The impact of the 1956 Hungarian revolution in argentinal

Abstract

The outbreak of the Hungarian revolution on October 23, 1956, brought forth solidarity movements from Hungarian émigrés and their environment all over the world. It has justifiably been called "the cleanest revolution," for Hungarians were probably never as united as they were during those days, and during the long months and years of retribution that followed. Émigrés saw only one mission for themselves: to help the fighting nation. In Argentina, the response was overwhelming. Among the émigrés of 1948, differences between left and right disappeared as churches, associations, clubs, and youth groups worked together to help the freedom fighters, and later the refugees, as well as those who couldn't escape. Through marches, protests, masses, donations, petitions, publications, and exhibitions, all of émigrésociety was mobilized.2 On October 25, 1956, leaders of the Hungarian émigréorganizations sent telegrams to Argentina President Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, US President Dwight Eisenhower, UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld, as well as, among others, to the Argentine, Cuban, and Peruvian ambassadors to the UN, to the Austrian chancellor, to the president of Yugoslavia, and to the International Red Cross.3 They urged authorities to voice their support in protecting the people of Hungary against the reprisal of the Soviet-led Communist government and to speak out on behalf of their human rights. On October 27, more than 10,000 people gathered at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires for prayers and the celebration of a mass in Hungarian and Spanish. From there, the crowd marched in silence through the city streets to place a wreath at the foot of the statue of Joséde San Martín, the hero of Argentina's independence. Composed of Hungarians, members of sister emigrations from behind the Iron Curtain, and Argentines, the formation was a kilometre long, in lines of four, dotted with flags and enormous placards.4 On October 30, leaders of the Centro Húngaro (Argentina's most important Hungarian club) invited the heads of all Hungarian émigréorganizations to form the Committee of Assistance for a Free Hungary, in order to coordinate the strategies and actions aimed at providing support for the revolution. It acted through subcommittees-press and publicity, monetary, social services and activities, foreign affairs, transportation and youth-all coordinated by a central secretariat. The movement had two main elements. One branch focused on the moral and material support of the fighting nation through an extensive collection of donations in money and kind to be categorized, packed, and shipped. The second branch managed the reception and assistance of the refugees, arranging for housing and assisting with job searches. The club's facilities were crowded with dozens of volunteers working in shifts from 8 am to midnight, collecting, sorting, classifying, and packaging the mounds of food, clothing, blankets, and medicines. Over 2,500 bags and crates were shipped to Hungary during those days. Citizens formed long lines to donate money and goods. Others signed up to donate blood. During its four weeks of work in the Centro, the assistance committee received a total of 1,200,000 pesos and shipped by air and sea over 80,000 kilograms of clothing, food, and medication.5 These numbers reflect the solidarity of the Argentine people, who throughout the upheaval showed their generosity and support. The memories of the bloody 1955 Argentine revolution that ousted Perón were still fresh, and they followed with sympathy the events in Hungary. They gave immeasurable proof of this through anonymous donations of money, jewellery, and goods. The Argentine Red Cross made 2,000 units of blood available to the Viennese Red Cross, at which point university students en masse offered to replenish the supply. The Secretary of Aviation, upon learning that more than two hundred exiles enlisted to join the freedom fighters, offered the assistance of the Argentine Air Force to transport them to Hungary. (The revolution was crushed before this action could materialize.6) When word went out that orphans were fleeing Hungary in great numbers, over 11,000 Argentines volunteered to adopt them, while the Argentine government offered homes to 3,000 children. The country appropriated the declaration made by President Aramburu: "In every Argentine heart there must live a small Hungary." Thousands of letters of support and solidarity arrived from every corner of the nation.7 In order to facilitate immigration procedures for refugees, the Argentine government created, on November 19, a National Commission of Aid to Hungary, presided over by the Foreign Minister. The Asociación Cultural Argentina pro Hungría, formed by prominent members of Argentine society before the revolution, mobilized all of its connections to help the cause of the revolution. The Hungarian émigréCatholic school provided full scholarships to twenty-six refugee children. These efforts were broadcast to Hungary by the Voice of America.8 The newspaper Délamerikai Magyarság (Hungarians in South America) made an enormous effort to propagate the Hungarian fight for freedom. Within hours after the outbreak of the revolution, this paper, through the Associated Press, broadcast Argentine-Hungarians' protests against the use of Soviet troops in Hungary. It provided the thrust behind a series of press conferences, communiqués, articles, and radio and TV publicity that were disseminated around South America.9 The paper also carried out considerable political action, and high-ranking leaders from all Argentine political parties except the Communists took an active part. After the crush of the revolution and the retribution that followed, a series of mass demonstrations and protests were organized in front of both the Hungarian and Soviet embassies, in which crowds of Argentine sympathizers also took part. Some of these demonstrations became violent, with cars being burned in front of the Soviet embassy.10 Throughout 1957, demonstrations, protests, masses, prayer groups, and conferences continued. On the first anniversary of the revolution a huge exhibition was organized in the Casa de Mendoza in Buenos Aires. More than 150,000 people visited it in two weeks, and 25,000 signatures were collected and sent to the United Nations, demanding that Soviet troops leave Hungary. The exhibition was then taken to several Argentine cities, as well as to Montevideo and Santiago de Chile.11 Of special importance is the literary and journalistic output in Argentina following the revolution. Numerous books, journals, and periodicals documenting the events were published in Spanish and distributed among Argentine officials, as well as government agencies of all Spanish-speaking countries, embassies, and UN delegations. For years to come, Hungarian journalists in Argentina were dedicated to keeping alive the spirit of the revolution through news, photographs, poems, and manifestos. They reported on Cardinal Mindszenty's radio messages, on the refugees, and on other émigré groups' activities of support. They also built strong ties with the Argentine press, writing articles and editorials in Spanish for the public at large. Frente Común, Argentina's forceful anti-Communist paper, printed news from Hungary in each of its weekly issues. Hundreds of articles and radio broadcasts appeared for months in all main newspapers and radio stations, as well. For two years, Délamerikai Magyarság dealt almost exclusively with the revolution. Its 1957 almanac published the content of all Hungarian radio broadcasts-the free, revolutionary ones, as well as those under Soviet occupation-from October 23 to November 4, hour to hour, minute to minute. It was translated into Spanish that same year 1957 as S.O.S. El drama de Hungría, with illustrations by Lajos Szalay.12 Although the drawings were made thousands of kilometres away from Hungary, few artistic creations could convey more vividly the tragedy of the revolution and its suppression. The iconography is at once realistic and apocalyptic in its description of the violence and the feelings of violation and defeat. The publication and wide distribution of this book in Spanish, together with Hungría no se rinde! (Hungary does not surrender), with 10,000 copies printed of each, are the paper's most meaningful and lasting contributions to the cause of the revolution. From 1957 to 1966, more than twenty-five Spanish-language books and brochures on the revolution were published in Argentina. Examples include, among others, Hungría en sangre (Hungary in Blood), La revolución popular húngara. Hechos y documentos (The Hungarian Popular Revolution: Facts and Documents), reports by the UN Special Commission and the Commission of International Jurists on Hungary, the Spanish translation of the White Book on the Hungarian Revolution (based on actual documents),13 poetry anthologies, and novels. Most informative was Elemér Vácz's bibliography in Spanish covering about 350 publications from the Western world, all dealing with the 1956 revolution. © University of Ottawa Press, 2010. All rights reserved.