which tor
centuries has been the starting point and the theatre of so many wars and so much
destruction and misery, is turning in the direction of peace, security and cooperation
and that she will attain this much sought-for goal.
Our expectations are realistic primarily because the peoples of Europe do not want
war. Significant numbers of people with different world outlooks and party affiliations
have been struggling for the past 25 years against war mongenng politicians and lor
 363
OuoVadis.Eu’oP*"™1973

ace The social movements supporting peace in Europe and

the creation of a lasting Pe* proof of this. , Europe, have come to a

“Sca^uUhelu^®'^ ®"' ^ ^IsttSaTSeS^

the Hungarian n>r- • fr._ace and seemly - . - . nf &\\ 0tner

*i M>W to to V°**‘jZ£Z harmony with to
mt=«® of an

Ei-s=r®
ment is doing everything
- —*-*
great and splendid

^The6 Hungarian ^^nattonal'indepen-

plans for the prosperity °f “ ~We are prepared to de d not want war.

s=

S-5S3-* ^ trom the rate “ ?*£

to v^aS forums •*-»

%TsSiffSS£ S 5

SsSg^^Sasss
are under way, and the p P
364 Speeches and Interviews

i„g « .o be field

“ rpS e" Sin i. direction of peace, ~n* and

cooperation.

Address at the November 1974 Session

of the Central Committee
_ tVip ilth Concress of the party at its
The Central Committee r^d ^
March 1974 session. Sincethen for the Congress. This preparation is an
plemented and expanded by preparatio howcver, must not suffer because of
t“^y-Sy wStlo a significant, perhaps the most intportant, part

of the preparations for the f the national economic plan is on the

Nowadays, the best possible ul« “ .g at the same time a programme
agenda. It is absolutely clear that the e^no P national econ0m.c plan
for our entire work of socialist construction, ibUity of economic and
provides the material basis. t^m.^ to emphasize that our work done to fulfil the
cultural construction. I W°U'^‘' atisfactory results. The data relating to economic
economic plan has brought.good,satto ^ reports for the first half of
construction is, 1 belie^e’ knov^ t’he data for the third quarter are also known.
the year have been published, ’ . ■ production as a whole, we hav
In industrial and agricultural J£od«*° * Jme goes for other areas basic to the
achieved results over and beyond Uie P^ Tb . 8 service. This enormous
fife of society such as pubhc ednbMi and The antral issue of

«»«■>lhis y'ar>s p,ans fot sociilist

1975 national economic plan is comp bf ^ work on the new Five Year
central bodies. Parallel with the MI P becPome wider since this work was,
Plan has also begun. The National Planning Office and the
naturally, begun by government planning has begun for the year 1975
Ministry of Finance-but by n . ~ the factories, as well. Thui wor
at the local councils and atth® pr°d it win determine the further conditions

—tZZSSS SSSZS1 u u—» - - -

 365
To the Central
at effort and serious wo* ft®

‘orces he whole paw* . weareex^"^ ... «weoonui" . «,e have not

fill a»
e pre-
y, and

aasss^sisss
national income i g
ties In the past W
three years, an
as we aTe co
^ rned- About one
. Ust countries.
Se deteriorated bad* J ^ the Western ^ ^ ^ detrimentof
^.g lrade recent
Hungarian
f s
tional trade m go d ^ have been to raw ^ J ^ raW materials

it its
com- Western world, h ilaUstmarket n t economy, th fet market. We
is an This process on the cay Hungary s nation * of the world capua wlfi to

part

, the TcfnaTnextent be con^l economy

plan itiswcu"— even to ino*1'— wecu«a — , ..i, semi*111""

and
1 the
s?==E -=“*£=•-• ~Ss.-s
lomic

iown-
have
to the
^siis^ssss
oflar,! . „,nr\d. but we

ae of

rations next year w aarian nationa fot the Centra ln the course of
the
the
('ear
was,
1 the
SS=^?£555^23S:
1975
work

>75
=^r«ssi=»--“
must ftgM t°r d
366 Speeches and Interviews

All this constitutes a part of the whole situation, of the conditions under which our
party is preparing fo the 11th Congress. May I therefore emphasize: Communists
prepare for the 11th Congress in the appropriate manner only if they do their utmost
and if they utilize every opportunity in the interests of meeting our political, economic
and cultural plans this year so that we can present a satisfactory balance to the Con¬
gress. Daily work and the preparation for the Congress naturally puts heavy demands
on the party, the state, the economic bodies, workers in cultural and scientific life,
mass organizations, members of the party, and activists.
Those sympathetic to the cause of socialism are working vigorously, and are making
great efforts. This is all expressed splendidly in the socialist emulation which our
workers have initiated across the country in honour of the 30th anniversary of our
Liberation and the 11th Congress. It is fitting to speak here of this year’s autumn
agricultural campaign, of the work done under extraordinarily difficult conditions.
Luckily, thank God, though it is really thanks to the efforts of the workers, we are
approaching the end of this campaign. We can all recall that earlier a campaign of
this sort looked quite different, as did the mobilization for it. There were times
when the people in the villages struggled, while others watched them struggle. And
then we rallied the people in the cities, who went to help out, while some people in
the villages watched them. This time, however, the workers in agriculture have made
an enormous effort -one worthy of honour and recognition -and the urban workers
have gone to help them out in a natural manner-in the true sense of the word. This
campaign, just like a military campaign, demanded large-scale mobilization and com¬
plex organization. But it has succeeded splendidly; the goals set have been reached
and the results achieved. It seems that in harvesting crops, for example, we have
got caught up. It is particularly important - and here mobilization cannot give
any direct help-that the autumn sowing be completed properly now. Six weeks ago,
Hungarian agriculture and the country were facing awesome difficulties. But as a
result of special efforts we have succeeded in overcoming them.
It is part and parcel of the description of the situation that the festivities in connec¬
tion with the 30th anniversary of the Liberation of the country have begun in the
midst of such efforts. We have aptly commemorated November 7, a great day for
the working class, for all peoples building socialism, including the Hungarian people.
The commemoration has been characterized by a good atmosphere and mood, and
fine ceremonies with an appropriate political content.
These are the conditions under which we are preparing for our Congress. In keep¬
ing with the 1974 March decision, the executive bodies of the Central Committee,
the CC apparatus and other invited comrades have immediately begun the work of
preparing all Congress material and all organizational matters. The executive bodies
of the Central Committee have had to deal with three Congress documents. I shall
mention the draft programme declaration first because the Central Committee has
appointed a committee to draw up this document. Naturally, the draft documents
concerning the guidelines and the changes in party rules are also the results of wide-
ranging and collective work. Committees are at present working on these documents.
The committee appointed to prepare the programme declaration has held six
meetings; the committee dealing with the guidelines has also met a number of times;
 To,he Central Committee, Nov. 1974
367

er which our
Communists
, their utmost because these docume ^ had been done P PolitiCal Committee has
;al, economic been proper if *el ^fdone their work. This is why the P ^ presented t0 the
appointed have, therefo j in such a way that tl y the executive
e to the Con-
javy demands been able to finalize the doco> w<ffk of preparing for ^organizations of what

scientific life. Central Committee As P^ accordingly^^^J^Jriate manner, and

bodies of the Central Comm n^ ^ progressing in an PP headquarters
hastobcdone.Congre^prepa^ ^ s, as wellj at th P^ by thc Central
,nd are making
ion which our at an appropriate ra concerned, the me ^ re being used: that is,
As far as party "^^periodbefoieonrlMtCo^*^^^^
iversary of our
year’s autumn Committee and used dun g P ^ the Congress. At th fi d they wm deal

;ult conditions, there will be two meetmgsd S ^ actiYlties while at th place and

/orkers, wc are
a campaign of
Here were times
m struggle. And
—s °f ,he coneKSS'wffl °°"
s some people m
ilture have made
,e urban workers
3f the word. This
lization and com- -
r draft KM,udon—3sss
,hepro-

Lave been reached

sample, we have would now like to expound on^hed ^ seeking approva> from t
ation cannot give
preparation of the Confr-^^, at the congress^ ^ as
)W. Six weeks ago,
Committee. The system f P committee. Our prop s organizations
faculties. But as a
with the party ^ of the 10th P t0 the
•stivities in connec- that which was ^ ^ at entative for every ^The new proposal
have begun in the should elect one congress P ^ & normal rauo of represen lhc number of
tested practice of our party ^ ]arge_scale industrial concer ^ ional represen-
7, a great day for
. Hungarian people, we have submitte be given the right o very simple: the m-

.ere and mood, and

oarty members is above C ,ieT practice, but it is y J s0 that along
tation. This is a deviationj Qwn congressional represe ^^ concernswill
ss. In kcep- dustrial concerns; ^^ivesatthe Con^S’“^ supported by the Central
Committee, with the territorial repres f t that this Pr0P0S^C SUPP lly valid tern-
be directly represented. W ^ ^ ^ to contravene B .ndustria, concerns
the work of
utive bodies Committee. At the sa ; posed thatwhile these lgd be confirmed by
torialprinciple; therefore J^P^e directly, their elect ^ it is not,
lents. I shall
mmittee has
t documents
iults of wide-
e documents.
has held six
iber of times,
Speeches and Interviews not just as con-

wmm9m
fMSSMSs
mmtsssss
mmm
wmmm
wnnan
;S?£sgi-;ra|Ssss*::

mmmm
with the programme dec.
 369
Toll* Central Committee, Nov. 1974

r words they should discuss the prog-

tbe same time, as including the

ramme declaration and offer* ^ of a of the Academy of
;t as con-
jll rights,
Nationai°Council ^J^fpro^Tamme declaration In reality tb* » » ^ proper

for this is
, the Con-
related. It poUtically that we s«* 1 tangible help from them Committee proposes
certain that we will receive mnj ^ ^ Congress, the P™"^tions will have been
is separate
Concerning the> «a ^ ^ this time aU P and county party
,int on the
able at the that the openingdy thinking the conference beginning of Marc .
made. According to our think g ^ Qf February and the g ^ construction
est that the
nportant in
ote on each S*T5 Lek,y the sarae “at thc “
tion at least
en be tabled
the Congress

issional dele-
lments of the
approach the Congre , documents. , , COn cress documents.
e tested prac- plPr to take a stand regarding*£ t features ofthe cong ^ there
pare a written
Now 1 would l^^eawkJd wish to call your attjtwn^ . • ^ be dear
s which would The first thing to which ^ thc documents, althotig^^ You wlU
al publication
are relatively few criticalsta ^ are a great many task under the con-
r preparation.
from the list of things to ^ c\&r\y stated: in our s°oia antagonist;c ones. This
the two main
recall that the l°* C. contradictions, alth°Uf ns in the case of such
:lieve that this ditions of socialism there ^ but, as often happ ^ whicb suggest
when the party
he subject once
light of the dis-
nsideration and
» introduced at

ntral Committee There is much to be crihcized . ^ putting for*«dthe^ thc party state
be able to put it even in political work Andy b ^ can the Central Commttt^ ^ ^ say that we
bodies and with
departure point in^ou th resolutions of the 10th S on fof hours listing
littee should deal that we have implement i ^ we WecooM the domestic
this will not be a Have successful y funded ^ the eco"°™ exception, were ways of
e Congress,
the party resolution , decisions which, results are not meagre
n be referred for
political and the foreig P ■ 10tb Congress. An ted the resolutions
, the city commit-
pest, to the parly
e most local party
, well as to the lead-
«ty History. These
he guidelines along
, two documents at
 *■*--*”*" . f whether the political guidelines of

-^sS^""&aiprcHemsand

worked on the imp rty the working masses, o Committee can also say
ed in rallying the who e party,^ ^ achieved. The ln party

foreign affairs field “eaten. appropna«-»« „ ag„.

tivi.y has played ’as well, is different ton,Jp closer to
Europe today, an was not in vain because we e^ ^ rf prime inteiest

* sof st, x«=p"op"

sr-KS-3:^ **. pa.,»—

and when lodging the si,nation the Centra,

~j?£Z£2Z£2Z
"SJISESS developed in the P-j££» “use’ one can say tha, the so-
sociafist character ^^f^e stronger and has.hecojne firm Com_
cialis, unity of ours«acty has beco „ the request of the Bo
] am not speaking ^ of responsibility of people ^ example>

SSute^y, and which will eb—e the nega

them to the background.
 371

To the Central —.
*
mittee must
/'-'✓Ntnmittee b help

rf
al
he next goals tn b , socialist persp ,:ve phenomena oneress must
an “mi also point» the and goingl The U* “fansw« »
day practice people which way is ou . wiU have to pro declaration
question arises: ne. qu€suoe.tla'o Theroleoftbeprog are proposing to
cu-
iwn provide an ans» « ‘’pic onthe^^ctfonta»^»^0plestand.
and

.has
60A"haveValreadv “^^ddines ^
^ed¬
its of
osay
guidelines as well as" ^ which we must * ^ot remain silent^n ^ ihe prog.
party
>e and
joying
n eco-
1 in the
inal ac-
ition in
irs ago.
closer to
interest
t follows
jse to the
trengthen

e Central

: stronger:
nent in the
l

>n: its basic

The five-year cyd with long-ter^T cle should be five > bodies the five-
that the so-

ontrol Corn-
Wing public
for example*
unist morals.

&£:s&&szss-'-~
I necessarily
noS which we
seriously- The
by the transfer 01 P
features, will
or will relegate tion is greater-
372 Speeches and Interviews

The right of the party member to leave the ranks of the party is unchanged; what is
new is that this resignation from the party may be initiated by the party organization.
In practice, therefore, it becomes possible for a party organization to tell a party mem¬
ber who, perhaps has become opposed to party policy: “Comrade, if you do not agree
with the policy of the party, please resign.” The only change in party membership
dues is that a new category is established for those earmng above ten thousand forints

3 TwdTnow speak on a few topics which are dealt with both in the guidelines and in
the programme declaration. I will not deal with questions of foreign affairs in detail
I propose, and perhaps 1 need not present a separate set of arguments, that the Centra
Committee approve the direction of our foreign policy absolutely.
On the questions of principle I would first like to mention that we are proposing
change in one of the basic tenets accepted by the previous Congress At a number
of Congresses - and at the most recent one as well - we have stated that our aim the
completion of the building of a socialist society. This time this expression does not
appear in the document. In its place, however, there is another express on -for-
mulated with greater emphasis in the programme declaration- the building ol
a developed socialist society”. The reason for the change is that the leading slogan,
or rather, the leading principle, the completion of building a socialist society is a
somewhat mechanical concept. We have often discussed this: in our la"^a8e
a certain nuance which could lead to the conclusion that if one can complete build¬
ing socialism, then, obviously, at one point or another we can state that the budding
of a socialist society has been completed. It would seem, however, that the develop¬
ment of society does not take place so mechanically; there is no clear borderline
there is no fixed date in the calendar when and where we can say that a socialist
society has been fully built. Even less so, because in the course of the develop¬
ment of a socialist society, for example in the area of distribution, certain elements
which reflect certain principles of a Communist society evolve relatively early. there
are certain things which are distributed not according to performance but according
to need It is probable that such elements will multiply. Society will not change
on a “stop-go” basis, but rather quantitative changes will merge into qualitative
changes in the course of organic development. This is the reason why we propose
changing the earlier statement of principle. . . . .
We believe that the single most important political question for us is appropriately
reflected in the document: this is the leading role of the working class, theworkei-
neasant alliance, the policy of alliance and the Peoples Front policy. We touch
upon these in both the guidelines and the programme declaration. The wording must
be such as to demonstrate that the leading role of the working class the worker-
peasant alliance, the policy of alliance and the People’s Front movement as the form
of a political alliance have great perspectives; and that this is related to the: state_an
situation of our society. In other words: as long as there is a class society, lh^P° y
will smy in effect, or, to put it in yet another way, it is valid for the whole period of he
building of socialism. We propose that this must be expressed appropriately in the
documents.
 373
To,he Central Committee,
To the -
at

HHH
Committee. Regarding anoth ..production meeU g indicate that in

lion of state enterprises

374 Speeches and Interviews

rvr^
tion and very promising- rae declaration the question ^ P^ona
In both the guidelines and the prog ^ prove-is very important from
ownership is discussed andth'sas ^ thereyf0re shed very sharp light on both
a number of viewpoints. The two documents th ^ of personal ownership

aspects of personal ownership. One aspe £ul conc0mitant of socialist construction,

thich we consider to be a necessary and ^ ^ wiU defend personal
As follows from the above the Sulde1'^ , rsonal ownership, must also be deci-
ownership. But the other personal ownership must be
sively shown. This finds express.o persona! and family needs,
limited should its measure goabovean > of real estate must be brought under
A further proposal is that the sale an P hands of the state. Real estate, thu-,
sta"ol- S. be. ta P-** ottowise it is impossible to

documents. I must mention that the maj ^ -ob ,t is> however, the opinion of
yet been fully drawn up; this is a va necessary that the major features of th
f the pat b/included in the guidelines, so that we can

difficulties-is such, that we can definiyfllllilment of other demands of socialist

raising of the living standards and hard work. To ach.sv= tins,«
development even though only by real y ^ so demands, we must mobilize

r—tr—- "■we priraarily have ”m .

better utilization of production eclulP"ie^u hen aint a proper picture to the public
^Once we have elaborat^ wr^ptans^we^rnust understand tha, we undoubtedly must

tak^tepTto mobilize our forces and oui'^“development is the better utili-

a further condition of oui P S , fa countries. The new
Jon i inherent in cooperation between ^MEA ^ ^ by ^

FiveYear Plan - which will be and obviously

end of 1975. The draft will be on the ag Despite this we propose and
the Central Committee, too, by the niddtecnjj to approve a certain number of the
request that the Central Con^l«“^C f he neCessary conscientiousness realism
important indices which can be projected da&t country; lt is therefore ne
and obviously, socialist thinking. Ours 1 kj programme. Questions regarding
 375
To the Central Committee, Nov. 1974

j The level of supply must also be maintained

will still be growth. This can be assu d. ^ expressed by the figures,
ria under all conditions. These are ^ sociai insurance appears in the
zn- A. certain development of the pension reference. We believe that
document, notin an itemized, ***,"£^must make progress. Serious
nal in this field - independently of u ^ problcmsofpensioners of longstanding,
om considerations are involved for lhc older workers. An adjustment in the
oth which above all mean very great diMtiesl to bring this down to
hip pension age for the peasants « aiso ^^£*6 of five years. And a number
ion. the pension age for workers and Ending the settling of a number of
mal of other social security matters are also m ^ lt is therefore proper for the
leci- benefits. These are social questions; of g ^ and for it to go into specific details.
;t be Congress to state that we wish to make p g ,ines ln the sh0rt run we will set a
The housing problem is also included in the g ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ win set our sighte
nder certain housing construcUon program The actual housing plan will
thus, on constructing one-and-a-half Plan is approved but objectives o
)le to

■—*•—
omy ,he situan°n
r.
>rk-

n the In ideological work our efforts are Hungarian intellectual life as a

>e not where Marxism plays a leadin J his further in the social sciences. 1 believe it is
ion of whole and we are aiming to streng Marxism-Leninism should enjoy a mono-
of the a justified demand that in social s freedom of research and the freedom
vecan polistic position; I believe this does not hunt do research, should debate in
of creation. Those working in the are also justified in scientific journals,
oite all professional circles and 1 do of thousands or even millions
in the However, what we propagate, what P b must be Marxist-Lenmist. Work on
ocialist of copies, and what we teach attheunivers f the purity of Marxist theory.
his, we an enormous scale must be done m ^def^ o ^ ^ and we als0 have
lobilize Repelling imperialist attempts a .‘ s yiewSi and overcoming egoism. In the
ind the important tasks and aims inbhaP'gp P persuasion and exhortation; but above
fight against egoism we must continue to P ^ ^ which lhe egoism of no
c public all we must fill in and eliminate the■ Qur general goal in ideologica
ly must small section of society s membe fight for the general acceptance of
work is to continue to work anda^^’work, study in a socialist manner
ter utili- real socialist social standards. The slog L ^ as widespread a social standard
The new vividly expresses this aim. This needs * ^ ^ ^ regarding questions of
d by the in as short a time, as possible. And cparture point is that the aims set in the
ibviously principle in the programme declaratio ^ d P Unification have been reached and
pose and programme declaration of the 1948 Congas class, our people,
)er of the in fact, in a number of respects surpassed, by our demonstrated the question
s, realism Since In such a document declaration devote to the
;fore ne- naturally arises: what Pr^°"^We believethat we have been able to establish
regarding historic past, the present and the future^ ^ e; the decisive thing, naturally, s
th in real
whettXpCamml deration shows the perspectives of the future, it is a
ing to the
i but there
25
376 Speeches and Interviews

,o do so, then it has in a certain respect fulfilled its function. And perhaps ithwrth-
while mentioning that the reason why we call this document a programme declaration
and not^ programme is because it only indicates the most important aims and en¬
deavours The function of this document is to set out our endeavours in the future
The analysis of our historical past and the present is useful and necessary inasmuch
we build our references to the future on it. ;mnnrtnnt
The programme declaration contains stands on principle concerning important
questions-in certain cases these are not even new-but what it contains has a certain
significance-it is a document of a different character than an intermediate party reso¬
lution The programme declaration speaks of the party in the sense that it is the party
of the working class. However, not only the working class needs the party but rather
the whole people, the whole of society building socialism. It fills an indispensable
function and it becomes the party of the entire working people.
This programme declaration also takes a stand regarding the state. This, although
i, is nota new topic, cannot be entitled A. point it sjates to.
of the dictatorship of the proletariat, because, if we look back to 1948, and turthe
more if we speak of the present and look ahead to the next twenty years, then to y
that our state is that of the dictatorship of the proletariat is a scient.fiirking
statement The programme declaration appropriately speaks of how the working
class^has^chieved power, how it exercises power and whom it includes in the exercise

^OniTateo needs todeclarethatthcnationand socialist construcfion require the state.

A number of views have come to surface even within the working class and here an
there in the Communist world movement as well. Recently, even the Voice of^Amcricd
and Radio Free Europe complain and ask why socialist countries do not follo^arx,
when will the state wither away?We must say, and we must give our reasons, that
internd situation and socialist construction both demand and requ.re the existence
and operation of the state. The programme declaration sets the perspectives as wel,
that tn the final analysis it will become a state of all the
munist self-government in society will appear and grow stronger. We Aerefore con
sider it proper to say in a Marxist manner that our state is the dictatorship of the
proletariat and that eventually there will be Communist
In connection with ownership, the programme declaration goes a little further
discussing socialist ownership than do the guidelines. Land is a separate question
deals with this appropriately.It states-in harmony with the guidelines-that we w,l
strengthen ownership relations in their present form. At the same time * also state
that land is national wealth. This is not a legal definition but is linkedI with and calls
attention to the fact that land is not something which can be bought and sold or
traded at will its ownership changed from state to cooperative ownership, from coop¬
erative to private ownership at will. In the final analysis this is not the
but rather that state ownership as well as cooperative ownership exist and gain
strength Land in the use of cooperatives should definitely become indivisible
wealth and their sale and purchase be forbidden.
The forms of state and cooperative ownership - naturally not only in the context o
lan^owneX but in generaf- must develop and must come closer to each other and
 377
To the Central Committee, Nov. 1974

in the final analysis-this is ^^^treTno nSdlo^expllin: it is im-

it is worth- all-national Commumst ownership. lhe formof a programme declara-
declaration
ns and en-
the future,
The programme decimation includes sj^lm,jMogvai^atic^ians.ft^statestliaUii
nasmuch as
fifteen to twenty years production an P education and vocational training should
5 important
vocational training should bebroad? ’taadards and housing construction are also
las a certain be developed. Our arms investments: power plants,
: party reso- included and there are gene tQ include these because, for example,
; is the party energy resources and others. It was n > w t down on paper specific
y, but rather people responsible fore‘on°™C * Year Plan nor the fifteen-year long-range plan is
ndispensable commitments when neither the FoUowing debates and considerations in the
finalized, when neither is in a ready state b the document would
his, although good sense of the word, however, the view that withou^ ^ programmes for the
late is a state not be a programme statementpreva d.. B ^ investments and education,
and further-
growth of production, document which will be read perhaps by
then to say what will remain is a not by others. In our country, however
well-founded
people intensely interested hole of society rests upon the party, and
the working where the full responsibly ofleadir^ declaration of the Communist party
in the exercise where socialism is being built, the p g Marxists to all the working people
must be such as to give a programme “ this was necessary.
uire the state, rsweU.Thisiswbyspecifiep^have^nmdnd^^ ^ ^ ^ CongIess
and here and I Will repeat that in our opinion the Cen ties_is really working to meet
ce of America assured, because the party-m its own sph ^ ^ apprQpriate results. It is also
t follow Marx,
the tasks set by the 10th Co°8ress and * a)so preparing for the 11th Congress.
asons, that the part of the situation that, naturally, the enemy Jdia-perhaps they also have a
; the existence The enemy’s press and radio the capitahst P lems Thcy altempt
actives as well; programme of preparation-deal a lot Workers> Party, the
ments of Com- to project the image that nowadays tb 8 faced with great difficulties.
therefore con- Hungarian People’s Republic, is in grea ’ arc debatcs, differences of view,
atorship of the They also round out the picture y saying hat direction, that the reform will
lent in society,
little further in
ite question - it
:s—that we will
ne it also states
“S“ "“'pposwon. Of —: as £*« SZ
known, however, that there rea y ** another We are convinced that this is
d with and calls
how to approach and sol^°ne qU hc basis of this and the objective situation, there
>ht and sold or necessary, natural and normal. 'On the hais who look at the Congress m such
lip, from coop- are those not only in the West buCtee ^ and views who afe p b

1
the perspective, a manner. There are people o p y - bourgeoisie they begin to feel
xist and gain in not even on
;ome indivisible insecure when they should not. Our paJ insecure than they were

in the context of
o each other and
25*
378 Speeches and Interviews

song will begin: will policy chang ^ ^ one not? This is so today as well,
nel will there be? will this P<«s°“ >' ■ tjme around there is a little bit more
although I have a feeling t a p P c The most varied combinations o

Tzzzszr-*—— «■ - - *
part of the actual situation. consideration I am convinced that w®
Taking even these circumstan ion to the Congress are not bad. It de¬
work calmly. The conditions for the prepa make the congress campaign
pends on the Central Committee on the P y makes appropriate decisions,
successful, that the Congress might ^ a goo ^ ^ of lhc Politlcai Comm.t-
It is my profound conviction - and l may appropriate answers to all
tee as well-that the 11th Congress which really need an
the matters that some have put wiU be answers which will reassure
answer, a decision or an oncntohon. I ^ ^ borders. They will cool
the true adherents of socialism in everything to ensure that the 11th
our enemies and out ill-willed ctth®*- Marxjs,-Leninist principles and guides the
Congress of our party str,'“fjTheprogressive, practical use of these principles
activities ot our party, and strengthensP™i' Iet’ g deVelop this policy as every
a°s“™ and inevitahle. And the party will

thl „,d which it has trod for aIon,1 whtten™. and every field of
verted. We will defend, strengthen alliance and> naturally, in our
economy, culture, domesuc pohtwtn the P y wffl ^ (o om achievements
of socialism and the internauona, cause

of socialism and progress.

 European Security Conference, Aug. 1975

Address at the Closing Session

of the Conference
on Security and Cooperation in Europe
AUGUST 1975

From the outset public opinion in Hungary has been following the activities of the

hcen in vain and in agreement with all those concerned, the final stage of the bccur y
S-ereni h“ o. convened a. the highest level. This Conference is an e^on of
thewpectations of the peoples.theirbesthopesfor a better fu.ute, and, wtthou. doubt,
it opens a new, important page 1 n the history of Europe Hungarian t>eo-

^Thirty'years'ago the fate of the Hungarian people took a new turn for the tour
in the wake of the historic victory of the anti-Fascist coalition, after the Sov‘et ar y
" I thnse fiohtina by its side drove the Hitlerite fascist occupation forces from our

SsrSSSS
380 Speeches and Interviews

effectively to making the recently manifest detente permanent and to guaranteeing and

“wffeel^hlfupon the success of Ae Cortference Conferencewin

Europe and upon the work to be and it may not be an
depend the future of our ^e the future of mankind also. It is the hope of the
exaggeration to say, in no “ - m compiete its work successfully and that
peoples we represent that the Coherence has been sent here to contnbute
the future will be peace. The g |:trive to carry out this mandate,
to the success of the Con^ei““ j. ; staunch supporter of peaceful coexistence
The Hungarian People s RePubb® ‘ Together with the Soviet Union and
between countries with social syst i g& ^ t0 the 1969 Budapest
other socialist countries she was animha * „n SeCurity and Cooperation
appeal which proposed the our utmost to bring about
in Europe. Together with our alhes w h ^ throughout in the preparatory

—r”sisna“c,otheprcsent ”■
ference. „ convinced that every effort must be made to
«mS that involve .he .h.e.. of armed conhic. so as
to eliminate the possibility of a new wor war to be made to promote
Our Government is <«**
general disarmament. - P ld disarmament conference.

Amerira andtheir agwnientai^OT^i'^d negotiations on the limitation of offensive

strategic weapons. nresent stage of human development

All rational human beings real,ze ^ . t0 aVOiding world war other than peace¬
time is no realistic and acceptable alternat^ ^ negotiation, halting the arma-
ful coexistence, the solution of con ‘ al relations among states,
ments race, arms limitationi and then "Vehement and the friendship of
cooperation on questions of common interest, raPP
peoples. . ,. -rit die Hungarian People’s Republic

££- — ia UnM NafoDS and in nea y

„fEutopean^iW.TheHmgana^^Mh»“”t^^to among states

tance to lay down the principlesi s'» ! ^ f ^ among them large and small
There are 35 sovereign states socialist and non-socialist
states, industrially advanredL^TasStneutral states. Respect for and the practical

of35 “ par“
 European Security Conference, Aug. 1975

with these principles. P pb 1S Wll,ln£to comply consistently

the principles govemh£X*<^ the Conference of

ES3 £Ks
security. armaments in Europe rationally and on the basis of equal

coS^^SnSS Ce°xreming ^ eCOn°mic - trade

European countries and participates in th* ' enS1'e eco,,om,c reIat'ons with many
For reasons of princfpieCd Ke of ZT?* T™™0 division of labour
public is in favour of the continued expansion of ?n! ’, e fIungarian Peop,e’s Re‘
We consider that mutually advantageous economSTl.econoniIC cooperation,
political contacts among states in eenenl h tu °pPeiat|on is a solid basis for
particular. Hungary is fea^y for muS! TdttT d’fferent SyStems in
from discrimination and based on lone term * 1 geous econom,c cooperation free
In the preparatory stage oTthe Cnn£^ ^ 3,1 interes,ed count™s.
the expenditure of much time and energy on woridnT^ut pm fT'0"’ inV°lving
tural cooperation, the broader disseminfdon of inform*? P ,? Concern,ng ca'-
eontacts, and the solution of certain humanitaria n n extension of human
Republic is ready to accept the recommends prob,ems; The Hungarian People’s
the contacts which exist in this field. IOnS °n th°SC 1SSUCS aIs° and to exPand

rapprochement'and'friendd^p’ofpeoples'fediitote’fr^tfCO?xisten“ and ,he

good of mankind L b^n the mlnWclf SClentific ““^on for fl*

space programme.. ®>Sn.ficent achievement of the joint Soyua-Apollo

bod" SKS real 0f huma" Cu,lure- A«*» by every,

large editions and the staging of worirshv’i^J"8 ^ by lhe Publicati<»i in
speare, Moliire, Goethe tSv and oih,^ " ”<1 P°e,s lilte Da”«. Shake-
acuity of the Wes, is ^ ““

come to us in good faith will find the gates of theH *’ P”SSlb'e‘ Tn effect those who
open. Two-way tourism to and from soc a isfanS noT™?■ Pe°P'e’S Repub,ic wide
able. Every year, Hungarv with? **iahst and non-socialist countries is consider¬
ed million foreign tourist's Tnd oZT V' reCeives morc «>an
travel abroad. ’ d °Ver three m,,llon peoP‘e of Hungarian nationality

cnSraSSe^S^^ t”dfto ba a ■**«* of

and of all sensible steps which candZo^rif ™ D’a‘i°n' ^ PerS°nal trave'’
382 Speeches and Interviews

from every participating state. . , evident when it comes to cultural coopera-

Ideological differences are^particularly ■e ^ ^ deliberating here, represent
tion and the exchange of mfctmation. - wUh different political systems. But
parties with different ldco^ approve one another’s ideologies or state and
clearly we have not assembled her PP reach an agreement despite
political systems. The pcopto in fact exist; they expect us to work
the ideological and political dlffcrc hi h wc have to fulfil in order that peace and
together and agree on thecommo*task* countries may usefully cooperate
security may prevail in their peoples,
in matters of common 'nlc^l ft>r b w reach the present, third, stage of the Con-
We have come a long and difficu ‘y There has been much discussion and
ference on Security and co°PeraUon ’n not only supporters but opponents
25fteXveTa8dtovDerme ma^y a stumbling block so far and, obviously, the

Sa ThisSCoherence closes a stage of the pastcarry

of a new, better and more peacefu perseveringly struggle in the future
capable of solving the tasks of tomorrow also.

Press Conference in Vienna

DECEMBER 1976

At our meeting today 1 would firsUike to greet the .P ^ course of my

Austrian, international and Hung P and television. As you know
visit to Austria 1 can meet members of the pre ^ n q{ Dr Bruno Kre.sky, the
1 am paying an official visit to Austna at ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ between
Federal Chancellor of the^ Republic of Au r of Austria are developing and
the Hungarian People’s Repu ic further diverse development of these
that we have all the opportumties forffi^furffi ^ ^ ^ ^ satisfactlon that

ffS the°higWy esteemed fnd^pand £d

opportumt.es in this field

better. . . . , . harmony with the principled socialist policy

oTaJ iS to facilitate the coarse of seal
 383
Vienna Press Conference, Dec. 1976

. between countries

process and peace

illy, in con-
re us expect
the prospects for Hangar, Chancellor Kreisky and
ral coopera-
re, represent
systems. But
or state and
ment despite relations and contributes cohere, we touched upon the
ct us to work
hat peace and the
illy cooperate

ge of the Con-
discussion and
but opponents
obviously, the
Correspondent ol tn Eurocommunism. cnnndent’s question.
j as a milestone
nted here carry
gje in the future
,morrow also. Md ~are

r'S cooperating

d^^
eprcsMt countries, we are Ut^ahout staters
E The more so-J—gL „r peoples, **££2. h, necessity
and questionsrelatedtoth s Therefore wemu^ <* coexlsMce.

resentatives of the
the course of my rSS'lf 1 say that in s -££*££$Z
sion. As you know
jruno Kreisky, the
»relations between
are developing and z~ - ’■*-of ne,,hc;
velopment of these
ith satisfaction that
m state, which were
:n and expand good operation between thevj^ opean peace and seeimty- Qf social-democratic
°f^^S^«X"^isamemUofdreg—
unities in this field

ripled socialist policy

the course of social
384 Speeches and Interviews

of the given country. The Hu^

established relations in recent years with a n Italian Socialist Party,

Social Democratic Party. relations'^ It was declared at the Berlin

What is the sense and the use oHh parties that the promotion of
Conference of European Egress is considered the central task. In
European peace and security and of soc p dal_dcmocratic parties mentioned
the course of our talks with the «temples they would like to
earlier, they also declared that in_the1 and security and of mutually ad-
advance profitably the cause o ur P P Communist and socialist and

- *«- -—
plan as to when you will visit Bonn? recommendations is concerned,
J. K.: As far as the implementation of J^iew. I myself, however,
I consider the situation to be good. Many-do difficulties which arose
am thinking of the historical anteceden s and Je *pe ^ has been madc
before the Helsinki Conference I am thmkmg ^ ^ Wc consider the Helsinki
by all participating countries to bring the co of aU participants
Conference to be of historic ^f^^ame Sic we view Helsinki as a beginning
and a triumph for common sense. At the same um who d6tentc.
and no, an end; this demands?^„t^one taSour of dttente.
But it is also common knowledge that eve y significance; the very
I am convinced that the conference is governments with such
fact that countries with such different so J't artiScipants at the Helsinki
diverse ideological and political a'ms as Ae to > common denominator

- - —°f ”

lion demand time, patience and consistent effo Th ^ jmptoved ln thc period

SS-K practical imputation of the Heisinhi

^“rSe further taj— £» “ me" S-

* -,te ^ Be,stsde
 385
Vienna Press Conference, Dec. 1976
, .
a vipws in connection with

meeting, too. One ^paSanS

of the Helsinki Confercn mJst be one which woul ^ ^ development of

TS" ?£-£- gz% z££T*-r touched up°"

-r
agree with this idea. I am - - k we expressed similar vtfWRepubUc and the
question with Chance lor Krms y ^ HungarianJeop e spherc and
As for the bilateral relations back a whlte in the e relations

f-SsitK
recommendations adopted , with mutual visits by

-SU* "ttZZ 2S. S3-

the persons responsible f {Q teVki to negotiate. Th P11 devdopment of the

relations between the H ga Fede"’

has honoured me by

Gr“nnee.ion with my
dealing with me asa %£££****'"l^Uave been to severe

wa MW ind that ,s

sovi£t ttoop5
386 Speeches and Interviews

As for the military aspect of the question, I should like to mention that I started
my rnmtaw Career” at the outbreak of the Second World War: I was a dese ter m
Horthyite fascist Hungary anti I went underground. I taw a* g™ced

the security of a country depends only on the aspirations of her d,reel

The“cason, therefore, for the presence of the Sovret troops who ar

q As “ tool, a whole series of fundamental and important issue, featured “tte

agenda of the recent Bucharest meeting of the Political Consultative
he Warsaw Treaty member states. We repeated publicly that we were -dyJo,
simultaneous dissolution of the Warsaw Treaty organization
posed that if the time was not yet ripe for tips, at least we should““i
the two military groupings. There w'as also a proposa , - t they wjh
approving the recommendations hammered out in Helsinki number of
not be the first to use nuclear weapons. In addition we have mad
S££2Jproposals. We have said earlier and -»TtZZ f w
simultaneous withdrawal of all foreign troops stationed abroad. Therefore I
Ire able to make progress on this fundamental issue, •»' to T »“
be further improved and then obviously there would be no need for P

°f Correspondent of DiePresse : You have implied that your talks in Vienna facdhated

the practical implementation of the Helsinki

specific results at the talks and is there any prospect of lifting the need
between Hungary and Austria? Kef™, the Helsinki
J. K.: We had been conducting talks for many years, well b touched
Conference, and have put the results into effect. This time we touched
upon a number of important questions of Hunganan-Austnan rela 1 •
to the Helsinki Conference specifically because the measures which we have
and intend to take in the future to improve Austro-Hungarian relations are m full
harmony with the Helsinki recommendations and with their spin . cilizens

the sixties. Well, we changed the earlier practice and a fairly busy tourist traffic
 387
Vienna Fre, Conference, Dec ^76
Vienna Press L°J Hun-

... \ for
This produced Polit'f' anjof the Western

arted
ter in
t that

IMS

."tJiTbSS » *
*rOur U-*-.
impression t^aSUcal
di \ectical re'al d The first is matter WJ
too* exactly WhaUbe^ ^ experienced urpn!
nre wo things lS usually p» necessari
Hungary from things, l«s cxp • lhe Western t P assessment o

ssis^s^s^:
^f|SSi=^ S 25

•nna
facilitated

Vhat were
the
need for visas
wmmmm
^‘S^r^ssssssas
^asas=*i-“-ssssK
countries
388 Speeches and Interviews

service of a good cause. If there

garian nation. I believe the same be ^oUh ^ neutrality.

fested in the policy of the Aus™ than a thousand years ago. It seems
The Hungarian state was esUbbshed the Founder, in many respects
that our legendary leader, Arpad , whom thc country 1S
chose a good place for the Hunganan in one respect Arpad
beautiful, for us the most^5Jve a drawback: it is situated at the cross-
had not enough foresight. place doe ^ simiiarly about them own
roads of marching armies. Po s y beautiful in the world, but Austria,
country. It is beautiful, for them^ f that the Hungarian people,
too, is quite a “busy place. ' "' " too want peace most of all. In our opinion it is
and, I think, the Austrian people wa ^ Hungarian people do have a splen-
a further, and this time a political reaso g socialist society, and realize
did programme, the programme of 1build, g dI P ilhout any doubt interested

-
she is a small country, but also that J economic relations to a sign.f.can
fore she is interested in deveiopmg internaU< ^ pef £ent of the nat.ona
degree. In certain respects we envy co of the national income of

££2 XZZSSZZ exp.ns.on of mU.na% advan,aB=ous eco„om,e

^Wng^fforP^o'n*.*'^* wholeheartedly support all international efforts

which serve this aim.

Press Conference in Rome

JUNE 1977

I am glad to have this opportunity during my visit ^1^°^J^Tives of the

of the press, radio and television. J > have this opportunity to thank the
Italian and international press, and am g d ^ .q connectioI1 with my presen

^“neomeT^ »Se ~ I was a — of —- bu«

 389
JW.Wex Congee
Rome rre»
1 V

** i did not find this ^ ^

would like to say * wbich promotes prime Minister
ported any comp _ the invitation of between the

seems
•spects
ntry is ^ . - ««»■■—rs5ss *
Arpad
ie cross¬
ed own Jte thef S tk«e »«' ““‘“veSttrwe of *'.rais””fiaTKlatio»» servos
Austria,
a people,
nion it is
i a spien-
TS^SrSsSSrJ!-^
tie interests of both SJ^ countries »« and ^ a use-

nd realize
interested
think that

that

8 Corresponden talks andwhat p. 9 . hort time available,

assess the results °fungarian-ltalian1 «**c & During the s ^ impression
nal
development of H roy visit to ^ Republic and ^ dWersity Qf
i of

dial

commendations

■ntation, we are
Irnational efforts
!^ft5SSs»*ss"‘^
tunities to develop fav0Utable opportum countries belonging

rfbotb coonfries: ifiance to^

S^^nt^ffin^ 10 ^faC\fnlv1S^e °5^nSdS^mon
\ attach Sreal f of alliance there is belongs to N A

ssr^rss ^ *-«corais: o.
SfpeSoTisspecific results in economic co

:ntatives
S^sSs^sSsaSsSSss
es of the
hank the sa^iSSrSsKa5-"'"
subjects, each side <
u present
• ~t 1
WO Speeches and Interviews e the representa-

£SSSs5SssS£=sss
Italian economic relation, Ajd^J^ £ phase of

between the Hunga . this visit? accept my opinion as o jec

good impressions during to thank the Pope for detente and partic-
pcrmissible and proper for m for peaceful coexistence. ^ prepare for

s > -*■■s.’ssjss* «-®»^

and the Hungarian state, , a ^ Hungarian People eneraUons.
that the socialist Hunga" ’ he churches will a so relalionship between

s=^Tj:;« ££-**»»
^ rsr^s fo r- cszsu** * re-

•-SsS^SSSSwrsss8-
that they will obserse
 Rome Press Conference, June 1977 391

resenta- ^roSSSplans,,tthe“
leaders PerttnIeCdathenreP;eLtatives our present
:rve our
their efforts to settle our^U°"^«roblems sometimes come up during negotiations
juld not
relationship. Of course, difficultis reached slowly. But I was glad to be
o selling talks last for a long time and agosemen . carrying out whatever we had
earch,to
able to say that both sides have' ^^ able to register it with satisfaction that our
iples are
reached agreement °\W* ^ thc government of the Hungarian People s
ation on
intentions coincided: the Vatican ^favourable process in the future too. Le
iq contri-

" r s “ -1- —*- md respec‘,hc °,to

settlement has been reached in ft. re— between Church and state
relationship
ents in these wiH probably understa^ flrij^fo’not'lpbk
questions are often at stake. I > k further ahead, and we mus
as objective:
^'SrZZ left .be vatiean evinced tba, *•
an is one of
\e which has
ly proper for
uSSS5id-» *»= w“is ,he situali°"ot tte othcr
ed some very
,ought it was Tk SWh"said about .be settled state^
d the Vatican
Church applies to all .he ^“^S^hTuber ation, our relat.on with
te and partic-
During the thirty years whidi have'sicprinciple is the same: the Churches respect
ld prepare for
: more people rtu^memaS £££ and the state respects the autonomy ot the Church

t event in our
atholic Church not competent to pass value judgement Ch^^P beiwcen lhc Hungarian state
am convinced played a considerable part m ma 1 g complicated and difficult. Probably
.c, will last for and the Roman Catholic Chore H 8 * Church was the last to be settled
derations,
onship between
•nted which can
z rbrr^"—- —“d ‘his is very ,mpo

elievers in Hun- a^r^a,dispu—r-i-"fber:^r

: there. A sharp
insoluble prob¬
ity-
f the Vatican to dat as°we'havT rm'proWems at present, we shall have no serious conflicts w V
irch in Hungary.
of the Churches in Hungary in ^/^^’^ and II Resto del Caruno of Bologna:
We do not inter- Correspondent of La NaziONE olicies 0n Church affairs?
Everyone does
rvice on Sunday,

officially declared “ “d -are

People’s Republic
glad to make these available ‘“^“^lema-by itself ” “f^ngery in

naries I ask wh
~ -sim * I
Question. I repeat what

on international detente,
- ss 2
habit to make Pr0Phe
to the e-stence of NATO. lusn ^ ^ people’s
’; imperilled fol-
Hungary. The

Slogans' about SfriS^ ^

make a long list n and Qf young people to ^ and several other

sss-s £ *» "e on r;:r- r -in ptanicc'

There is freedom of opin ^ on every possible occasto ^ interfcre in

and opinions, in f^c when they are raised a P We hold that
not pose an compelled to repudia e sueattemp ^ 0rt
our internal affairs, ible observation of hum 8 ^ the problems
whoever is for the f ^ £.urity. Then we shall be aW ^ of progress leads
ddtente, disarmam othjv more easily and faste . This depends on
facing us better, more smoothly mo ^ observe human rights, in v
to the universal recognition f ling that they arc n° on^ d n the events

That is what we art d ^8 to my forward, should look forward

Principle return to the:«”£*“" ^ ot which the, »o^d ^hk.

journalists wrote m 1 lat(!r. , myself ttunk *a about people of the

Hungarian or of the tor s 1 ,hey wite y'

 Rome Press Conference, June 1977 393

, ,r p«q We have a human memory, but

whether they contribute to the cause of progress. We
flairs pertaining not a blackhst of foreign journahsts^ maintajn the remark you made
;es fit.
; in Hungary in a vrr^:f-”at a^ ««.°f •*->■
;n very seriously
er these prelimi-
could still be re¬ a long time ago, bnt in those dap we ^ti/ocLr to the Ural Mountains.
Europe stretched from the shores of much , component
ion. I repeat what Therefore the Communist Party of the Sovmt Umon is JU poWt United
•oops in Hungary and a part of the European 0®™^? Se German Communis. Party,
ng. That depends
,n, and is related "h“co^."»•? th= " “ist a,,d
and I do not wish workers’ parties. I commend » respect of certain Western
ing imperilled fol- The term “Eurocommunism is often similarities among certain
. in Hungary. The European parties. In our view ^ — “"der the conditions of
tire people, parties. Those parties are fighting oital ,t js oniy natural under the
hat what we have capitalism, under the dictatorship of m P>p roads tQ social liberation
Jemocracy further,
circumstances. It is just as naturalthat^oda! conditions of their society. This is
ys. I myself could in accordance with the £-££ ^ “"argue about it and we cannot
he right to life and not only their privilege, but also heir u u a mattcr in their own com-
58, the right to free
are' looking for to win iiberty for the working
, and several other
ranteed in practice.
^ position taken ^££*
d of people’s views
Human rights do
etext to interfere in
npts. We hold that ^°"en up till now, the
Jits should support
solve the problems
soS^rS^
ad of progress leads historical development and sgofic ^"<Sahst Revolution, a dictatorslup of
hts. This depends on result of the victory of_ he= Great_C> Jhcn peoplc-s democratic regimes
ier threatened. the proletariat was established nroletariat were established,
Sported on the events also filling the role of the dlctaJP°^ts Qn my own part I wish the Com-
ordinary tourists? I do not want to make ex cat working in the capitalist countries a great
>„ into consideration. munist and workers’ parties strugg g ® dictatorship of monopoly capital
ian, appropriately the
ises profound human
should look forward
of salt.
i can generally and in
number of Hungarian
have liked to identify
lot worth looking into ^rn"n' “ptT^unE and that no one will be able to disrupt this
,k about people of the solidarity.
vhat they write today,
394 Speeches and Interviews fflUSt be removed

for the development of Hungarian side noted & because of certain

f°j. K.: A few years ^Uons was *?ed'Sfcouncil of Mutual

S5e^32££=-“iS5=
Market; it docs not limit and tfae common
with various countries. contacts between the CM ^dude agree-
W We agree that the: bu ldmg ^ be desirable Jo work o^ ^ ^ and
Market must be conti - ©roupings which d expansion of trade,
“““between the two “^'^Tmbet countnes mattes
promote the economic <=oop m[e[esl8 o( ^ ^ diffcre„t countnes.

8 The correspondent of Pa* Conference? do toge,tei:

p that the approach

established

SS^tSSeSn^eommendations.
~ PM

JULY 1977 ^ nQt an enthusiastic

Question'. Sped*.*ou^to*T ^in

relations?
 395
J]

.. tuat 1 am 'lot a a O0od PurP° jn the

:r ? riSt-,,.r-*r.s
5

peaceful co sySteros and oVeinent of between the

different aHian* !£butt to the unpr tbe dialog®? ^evw ^ ^

zm’S&SS&SSS**
«<** Edition and °ne of ^ ^ bght of the nists of
)0rtant preco of thvs po'lC> suffering Pro. - .Atente.

ssrs^jr^s-*wweso sted aod

have emerge tetnporary- f lbe medium Q\e in Easl *Q her alh-

the dtfloS® Western theory her greater t0?I"1jnio0, the Umted international

vX^-.s^£-^srizr-isss:
1 •«■•■11 “l^raity «“ *“£» nolnw" « *“ “dMPe»”S a*S”*ithout

ss^ts -tbe froit

As * .otrv’s size- Om
by the country
396 Speeches and Interviews

international detente and die consolidation tfpea* £

Accordingly the Hungarian People’s Repubhci^^awa of the European

capitalist states aimed at deepening md' irapl"

Helsinki recommendations. eventually determined by domestic
M is known, in all states foreign om domestic and foreign
policy- Accordingly, we do not have tw P ^ of socialist construction unequiv-

Sa2=Sr2^S5S5£w

relation to hutnan

preparatory “££1* as a unified who^D^

8Kutity and

“SSSS1- far give

i£§SSiSS££ES=
of recent years have
 ,

,» interview, July l^^

*mdXh°U embayed
olicated situation in whiab you e

nomenon be «•— °t,he agt«s wilb

on leadership^ r said that ever^ d^ho do not or only P^^. respect
3 *■••■ .'f' Natural that there . are “ p ^nt view on opinions
We consider 1 everyone may h blic life, we us . , deCisions.
us on certain lss^ varioL forums of on P cxteQl in our ^ domestic
for our laws. In th nsideration t° a § present balan uieS of the
Si we «*» *- «" - SS-S »“'“Ta\«oriSTriai. Bnt we
It is indeed tru- embarked on the w shQck and a hisio ^ learned.
political situate conditions after a ^ forgotten _ wta ^ important
past and "Iffrom our own losses even today,^^pment of ^
have learned from ^ ^ and c sUck estabUshment and dc> P >in determinins

rrrJB.

“r w„ty ycare ago

“ t s^gES =£53
-K£
were doing then o
bc accorded toH
Hungarian working
t0 Hungarian
^
pectuals who disp L together with
^ Hungarian pe P .’^^ advanc-
embarked on a socia v ^ pe0plc. Tod y, sodaUsm, are co list soCiety.

of responsibility^^ building Commun^ ^ building a dew^ ihat the question

the people of chosen, th ° uroCOmmunism t " lUsm and of t

^sSSSgxS&r--’

SSsSEsSSssk:^^
j£S~ss£S2£~SSZ - ?•

2 £ g§ s s^^
23
of Western Europe a
5 3
398 Speeches and Interviews

ress and social development leading to socialism. This is not only a right but also a

class movement. This is not Eurocommunism, this has always been so,
it i S w it will be in the life of all Communist parties whatever part of he

working grasses for ^ £ a. ST^S^

acknowledged .ha. Communta and polHi-

J531 »Sonci,ab,eP though no. for Hungary. Would .h.s - J«£

j K • First of all I will deal with the introductory sentence of the question, Th

immmmm
HSSSsSSSsssssa

th^o^°—condidons ^ough .he Confcren=e

 399
i mi" Interview* Jub
»Frankfurter Rundschau
tT . . ^ tv,, withdrawal
the question of th

development, do °” ^Sken on ^ the

nohtical climate has sig ^ same ume ensunng po^°

Seand genuinely sta ^ .g dependent^thj^

national situation^ » d d«t«nn»^f“atsaw Treaty, ft*

neace and sccuri y “temporary p ■ a\ situation wi withdrawal

of the wo mihtary history- ^ B Hungarian mm _w ran jyve ui

wjmm
^..rtcxioN-. During umfieo st«u ... wMieve th

Fs|@S@s 2

"*?r»•« -=rss=!?“=i» ~S,

SSSP • **
s££iws^ ssr^ 2

ich is
^ ^S §gKS
3 32 3

forces
to the
ported

=irSs=srs£ss s'1-”'
countries, but also .«
5
400 Speeches and Interviews

the official poUcy of the Hungarian PeopU's

WSWiMM
and adherence to it will ensure peace.
Question: On one occasion
called a national tragedy, you spoke of the spmtua i to
, J956

v
hich you had
which
lions in

==SSHS^sS£aA==
“rZfEFa* mania. Party struggles and vyorks for the -ssejn oar »un^

sssss^isss
?ssi§i“ls=SiS£

and international tasks in the work of building socialism.

 401
Central Committee, April 1978
To the

, t thP Anril 1978 Session

Address at the Apm
on of Hun-
considered of the Central Committee
is nurtured
f lfil the obligation under-
:rved by the
i the nurtur-
M ibis session ,oday
my different
at one of the
sent borders,
indicant con-
ting 35 states

ilnch you had

The Central CQ,mm Coramittec to exara’"e ^Ltive ideas. This is why
liticians which which will enable the C instead of wishes and subj and the county
j questions in basis of social reality an^ bod-’es_the Budapest Party of thc adopted
itual torment”
the party’s mediu askedt0 assess how the P fal issues and their
st achievement
party committees- we by ana,yzing both 'h"™nfclionS from the centre.
Congress resolutions g ®^ conclusions and - responsible manner.
In our country
own specific areas ou, in a very ^^“^ Ennal report-back
imunist leaders, This assessment has be comprehensive becau. thcy not only
i effect on how The preparations were *£"*£&*» served ^comprehensively.
n a question or
meetings of the_P“ly ^ but also assessed the: ovc« Controi Committee,
ler.But 1 would considered their p ,iticai Committee asked t u f Ministers to draw
as a convinced
lg a great degree
aen our decisions '3S
in whose interest
fe had more than

ise nobody is able nda is headed: - W-»^

This item on the agen Political Committ P Congress are
policy, I am work- and the tasks adopted by the partes Ut ^ ^ imple.
Central Com™ “e^piemented in all the main fields of h ; difficulties unforeseen
list Workers’ Party being successfully >mplem_ partly because of object ^ ly because of
questions together
mentation is m ^erta or which have emerged sin ^ important conclu-
lent is the activity, at the time of the C°^ h w reiterate, nevertheless, tha h tjons of the Uth
everyday domestic
subjective ^“^Jobservatious of the survey,1 that1 of life. Therefore
sion, successfully implement^Uhe^ ^ ^ this known
402 Speeches and Interviews

I shall explain later, are not discussed in detail. All things considered, however, I would
stress that progress has been made in all spheres as a result of our work.
Working class power, our people’s democratic system, has strengthened, and peo¬
ple’s socialist collaboration and cohesion have developed. Significant positive changes
have taken place in the domestic affairs of the country as a result of the ideological
and political impact of the party’s 11th Congress. The work aimed at implementing
the programme announced at the Congress has further consolidated our state, the
Hungarian People’s Republic and the basis of our economy. All the main spheres of
culture - including scientific work, public and general education, the arts and litera¬
ture - show signs of progress.
We can claim with complete responsibility that advances have been made in all
spheres. T would just add that the draft resolution does not contain statistical data
concerning our economic development, since they are well known, and in the cultural
sphere progress often cannot be measured in terms of statistical data, because of the
specific nature of this sphere. Successful work has been carried out in developing our
national defences, in the ramifications and rather complex spheres of the activity of
the Ministry of Home Affairs, ar.d in the workers’ militia. The socialist brigade move¬
ment has also yielded excellent results. An example which illustrates these results is
the socialist work emulation carried out to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the
Great October Socialist Revolution. Fine work has been done in the party’s youth
organization, the mass organizations and mass movements too. Or, in a nutshell,
significant, worthy results have been achieved in all the main spheres.
To keep the record straight I should like to mention another matter. The Central
Committee executive, and first and foremost the Political Committee, considered at
the initial state of the preparations for today’s session how the assessment should be
carried out. Our sister parties in the other socialist countries have all adopted differing
practices. Some have convened a party conference, others have made their assessment
at a session of the Central Committee. Seeing that a large-scale party conference allows
for a type of debate which may differ from what is required, the Political Committee
considered it appropriate to cany out this work at a Central Committee session.
Naturally, this explains our decision only as far as procedure is concerned.
Another even more important consideration was the probable result of this stock
taking, namely, that no radical or essential alteration was required in the main fines
determined by the Congress as regards domestic and foreign policy, economic and
social policy, cultural policy and other issues. Since we regard a party conference
to be a higher party authority than a session of the Central Committee, and since
this matter does not justify a decision by a higher party authority, the Political Com¬
mittee decided at an early stage not to recommend the convening of a party confe¬
rence, but considered it would be sufficient and in a way more effective to make this
assessment at a session of the Central Committee.
The Political Committee has drawn up a draft resolution and has distributed it
among its esteemed members. At this session today our main task is to discuss this
written draft resolution. Once accepted, the resolution may also serve as a public
stand. The draft resolution contains matters we consider expedient to publish as the
Central Committee’s standpoint. Therefore we recommend that only a short com-
 m

403
To the Central Committee, April 1978

formation should bp T • h 10 add that, as no doubt the

the Central Committee. ^ drafl resolution 1 wish ^ cover cverytbing.
In connection with the jt> this document many impor-
comrades also realize w en^ does not deal wnh party^w is that no
As l have said earher th P P dple governing th oflhe Central Com-
tant questions of public We. * d is needed. The ai tjon t0 tasks
second, complementaryicon^smr * ^ to date aud to ^ ^ of
roittee resolution is £ endcavours in order toimplem ^ subjects.
which require the mo « Congress. This exp resolution-. although
the 11th Congress before the t featurc of the drat is mostly

thS^

Still on the subject me,y important questions Committce. For

ahead in a responsible fas tQ examine « m futu > refer to it as one

^ -—lifc in 'he Pa'ty

pubhc declaiationP ^ rcsoiution is,

The overalf tone o aft resolution Can justifiably successful implementation
and well-founded. conditions required io , t the document.
can create in the ttme 1 fnhe ccath^ c So much about th
of the resolutions ad P ^ j tion the members o observations made by
Together with the draft "«WU which faithfully reflects the obs ^ spcak wlth

«**— ;
ZPi -feS and foremost
404 Speeches and Interviews

has to be done about them, and to solve them satisfactorily through the work of the
central or local bodies. This is what we think about the series of questions collected
in the supplement.
Finally allow me to say a few words about the aim of this introductory address.
The written draft resolution proposes that the Central Committee should not deal
with all the questions of the Congress one by one in its resolution, since at the moment
this would not help our work sufficiently. During my consultations with the Political
Committee on the topics I should deal with in my address, we agreed that I would not
introduce the draft resolution item by item, because everyone has a written copy of it.
So, please, regard this document as the basis of our discussion. Allow me to touch
upon just some of the themes contained in it, rather as a means of argumentation,
justification and perhaps amplification. Therefore T beg your pardon in advance for
not mentioning all the topics.
First I propose to say a few words about the conclusions of the draft resolution
because these are, in fact, the most essential conclusions of the document. T repeat
these in order to call attention to them.
- The first main conclusion to be corroborated was that the party resolutions and
programme adopted by the 11th Congress have stood the test of time.
- Secondly, Hungarian public opinion, our party membership, the working class,
together with our people, and international public opinion —here 1 am referring pri¬
marily to our fraternal parties — welcomed the resolutions adopted by the Congress
when they were made public. The declared programme of our party was received with
similar enthusiasm. I mention this because it is no trifling matter. The written state¬
ment bears ample witness to how Hungarian public opinion received the documents
of the 11th Congress. Therefore it seems expedient that the Central Committee should
now return to it, openly appreciating the attitude to the Congress of our mass orga¬
nizations, mass movements and the most varied factors of our society.
As far as the international reception is concerned, comrades will no doubt recall
that the socialist countries were represented by top level delegations which addressed
the 11th Congress. The fact that the 11th Congress was hailed, particularly by the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union, as a truly Marxist-Leninist party congress and
that this view was given serious and repeated expression after the event is no small
recognition for us. The resolution and the programme were also referred to in terms
of praise. To my way of thinking it is good for us to know that the Hungarian So¬
cialist Workers’ Party is not the sole repository of Marxist-Leninist truth. But it is
our conviction and intention to try and follow a truly Marxist-Leninist line, and the
opinion of our brother parties is undoubtedly a test of this. The opinion of our fra¬
ternal parties confirms our confidence in ourselves and in our views.
- Our third conclusion is that following the Congress, the Central Committee and
its executive, the government and the social bodies took up the important matteis
raised by the Congress which required further, specific decisions. Experience has cor¬
roborated that these decisions were correct and helped the practical implementation
of the Congress resolutions.
Considering the guidelines of the Congress as well as the resolutions of the Central
Committee which gave them substance, the fourth main conclusion is that we are
 405
To the Central Committee, April 1978

i§2S=iSS=2=i
SSS- recognition of then, has also grown by v.rtne of the work

■
^he^e"^ Uf„t„:!s"h, session in -Sue. A serions

FSfotX^^

“'ifseemsto L superfluous to enlarge upon the improving international reputation

which the Hungarian Peoples Republic has been enjoy.ngpJnci.

sssss^sssgss
SSSiHrSSaa.-==
and international activities or methods of work are concerned.
 406 Speeches and Interviews

We must refer to the Congress resolutions because they are, by the nature of the
subject, of extraordinary weight, and valid not just for today. The Congress resolu¬
tions embrace a whole series of tasks which can only be fulfilled with purposeful work
over a long period of time. This is all particularly true of the party’s programme.
Perhaps it will not be superfluous to recall some of the fundamental stipulations
made at the Congress: the fact, for instance, that we are a Marxist-Leninist party,
the vanguard of the Hungarian working class, in a period of development when - nat¬
urally over a period of historical time - it is becoming the vanguard of the working
people. Our state is ruled by working class power, it is a state of the dictatorship of
the proletariat, a people’s democratic regime, which has gradually developed into a
state of the whole population. These significant statements continue to hold good.
The party Congress resolutions, and even more so the programme, contain ex¬
tremely important and topical statements concerning state ownership and produc¬
tion relations, together with prospects for their further development. These statements
are still true, just as they were laid down in the programme at the party Congress.
Before the session I had the opportunity to meet and consult with comrades who
had already read the draft resolution. One asked why the draft resolution does not
deal with important observations of the Congress such as the development of property
and production relations. Indeed it does not deal with these questions, so allow me to
explain briefly why not. The programme has been worded clearly and categorically,
and covers future prospects in terms of decades. Fundamental changes cannot be
expected to show in spheres such as the development of property and production
relations in two to two and a half years. Therefore to follow this up is not yet justified.
Certain measures necessary for long-term development and rooted in the Congress
resolutions have, of course, been introduced and put into effect. Here I am referring,
for instance, to the prevention of further fragmentation of landed property belonging
to the state and the cooperative farms.
Naturally, all the main aspects of building a developed socialist society featured in
the resolutions of the Congress, which are still valid without alteration. The Congress
expressed its opinion concerning the guidelines of the fifth Five Year Plan, too. This
statement gave a basic definition of the tasks involved in building a developed socialist
society during these five years. I must remind you that the guidelines had to be revised
to some extent; the fifth Five Year Plan was prepared according to schedule, has
been enacted and is being successfully implemented. The implementation of the fifth
Five Year Plan with good results continues to be our unaltered task.
Finally, the resolutions of the 11th Congress have stood the test of time; they have
proved to be fitting Marxist-Leninist decisions when it came to implementing them
too, which makes any alteration unnecessary. And since this is so, it logically follows
that questions concerning their implementation are bound to arise regularly. And
the questions of implementation are closely connected with the work of the masses,
the activity of the cadres and solving the cadre problem.
The above are the main conclusions of the draft resolution. Our activity still relies
heavily on making sure that the Congress resolutions are well implemented through
the work of the masses, party members and cadres.
 vm
To the Central Committee, April 1978 407

: of the
resolu-
li1 work
the main trends determining it. The ensuing e jd strcss where we belongi
correct. Another of the Congress tas s w Congress proclaimed these
t party, on which side we stand »to« o^cn«^eCon^ £ to ^ up a
n-nat-
and our experience has confir ., nrODOseci a joint press conference in
working
rship of personal example. When ^hancej up thc experiences and results of our talks, the
Bonn and politely requested that I sum up the exper the
d into a resolutions of the 11th Congress came to my mmd begm ^ J membcr
good.
Hungarian People’s Republic acts asi an a y CMEA I started out from the
itain ex-
state of the Warsaw Treaty Organ^ation m^^ of peaceful
produc-
standpoint of our party when I SP° ® a ,° . , , ’ about how our delegates
itements
ingress.
ides who
does not
property
aw me to
gorically,
annot be
•oduction
i justified.
Congress
referring,
belonging
tional situation, since thc main tren Poncress One of them is the historic
to some highly significant <wenis smee th,= 11exerted a world-
eatured in
: Congress -e a,so managed to defend
, too. This
;d socialist
be revised
ledule, has
of the fifth
opinion that thc Helsinki ^onf^|"]C^5tepCe Thc enemies of peace and progress,

KvTr,^
SXrl“n«nd 'remains unchanged. In thrs respect the Congress analysts of
the international situation has proved to be correct nQt superfluoUs

ity still relies

ited through

27
408 Speeches and Internew ^ Th£se are 0ur main aims

coexistence between countries of issue,

rr=s«“d°“sss
XC= won°“ha, battle. "“.^oSXnts . am «Uh of fh. ««*
ship duringthe *^1™ wsVto the summer of 19ST.edunambiguously.Tbeessent.al
crisis which lasted from generally been judged unatnog interests are
'Xngariau^vietfnen^^ ^
our pnnetpte goals^ ^

element of always like to add that 'J, spheres at the same

t^e^s^^fm«!HunEtriaI1'^oyie« fr.'eD^^,™^l^o^wbo app^b^

falsify it- '^elJcn0'e ^reality^hey tbink and act ^^^ovieUtiendsbip must be built
friendship, though >n re ah ^ J fa,si[kd. Hunganan-Sovje^^ ^ Soviet u won »

Pmty. J^sovie^fttendship^bmil^o^^jo^ es welk^ln the years sinee

^Lerm^saya^^'tordsabout^Mtr^relabons^with^^^ ^g^hecome^more

w-r^^ssss
intensified our relations wi& °
Republic of Germany, as weiu
Austria, FndanU W> ^
of effort have resune
better relations
,n the

United States of Amenca^ approval by Congr

seniSles^the Senate. our reiations with[ [hecapiuhst world.

 409
To the Central Committee, April 1978

mmsom
h”F«, to main line of one

WHsm
=SSSSSS«

“£S^=SSctr„sss=

■■

27*
410 Speeches and Interviews , -st movement: the 11th

One c, two ^
Congress also dealt th^ements still hold good. The sa a ConS1der-

ms-mmm

1 iSSSSs
*"S ?£ * - 5 "5 **£**%%£«<*

* -**“t0 * ~

mer=zs&zsss* *s
^^ted^^^^^^^^^aternational Coratmt^^^^^^^j^takes an

Maoism. It has to bemost

.-stance,
be^
inis t
mOSt ohatactensttcajls
e^otc^y^
« no
m what this means. Tbs
means Th.
anti-Marxist stance. This there is no need to e>»u _ .
needto^J _ leaders conduct
conduct ar
an

SSSSasSSs^seSiSs
'SZXZEZSl «"t^noSout”VP»--»»”"“MIStpra,:

S',&The,enC°"; the schfemat,o activity

We must protest age naturally conce
£?££££?£» Communist partic.

^Hiss^ss
hasis whom we support an Nevertheless,
this question either. interfere with China s in ® . Une if we happen to
We neither can nor . and fight for our foreign P and in such a manner
— «-SlSS,-^c^vo^o^n.antto^t^.b,,,
 To the Central Committee, April 1978 411

smmmm
dear beyond any shadow' ofdoubt j, traditional policy and the

SSSSSS—
Si* =^25SS3SSS£S
and wish them success on th”° OMobfr Socialist Revolution triumphed and
'Tarne’^ wl^^r^«Mi«e in strengthening inwuadohjl-
Lra J^rhmdT esS progressively closer ties w ith the social,, countnes

work there ^S-*» »”k “

fective where the party s, P°.’S "tf^eare SSybound to male good the party's
make good the party s leading • There mav be 400 party members in a

may be qui.e
412 Speeches and Interviews

adequately effective. The leading role of the party, therefore, cannot be understood

mechanically and measured bystaUsdcs. ^ & number of practical factors:

Naturally, the leading role of P PQf Qur Marxist_Leninist ideology and a
above all on the constructive ™Ple™ f the Darty organization is not merely
Communist policy. In other words, = P joint training, capacity for
determined by the of development the
action and influence of all Commum - alliance policy and the conse-
party’s leading role is greatly enhance you These two are closely
quentendeavoursofthepartytoa Cass policy,

1 inked with each other Our J’j^Sder sense of the alliance of

based on the workers'-peasants people 0f different world
Communists and people outside the party, as well P

outlooks. , Uppn to restore the party’s prestige. Let us admit

franklylaUhStookmany years of work rfter to ™P^ Sl^*^ j^egain and

^ - -—“d
all working strata. ... to mention two issues. The
Speaking about recent developmen, intellectuals over to the cause of
influence of the party.
building socialism. This is an impor X ^ ^ p)ayed by the intellectuals will
I am stressing the importance of thi , nractical experience. The intellectuals
increase 'according to «e«rtfflc ^g^Sfc^^K’ind the climate of
will gain increasing influence in shapi g *0 J must be taken into consideration,
opinion. Thi* is a process actually tekmgplace^sou^mu^^ work among the

We must continue with our «™deavou p building socialism still further,

intellectuals and to intensify their ^^5 must constantly be in the centre ol

To this end the rising generation persistent work is needed among um-
attention. Specific, organized, methodi co], students of today are not orien-
versity students. If the young univern1 y 8swered they will add to our prob-

If they are influenced positively, on the other hand,

they can become positive factors inpTrty Congress, we can mention that
Still on the subject of developments‘ m political terms
the relations between state and chur of different world outlooks for the sake of
this means the political alliance of p p of our party and country. It de¬
building socialism. This is no meanf . of tbc parly’s work in this sphere began to
serves special mention because the questions have been settled with the
ripen many years ago. A Con^s and on a principled basis,
Roman Cathohc Church since th p > between differing ideologies but the
I may add. Hi, is not jus. peace and “”, Jpws religious sen-

'Z and the law aud Ml their civic dudes. A

 413
To the Central Committee, April 1978
1O ine

political framework

pud the churches *-S^SSSSSSS

jss^Shir^szgSs&sz
On the question of eco foundations. It has been al”® despite rocketing

lastOrtoberstandout,Ibeiopment ^ thc transform^ ^ P^ and adopted

strecture°of our ^Jiii ^t ^eta*'j^^^stlmp^rtauTtesks is

and the national economy

to mobilize our intern hcre 0f our national

"te still have reserves in ^^^"arMe has recently *-££*

s-srfSr-^2tc^»
tablished that the French P h£r way> in France eac worked out a
number of workers, or toprt^ minc, Gn dot ^n^anpower every

—- - -
414 Speeches anil Interviews

Congress, the party and the state. This attitude sets an excellent example of how to

SOlIVChave mentioned^this example because it is my firm conviction that if most of

u nrv\ industrial olants - many of which fortunately today reach world standards

development in scientific research, the more rapid and wide-ranging application o

actual labour force economy. This involves vocational training and refresher courses
11 cnal<» T nst hut not least it requires a rational reorganization of the labou
and wagon Work,
of^GySr^as mentioned years ago? as well as between the plants and the various

bTetr%fe"brLr7working Unre. norms should be regularly observed

and labour dLipbne should be improved everywhere and nr every resp« Th

ssxx 'sxz—" r^r Ur—■

the families’ normal and well-balanced life hinges on the fact that there is secur

■HU
cprup t :.o disposal-as big as possible even in times of prosperity, and all the bigge

120 places, this is sure to lead to chaos.

 415
To the Central Committee, April 1978

pie of how to

iat if most of to go in order to inttotancd in the draft resolution working

orld standards Allow me to repeat wha'without altering thep^ ^ ^ instead of six days,
d have a better workweek can on y working the same amount the essence of which is
ve this in mind hours. In other words’J of economic management , wlth independent
; done are well You all know our system ^^ed management toge ^ above. This
urther dynamic a socialist Planned.teC°t^requires high standards of manag ^ ^ lack this
- application of companies. This situat on q reform; in Ptact’ce’ b functioning of the eco-
long ago in this was the g°al7henXdmanSment, as well as ^smooth fun q .the
ork and factory bigh standard centr economic manageme existence of na-
nomic regulators. Our systen^ * our coun ry^that^ ^ by the
its.
vn to everybody.
:an see there will SnTewnomic iSconnection:
will probably be
nportant. In eco-
1 “ieve ^is task"
ianpower and the
refresher courses
ition of the labour
SST* ‘ L a regulars faction. .
nd Wagon Works
tKmaevelopm^rf^ ^tdocoment,beca^o^tM ^^^
ts and the various
Should be included in me P pnces stm tow some,hrog
regularly observed honest and open PoUcies; . for years to improve them. We n weU-known
every respect. The though control out production
or, as we are in the in our ^emPtS‘^explosion, and to protect outDespite many
:o a greater extent. world economic price e p deveioping our awn P«* cost and input,
and consumers from .; do not adequately reflecl ^ wadays not even sufficient
t this problem when years of efforts, the pncesa areas 0f production axe nowaa y fail to pro-
: full employment is yC Producer prices m identical with Taking all
al’s sense of security, to cover ProduCti°^ fyr more efficient and Pr°®ta“* Pdays is that the general
lt there is secure ern- vide sufficient tnce the situation in our coun y situation is main-
ieans employment is prices into constdewhoti, tabove ^ ^ of consumer ^ rf a who,e senes
1 of organized jobs in
!S know very well that
a so-called labour re-
ity, and all the bigger —many mb-
oyed workers. In our
gh I do not know the iecttelactors are able to ^^s caused by the
,t to be misunderstood. The greatest econorn wfaat is necessary in specifi words, to alter the
ian the available labour
sure should be applied
to the available labour
S2K ?SX
irth our attention in the St* ^u is difficolt
:anvas 1000 workers for dies turn things topsy-tur y
416 Speeches and Interviews

estimate which products are required by and profitable for the national economy and
which are not. I am pointing this out because I want to propose that the resolution
should state that it is a long-term necessity that our price system should be improved
in keeping with the goals of our economic policy. For a more reasonable economy,
producer prices and consumer prices must reflect real input better.
It is desirable to state these things now, because it is in keeping with the heart and
style of our policy to signal any problems in time. Naturally, we will combine this
with the adequate protection of consumers. That must be taken for granted. This is no
abstract task, but a very practical one, in which our policy decisions also predominate.
Necessary changes in consumer prices must be counteracted by measures in the field
of our wages and incomes policy. Further efforts must be made to enforce the cardinal
political demand which our party has been promoting and implementing for some
considerable time, namely that the building of socialism must be accompanied by a
constant improvement in the living standards of the working people. Naturally, we
must also tell people this.
Therefore it follows that not only the price system but also the wage system has to be
further analyzed, elaborated and improved. Our wage system is only partially effective.
It needs to be improved in a way which really allows the predominance of socialist
wage principles and stimulates constructive work as well as a disciplined holding of
one’s ground. The present practice shows a tendency to even things out, which is not
correct. There are signs of a certain levelling in wages, which does not act as an incen¬
tive. We have adopted a correct social policy: we care about the position of families
and the elderly. The draft resolution also makes a point of the need to keep a close
watch on the question of the elderly in the future too. At the same time the wage
system must also be carefully fashioned and improved.
I do not propose to go into details concerning the standard of living. Statistical
evidence as well as day-to-day experience of the population bear witness to the fact
that life in Hungary has improved and the people do not live too badly.
The standard of supplies which has prevailed in Hungary for many years now is an
achievement not to be dismissed lightly. We know that the worst method is to release
purchasing power, to decide on and implement wage rises which have no backing.
The working people seem to be most annoyed when they have money in their pockets
but no goods in the shops. The standard of provision in Hungary can be called good
and I believe this is how it is judged by Hungarian public opinion.
Among the social issues I would stress the great efforts which are being made in the
field of housing. This work began to develop prior to the Congress and has consider¬
ably increased since then, inevitably putting a considerable burden on the state trea¬
sury. But this is necessarily so. We have recently submitted our report to the country
on the honourable completion of the 15-year housing programme. Now one of our
tasks is to have the Central Committee put on this years’ agenda the new long-
range housing plans, since the housing problem is still an extremely important and
burning social problem in our country and will probably continue to be so for some
time to come.
Generally speaking, considerable progress can be said to have been made in the
sphere of intellectual life too. This applies to the main fields of science, education,
 417
To,he Central Committee, April 1978
i w *■ —
. it.
to talk about this.

>my and
solution
mproved
to assessbtte principal features' c^cnmstances A®
conomy,

leart and
ibine this
This is no
dominate,
n the field
ie cardinal
l for some
S.-naSSiSr1'1'1''*"
however, that our work.n
of our ideas, of
need to be intensified^ ^ problem of the term
digression, let me remark. th P ^ parly congress^
ianied by a
Just by way of a sligh ° ed jn connection with Marxjst-Lenimst, since
Marxi^umnisn, has a,a™je,gm^ tut®world outlook,
Rurally, we
I firmly believe, com < ’ , tbe essentials of ou p opportunism of
this is What covers most whcn it meant a break w>th the g
;m has to be
This name came into bemg at a um ^ t0 rts revtsiomsm.^^ ^ declared
illy effective.
the 2nd International an noPtleast the German Social De^ ^ „scientific Marxism
» of socialist
d holding of
SfTSid to'be Marxist par**- 0f ^'“Lenin-
which is not
t as an incen- other than MarXaSnd'u^rTradical groups unfortunately ^ stand. ln everyday
3n of families
> keep a close
ime the wage usage of course we ^haUeSymeauiaMarkto-^^ lhu assan-
scient.Sc h 1 nama inthes0 fc. Let us represent and po-
ing. Statistical
iess to the fact attention to the
1
years now is an
10d is to release teaching of the students subsequent course 'jj^^jtesTwbiie future skilled
This is vital as far as th , children continue th Therefore, their basic
,ve no backing-
percentage of secondary, schochi ^ P^^ntion of applying
in their pockets
j be called good
workers receive vocaUonaM tical value, ^f^orld, where a subjec
education is of »mpor^n“ an recali the schools of the oi of the regime
a bad or distorted compamon, of l2. From the^oin ^ ^ stcps m
eing made in the
called civic rights was t g u a stupid subject. We ha education every-
lDd has consider- that time itwas not really such as P d produce <avw • hts and obli-
,n the state trea-
that'direction in some -hoc
lrt to the country
blow one of our
la the new long-
;ly important and
to be so for some
^etldTrSlXSon in secondary suhools.
been made in the
science, education,
418 Speeches and Interviews

Since patriotic, internationalist, ^“^^^nSSK^TStin^

Wc can safely say “’“'SriSS objective; that is it helps implement the

Hiw=sa*=p»
HsSjS£Sgj§522SS
bss=sSss&sssssb.~
re!^participants should be given an °pP°?n^ intereSt

^SSSSs-JBSSWsa
regards cultural issues, allow me

5SSS5£s£asS2Si;
S^Sl^ve
 419
To the Central Committee, April 1978

wmm
more attention
:ion. The fitting
nee. Our party
just and lasting

press, radio and

k more effective,
n of our people,
ng headway and,
sment the rcsolu-

on to the people,
ding information
o the mere com-
ce their opinions,
paid to the brief-
ually briefing the
*y can adequately
je the party. This
>uld be transmitted
lectuals, especially
olitical work must
other intellectuals,
political consulta-
! week; every three t wrea ive arts. I would not go as far it is important that the
the creative ai things so mechanistically. » decisive role in
they should be held

litical and economic

take a lively interest
hcreforc, focus our
SSSsHSsSgsgS
us infinite pleasure that atate* S; a,ready come.up do not

o say this-political

ice to our system of

rssa—
promotion, patience
:ause of its particular
nagement, but what
rhis system has been
ied and continued. 1
SSSSgtSsS^ssg
jr system of guidance,
cultural life, however,
nee, since this, in our
sarsSSssss
conomic management

tiat we go about realiz- fulfilled their commitment exceuer y

prohibition, has been
420 Speeches and Interviews

emulation. Our party members took an exemplary stand in the impresswe socialist
work emulation organized on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Grea

by Leninist norms, collective leadership, and the

principle of democratic centralism and, what is very important, we have succeeded by
developing inner party discipline. The party’s work has for decades been orientated by
elected bodies and not by the official apparatus. The apparatus carries out the resolu¬
tions of the party’s elected bodies with the utmost dedication.
Continuing on the subject of the party, I would like to stress that the resolutions
adopted by the Congress are still valid and correct. In the remaining two years our
party and its entire membership have to concentrate all their efforts on improving their
implementation. For this reason it is of decisive importance that the resolutions of the
Congress and generally all party resolutions be interpreted and implemented un

implementation depends on the cadre. Efforts must be redoubM£itap,ove tstdre

work further and to free this work from subjectivism as far as P°s“blc; >? ls°lat®
chance solutions and personal bias. Cadre training and replacement should be made
more systematic than up till now. Actual, everyday cadre work and filling posts suit-

abIt has ofte'Tbren'mentioned that there was a time when the Political Committee
focused all its efforts on creating stability in many fields of life, not least in the sphere
of party cadres. We believe that the party has succeeded in creating this stability
If someone works well and honestly today, he can work in the same place or even in
the same post for a long time and can show his support for the party s aims. At the
same time comrades must understand that stability requires certain orgamc and
constant changes. This is part of the demands of life. People grow old, their hea
fails them or they cannot stand up to their work in the face of new, greater challenges
In'such cases it is much more logical and expedient to c^rry through m the necessar
course of progress, an organic and orderly change of cadres, rather than destr y

pare, bad torn*. adi= m cadre

work too after 1956. Since then cadres have been treated somewhat differently more
rmS.IScr and, I am bold enough ,o more humanely. During.the year, of
the personality cult nobody cared about people, they were simply oidered abou .
Nowadays people are at least asked their opinions and where there are goodl reasons
the individual’s point of view, personal and family circumstances are taken in
account This practice must be continued unaltered. It is important to be hummie
and merit and other things can and must be considered, but the requirements of
work must always be placed in the forefront in our appointments. A post must always
be assigned according to the requirements of the work in question As far as cadres are

concerned, suitability for the job and ability must be the decisive factors. Considering
suitability for the job to be the primary prerequisite is not inhumane but our duty
the party and the people. Naturally, this applies not only to party cadres.
Alongside the stability of cadres the suitable and organic change of cadres must be
carried through in all decisive spheres of society. Change is justified if someone
 T, ,te Chiral Committee, April ,V7*^ ^

socialist
he Great

3,
and the
Reeded by
by
the resolu-

fsSlsiS^SfesgSSs
ispstsl
resolutions
o years our
their
utions of the
iir.ented uni-

mittee
sphere
ability-
even in
. At the
mic and
ir health

cessary
w::t:
destroy

officials, . . too. one oi _ :roplemenwuv..-

^“Ste - - - » “ „ the reponal ^“^3

and the P^^ffiis practice continue

accomplished- Let
422 Speeches and Interviews

turn to Budapest and the coun^o^ver One must not

rSs"nth°e SSJl county or some misinterpreted interest. I have

considered it my duty to point out th,s symptorm from ^ funda.
I want to say something more about the unity^fAe paron ^ whole

mental class basis, the^nf ds“ ial"st national elaboration and in the political
of society. This is embodied m sooahs ^ and is als0 reflected within the

deavours to build socialism. I am remain united an(i its unity cemented, it is

indivuals. In order for the na without the unity of the party the nation cannot
example of 1956 also shows how .he split in O

party. Ou, Central Comm.®*..> and » ts our ^ exea,ti on of

efforts, however, in order to be equally' this i came to the conclusion that
resolutions. Quite frankly, comra , mention only the years between 1953
our historical heritage weighs heavi y • f h pers0nality cult, and
and ,957: we lived through the scene of extreme ideo-
then the counter-revolution. ^ those yeaP ^^ ^ .{ happened m the
logical and political mamfesta • of & harsh hist0rical heritage, live on.
past and is gone, but its remnants, from a one-sided sensibility. This
One such remnant is that certain comr through and fought during
applies mostly to the okfcr howmuch the personality
that period. Their sensibility depends * j^p^j*nced more of one, some of the
cult and revisionism affected them. So P de$ t edgy as soon as the
other, and still others of the two equa y. d> worrying about the possible
strengthening of centralized managem everything. Still others fret whenever

be it ever so topical. When the party foloSgwa the overall si.ua-

1956 and officially at the party conference of 1957 the toium g frank,
tion, if I am not mistaken : I - trying to outline
rather limited. This may be number of dogmatic,
the real situation. At the same time th revisionist, opportunist and other
sectarian factors and an even greater nu of the two-front struggle
elements. Since then the is extensive, and
has taken on a different aspect. Today although dogmatic and revisionist

dfor the ,wo'frOTt

 To the Central Committee, April 1978 423

struggle, I am merely suggesting

always be sensitive to more than o g other harmful views and

i;S“ “d “ ®““al cvcry public fi8ure

illustration: in December 1956 a membcrs These comrades had had vary-

“ r,
Committee-the Central Committee tad23SesTon for the first time after a very long
ing experiences. Many were meeting all adjusting their views to their

time. Theywere aU Commrnnc^"n“!wc - *• ** '

own experiences. The 23 ot tnemag and were ready to fight for a
were the partisans of socialist, Co™“n‘ „ working class power. This leadership
people’s democracy, to cMuntain and^ ^ ]ea8dership and - let us not beat

b^TSe1^ bush-T party’s 1957 conference thatlaid the foundations for our present

5S2S2. SK
ai ,hc part5'c°"fOT°ce and
subsequently party ^emberS "f U^eJmbcr &1958'concerning the socialist reorgani-
1 ™»“ — “u“^-nted socialism, and yet three, clearly
zation of agriculture, we were u > , of the approaches could be
distinct views stiU confronted one anoAer, gion ^ may recal, the tendency

said to have been against the S°™ middlt peasants had to bedivested of everything
whose representatives asserted that the middle peasant create order, so to

they had, and treated Another trend

speak; that was the only way to■ estaWish ywere lacking, and if
claimed that the appropriate con created it was better not to begin
line, large-scale socialist agrlP“U“re . d , ,f The Central Committee adopted
at all so as not to compromise the thc achievements of that
a resolution at that session and v session of the Central
decision over the last twenty years. °° ( mention thjs because there was
Committee, I must say it was a correct decision was
a heated debate either. We encourage the
made. So we should not b « take heed of this encouragement too.
nation, the people to discuss deb • sessions: here we have
We should not be ^ solution than the one suggested, he

shouMcome forward with it, be *S gy^^afteMhe party^9^Conference and

Of course, we carried on the economic management
the 1958 session of the Central Comm , j heed of today as we
and other issues. That is we have a considerable num-
debate? Here IM^ organisation activists. Real!,
bcr, many thousands of party, sta , influence the masses. What 1 have said

££S£52£ allies them. We must take care that during the debates

28
424 Speeches and Interviews

„o 0„e should design**

no one should designate himself the P everybody belongs. No one should
of the intellectuals. We know 5"ytheory of separate representation. It is ™P0SS1£le
oersuade himself into believing this theory o 1 bo(Jy shouid understand that
to live and work with such a division f p Committee as corporate bodies, nor
neither the Central Committee nor thePolitica alone. We must side with
their members, can side with the worr e ^ ihat with all of the people at the same
the workers, peasants, andintellectu - S ’bad sense, someone else, the represen¬
time. Nobody should designate tan**® . ^ property shouid als0 re pec
tative of one group or another. T t cooperative property should respec
cooperative property, and support the other sector too.
state property; those who sopport one« ^ ^ ^ us a ,ot of other inconve-
The resolutions to be implemented ^ polemics in a positive fashion with

SSnsUterally aud to e Actively. I do not

people. In politics, m struggles h Everybody should expound tier

convinced of their correctness, their °w if necessary, clash in order to reach
views, we should exchange opmions deb ’ those who participated in
the appropriate decision. I am absolutely conv.nc ^ ^ s bjectively
the above-mentioned debates, going■ m of them are no longer on the Centra

Sel^“ SSLel so no one cun entertnin doubts ns to

^pa^s worked for a long,longU-tX

sal
solve our basic tasks. The Pr>n“P!e f the country and the people well. We mu

than the Pope. I am not saying ^because PP imbued Wlth the spirit of

£rS^"rc^w“haven hue, —e nunded

and has been expressed by the Polpolicies and fulfil the tasks ahead
and strengthen our guiding with g00d results, then the party can pre-
together with the people, for the people and wit Z ^ # ^ conscience to the

Centrd^Commiue^on^ie^vor^accomplished between the two Gongresses.

 425
Crillon Hotel Press Conference, Nov. 1978

Since members of the other corporate body ^^f^^poS’nity to thank

Control Committee, are also present 1 helps and supports the

Congress. n thc esteeraed Central Committee to discuss,

suppo^ac^t IndTdopt the draft resolution submitted in writing.

Press Conference at the Crillon Hotel

NOVEMBER 1978

It is . pleasure for me to moo, the ^

Frond, Republic and on current ,n,orna„ona

JaSSfiSS^»nd more £3T « S’- ZSL -

lhWe should like France to in.

Our talks with the distinguished on ^ most burning internaUona
a congenial atmosphere, committed themselves to the pokCKS
issues. This is natural, as both. com ^ ^ tQ take an active part both in the
of peaceful coexistence and detente. ‘ crfce on Security and Coopera-
preparatory and effective countrie, We signed the Helsinki
tion in Europe, together with ze -t to the full.
Final Act and we are making every t0 the topics 1 discussed during
All this is naturally only jus Republic and with the outstanding
rny two days with the Pros,dent5^. £t ,te conclusion of our tahes we
figures of the French government an p d’Estajng. Our mutual intention to
signed a declaration with in the declaration. I hope
develop further Hungarian-French nM ^ serving thc interest of our
that as a result of our talks ou ceful coexistence and detente,
peoples well, and will further the> causef f how would you evaluate your

iSto EOT sTTa, wo have to ac»p, „• When wo recced

28*
4* »-*" . , koto it would be the**
that if this meeting took p invitation itself
the invitation we a^C^story 0f Hungarian-French re a on^^ concerned,
summit meeting far as the Hungarian P Hungarian People s
indicates apoUttoalresote^aslar^ bet»«n <*3™1 eve.,

a mutual endeavou Republic iu the political, e ’ t r discussions

Republic and ^ x “esolve on the
other important 6eUt We flunk- and * the marki„g out of the
will give an impetus to sioQ of mutual intentions®10 nd I hope it really
French side - that th P m individual areas can g wm require that
specific things to be'J0" arian French relations. NaturaU^th which follow
will give — impetus o ^ana efforts in the^ ^ gs well as
both parties make «*fn ects i feel that our meeting countries

tional politics-deten .
pies, and better rt aflonsbe™^
henations of the -r*of
wor. ,he " ^ meeting with

development. We t of relations between th statements on our

—d devetoI
we are linked bythe personally with the: First Secre a V ^ fey
with the French Soaahst Party ^ ^ ^ party-
for a number of years- ‘ , Party. Our party beinfc questions
the Hungarian So«Wand social-demoaratparties^ ^ these

rs£as**5 ~“d thewo

S=M=“
The concept of £ , by Western European munism would

5£ SS r S more —t 1 -

stSnreaht,.
 427
Crillon Hotel Press Conference' Nov. WS

There is
the first
ion itself
jncerned.
ss=:
People’s those deal T^^er^HrffiUpenden« n^^Ss°25 deriding on
ind every
iscussions
Ive on the
out of the But they
)C it really
squire that * wofkers, - "’wrr
The Hungarian Socialist ^ systematic rdauo^ ^ ^ We
hich follow
, as well as lowsthe practice of * and that will be our aim ^ sociai progress to
in countries European Commun P and we want their strugg every people.
ovement of
of interna-
ropcan peo-

neeting with ties of the advanced capital meeting. baw common

{ questions of
AH «* - o» .he mos. of soda,
,f the French Our common task 1 detente, on maintaining P > areas,

jcialist Party, mankind: on the c0"“n^ °dship between peoples and in r!^nj/ 0 relations with,
our relations progress, towards and our Pr party. As

heir historical
ter at home,
i, and the two far as differences^ P of clarification. fictj0n. As We learnt
•ments on our ^e«Tt»2%Won f-i the Atlantic Ocean
sided develop-
at school a long ome . s are Europeans, too. would you evaluate
are concerned:
nmunist Party; sMdsti"in tbe
ormal relations
i M. Mitterrand
J. K.: This group of cp&Kons ^ historicai importance, wmer. and the
s maintained by
those talks to have been* ^ ^ goal of promoting Euro^ rf ^ Helsinki
nmunist party —
oo on questions a result of great efforts, ss of detente. The rea can observe,

ie. Among these

fits into a whole
l think that the
•arty and the two and WMt ”
bilateral relations betwe Rpnllblic for the first time
iuch debated one countries. d’Estaing President of the Frenc document as repre-

■aSSjStssws---"-
nist parties either
lommunism would
re difficult. 1 think
428 Speeches and Interviews

■ a • thp talks we invited the President of the French Republic

time here in Pans; during the t ; f the Helsinki spirit,
to Hungary. That, too is a specific “a^e^rseofdaente has slowed down recent^
I am not particularly surprised that has its supporters and enemies. The
and some difficulties have arisen. yg , he forces represented

and ^lC^ trTuniph. This ^

responsible leaders of the sociahs countriesjb b> ^ as mankind has no other
who think rationally and realistically. All ^ [f wc aren-t abie to agree
alternative. The main task is to Preven left for the representatives of man-
on that, I can not imagine what P^spccts collective suicide.

—100k s,eps in ,he

m7T. SS p——;tX
countries of the Warsaw Treaty, have to P & slQ *down in lhe arms race

S equal security we want a ba.anc* of power-if

tion of strategic arms, and we wishthem nt at the Vienna talks on the

work of the Geneva disiarmament comnn tee ^ ^ ^ forward a number
reduction of armed forces in Centrafcu.F» of arms at the Geneva con-
of proposals aimed at the prohibitio During our present talks in Pans
ference and these met with a favourab P ■ Qn the reducti0n of armed

«
of these ta,ks and that the pr08ress

initiative to call together an all- ^ P . But we stressed, however, that wc

that we are now studying this French ini ulks already in progress

s? a**. **** s"ppMts cvsry

-ssssi’ssiis» —5 t—■ church

we„
strong and influential in Hungary, a
"" z'SSts&z
^ churches_ Calvinist and Lutheran
to it. But there were also quite strong! nQw nobody knows for certain what
as well. Historically that was the Pos'“ ’ allel with democratic progress - all
on wMO yoo to «are yoor
 Crillon Hotel Press Conference, Nos-W 429

there jc no discrirni-

faith was abolished. AU citizens ate «,n»l in ^ ^

iy
le
id laws in Hungary the want to be Following
to We Communists said tha wg a)so decided to settle th q & number of
tionaries in their own time d hc churches which lasted has
ng

es,
the
ans
re,atioM betwK”the
her
>ree
lan-
which was demonstrate church? 0n the one
i the last year. . settled relations between st interfere with ques-
What is the basis of omy of the church, it does 1 h with its own
>ther hand the state respects the t > an agrcementthat th A ou probably
ment tions of faith. On of buito ^IrJg either,
race means is ready to help m tn P^i ^ ^ ^ a simple way or g ^ ^ ^ as

er—if know, we have a one-pary front movement, whichhemthe Catholic

Our work 1S bac^. J The representatives of the churc , ® of this movement,

imita- national leading bodies. W rolc in the national leadersn p of the
Archbishop of Esztergom, have md ^ ^ fgct that during the lastj > 8 g front
in the
on the The settled relat‘°n® hen they discussed the essen Jchead 0f the Hungarian
umber Patriotic Peoples 0f a socialist society in Hungary-the
a con- programme thc bui g contribution. h eat achievement.
ii Paris Catholic Church ate^relations Wween state the socialist road in
armed We consider the set ^ ^ from the capitalist d to face a church
rogrcss There were struggle [he end of the 1940s the new worke m of iarge landed
Hungary too and at b tions_likc, for example, J whcn he thought of
French clinging to old, feuda mmd of a believer at that t, revo,ution,
ild him estates. What wen ^ wanted to back the cam f hQW j imagine it-
that we his happiness m this wo ^ in heaven-at least t ]f .o twQ Well, by
progress but when he thought Jh ^ But he c°ul<in tff>r the Hungarian
ts every he wanted l°^ d soived the great Prob,e™ ° Today lhe believer can live in
now we have alre y that’s very important. y , .ba» he should
n church Sen who is a believer, mil^ "ch„reh have propped accord-

urch was
belonged
utheran —
•tain what
igress-all
oe^rr — S no, - ■" -
clare your
430 Speeches and Interviews

we have expressed the view that attention should be devoted to all serious talks
and that we want them to achieve success. However, when I met the President—as
I had the opportunity—I welcomed the certain measure of change recently evident
in the official French standpoint, the approach to and interest in certain disarma¬
ment talks in connection with which France had earlier been reserved.

Report by the Central Committee

at the 12th Congress of the HSWP
(Excerpts)
MARCH 1980

We have arrived at a political event of exceptional importance in the life of our

country: the 12th Congress of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party has opened and
has started its work. It is my task to present the Central Committee’s report in the
preparation of which account has been taken of the preliminary written report al¬
ready distributed to the Congress delegates, as well as of the draft resolution.

I
THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION AND
OUR COUNTRY’S FOREIGN POLICY

During the period under review, our party and government have pursued their
international activities in accordance with the stands taken at the 11th Congress.
In representing the interests of our country and people and in following the principles
of proletarian internationalism and peaceful coexistence, we have endeavoured to
contribute to the spread of detente, to the consolidation of peace and the growth
of the forces of national independence, socialism and social progress.
The representatives of the Hungarian People’s Republic carry out widespread
activity both in international organizations and in the field of bilateral relations.
We attach great importance to our work in the United Nations and its specialized
agencies. This country is a member of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and the World Health Organization
(WHO). Our representatives take part in the work of more than 900 international
organizations. We maintain diplomatic relations with 125 countries.
 Report to 12th Party Congress, March 1980 431

We attach special significance to our relations with the socialist countries The
serious talks countries of the socialist community have achieved substantial results in the build¬
’resident- as
ing of a new society; their internationalist unity and joint stand are a decisive factor
ently evident in8the worldwide struggle for peace and social progress. Our relations with the other
ain disarma- socialist countries have shown a healthy development during the period under
review and we shall continue to do all we can to make sure that the unity of the
socialist countries and the political, economic, cultural and ideological cooperation

h'juTvS&giS satisfa'criorSat the Central Committee can report to Congress

that our internationalist unity with the Soviet Union, our liberator, the first socialist
state in the world, and the main bulwark in the cause of human progress, has con¬
tinued to grow firmer over the past five years. There has been a vigorous developmen
of our many and varied relations and a strengthening of the indissoluble bonds of

frlOneSWPst^?evenuVthe period under review was the victory of the Jje^amese

people who had been fighting for their freedom, and the birth of a united Socialis
Republic of Vietnam. The successful struggle of the Indochinese peoples has brought
St a new situation in Southeast Asia. The road to independent development
and national advancement has also been cleared for the peoples of Cambodia
life of our
opened and ^Thf national Uberation and democratic revolutionary movements have 8a'ned
jport in the momentum. In Africa, the peoples of Angola and Mozambique, former colonies of
n report al- Portugal have won their independence. Ethiopia is marching successfully along the
ution. foTof ks own choice and, recently, after long years of strugg e the patriots of
Zimbabwe have scored a significant victory. In Latin America, there ha. ee
upswing in the struggle by democratic and revolutionary forces against Fascist
dictatorship and semi-colonial oppression, while the cause ofthe people has emerged
victorious in Nicaragua. With the fall ofthe Iranian monarchy, imperialism has lost
an important ally in the Middle East. The Pe0P^.®
of Yemen have defended their independence. The revolutionary forces of the Afghan
people1 are waging a resolute struggle to defend the independence of their country
against the counter-revolutionaries, who are being aided and abetted by 'mpenahsts.
pursued their There can be no disputing the right of peoples to struggle to attaini andI con-
11th Congress,
solidate their national independence and to make social
g the principles solidarity of Hungarian Communists with the peoples of Asia, Africa and Lat
mdeavoured to America^n their rightful struggle against neo-colonialists and every kind of aggressor.
ind the growth X Hungarian People’s Republic considers the movement of non-aligned^countries
a significant factor in international life. The Havana summit conference strengthened
Dut widespread the anti-imperialist features of the movement, and the resolutions taken ^ con¬
iteral relations. stitute a major contribution to the defense of peace and to the cause of national
1 its specialized independence and social progress. We are backing the struggle of Jhe clevdoping
nization (FAO), countries to consolidate their national independence and achieve socialP™® ’
is Educational, and also their endeavour to change the international economic order so as to pro
th Organization more equitable conditions for the development of all countries than does
30 international
present.

- - ----I“ ’
432 Speeches and Interviews

As for the factors that influence the international situation, one must also mention
that in recent years the general crisis of capitalism has further deepened, the internal
contradictions in the capitalist countries have sharpened, and their struggles among
themselves for energy, raw material resources and markets have intensified. The
result of the financial crisis which permanently afflicts the world capitalist system,
of the economic setbacks which occur in even the most developed capitalist countries,
of inflation, and of the permanently high rate of unemployment, is to make the
burden imposed on the working people still heavier and to heighten political tensions.
World economic relations are further destabilized by attempts to gain unilateral
advantages through protectionism, a growing tendency in the capitalist countries.
It is a tendency that also has an adverse effect on the relations of the capitalist coun¬
tries with the socialist and developing states.
The international situation has recently become more tense; voices familiar to us
from the cold war period are again making themselves heard. At present-on the
pretext of the events in Afghanistan - reactionary circles are waging an all-out anti-
Soviet, anti-Communist propaganda campaign directed against the socialist social
system. They are taking a stand against detente, and their stand against the Moscow
Olympic Games serves the same purpose. As for Afghanistan, it is common knowledge
that the legitimate government of that country, in the face of external threats and
on the basis of a valid treaty between the two countries, asked for military assistance,
which was granted by the Soviet Union in keeping with international law. The Soviet
Union has already made it clear that if and when the reasons for the request and
the granting of assistance cease, she is ready to withdraw her troops from Afghanistan.
The foreign policy moves of the Chinese leaders have also heightened international
tension. Guided by their nationalistic, hegcmonistic aspirations and disregarding
the true interests of the Chinese people, they openly collaborate with the most extrem¬
ist and aggressive circles of international imperialism. Our people resolutely con¬
demned the Chinese aggression against socialist Vietnam, which caused great damage
not only to the Vietnamese and Chinese peoples, but also to the socialist cause
as a whole.
Every country has its own specific interests. There are, however, interests which
are fundamentally important to every country, regardless of whether it is attached
to either of the alliance systems or to the movement of non-aligned countries, or
whether it is neutral. The vast amounts spent on armaments impose increasingly
grave burdens on the peoples, and by reducing these sums, considerable resources
could be released for the benefit of the peoples and for solving the common vital
problems of mankind. Besides the preservation of peace, these are tasks that require
joint efforts: the solution of the raw material and energy problems of the world;
the development of transport and communications; protection of the environment;
combating grave endemic diseases, famine and poverty fand the eradication of illit¬
eracy in various regions of the world.
The international activity of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party and the
foreign policy of the Hungarian People’s Republic continue to be determined by
internationalism, solidarity, the lofty idea of friendship among peoples and the
principles of peaceful coexistence. Our people give full support to our international
 Report to 12th Party Congress, March 1980 433

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL RELATIONS,

OUR POLICY OF ALLIANCE

mmmm
SSSSS5.S235£-»==s
ferfSSSSSS
leiiss^si
i^iissass
-
434 Speeches and Interviews

cultural conditions and mental attitudes must be created to ensure equal opportuni¬
ties for women, to help them do their jobs as both workers and mothers These aims
must be promoted by raising their qualifications, by social measures by the exten¬
sion of services and by overcoming conservative views which underestimate the
social role of women. It is important that the proportion of women in leading
positions and in elected posts should increase, in accordance with the part they are
playing in society.
In our party’s view, the overwhelming majority of young Hungarians support
socialism and see it as ensuring their future. Their position and attitude also reflect
the general condition of society. , .
Caring for the younger generation and educating young people concern the whole
of society. In doing this, schools, work places and social bodies are essential elements
as are the young people themselves, and the Young Communist League. However,
the gravest responsibility invariably rests with the family-the smallest unit in our
society, but an essential one from the point of view of the future. Our party and
our socialist state give support and protection to the institution of the family. Effor s
should be made to ensure that the family plays an increasing role in personality de¬
velopment and in the general acceptance of the socialist way of life.
Our party is well aware of the problems facing young people. It works, and
encourages the state and social bodies, to grant young people more equal opportu¬
nities to study, to choose their careers, to obtain jobs in line with then qualifica¬
tions, and to improve the conditions under which they can establish families, obtain
housing and set up a home. ... „ , . ,
The well-balanced situation of our society is reflected in the well-ordered rela¬
tionship between the state and the churches, a relationship to which both state and
church must pay close attention. In the spirit of the Constitution, the state guarantees
freedom of conscience and the conditions under which the churches can operate
autonomously. Religious believers play their part in the building of socialism and
in public life as citizens with equal rights. The churches respect the laws of our sta e
and support the country’s construction work. Just recently the church leaders affirmed
that the relationship between state and church had continued to develop over the
past years, and at present it is not simply a well-ordered relationship, but a joint
work for the benefit of the people. The current settled relationship between state
and church has arisen out of the fair implementation of agreements drawn up jointly
and that is the way it can continue to develop in the future. For our part, we wish
to proceed along this same path, on a principled basis. .
An important element in the cohesion of our society, an element that is based
upon socialist foundations, is that the national minorities who live in this country
take part in the construction work and in political life as citizens with equal rights.
They are free to use their mother tongue and are given appropriate assistance in
fostering and developing their national cultures. Here the national minorities have
found a place to live and they feel at home in their own country, in socialist Hungary.
Our party considers the consistent implementation of the Leninist policy on nation¬
alities as an important matter of principle. It does its utmost to ensure that t e
national minorities remain active participants in our social and political life and
 435
12th Party Congress, March 1980
Report to

opportuni-
These aims
f the exten-
istimate the
in leading
art they are

ians support
e also reflect

m the whole
!•!!
ship among peoples. iU bespread bureaucracy ^“^eeS^toprove-

ntial elements
;ue. However,
st unit in our
)ur party and
the number ofncSase .he roie of public which stimulates
family. Efforts
tersonality de-

It works, and
:qual opportu- this development n_ recent their views and ™^nJ*Tdance
their qualifica- an increasing pa« ^ public bodies of trade ^mon stewa ^ Dem0cracy

mtmm
families, obtain and critical comment . P Congress have done a g adjusted

ill-ordered rela-
both state and
state guarantees
hes can operate
3f socialism and
laws of our state
i leaders affirmed
S*Usonfpub,icadmiuistruho„. ^ ^
r - - -* -
respomi^K is improper
develop over the
ship, but a joint
ip between state
i drawn up jointly
Dur part, we wish

lent that is based

ve in this country
with equal rights,
date assistance in
ial minorities have
socialist Hungary,
st policy on nation-
to ensure that the
436
4JO
Speeches and
- Interviews

The deepening of socialist ^moW^that manifestations, call

social system, and the discQntou d t democracy, an increase in the role

—— ■

THE TASKS OF ECONOMIC CONSTRUCTION

We are in a position to report to^J^e 1bro^httb^t^at achievements in

men efforts of the have developed, and the material and
economic construction. The ProducUv National wealth has grown and
technical basis of our society has been targels for the current year are
living conditions have impro • income will have risen by 21-28 per cent
fulfilled, within five yean the construction by 13-14 per cent

“he volume of agricultural production will have increased by 15-1 per cen

as compared with the previous ^^i^aTa faster rate than the efficiency of produc-
The productivity of labour isgrg hitherto uneconomical production
tion. Initial results have been achieved 8 riod> aboUt 80 investments,
profitable, or in terminating it In.the ^ lhese allowed production to
each exceeding 500 rndhon Fort . ^ producUon structure,
expand and facilitated the UanrformaOo £ ^ and essentially because o
Yet we must report that desp * the results of our economic development
the more adverse than expected condemns ^ ^ Year Plan. The growth rate
will lag behind the target env1^8 , of living standards, is slower than planned,
of the national income, and conse^ * a„d Work on the economy requires greater
The present-day situation is^more wjpl . d and lasting changes which
efforts and organization arena since 1973-74, an adverse
have taken place in the 'nternatio the discriminatory measures

rr -- ■-£-——- - -

three decades. Averse changes in the external economic conditions

We must also note that the ad n and the shortcomings in our work
have shown up the weak spots nou adverse changes in the market had to
more clearly. Although we. ^f^roduct structure and selective industrial develop-
be combated by a change ^ ^e Produ ,e to adjust well enough, fast

STor P— - ^ —lag ^
 437

Report to 12* Par> present-day

y -1.1 „ v.v the pn
d that made possible oy

to our
ns, call
the role

of economic p 8 ^ being, ming ye**'* equilibrium betw

duction. t0trtask w be faced m tne establish a"4allocations for »

^SaSs^rSSSs^*®1
ie com-
tents in
rial and
3wn and
year are
per cent,
per cent,
SS^S=ssS53SS
) per cent

to

: Of

rate
r^c^Vodu^ lta« h»«
lich
ssrs* °f tfss- *£££-*• r. -
production » a historic ^ progresSing^“^cooperative farm8
oroudly say we foundations an kerS and on a 7 per

hat ’now based fanes 61 £n Mid in *>

,he country has U Apriculture today v roanpower tha . sufhcient to
last

vork
id to

fast

hind
438 Speeches and Interviews

Increasing reliance upon ,h.

at the present stage of our 'eZ cooperation between

—r- -1- * ~Lt sssr

5?£S^
-« "=^2 S™. --
enterprises. o^^biflplus of jobs over man-
Changes in g* on having superfluous manpower in some

mwMMm?.
Sees and a shortage in other important areas of M in the

reduction of uneconomical production, we mu 1 . 5 and furthcr train-

p'anned consistently and with great

Our economic development and the natura , international division of labour,

require that we should takeinn,and extend to

sss ,srs.r,s~—i—
sSSS^naaMBR-sKS
jSSSsKKSSSSSS
In addition to traditional foreign tra , accords with the interests of
Should include production andpeaceful coexistence,
our people and our policy aimed a P increasing role in the world economy
The developing countries are playing a steadily in^eas g our domestic
and we are advancing our cooperation with them mJeep g want tQ
endeavours and in harmony with the significantly,
expand our turnover and our economic\coo^,^^^aZa and in
We are assisting the former colonies m developing their forces ot pro
 439

mutually advantages- ^ requireS us to adjust ^ management the

Our economic de P conditionS. Our system o q years ago, takes
system better to ctonpJ worked out aln * ialism and the
fundamental ^ general objective based upon social
into considerate, bo* tte8=n A socialis, cooperatives »ta*
specific features of o thc aut0nomy of enteip .! ls equally, greatly pro¬
ownership and boun P ^ materiaf interests of ^ the functioning of our
asserts grouping our econ0mic policy- ” desiVed from certain points
motes the implementationt leaves something to be de of organiza-
systcm of'economic immag ^ planning and1 h sometimes there is
of view. Management. J*1™ h ^ changing conditions,
tion do not adjust e y decisions. effective and their
a delay in making the nece* J bodies must be made Ji working out and
The functioning of the g blems 0f econo™= poU ytation must
responsibility in solving £ * £ about the condiUons for^mp ^ ^ and
coordinating plans and j management shou^ . tl with the appro-

r,toS^ - *=
£V Our
Om management
management gSwd better performance is
is a ^and *The
in the years
years
the
he link between material
matenalm m ^ economic assignments thi
thi^ y and coopera-
coopera.
,
Successful accomplishment 01 ^ thc
accompUshmesiveiy .,nnnmous
autonomous work otf ^
emciH _„an:7ation.
organization,
to come will depen ^ their economic succe .Qn of economic processes,
tives, their spirit of important role in th® ”^ficd input. This is an indis-
The price system P ays a k neccssary and Justine v ^ making good
Prices must adequate y « dear_sightedness in the ™ production and consump-
pensable requirement f 1 satisfaCtory regulation P realistic producer
economic decisions and■** can ^ judged on the: b* bi,Uy baSed on

- at - ^

AsfarasQOnsum^ pn^ nharmonyOTth dM > the ^omy

29
440 Speeches and Interviews

IV

LIVING STANDARDS

It is a fundamental tenet of our policy that in the course of building socialism, the
living standards of the working people must rise regularly. It is also a rule that the
resources have first to be produced and can only afterwards be distributed and con¬
sumed. An important condition, if we are to maintain an adequate level of supply, is
that there must be a balance between the commodity basis and purchasing power.
Our party and government have implemented their living standards policy and have
fulfilled the obligations undertaken in this respect.
Looking back over the past twenty years of building socialism, it is obvious that the
population has become considerably richer both in material and intellectual resources.
Since 1960, consumption and per capita real income have more than doubled. About
1,500,000 dwellings have been built. Almost half the country’s population have moved
into new homes. Household appliances, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, refriger¬
ators, radio and television sets, tape-recorders and other durable consumer goods are
now used on a wide scale. Almost one family in four has a car. Our people’s nutrition¬
al level and standards of dress are good by international comparison. Our system of
public health and welfare accords with our level of economic development. In real
terms we now devote four times the sum to social benefits that we did twenty years ago.
Our work over the last five years has brought about a considerable improvement
in living standards, even in the midst of the economic difficulties. The targets set in
the fifth Five Year Plan will not be fully reached, yet per capita real income will have
risen by 9 per cent, and consumption by 14 per cent. The commodity supply is basical¬
ly balanced. From this year on, the retirement age for cooperative farm members is
the same as that for workers and employees. The lowest pensions have been raised.
The 44-hour working week has become general. If we include this year’s targets, then
440,000-450,000 new dwellings will have been built in the present Five Year Plan
period, together with 107,000 nursery-school and 17,000-18,000 day-nursery places.
The health network, public transport and other services are improving.
We have still not been able to fulfil all the justified demands, although the living
standards of our people have increased over the past five years. We are aware of the
burning problems of those awaiting accommodation, of young people starting out in life
and laying the foundations of their family life, of the troubles of retired people living
on a small pension, or of those in a difficult situation for other reasons. The solution
of these problems must remain on the agenda. Evaluating our situation, however,
we can state that our people live a secure life, enjoy acceptable living standards and
have a lot to cherish, preserve and protect. We have a basis for building our future.
Assessing our economic situation, the foreseeable possibilities for our development,
only the maintenance of the results we have achieved, the stabilization of living stand¬
ards and the establishment of the preconditions of their further increase can be set as
realistic objectives for the forthcoming sixth Five Year Plan period. According to the
available information, the per capita real income can increase by 6 per cent and public
consumption by 8 per cent.
 441

1, the
it the
1 con-
ipty, is
WSSWSki
power,
d have

flfliS^S:--
r;s^;rTsSs“:s«^^

w
MS—" t “ “,—,- ; sSSiS
SsgS^^SSssgS

--EZJS>.—"“"’"*“
29*
442 speech and meni^

a-—, Son^ess. tot -J .oday^ ^ „ toia>-

society, an thc present ideol D the elimination of t foundations
critically evaluate me i> list system, the e the )aying of the i f

thinking-which resulted in eople as a whole. customs

s-*s^E^==Ss=:
level of the ^nce has been able years has
too, the wor pursuing f°r more . addition to moral
cialist basis. which we have b P consciousness. In dd driv-
The economic P evolution of s interests an »mPort* perceptible,

^s^ri“Ssa«KKS
3srS£»s35S5SsSa
^SH£-rrSESss?»3Sfe
^jsmsmssm.
^ssssk^m^s
auswerstonumerou^u
national ideoUjcal
national ideo.u^obe
Attention ha
cl ^
; of. the
^ development
c asmg and moralissue“Jwork,

strengthening tb
spi-
tneciety.:to increasing -i'— unily spi.
de-

^seSp*#--
 443

Mporuomr— wtecomesttetof
1 . . . hecomi

~~*-^r£££5SSSS®
agg'e
our St,OU“ ' ^prosper* andreato**%££
>rk. place of work. ^ to achieve PerS°^cPintcrcst, to acceptll. ^ AU honest and
:erned There is one su recognize the pu . socialist soci > pubhc
of our
y, and

feudal-
nations
v/ay of citizen will not e
xansfor-
ianges in
, the eco-
, customs
djcational
THE PARTY'S WORK AND W*®" ^^
ciousness,
united so-
The party's leading sole £* 5Sg ““^1

tion and erf.'“f* " thc >*““ y„g work, and W “ . lt guides

the mass organization - party members P king people, workers

The social JJ^Jof our **£££. 0f them
is the vanguard of t^ occupation-• ° pation, nearly members has

Sti - cISIS"-jSSI-t SSi'““

nortv since 1956.

. ■- i;.vS-v
444 Speeches and Interviews

mou>d the level of prepays, '££2fc£.

of the revolutionary movement of Coi h j theyounger generation become

and flexibility in practice. observed in full, and that no one distort them,
stood the test of time, cont revisionism Nor can we permit our former
either in the direction of dogmatism , We must be open to new issues,
correct decisions and portions to bee ^ ^ gm g in which the interests of the
and we must continue to take the >n require change. This is our concept of the
people, the country and general^ g| ^ must majnJajn an(j advancc what pro¬

motes th^jtfo^esTofThecountr^ai^elfectivelyse^ ^°^e.on for weli-founded

activeness of party members in their P discussion of all issues, large and

more of the spirit and style of work £ ]jf f the party, 0f the country and
small, at the party it his or her responsibility
of the people. Every member". the party forums. And in all cases party

::r,u 2. „ - *.
of their proposals. „„,ntial condition for a critical and self-

them, to take into consideration the . the higher requirements, and who thus
that those who are unable tow0**®?? be aflowed lo continue in leading posts,
harm the working community, shou . t when it means employing people
Striving for stability is only correct up tc> h ^ stable but not rigid; who are com-
who can be relied upon - people wh« Pltiy k initiative but are not prone to
patent in their jobs; whose ^°ns are^e^who ^ from others; and who at
follow fads; who are disciplined and U ^ ^ ^ ^ ab]e to face up to their
the same time respect and consider tne manner and who are respected

---
have become adults capable of^forgotten that it is our duty to
When speaking class movement character of party
SfSS'features. The tests « are fauug re-
 Report to 12th Party Congress, March 1980 445

experiences quire lively political work among the masses and not a stack of reports and resolu¬
into a well- tions. The party branches, and the party committees at all levels, which have effi¬
:ion become ciently accomplished their work in the past period, can do a great deal to imple¬
t important ment the party’s policy and to strengthen their contacts with the masses. The wish
often stressed at report-back membership meetings that more, and more effective, sup¬
if principle, port be given by the higher bodies to the party branches, including community
which have party branch organizations must be considered a justified one.
istort them, In the period we are reporting on, our party, which is part of the international
our former Communist movement, pursued lively international activity in keeping with the reso¬
new issues, lution of the 11th Congress and with our internationalist principles.
The present situation of our Communist movement is characterized by the fact that
rests of the
icept of the the parties are independent and each party elaborates and implements its own policy.
e what pro- This increases the responsibility of each party to apply Marxism Leninism in a crea¬
tive way, to strengthen solidarity, to study one another’s experiences, and to advance
.'ell-founded cooperation in the struggle for our common goals. Our party consistently holds the
isibiiity and opinion that differing views emerging from within our movement must be clarified in
;re must be principled and tolerant exchanges of opinion, which must always consider that the
:s, large and goal of these discussions is to promote cooperation among the parties and to strength¬
country and en the movement, while contributing to the enrichment of the scientific theory of
isponsibility Marxism-Leninism. Our party’s general concept of international activity will continue
I cases party to be the further consolidation of the unity of our movement through a common stand
he outcome and joint actions, and through strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations, always
in keeping with the principles of Marxism-Leninism.
Our party, guided by the principles of Marxism-Leninism and of proletarian inter¬
cal and self-
Is and mem- nationalism, strives to strengthen its cooperation with the fraternal parties. In the five
years since the 11th Congress we have conducted useful bilateral discussions with the
ielf-criticism
ic. The need delegates of 78 fraternal parties working in different parts of the world.
Over the past few years, our contacts with most of the Western European socialist and
social democratic parties have further expanded. This helped to improve our relations
vhen solving
with the countries concerned and made for the development of relations between
red and just
European countries with differing social systems. This proves that ideological antago¬
nd who thus
nisms and differences of political views do not preclude opportunities for cooperation
ading posts.
on such vital issues of common interest as peace, security and the promotion of dis¬
Dying people
/ho are com- armament. ,
The international Communist and workers’ movement is a huge and constantly
not prone to
growing force in our times; it promotes the progress of human society as a whole.
; and who at
Communists have no other aim but to serve the cause of socialism, progress and peace
:e up to their
jre respected in the interests of their peoples and the whole of mankind. Our party continues to
strive, in harmony with its patriotic and internationalist policies, to serve by its entire
needed in all
activity the progress of our country and the attainment of the common goals of the
no were born
from us and international Communist and workers’ movement.
The Central Committee asks the Congress to approve the work accomplished over
the past five years, to discuss and accept the report and the submitted draft resolution.
our duty to
cter of party
ire facing re¬
446 Speeches and Interviews and the pc
I have j

Closing Address unity in o

repeat whi
at the 12th Congress of the Hbwr with the t
fundamen
MARCH 1980 party affil
Our dis
and their
As the chairman has announced ^ lhe agenda^ our peop
comrades were actually given the: flo ^ ^ ^ of our society have expressed of our pa
Representatives from every area of P> 1 beha]f of the Communists in the capital, countries
their opinions. The first speakei .p entire society-by occupation, too parties o
but every county in the count*. heard the voices of workers, mu**, had an c
has been represented m th^ - tists at the Congress. Some people in uniform vited ret
agricultural workers, inteMertuate and lance-corporal in the army; the other Et
spoke as well; we heard the Mmjter of Defense,a ^ who spokc on behalf
during t
first secretary of the party' c Home Affairs, and many others, parties <
of the services under the Minis ry 1 Ustening here to the words of three genera- lia, also
One speaker mentioned that we w because if we take every participant cellent,
ti0ns. 1 believe this should be ^^J^ffive generations of party militants are of our i
into consideration, we shall find th P h P jn this the charming children who Thei
sing it i
with th
geous i
mental
the Report of the Central Committee, the P n£eds some supplementation, sued s
and the submitted draft resolution a lhe 99 comrades who submitted Our
Our Congress Secretariat have informed me that tne y ^ Central Conunlt.

their contributions in written fo™ ^Sonal unity which is tangibly present at our
tee. The principled, that not only our Congress, but
Congress is our main strength! But we
our entire party is united. on outside response to our debate.
During the Congress we kept ainfJmed of this. We ascertained that public
and the plenum of the Congress wasalsointor ^ Thanks t0 the work of
opinion was attentively ** ™ nation was able to follow the deliberations
the press, radio and television, the entire na of the hne cf the Con-
of the Congress. As the response *h • of are the numerous telegram,
gress and supports its work. Conv.ncn^P ^ f ^ Qf sQcial life> the Congress has
which were made known he«;.FJ° from manual workers, socialist brigades,
received more than 700 domest,cteJL ng people, students and Pioneers. In ad-
intellectuals, scientists research workers y JP P a,mosl every telegram ad¬
dition to greetings and ^ what is more, informed us of

-- —
 At 12th Parly Congress, March 1980 447

and *. policy of th. ^ -

repeat what the Central C°m“^E^ are'tvelded closely together, and on the
with the masses; the party and the “ working people, irrespective of their
fundamental aims of socialism the g Qr status are united and active,
party affiliation ideology, P^ion [heir impressions of our Congress
Ottr distinguishedke „armly and appreciatively, stating that
and their opinions of our debate, tney P . . work The 12th Congress
our people have attained pert ac «eve ^ Sovjet Union and the other socialist
of our party met with a favourable r p Communist and workers
countries. The international <Common.»• mow=»they have
parties of the world, look wtth opini„„ of it. We in-
had an opportunity to express it they socialist countries and from the
vited representatives of our fraternal as was stated
other European Communist and wr P ^ & the Communist and workers’

12,h ConErtss
of our party has been carrying5™* rtswith reality, naturally expres-
The capitalist press took a stand which g y f . ,icy we j0ined forces
sing it in their own terminology. T ey say ° realistic and coura-
with the Soviet Union. They also say the Cong™ ^s>mmaTy of their com-

ssstu-ss
sued so far. And how right they arc.
——- - principled policy. We are con-

the part>'of which ,he main

of social progress, socialism,the ^reed° • f* tsPAs'a result Sf the course of history,

socialism are now being built on“ b iMing socialism have inherited a grave
the majority of peoples who are at ^ ‘ tWs reason, and because these
Sc" a,so arise during the build,ug of

S° Forces hostile to our ideology and to «U-■- £ £

turned ou, to be ^-n, from whaus £,, ^ only say: let
such great successes; on the contra y, hearts’ content. It is our profound
them delight in their daily propagan a peace and a socialist
belief that humanity has no other path, future or hope

S°tZ is needed 1 When we reached this topic in the

the international situation has now sharpened. This is true,
.... speeches and Interviews

S£||iiSSiiSss
Sss=3|gs=sf5

mmmmm,
i'SS?=g=S2g.
mwmmm
mmrnm
"Bslzz:
on in.—. “®^S -ha *_

ss"- «r-•""-stasis
SSSEa--"^""'
 AtI2,h Party Congress, March 19S0 449

international events «
newspapers. You may ^ here at home or abroa , w> Warsaw, Prague,
ed or at open sessl0f ’ Helsinki Conference, whether in we adv0cate the same
United Nations or attheH \ .Vienna, Rome, Bonn or Pa . wbose think-
Berlin, Bucharest, Bel^ade, sayingthis we shou d llk J P d understand
policy, we uphold the blinking is ^ar !*0J^°tbey<say'no, they mean no.
ing is close to ours and those^ ^ ^ y£S> and when they J pledge to do
that
Zwhenwhen Hungarians
Hungarian say
y ^^^mhonesty,
toinhonesty, and
andL fin^s crossed
- c„„orc crossed that
that
Whatwehavepledgedtodowea^
Whatwehavepledgedtodoweadh ^ leaders It a predict-
_othitiu we say so.
something so InP
"P° tner. As for 11s.
us, we are i J tQ be, and we are,
they will have a pred cUb1 P are, loyal to our allies. with the other
ablepartner.Wewanttobe,an ^^^ and come to an »■«* tbat way.
faithful to our friend . honest partners, and we Moreover, we have
party, we are fair, abiding an from anyone, anyw e • knoW that we
P We have never concealed - western world too, by saYing; , Sov;et Union.

maintain close cooperati , Qur obligations ^rta unti, similar alliance

We want to comply honestly and shaU remain *9*1 contacts wlth
of the Warsaw Treaty « Those who have.so •„ the future,
systems are simultaneous y them that wc wi in keeping
us know this of us and - -n only sonaWe suggestion or interests
We are a willing partner to a y mutual interests, or wi * u i think

rserr" people wh0 a, ~ &sss

^ an;
;“'5 *re the
,o questions £^r£5E4

posts have clearly e pk think neceSsary to '^P , waste a considerable

pointed out what acU°n^htyhat ^ trade unions unfortunat ^^ work.
heard statements tot nternai self-administration , also to our party
part of their energies on nQt only to the tra*e not bother to inquire
This statement can b PPnjzations. But this time we s method or style of
organizations andma Everyone can improve ^ of thc energy being

work so'as' to avoid, as in the “^^r reat operation, and everyone can ma e
used for self-heating and only j^P1 fa ^ for seM^*^^ of young people,
sure that as little energy as P rfy like to call to the a more resolute and

* - —here
450 Speeches and Interviews

have *ven good advice on how,odo this. I

from older people things that am wrong-!». That is some-
red tape here and there, they see g P P good, SQ they can cut

out the discussion. Many at the present stage,

inherent capacities of man cadre work. By the way
This applies in general, but it is o still grcwe v what I would
I am not a big eater myself, but I like a good “J it that., am on.y
like to eat, I call the dish y i s work should be such as to ensure that an
telling you this to draw a parallel. Ou * hp ;n ,iie full sense of the word. If he is
official or a leader is indeed what he ,s “ The is a director, he

IfvalkHOrffie work'rfouxpM^Uor^rt^^isUm^1offi«^^rs and, by extension,

for our social life as a whole. cannot do without

pedant alliance in which intellectual workers also yom-SoThe

The fact that Hungary has undergone “"Jard is the ruling
tag class has won power and returns tt, and thatLet us take,
party of the country may cause many and ljce force. There is generally
for example, the fact that we have a 8 V almost every fourth family in
little talk about their work. We are g a °n burden shouldered by the people
Hungary has a car. But we earierӣ efwed^idedm opS the
Who keep the traffic running smoothly. At an ea & m “Paradise of the
gate to tourism, to let Humans wfor from the Wert

“ XZXZ^tT-SS SSr^Tthe Border Ouards and

the Customs Authorities^ can maintain law and order. But I still
So we have power, we have strength, society • instead we should

say we should not rely on Bdieve me, an experience we once gained in

urXdwmlisshBva^only the f.ople we have convinced are really, whole-
 At 12th Party Congress, March 1980 451

hearted* and fully with

Among the oBccjjrftheMnD ^ Committee’s report

different denomination . should, once again, include exception of
some 'comrades suggested thaU s ou^ ^ ^ ^

country and that a Y P ional minorities was t an°b P statements in the

Our policy towards m practical examples the reie contributions
- It » inhabited b,

national minorities. federations of national m!“°" 1 ’ h t people belonging

S — wit. r/Xtc°L°S"-S the same lot the Hungafians

afull appraisal, but a for those who work in th -tive phenome-

are p.« and parcel of tted* ° ^ ^ them Implemented”.

—^a—-w b;
key issue now. Whi discussed. The role of
focused on the economy training and culture were ^l am glad
Questions of tra‘nl"g’ fact0r were similarly given gre Pbeinterrelation-
general culture and t^ County and other workers who un ers ^ This is important,

ltdps ha^dealt withandable to think and aCfl^nTconsider

SSrii^
this, too, as a 0„he HSWP. As almost no

^^f;XS.Muebea„,me„tioned
5ystem
452 Speeches and Interviews

here; progress has also been made in implementing the principle of “equal pay for

eq?ta!s!aidkthat the relatively smaller number of skilled female workers poses a great
problem That is true, but we realize what cares and tasks women have to shoulder.
Therefore we cannot demand that they become skilled workers in the same proportion
and numbers as men, but we shall try to help them more than at present.
The substantial increase in the number of nursery-school places alleviates the bur¬
dens shouldered by mothers in childcare, like many other things accomplished by
society in order to improve the situation of women. We are pleased to sum up what
has so far been accomplished; however, our Congress should resolve that en‘
deavour will continue, so as further to improve the position of women, and in par-

^adione of the 57 speakers spoke from an honourable standpoint and with con¬
vincing foroe° I am rather sorry for my colleagues, the county ^ A** secretory
because they also had to deal with obligatory subjects. Each and every speaker
enriched the Congress, but, if I may, I should like to point out some of them I believe
h was a pfeasant experience for every one of us to listen to the speeches of the woman
comradePfrom the Ajka glass factory, the university student from P6cs, the scientific
research worker from Budapest and other women comrades. In the espousal of the
cause in the steadfastness of principles, in candidness and political courage, and I
must apologize to my male colleagues, the women comrades appear to have carried
the day That is the truth. The entire country saw and heard it.
The woman student from Pecs springs to mind. If I am not mistaken Ibelieve s
is the one who has been a party member for scarcely more than a year I mention th_
as proof of the proposal concerning the party rules: it is certainly also worthwhile
to engage those who have been party members for scarely more than a year in our

WOjukst a few words about the older generation. The position of pensioners represents
an important social issue. It was mentioned in the report of the Central CommUtee
it will also be mentioned in the resolutions of the Congress. Unflinching
should be exerted to improve the situation of the elderly, the pensioners, in particular
of those long retired on low pensions. ,,.,34 .
1 cannot fesist saying that I infinitely rejoiced to hear Comrade Andrasfi s speech.
I noticed that everybody was spellbound by it. Without his words, our Congress would
tavebtpoorer.He spok* »u, on beha.f of a genera,ion and rented £
of the old veteran Communists. It appealed to me immeasurably, andI consider hi; as
exemplary behaviour typical of a Communist. Just recall what he said. He related that
he had been a county lord-lieutenant and an ambassador, and had gamed man)
5 section , and now he is proud, rather than ashamed, of being the party secretary

iiTa district area organization. This proves that snobbery is alien to the true Commun¬
ist-he iust serves his cause with all his might. _ ,
There is no denying that I had qualms of conscience at not having spoken 1 of th
district areiTparty organizations. So far we have not been able to -P-ve the: situaAon
of these party organizations. Yet he (Andrasfi) pointed out, convincingly and beau
tifully, the importance andattraction of this kind of work, instead of us, instead of the
 At I2th Party Congress, March 1980 453

pay for

> a great
houlder.
^portion
every speech. . beHev. ,his can pri-
the bur-
shed by
up what
this en-
1 in par-
35SSE2S2S3S5E
nth con-
cretaries,

wmaSSSSSS
speaker
I believe
e woman
scientific
al of the
ge, and I
■e carried

•a- >**■«“ toha“K.^'^r„rw^

Wimmm
elieve she
ntion this
orthwhile
iar in our

represents
ommittee,
ng efforts
particular
SHsass=iiii
speech,
ress would
I the voice
ider his as
sss^iisssss
revolutionary ideals and a guidmg goal for life^^^ mentioned many times that exem-

STJSSS of education. I shojffd Uke to ^ on thrs; gwmg

dated that
ned many
lsecretary
Commun-
3S=Sgi2S==
cen of the
e situation
and beau-
sSaSssssgSSSaH
LSSf.:irreproachable work accomplished
tead of the
454 Speeches and Interviews

together with the community. Young people must be given tasks in accordance with
their age, because then they will be satisfied.
I recently visited Babolna, and I was struck by two things. One: we reached the
village at 11 o’clock in the morning. I took a look at the street and at the shops, and
there was not a single soul to be seen anywhere. Three and a half thousand people live
at Babolna, and 5,000 people work there, but in this village one could not see a single
person, young or old, strolling or meandering along the street at 11 a.m. Yet the people
are healtly, because those who work well earn well, and those who earn well live
well. Perhaps one can learn a lesson from that.
The other thing was that our host greeted us with his general staff. Well, comrades,
1 should tell you that the general manager was the “veteran”; the oldest member of
the general staff of directors and people in such positions was 43 years of age, and
the youngest was 37. It is an example to be followed: we should rely on youth, on our
young people! They should be assigned tasks. They are particularly fired with am¬
bition to show that they can work better. Let us make it possible for them to show
what they are capable of.
In the report we heard, the expected profits at Bdbolna were mentioned. It was said
that the central deduction has got bigger now, otherwise the profit would be larger.
In this respect, may I point out that the deliberations on the guidelines have a general
implication which has been reinforced by this Congress. People ask us to stop bother¬
ing them with the enumeration of difficulties, with the problems of raw materials,
with the price explosion and with the adverse world market prices. May I add that the
managers should also stop reckoning how much bigger the profit would be this year if
the deduction was retained at the level of the previous year. We should calculate with
the international economic environment as it exists. That is the situation, that is how
we should live, work and make ends meet. And in particular I ask the managers
of the plants to count on this: the deduction will not decrease next year either. If they
fulfil this year’s plan targets, the deduction will remain as it is, if not, it will be even
greater.
We have already said a lot about the circumstances in which we live. A frequent
comment is: “They tell us we’ll have to produce more efficiently, we'll have to be
thrifty, we have a negative economic balance, and only a moderate increase in living
standards can be expected.” But instead of that, people are right in asking to be in¬
formed correctly about the tasks to be accomplished! That is what people demand
from their leaders, and it is the obligation of the leaders to give a definite answer.
Sometimes I wonder why a resolution is being implemented with such difficulty.
The only comfort I can think of is the story from the Bible, in which thousands of
years ago, Moses took up the Ten Commandments. Maybe that was the first "party
resolution”, but its implementation is still going on. Necessity urges us to work at a
somewhat quicker pace.
At our Congress, people from the most varied fields of occupation have expressed
their views on what should be done to organize work better and to establish more satis¬
factory working conditions. Many people stressed this, we heard the stand of the
government as well, and now, at the Congress, people whom we did not know before,
and who work very well directly in production, have expressed their views too. Our
 455
At 12th Party Congress, March 1980

objective is to improve efficiency and quality and ^increase

given tasks in accordance with

,o things. One: we reached the

the street and at the shops, and
and a half thousand people live
ullage one could not see a single
e street at 11a.m. Yet the people
ess. « rrs-rn” u™
, and those who earn well live
between the consumer and the gcnlu ^ with purchasing power, although
his general staff. Well, comrades
veteran”; the oldest member of
itions was 43 years of age, and
we should rely on youth, on our
*“■ ***
lf are particularly fired with am-
lake it possible for them to show coupled ^ degree is a necessary reality ‘at

Dolna were mentioned. It was said

erwise the profit would be larger, lality of work. Neither the systemL^.^toveto make full use of om reserves.
is on the guidelines have a genera
ress. People ask us to stop bother-
h the problems of raw materials,
1 market prices. May I add that the
Eger the profit would be this year if
ous year. We should calculate with
s That is the situation, that is how
in particular L ask the managers .5— ^ * * * - -
iot decrease next year either. If they
main as it is, if not, it will be even %“nteanttH me what you the L
ances in which we live A frequent
e more efficiently, we 11 have to be
d only a moderate increase in living
tion firms with orders. Then maybe fe ^ ^ and traders’ establishments. In the
icople are right in asking to be in-
ilished! That is what people demand ^rge^e we”! already see empty places in certain category rcstauran .
eaders to give a definite answer
g implemented with such difficulty.
fm the Bible, in which thousands of
mts. Maybe that was the first party producer prices and certain consumer pr honestly. Of course, this cannot be
. on. Necessity urges us to work at a

SSSS“=s;s-s
1 fields of occupation have expressed
,rk better and to establish more sat.s-
ssed this, we heard the stand of the
people whom we did not know befor ,
[ have expressed their views too. Our
30
456 Speeches and Interviews

so far. There wffl be ™oderat.e growth but .conditi» "fonS'coh^-

years ahead must be ensured. Most like y according to the work performed.
Lon the introduction and issues where a few good
This, I think, also belongs, political work should be done,
words are needed, where good p P 8 d on real performance should be dis-
The paying out of salaries or w g! ^
win jmpiement the general rule of
continued. If we carry this appropnately^ ^ of building socialism will bring

*°

get on. But people of working age and gd ^ endeavours t0 this end also
honestly will and should have cau more firmly and severely against
include, as was mentioned inthe: repc• , g parasitism. We stressed in the
those who cause damage 0PU^ Property ^ present on the job. People Pa.d
report that wages cannot be: paid ^hjs gbo{,ld become the rule,
attention to this and sympathi zed'h • h mentioned (and volumes had
In connection with the congress th P l Republic has this-and-lhat
been written about it earlier) 8stem of economic management, and that it
sort of economic policy, such;Jn£S^. • yhow they “praise” us. On the other hand,
bravely applies capitalist me hods, ms is V
fault with the Gyor Wagon
they criticized us for calculating proftJ “en > ^ ^ j can reply on the bas.s
Factory because it chsmissed work. lhese socialist methods. First ot
of my outlook: these are not ^ economize for the benefit of a
all, the essential question is wheth k f ker is obliged to economize for a
capitalist, or for the benefit of he peop^ so for the beneflt of the people,
capitalist, then this is the capital*: production is effective, that, in
then this is the socialist one. If whether the work should be of good
my view, is the socialist not a matter of indiffer-
are produred for .he capital or for a so-

^In the'socialist system, Pu^y sodalist^sta^e^It^h^s'no

which is a revolutionary, S0CUJ“ ® which we cannot now be proud of. AH we
connection with the baiance of paymentswh for lhe first time after
can say, and it is not » should be appreciated. I think
SsSTnZs^ contimie to prevai, when the international balance of pay

education and culture and also h“n'a" higher qualifications and contin-
economic objectives requires experts ^ ,’yees and representatives
nous further training. HavMgttasentp^^ ^ ^ a short
 At 12th Party Congress, March 1980 457

same, we live together, get on “ZS3 £ ™rk of the Congress

S'Bo!h on'behalf of the Central Committee and the Central Control Committee
on my behalf and on behalf of Comrade Jdnos Brutyo I express my sincere thanks if.

2as?sspss=
mmmm
, . jjAs-nit times Various ideologies emerged even among the working

■mm 30*
458 Speeches and Interviews

A Communist cannot live in happiness while others live in misery and under
oppression. _ .
That is a Communist characteristic; we must preserve it
The Communist believes in the ideal; he never gives up hope and he is always
ready for action. So let us have hope and take action. And if you decide to accept_ the
reports and the resolutions, then let us show the same unity in putting them into
effect!

Notes to the Speeches and Interviews

Yugoslav politician, member of the iUegal Communist party fromi 1925'. He

and received a two-year sentence. He spent three years£934- 1937) *^ of the

Presidency (1974— 1979).

His positions from 1945. Deputy General secret ry . T1 • 11956—1959)' First

0952- 1956); General Secretary of the Central Council of Trade Unions(1956

SSHSsss
Committee in 1959.

Magyar Nemze/(HungananNaion) n 1956.^in Ogbber.^ ^ the Communist par,y. In early

from where he was taken prisoner. He died in prison.

to55n. politician, member of the Smallholders’ Party. He was Member of Parliament.

 Notes 459

of p^W* He - —« of *— <—>"» ^ ^
Parliament (1961—1973).

First Deputy Minister o f J Deputy Speaker of Parhament (1973-)■

ss—- - — par,y in ,966‘

the Political Committee from 1962 till 1970.

Committee of the Communist parly.

rzZ£Z2£i 5£S2.«* — te was “™Kd “

committed suicide in prison.

-mmmmmsmm
Education (1953-1956).
• ih* on called Christian-National regime (1919 1944).
n One of the most important newspapers m the so-called Chr
iqiq it became a daily newspaper,
la weekly journal edited by Istvan Milotay. In 19

Si'Sr-p”"
Council from 1953.
s,m,k-H' M'rab"
460 Speeches and Interviews

,. Tta o«cia, _ - - c— P- — - — ^

?920’S and 1930’s. He became I>puty Chairman h T with the Communists m 1948.
Communist party number following .he merger o P,.^ 1955 He was Mmjster o

as ssff.afa^ s “counc" (,963'1975)-

member of the Central Committee from 1962.

« Nyers, Rezs6 1923- Democratic Party since 1940. He worked as a printer.

Communist politician, member of the S . p , Committee of Kispest, and in 194
STsJ. he became Secretary of «he^i“^"™^ittce of Budapest and its environs.
1948 he was Secretary of the Social Hem ,y,he Communist party, he became member
Aftpr the fusion of the Social Democratic Par y .... ^74 Be was also member of
“hVSn“rL«.*.«WP Of the H. «« MW Chair,,™ of
the Political Committee and Secretary of the ' Minjster of Food (August-November
the National Council of ('Sn- SS^TS?** Nfttiowl CouncU oT.CM>»-
,956); Minister of Public Suppl|es ( 956-1957), C He Qf Parliament sl„ce 1958.
tives (1957— 1960), Minister of Finance (19ou r* ;

unAnai Sandor 1892—1965 . KrieVlaver he became member of the

Social Democratic, and later Communist politician^ Workers’ Council of the city of
Social Democratic Party in 1910. In 1919 h'”S .“^IT.Srrcrary of the Miskolc SDP
Miskolc during the Republic of p^c Supplies in the Provisional Government

SrSovembeM^); TZ then ^ader-

SWiHS « —-sKsS -= 3 SSofirade (Nov. 4, 1956-Feb. 28, 1957).

and later Communis,

(1966-,976) and Memto °f Pad,a'

ment (1956-1975).

« Dobozy, Imre 1917-1982 . anli-German resistance from 1944, he joined the

Hungarian writer and journalist. Active in became chief editor of the literary
Communist party in 1945. He Since 1959 he was Chairman of the
£-£:of me enrra, Co— — •«.
 Notes 461

a Thurzd, Gabor 1912— 1979

Hungarian writer and journalist.
dio Company
(1950-1955).
Nemeth, Laszlo 1901-1975 Kploneine to the populist movement. He worked as a
(1957-1959). Prominent Hungarian writer and nt£ Fronl the early thirties he devoted his time to
dentist and as a school doctor 'nJhf£'^'^-Xential publications. His concept of social and
literary activities and contributed to ",ellJ;uals. ,n the late 1940’s and early 1950 s
Ilectuals active
^ w0hhdmtrf”mpubKfceand began to publish his works again in the late ,

ipears daily.

throughout the
i45. He became 09»-,963). .n .959 he became ■
unists in 1948.
vas Minister of of the Central Committee of the HSWP.
-1975). He was
» Komocsin, Zoltan 1923- 1974 rommUnist party since 1938. He was Secretary of
Communist politician, member of theillegal C (1945_i948), Head of the Propa^nda
,he Communist party commntee of he cny t g Sccretary flf Hajdu-Bihar County (1956

ked as a printer, Department of the Central Leadership (19.4, y nization (1957- 1961), chief editor of Nip-
1957), First Secretary of the Communist )965) Secretary of the Central Committee
st, and in 1947-
md its environs, szabadsdg, the party’s official "^fg^^ConSitti and of the Political Committee from
(1965- 1974). He was member of the Central comm
became member
also member of 1957. He was Member of Parliament from

jty Chairman of
gust—November
incil of Coo pcra-
mcnt since 1958. fh. .930-,. '“I"'o.
ment and visited the Soviet Unl°nv'"‘f.^^iopmcnt of the so-called modern populist though
journals, his writings were formative in t d JMP par(y (1945_ ,949), and became Member

ic member of the international from 1970.

ncil of the city of

the Miskolc SDP
anal Government
Hungmdan^hterao' erhiej philosopher, at'the" wm^of the,Mnmr^.l,As^Uphhosophcr',
945- 1949). With
exponent of evolvmg modern Hungar,a" contemporary German idealism. He joined the
ie Central Leader-
he was an internationally renowned fig became People’s Commissar of Culture
e was Minister of
Hungarian Communist party at the end of 1918 «^ of ^ Republic of Councils, he fM
1952); Speaker of
the Communist government of B61a Kurn g activities in the Communist party. In 1924;
)■ to Vienna (1920-1929) and carried on hl ‘ be the most significant Marxist
he published History and Class Coasaous^swhich.0 Hungary in 1945 when he
work of the age. From 1929 he hved m the^USSR cxponent of Communist cultural
he SDP from 1936, became professor at the Un.vers.ty Budapest His Aeslhe,lcs was published in
rship (1948-1950, policies. His major synthetic worto^wrmen in hunlously. In 1956 he was Minister
Member of Parha- Hungary after 1965, while his Ontology appeared^ ^ participa,ed in the formation of the
of Public Education m the Imre Nagy^ g Embassy from where he was taken
HSWP. On the 4th of November he went tothe J retjrenient afler his return, but m 1967

1944, he joined the

itor of the literary philosopher.
as Chairman of the
since 1975.
r.ss'-pS-.—- -—>«— ,roi”1931 H‘r— ,he
462 Speeches and Interviews

Communis, par,, in .bo movo moo. ^

torn 1949 » 1951of .ho Communis.

S5«?SK ZTEM. ^.KSS”'* SSS'SS”. of Minis,ers

President of Parliament (1967— 1970).

29 King Stephen c. 970- 1038 Hungary from 1001. His historic achievement was
Prince of Hungary from 997, the first tog ot H g _ y rsj{)n of his people to Christianity.
the organization of tbf, ^^ ^rcd the power of the Monarchy, and, by adopting

a be,,er sta,us for his pcop,ein Europe'

30 Szechenyi, Istvan, Count 1791-I860 Hungarian reform movement precceding the
Aristocrat, intellectual and political leaderfake Ihe palh Df Western modernization.
1848 revolution. In his books he urged Hu ga ■ Academy of Sciences in 1825, in
To this end he took the initiative m oundmg £ “Xacross .he Danube. In the forties he
regulating the river T,s3:a’ /kossuS mdfcSlm and suffered a gradual loss of popularity. In the
portfolio, bo, « ■ -bo,, wbiie be wi.hdrow f.om

politics. He committed suicide in exile.

31 T&ncsics, Mih&ly 1799- 1884 „fnrm moVement before 1848. As a follower

Writer and politician of peasant origin 'v distinctions. He was Member of Parlia-
o, Owon .nd Foote, ho “te^^“(WorW. Jou.n.l). Ate

ssss sffsss r
Workers’ Union.

33 Werbdczi, Istvan 1458— 1541 .. . th o0-callcd “Tripartitum opus juris”

codtfying'the Hu^^at^Wough his work had never been enacted, it still served
as a source of common law until the 19th century.

of daring tf» tfmo of .ho oohqaof, of D.oubi.n Hang..,.

Commit wStr. «*. « te —» - >’« * «“ A"— “ "°” 19“

to 1968.
;n Affairs
ie became
ommunist
ommittce.
•esident of
55- 1967);

cement was
ftristianity.
■>y adopting
) Europe.
Index
Berinkey government 154
Berlin 138, 237, 346 360. 362
•ceeding the
Berlinguer, Enrico ^98
idernization.
Bessarabia 253 43> 53< 154> 155,
, in 1825, in
Bethlen, lstvan 22, 24, 30,
he forties he
.griculture 78ff, 82, n1*, 157, 158
ilarity. In the
Biatorbagy 27
ithdrew from 330f
Albania 211, 212 Blum, Leon 27
Borsod (County) 194
Algeria 249 227ff, 265ff, 316f,
Brecht, Bertold 27, 34
Mliance policy 110, 21W,
Brezhnev, Leonid 140
As a follower 352. 44 66> 68, ,54, 164, 359
ibcr of Parlia- Brioni 100
ournal). After Andrdsfi! Gyula'452, 462 Brutyb, JtaM &J 194 2891T
cape from the Budapest 14, W. • m i38, 253, 374
Unlcana w, *****
irison with an Byron, George Gordon 357
of the General
An',L “/science) I8f, 24, 289 ,59, . ,w 78f 194, 200f, 217ff, 281, 285f,
Cadres' policy 78f, tV4,
298f, 420f, 450
Cambodia 28 346, 431
am opus juris" Apr6, Antal 65, 162,
Canada 130, 165,,357
d, it still served Aragon, Louis 21
Caribbean Crisis (1962) 26-
Argentine 230
Arpad, Prince 388, 462 53> 55, 61,
r
y-
Charles IV 35

ngolia from 1961

aasusytjtr
Axis powers 35, 66, 154 ’■I4'121'337
Chotek, Sophia 9 174 181f, 250,
Churches 14, 57f HU ™
Bdbolna 454
Bajcsy-Zsilinszky <•> 50,
Endre 42, so 52f. 58, 157 280f, 389ff, 412f, 428f, 43
Churchill, Winston S 68 81
Bak6, Agnes 196
Clemenceau, George Economic Assis-
Barbusse, Henri 27
Becher, Johannes R. 27 374, 389, 394,
Belgium 91, 16L 165’ 394 396
Belgrade Meeting 384f 390, 407 .

Bern, J6zef 60, 90, 162

463
464 Index

Cold War 68, 69, 127 , 238, 346.360 ^ ^

Democracy^?, 69,113, 143, 208f, 223fF, 269f,
Collectivization of agriculture , •» • 373, 398
COMINFORM (Information Bureau of Com- D.
DimtoKWp4of the proletariat 122, 172f, 177,
munist Workers’ Part.cs) 69, 86 l"ff
COMINTERN (Communist International) - , ^
Dinnyes, Lajos 66, 163
36, 37, 46ff, 69, 153, 159 D
DiosgySr 292
Committee of National Defense Dobozy, Imre 233, 460
Common Market, European 255, 263, 38V, ^
D6gei, Imre 114, 166
394 . Dogmatism 192ff, 196ff, -13f, 3
E
Communist Party, Hungarian p
Dominica 254, 262
(Hungarian Party of Communists Novcm- •
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 7 3
ber 1918-June 1919, August 1919-1923 Dozsa, Gyorgy 20, 58, 154, 336
1927_ 1944; Socialist-Communist Workers Dual Cross Blood Federation 35, 49, 156
Hungarian Party: June- August 1919; Social- Dudas, Jozscf 95, 164
ist Workers’ Party of Hungary; ^ 19‘ ’ Dulles, John Foster 254, 360
p„.re partV; 1944; Hungarian Communist Dunaujvdros 107
Party 1944-1948; Hungarian Working
Lop!.’, Patty: ««-»*= Eaton, Cyrus 137 2721V,
Economic development 78ff, 128, 265,,
31 Iff, 328ff, 337f, 413ff, 436lf, 455
Eckhardt, Tibor 158
Education 18, 80
Egypt 98, 249
Ehrenburg, Ilya 84
Elections 34, 53f, 62, 66
tlet is Irodalom 460
Elizabeth, Empress 9

140, 199, 21 Iff, 226, 287ff, 393 397, 404 224, 289, 449
Entente 14, 15, 20
Eotvos College 55, 160, 187
261, 298, 30711, 405, 434, 449f F-rdei, Ferenc 60, 162
Esztergom 52, 57, 292
Consolidation of power after 19361100IT, 1690, Etelkoz Federation 34, 155
174ff, 183, 222ff, 225, 350 422f Ethiopia 407, 431 427
Constitution, Hungarian 145, 235, 33511, Eurocommunism 383, ?«, ■>» > ’ ..
434, 451 Europe 29, 256ff, 346, 3571T, 3791T, 383ff, 393,
Corriere della Sera 383 407
Csepel (district of Budapest) 174, 176, 210,
Faion, Etienne 237 me no «?
Csermanck, BorbAla 9, 10, 13, 14, 23 Parkas, Mihaly 54ff, 61, 64, 66, 71f, 78, 82,
Csermanek, Jeno 50 85, 86,87,90,125,160
Csikesz, Mrs. J6zsef 182, 459 Fascism 36, 41, 42, 47, 68, 158, 187, 231,
Csillag prison 39 Faur6, Paul 27
Fenakel, Janos 26
Cult of personality 86, 21 If, 349 Finland 384, 408
Culture 79, 245f, 281f, 338, 417ff First Hungarian Army 44, 52
Czechoslovakia 9, 17, 35, 66, ,
138, 160, 221, 242, 253, 293, 359
344 , 348, 354, 364f, 369, 375, 376, 377, 406,
Ddlnoki Mikl6s, Bela 52, 160
Dante, Alighieri 381 F„4£43"ucy m. 24»’ 262ff'
Darvas, J6zsef 184, 459 303, 408f, 430ff
de Gaulle, Charles 231
 Index 465

S3 65 77 104, 137f,
HT3Tl46^U7!6155,’l56;i69, 187, 196, 197,

Foreign trade M2f. 408, 450 221’ 230, 231, 337

Foreign wvd «, 227, 2301, Hoxha, Enver 211
269f, Hugo, Victor M6 396
Human rights 247. •
Hungarian Front , Commemorative Com-
f, 177, Hunganan Histone
Francis Joseph I 9, 21
mittce 42, 184 „ fense Society 35, 156
Frey, Rog^r 231
Furst, Sdndor 27, 43, Hungarian National Independence Front 52

Garbai, Sandor 15, 153^ ^ ^ 458 184 , 457

4S7
Hunya, IstvAn
Hunyadi, Matyds 336
rin^^S*138'22’’ Uku, P41 182, 459
Illy6s, Gyula 316, 461
57 66, 69, 156, 158,
156 India 249, 264

!nXctuds6 231ff, 2^4;2movcnlent 211ft,

ASKEWS '“S”" W, 3330, 393 , 392. «M.

126, 160 Staats Polizei) 43, 157, 426f,' 445 lg4i 2o3, 293, 324
Gestapo (Geheime Staats
>5f, 272ff, Internationalism
5 Iran 431
Ghana 262, 264

°!de’ ^pLing, Valery 4251T

SS53SV-" ST35.43,»3,.».U>.1«'M1'M8ff’
397f, 408

g-ESC&S**
Gorky 210, 215 .03, U3. .»,13*
Gorky, Maxim al0 9g 556> 164> 230, Johnson, Lyndon B. 250
Great Britain 35, », ° •
89, 449 Jordan 179
Joseph, AKh4J» M 40fi i53
o“- £3A--> J6zsef, AttilalO. ft.14- 5Q 422
GSoe.o«So™«s.,.evO.»,ion 2.0,302, June Resolution of 1953 w,

393, 402, 411, 420 Kdllai, Gyula 335 461

Grover, Pi®*?" Jf Kallay, Miklds 43, 47,
Gyor 184, 293, 414
426, 427 Kapoly 10ff, 56
IT, 383ft', 393, Gyula 292 Kardelj, Eduard 17 , 153, 154, 164
, c 15,??,
is 20 156, 164, 336 Karolyi, Mihaly 14, 15 58,
Habsburgs i-’ Karolyi governtnenv
Hdy, Lasz'6 300, 46
i, 71 f, 78, 82,
Haynau, luliu. Jakob^O, 154
ssrrS *3., >«■ >3‘f-13«'
, 187, 231, 359

***£$&&%
S, MoVS. 35ft 43f, «, 60, 133. '«• s&Hs*
K6b61,aj6Zsef65l62
359 Kollwitz, Rathe 27
Ho Chi Minh 258 49f, 61j 66,
329, 333ft', 340,
5“SS,4Z.M»3.6,46.
i, 376, 377, 406,

3S7
iff, 248ft, 262H',
466 Index

Mann, Thomas 27, 357

Kopacsi, Sandor 96, 165 Mao Tse-tung 253, 410
Korea 68, 100, 184, 257, 321, 322
Marchais, Georges 426
Korean War 77 Marshall Plan 359
Korvin, Ott6 43, 157 Marosan, Gyorgy 59f, 66, 87f, 98, 16 If
Kossuth, Lajos 89, 164, 184, 336, j57 Marx, Karl 25, 59, 80, 121, 122, 139, 144, 224,
Kosygin, Aleksei 140 251, 351, 357, 376, 417
Kbszeg 292 Marxism-Leninism 18ff, 99, 120, *43’ 170 ’
Kovdcs, Bela 59, 62, 161 174ff 192, 203, 211, 216, 220, 2231T, 232,
Kovacs, Imre 60, 162 251 261, 267, 278ff, 284, 286fT, 289, 296,
Kreisky, Bruno 382ft'
Kulak 77, 79, 123, 163
315, 324, 335, 342, 350ff,J571'» V?'
378, 393, 404, 410, 411, 417f, 422, 442, 443,
Kun, Bela 15, 29, 37, 40, 153, 154, 155
445
Matuska, Szilvesztcr 27
Lakatos government 157 Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico 9
Land reform 14, 16, 57f, 207 Mestcrhazi, Lajos 195, 289, 460
Landlcr, Jeno 29, 155 Mezo, Imre 97, 99, 165
Laos 346, 431 Michaelmas Daisy Revolution 290
Latin America 263, 265, 282, 431
Mikszalh, Kdlmdn 6, 153
League for the Revision of the Trianon Peace Mindszenty, Jozsef 57f, 73, 98, 124, 137, 161,
Treaty 35, 156 224, 226f, 243f, 250, 391
League of Nations 35, 357 Minorities 21, 35, 399f, 434f
Miskolc 293
Lcnh^ Vladimir I. 41, 59, 68, 81, 112f, H5,
Mitterand, Francois 426
118, 123, 125, 143, 170, 199, 218, 219, -21,
Molifcre 233, 381
224, 334, 357 Molnar, Erik 72, 163
Lcvente Organization 57 Moscow 29, 40, 46, 48, 53, 56, 82, 75, 146,
Lewis, Sinclair 244 155, 156, 157, 162, 164, 210, 238
VHumanite 222 Mozambique 431
Li Si Man 68 Munkasok Ujsaga 462
Liberation Committee of the Hungarian
Munnich, Ferenc 99f, 165
National Uprising 50
Mussolini, Benito 43f
Liberation of Hungary 16, 29, 32, 33; 45>
MUvelt Nep 460
51ff, 60, 62, 71, 73, 78, 82, 95 96 104 27,
134 145, 146, 147, 148, 169, 173, 189f, 197,
Nagy, Elek 175
205, 219, 224, 230, 231, 233’ 234’ 233> 23J Nagy, Ferenc 58f, 62, 98, 161, 224
266, 276f, 279f, 290, 291, 300f, 317fT, 333,
Nagy, Imre 51, 59f, 62, 72, 82ff, 88, 89, 9Iff,
96 97, 98, lOOff, 104f, 157, 159, 160, 161,
Living standards 82^27, 134, 173, 189f, 276f,
164, 176, 180, 183, 196, 199, 224, 228
279f, 300f, 317ff, 338, 440f, 455f National socialists (nazis) 30, 35, 36, 45, 53,
Lloyd George, David 253
55, 150, 155
London, Jack 244
National unity 113, 201, 221
Longo, Luigi 398 Nationalism 112, 139, 202f, 252, 287f
Losonczy, Geza 176, 458 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Lowy, Sdndor 43, 158 64, 249, 254ff, 359ff, 386, 389, 392, 399,
Lukacs, Gyorgy 316, 461
410
Ndmeth, Ldszlo 233, 461
McCarthy, Joseph 360
Ndmethy, Jeno 61
MacMahon, Edme Patrice Mauncc, comle de
Nemzeti Fiiygetlenseg 165
226 Nemzeli Ojsag 187, 459
Madrid 41 Nepszabadsug 197, 316, 453, 460, 461
Magyar Nemzet 97, 165, 458, 459
tiepszava 42, 157, 159
Master, Pdl 96, 165 New York 137f, 141, 385
Malinovsky, Rodion 258
Nicaragua 431
Management of economy l Uf. 12W, 242f, 249
N6grad (County) 173, 194
272ff, 295ff, 304ff, 317ff, 353f, 436ff, 455f
 Index 467

Rankovich, Alexander 75
Novotny, Antonin 237 Red Army 29, 44, 48, 51, 52, 60, 68 , 100, 165,
Nyergestijfalu 49 337
Nyers, Rezso 229, 460 Reed, John 118

October events of 1956 87ff. 169ff, 179, 182ff,

196, 226ff, 236, 321, 360, 392
Ogyalla 9
Old people 306f, 452 K£vai, JOffief 54, 56, 07, 71f, 82, 85. 90,106,
Orban, Laszlo 61 160, 192CF, 197, 202
Orlando, Vittorio Emanuele 253
RevoluboMry w'o^Ms’and ° jS' ®overn'
Pakistan 264 ment 100, 105, 107, 169, 180, 185
PAlffy, Gyorgy 7'; 73f’163 Rezi, Kdroly 43, 158
Paris Commune 17, 28, t*-5 Rhodesia 263
Parragi, Gyorgy 187, 45 m 143> 144> Rolland, Romain 27
Romania 9, 17, 20, 35, 44, 66, 69, 100, 104,
159, 160, 242, 252ff, 293
261, 269, 280, 316, 340, 356, 369, 372, 413, Rome 388
429, 449, 451 R6nai, Sdndor 229, 460
R6nai, Zoltdn I7, >54
«« Roosevelt, Frankbn D. 68
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 35
Rothermerc, H. S. Harmsworth, Lord 156
R6zsa, Ferenc, 43, 158
pinSS^-US.-51,267,319, 330 Rudolf, Archduke 9
Russell, Bertrand 357
Russia 17
Xdlfoyula 153, 154, 227
Pesti Hlrlap 164 Sdgvdri, Endre 45, 48, 158f
P6ter, Gdbor 71, 84, 86, 126, 163 Sallai, Imre 27,43,155
P6ter, Jdnos 182, 184, 459 Sarajevo 9
Petdfi Circle 89, 164 Sdri, Igndc 61
Pctbfi, Sdndor 42, 157,166, 336f, 35 Sdrospatak 292
Peyer, Kdroly 24, 59, 155 Scandinavia 230
Schmidt, Helmut 407
Polandl9?817, 29, 35 69 87 90, 100, 138f, Schonherz, Zoltdn 43, 158
164, 165, 242, 253, 346, 359, 36. Second Hungarian Army 43
Portugal 263, 431 Seghers, Anna 27
Poverty of Philosophy, The 25 Shakespeare, William 73, 233, 38
Poznan 87, 360 Shapiro, Henry 245
Shehu, Mehmet 137, 211
Provisional ^National Assembly 52, 53 Show trials 63, 70ff, 84ff, 88, 1 -
Provisional National Government 52, 57, 158,
Sicily 43
160, 161 Sikl6s 292
Pusztaszemcs 13 Sinclair, Upton 244
Sixth German Army 43
Radio Free Europe 103, 175 Skorzeny, Otto 44 66>
Smallholders Part^,„3’ ,163 154 459
IS”®, 52, 54, 55, 70(5, 85f, 88, 104, 95, 98, 103, 104, 158, 161,162,163, 164, 459
153, 159, 166, 195 Social Democratic Party 15, 1 , , ^ •
Rdkdczi, Ferenc I 164 42f 47. 49, 50, 53, 54, 58, 59t, 66, ni,
R*ik6czi Ferenc II 89, 164, 336 71’oe 93 103 145, 146f, 153ff, 161, 174,
229ff, 257,’291,’357, 383ff, 417, 460, 461
R470OSi SS 86A9 V>8.105f/»08; Socialist International 29, 36, 383
118,’ 124, 126f, 140, 150, 156f, 19-0
468 Index
Toller, Ernst 27
Society of Awakening Hungarians 35, 156
S61yom, Ldszlo 71, 163, 291 KTiS." 28, 59, 90, 159, 19919, .89,
Somogy (County) 10, 17, 159 261, 285, 298
Sophia, Archduchess 9 Transdanubia 9, 20, 178 184
South Africa 263 Transylvania 22, 35, 162 164, 293
Soviet Russia 16, 17, 143 Treaty of Trianon 21, 35, 66, 148, 154, 16 ,
253, 288
S052el54t5n 968,269,381 9’s! ioO.Vf, lW,
Trotskyism 154
& MW.' 163ff, 179, 197 203, 210ff, gl, Truman, Harry 68, 359
230, 236, 243, 249, “Off, 256. 257, 26-ff, Turul Federation 35, 156
?R7 304 321, 322ff, 337, 345, 346, 353,357b,
Turkey 164
374 380, 395, 397, 407, 408, 409, 428, 431, Two-front struggle 112, 422t
432, 438, 447, 448, 449, 458
Oj Nemzedik 187, 459

“Splendid winds” 78, 164 uiTunit^'Nations) 38, 95 98 lOOf, 123,

SS (Schutzstaffel) 44 136IT, 234ff, 264, 346f, 380 430, 449
Stalin, Joseph 68, 81f, 84, 106, 118, 211, 214, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Sci¬
entific and Cultural Organization) 264
State^ Security Authority(AVH)5U 71f, 74,
United Party 158
77, 88f, 92f, 95, 159, 163, 193, 198f United States of Amen<» 38 S9, 68, 72 9
Stephen I 150, 336, 462 137f 150, 155, 158, 16lf, 165, 179, 180, 221,

Stil, Andre 222 227 236 238ff, 249, 250ff, 262, 264, 303,
Suez Canal crisis 98 321 (f, 347, 357, 359, 361, 380, 395(1, 408,
Sulyok, Dczso 60f, 162 448
Sverdlov, Yakov 26
Sweden 280 Valdsdg 157
Switzerland 59, 62, 72, 161 Varga Bela 59, 62, 161
Vas, Zoltan 52, 159
Iszabad Nip 64, 67, 158, 162, 165 Vatican 243, 250, 389IT, 429
Szab6, Istvdn (of Nagyatad) 158 Veres, Pdtcr 38, 60, 144, 156, 316, 352
Szakasits, Arpdd 42, 47, 59, 60, 66, 98, 157, 229
Verne, Jules 19
Szalai, Andrds 72, 74, 163 Versailles, Treaty of 253
Szdlasi, Ferenc 44, 66, 155, 158
Szdnt6, Judit 40f Vienna 29^37,398, 154, 155, 160, 161, 163, 362,
Szdchenyi, Istvdn 336, 462 382f
Szeged 20, 39, 56, 82, 156, 293 Vienna Award, first 35
Szckffi, Gyula 42, 157 Vienna Award, second 35
Szep Sz<i 153 Vietnam 104, 23811, 254, 257ff, 262, 303, 321,
Szigeti, Attila 184, 459 346, 407, 431, 432
Szigetvdr 292 Visegrad 292
Szolnok lOOff Voltaire 357
SzSnyi, Tibor 72, 74, 163 Vorosmarty, Mihaly 89, 164
Szurdi, Istvdn 299, 460
War of Independence (1848) 20, 41, 42, 51,
Talpra magyar 104, 157, 166 52, 154, 157, 162, 164, 166, 336
Tdncsics Circle 196, 197, 460 Warsaw ghetto 44 ,q 249
Tdncsics, Mihdly 336, 462 Warsaw Treaty Organization 98, 179, 226, 24 ,
Teleki, Pal Count 35f, 53, 156 “264, 322, 346, 36111, 386, 389, 399, 407,
Thant, U 234ff 428, 449
Thurz6, Gabor 233, 461 Weimar Republic 230, 231
Tildy, Zoltan 58ff, 158, 161 Wcrboczi, Istvdn 336, 462
Tisza, Kalman 153 While terror 21, 148
Tito (Josip Broz) 48, 61, 100, 137
 Yemen 254, 431
Wilson Woodrow 15, 253 „51f Youth question 112,
Women’s rights 268, 306 ^1^ 307ff, 434, 453
Yugoslavia 9, 17, 36,
90, lOOff, 153, 156,
339 423
^“^15. 17:66. 148. 133. 155.
2. Nagy, Ferenc 178
156, 253, 357, 379ff 8(ff< 1J6 Zelewsky, Erich von
Zhivkov, Todor 237
Wr53dSriI56 158,2’l60f,’l65: .8^256,263, Zimbabwe 431
293’, 337, 3571T, 379 386 387, 429 Zola, Emile 19
Writers’ Union 89, 120> t5 Zrinyi, Ilona 164
Wurmser, Andre 222

Of, 123,
9
tal, Sci-
:64

, 72, 98,
180,221,
164, 303,
'5ff, 408,

52

, 163, 362,

, 303, 321,

79, 226, 249,

39, 399, 407,

1
JANOS KADAR
FIRST SECRETARY OF THE HUNGARIAN SOCIALIST WORKERS' PARTY

JANOS KADAR was born in Fiume in 191 2. A typewriter mechanic by

trade, he joined the labour movement in 1929, and was one of the
organizers of the young Communist workers' movement In 1931 he
became a member of the Central Committee of the Federation of Young
Communist Workers, and also joined the party. Repeatedly imprisoned
for his illegal activities in the labour movement, he played a leading role
in organizing the anti-Fascist independence front during World War II.
In 1942, he became a member of the Central Committee of the illegal
Communist party, in 1943. its secretary. Arrested in April 1944, in
November of the same year he escaped and joined the leaders of the
resistance movement He was deputy Secretary-General of the Central
Leadership and a member of the Political Committee of the Hungarian
Communist Party in 1945-48; after its merge with the Social
Democratic Party in 1948, he held the same positions in the new party,
the Hungarian Working People's Party. He directed the organization of
the Budapest police in the spring of 1 945, and was for a time head of
the Cadre Department of the Central Leadership Minister of Home
Affairs from 1948. in 1951 he was arrested on false charges and
imprisoned; he was rehabilitated in 1954. First Secretary of the Party
Committee of the 13th district of Budapest, and then of Pest County
until 1956, he was a member of the Central Leadership and of the
Political Committee of the Hungarian Working People's Party and
secretary of the Central Leadership from July to October In early
November 1956, the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party and the
Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Government were instituted under
his leadership. He became First Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist
Workers' Party in 1956, and held the post of Prime Minister as well in
1956 -58, and 1961—65 State Minister in 1953 -61, from 1965 he
has been a member of the Presidential Council.