Remembering the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

Frank Kovendy was just 5 years old when the Soviet tanks withdrew from the cities of his native Hungary in the face of a massive rebellion against the Communist regime in 1956 . But he vividly remembers the almost giddy optimism that briefly gripped the nation. "We thought we had won," he recalled.

Just five days later, the tanks came back, often firing indiscriminately as they rumbled through the streets of Budapest, killing thousands, imprisoning thousands more, and creating a generation of Hungarian exiles -- including Kovendy's family -- who would keep alive the memory of those tragic October days for the rest of their lives.

"My mother made me swear on the Holy Bible that I would visit this monument today or I would never rest in peace," joked Kovendy, now 55, as he stood before Boston's memorial to the Hungarian uprising, which depicts a falling freedom fighter alongside a woman holding a baby up to the sky.

Yesterday, more than 300 Hungarians and their supporters -- including roughly 100 who took part in the rebellion -- gathered in Faneuil Hall to mark the 50th anniversary of the first large-scale uprising against the Soviet empire. Though the Soviets crushed the revolt, people at the event preferred to remember the heroism of freedom fighters like Balint Pongratz , who yesterday re enacted an iconic act of the revolution by cutting the Soviet symbol from the center of a Communist-era Hungarian flag.

"It was at first a lost revolution, but in the long run it was a successful revolution," said Ivan Kristoffy of the Hungarian Society of Massachusetts, the group that hosted yesterday's commemoration and led the effort to build the monument to the revolution in Liberty Square. "This was the first wedge against Communism."

The revolution was remarkable both for the speed with which it spread and the degree of public support, growing from a peaceful anti-Communist protest by 20,000 people on Oct. 23, 1956 to nationwide rebellion in a matter of days. The Soviet-backed government crumbled as Hungarian civilians attacked Soviet tanks with Molotov cocktails and Hungarian soldiers tore the Soviet red stars off their caps and joined the rebellion.

Despite the chaos, Karoly Balogh , president of the Hungarian Society, stresses that few people looted shops or carried out barbaric acts against the people who represented the Communist government. "The wounded, regardless of whether they were Russian, the hated secret police or freedom fighters, were given the same medical care," Balogh told the audience, though he admitted there were isolated lynchings of people seen as Soviet supporters.

The Soviets initially agreed to a cease-fire with the revolutionary government, but -- with the major powers of Western Europe consumed by a crisis in Egypt and President Dwight Eisenhower signalling the United States would not intervene -- the Soviets quickly struck back. On Nov. 4, 1956, the Soviets launched a violent counter-offensive, turning more than 150,000 Hungarians into refugees by the end of the year.

But crushing the Hungarians came at a cost to the Soviets, alienating pro-Communist parties in other countries and providing an example for later uprisings in Soviet-controlled countries, including Czechoslovakia and Poland. At yesterday's event, proud Hungarians argued that their doomed fight set in motion the long chain of events that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the ultimate collapse of Communism.

"This is a celebration for freedom-loving people everywhere," said Gabor Garai , the honorary Hungarian consul in Boston.

Scott Allen can be reached at allen@globe.com.