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Richard Lettis: The Hungarian Revolt |
One Day in the World's Press[26]
HUNGARIANS GRATEFUL TO POLES[27]
(Our inf.). Yesterday Drs. Wojciech Wiechno and Henryk Wolf, representatives
of our Health Service staff, returned to Warsaw after a two days' stay
in Budapest.
Dr. Gyözö Karas, president of the Hungarian Red Cross, and Dr.
Drexler, vice-minister of health, declared in an interview with our delegates
that for the time being they cannot estimate the total number of killed
and wounded. They said, however, that during the first 24 hours of fighting
the number of wounded amounted to 1,000 persons, although this number dropped
during the night of October 30 to only 60.
Transport facilities to hospitals are adequate; also there is no lack of
health personnel.
However, there is a lack of drugs and provisions, but only in Budapest
itself -in the rural areas these shortages do not appear.
The need is above all for morphine, antibiotics, various serums, blood,
plasma, X-ray films, chirurgical needles, and a few other items. All these
supplies have to be sent by air because of their urgent need and transport
difficulties. Other drugs can be sent in a few days when normal railroad
communication is reestablished through Czechoslovakia.
Vice-Minister Drexler and Dr. Karas expressed the gratitude of the Hungarian
nation to - [33 (p.3, col. 1/col. 2)] the Ministry of Health and to the
Polish Red Cross for their speedy and effective help. [33 (p.3, col. 2)
155 (p.3, col. 4)]
Count Esterhazy in Budapest - Forces opposing restoration of capitalism
organized - Hungarian government retreats before reactionaries
BUDAPEST, November 1 (CTKP)
In Budapest, capital of Hungary, the French news agency announced Thursday
morning that it is not known who is in power in the city and who has control
of Hungary. It is said that at least four "governments" exist,
which is well demonstrated by the confused situation existing in the country.
These "governments" are mentioned in today's "Manchester
Guardian," which writes, "Their authority reaches only as
far as their words and weapons are heard."
The French news agency (AFP) also says that further political developments
in Hungary will not include creation of a coalition government, but that
open preparations are being made for a bourgeois dictatorship. This goal
is also proved by the request of the "government" in Raab [Gyor]
-which in the last few days was taken over by counterrevolutionary elements-
to substitute Bela Kovacz, landlord and leader of the Agrarian party, for
Imre Nagy as Premier. Kovacz even after 1945 was in contact with the Fascist
organization "Swastika."
According to information from different sources, Count Esterhazy, who after
the war was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for his support of fascism,
has returned to Budapest. Esterhazy is a leader of the wealthiest Hungarian
nobility, a monarchist, and close [col. 4/col. 5] friend of Cardinal Mindszenty
and Otto Hapsburg. Esterhazy came to Budapest so that he could again take
over his estates. Before the land reform in Hungary 115,000 hectares belonged
to him (one-fortieth of all the arable land in Hungary) and three million
dollars.
In Austria he owns 60,000 hectares of the best land, and 67,500 hectares
in western Germany.
The AFP stated that since Thursday evening books are still being burned
on the Budapest streets-among them the works of Tolstoy, Dostoevski, and
Pushkin -which were burned by fascist elements after raiding libraries
and bookstores.
On Thursday there also was a reorganization of the government, in which
the Council of Ministers of the Hungarian People's Republic dismissed the
present Minister of Foreign Affairs, Imre Horvath, from his office and
allocated this function to Imre Nagy, who at the same time will be the
Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
In some parts of Hungary forces are arising, primarily workers, and are
fighting with determination against all reactionary attempts to renew capitalism.
Simultaneously the news arrived that in one village a landlord was killed
when he tried to reclaim his land, which had been allocated to [col. 5/col.
6] farmers during the land reformation.
BUDAPEST, November 1 (CTK)
Imre Nagy, in his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced November
1 that the Hungarian government has declared the Warsaw treaty immediately
invalid.
This is another sorry step by the Hungarian government, which gives in
to the reactionary forces in the nation by step ping out of the organization
of peace loving, socialistic nations and taking Hungary on a dangerous
journey. This decision was made at a time when the aggressive forces of
imperialism unwisely attacked Egypt, simply because its people wanted to
take advantage of the riches of their country. This gives a welcome opportunity
to foreign reactionary circles to continue supporting those in Hungary
who are definitely rebelling against all the achievements which the workers'
class and all laborers in Hungary achieved during the time when the Soviet
Army disposed of landlords and fascism for the Hungarian people.
Imre Nagy announced this decision to the attache of the Soviet Union in
Hungary and also to others in the office accredited to Budapest, and at
the same time announced that he had asked the United Nations to start negotiations
concerning the future status of Hungary. [55 (p.3, col. 6) /59 (p. 1, col.
1)]
Hunt for hidden secret police
When we suddenly turned the next corner, sharp cries were heard and
Doctor Galambos quickly swerved the auto in a complete turn in the middle
of the street in order to avoid the dangerous neighborhood. We saw two
men lying in a doorway shooting at a cellar window directly opposite. Clearly
a hiding place for one of the hated secret police. The common tactics employed
were to have several men pump bullets into the cellar to keep the victim
away from the window until other freedom fighters had drenched some combustible
material in gasoline and tossed it through the window after lighting it
-thus burning the nest and its occupants.
We turned into the Jugendstrasse again. A truck loaded with screeching
boys brandishing pistols in the faces of the pedestrians hurtled past and
swung into a side street on the trail of a new nesting place to destroy.
Most of the crowd was assembled nearby in front of the Soviet Embassy's
great stone edifice. We heard a dull chorus of voices repeating the phrase
which was heard on almost every street in every section of the city "Russians-
Go Home!"
Outside the Russian Embassy stood three panzer tanks. The machine guns
in the turret were never still but slowly swung back and forth. Folke Hellberg
aimed his Leica through the automobile window [col. 3/col. 4], and all
would have gone well if the crowds on the sidewalk had not waxed enthusiastic
and shouted hurrah for us Swedes. We had to slow down in order to avoid
running down some of the more eager spectators, and at that moment the
car door was torn open and a Russian officer with three stars on his collar
drew his pistol from his holster and pointed it at the camera amid shouts.
Without the crowd the situation might have been easier to explain. But
the Hungarians in the meantime had begun to boo and shriek at the Russian,
who became redder and angrier. They pointed at the Red Cross markings and
the Swedish flag, but nothing helped. We could move the car -we could only
secretly hope that a truck loaded with fiery freedom fighters would appear
just at this moment.
Dr. Galambos tried to divert the Russian by talking with him. It was no
use. He ripped open the camera while the crowd pushed closer around the
auto. Then the Russian suddenly went along with Dr. Galambos' proposal:
"Take the roll of film." Folke Hellberg tried to protest, but
the pistol and the roar from the crowd and the machineguns on the panzer
tanks on the other side which were now pointed at us and the crowd made
us feel grateful when we were allowed to proceed after our license number
had been taken down.
We had driven for thirty-five minutes. Perhaps we had gone five kilometers
around a little district in the city's center. Our goal was actually the
center of the old city where panzer tanks continued to be stationed, but
it was impossible to get through. The skirmishes continued in every part
of the city. It felt wonderful when we turned into the Swedish Embassy's
police-guarded gates again. [67 (p.10, col. 4)/59 (p.1, col. 3)]
From DN's correspondent Agne Hamrin
BUDAPEST, Thursday
Large Russian armored units rolled in today from the borders of both Rumania in the south and Russia in the east, and a ring of iron was formed around the capital just as the revolt seemed a definite success.
Complete panic broke out in Budapest. The communist-dominated Premier
Imre Nagy tonight forwarded a dramatic appeal to the Soviet President Marshal
Voroshilov in a last resort to halt the Russian advancement.
He urged Voroshilov to pick the time and place [59 (p.1, col. 3)/68 (p.
11, col. 4)] for negotiations of withdrawal of the Soviet troops "as
soon as possible," and he appealed to the Soviet leaders to order
an immediate halt to the invading Russian forces.
The Russian armored divisions are rolling toward Budapest in an effort to force Nagy's government to rescind the Hungarian withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, which gives away the Russian military situation in Europe.
In an attempt to influence world opinion Nagy proclaimed Hungary as
a neutral state and requested the guarantee of the UN and the four great
powers of her neutrality.
"Take up the Hungarian question in the Security Council," he
appealed in a telegram to the UN. After agitated discussions with Russian
Ambassador Andropov while Russian units crossed the boundaries, Nagy declared
that Hungary had left the Warsaw Pact, the communist military union which
had formally motivated the Russian divisions' location in Hungary. A Russian
ultimatum that the notice should be revoked was reported later in the day.
DN's foreign correspondent late on Thursday had a conversation with the
men closest to Nagy in the communist government's headquarters in Parliament
House. Both Nagy and Zoltan Tildy had been gripped by panic, they explained.
"Tell the whole world that Hungary now seems to stand on the brink
of complete annihilation," explained Nagy's adjutant. "We have
received reports that mighty Russian columns of troops are marching across
the country's borders. A report was recently brought to us that eight hundred
Russian tanks are swarming into the country from Rumania. They are just
now crossing the Peipus [?] River and are using a temporary pontoon bridge.
"Even from the east, from Russia itself, stream the Russian columns
in an endless forward flow to the Hungarian border.
"We shall fight to the last life but are fully aware that the Russians
are on their way to eradicate us. We shall fight from village to village,
from house to house with the heroism born of desperation. Hungary is ours.
They may rather take our lives before our country."
Late on Thursday night unsubstantiated reports came from Budapest that
the city was entirely surrounded by Russian panzer units. There still remained
a few small gaps in the Russian iron chain- the only breathing space for
the city of a million people.
Dramatic meeting
Nagy demanded on Thursday morning that the Russian Ambassador in Budapest,
Andropov, should present himself before the Hungarian government in the
Parliament Building's cabinet room. Nagy opened the meeting by declaring
that the Hungarian government had decided to withdraw its membership in
the Warsaw Pact. That should certainly imply that all Russian troops would
have to leave Hungarian territory. The question of the Soviet troops' evacuation
of Hungary would not be solved with a lesser action than Hungary's withdrawal
from its [col. 4/col. 5] obligations in opposition to the Warsaw Pact.
This means that the Soviet Union automatically has the right to station
a certain number of troops on Hungarian ground, a privilege which was not
affected by those Russian promises of wanting to leave Hungary.
The meeting with the Soviet Ambassador was broken off, and when it was
again resumed a little later in the morning, the Hungarian government had
received information that Russian troops had pushed into Hungary across
the Rumanian border -among other ways on pontoon bridges over the river
boundary between Hungary and Rumania. President Nagy demanded that the
Russian Ambassador explain this action from Moscow.
During the hours-long discussion in the cabinet room the Hungarian government
now fought with the Russian Ambassador over Hungary's remaining or not
remaining in the Warsaw Pact. It appeared as if Moscow had demanded that
Hungary withdraw her statements on the Warsaw Pact. But the government
would not be swayed in its decision, and in a dramatic radio speech on
Thursday evening Nagy revealed that the Budapest government had withdrawn
from the Warsaw Pact and had declared her neutrality. The government has
even called upon the four great powers, the U.S.A., the Soviet Union, England,
and France, to guarantee Hungary's neutrality. A similar petition has been
sent to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold.
Hungary has requested that the UN immediately take up the question before
the Security Council.
All foreign embassies and legations in Budapest received official notification
of Hungary's decision.
"Help us, help us!"
The government's meeting lasted until 9:00 p.m. on Thursday. In a tense
atmosphere officials declared the govern ment's decision. Tears stood in
their eyes. In General Malterer's headquarters, officers told me that now
it was a matter of concern for Hungary's existence. Will the [col. 5/col.
6] world help us? If the Russian threat is serious, will they crush us?
We have been victorious over 20,000 Russian troops and one hundred tanks
in Budapest, but we cannot hold out alone against the Russian panzer armies.
Help us, help us, they said.
Calm before the storm
Budapest was enveloped in a new storm of panic in the wake of the approaching
Russian panzers, and rumor had the Hungarian capital on Thursday for the
first time in nine days presenting a picture of relative calm. No volleys
of bullets were heard any longer, other than in the continued merciless
search for the secret hiding places of the comniunist police. And many
grocery stores were again open. But other shops, industries, and means
of communication still lay closed down.
The city was bathed in sunshine and crowds of people took the chance once
more of going out in the streets and leaving their hiding places from the
most severe days of the revolt. City dwellers streamed through the city
on a quest for something to ea t-searching after lost goods or trying to
find lost relatives. Of the Russian tanks, only a few charred wrecks were
glimpsed; the remainder had the day before completed their evacuation -and
now suddenly they were expected to return in a new and more severe invasion.
But during the day young revolutionaries streamed through the streets singing
and shouting, "Freedom is here!" [68 (p. 11, col. 61/67 (p.10,
col. 5)]
From DN's Foreign Correspondent, Bertif Tornberg
BUDAPEST, Thursday
The fourteen resident Swedes in Budapest, thirteen at the Embassy and the
sixty-five-year-old Anna Sjoblom, who has lived in this revolt-torn city
since her youth and refuses to leave it, had at least as late as Thursday
afternoon withstood the direct attacks on the city.
The three-story stone building which lies on the edge of the Staatspark
not far from the former Stalinplatz houses all the employees and some Hungarian
servants and has the entire time been accorded the greatest respect. Everything
having to do with Sweden has been met with an unbelievable enthusiasm and
friendliness in spite of the terror and desperation, and the Hungarian
police, who have been stationed outside the gates since the revolution
began, have seen to it that crowds have never been allowed to collect there.
In the last few days even the Legation has felt the lack of food. Stores
had begun to diminish last week, and one became as saving as possible.
A little contribution to their stores was received on Wednesday when DN's
expedition arrived with medical supplies, bringing several packets of food
which their colleagues at the Viennese Embassy had gathered.
"We must stay indoors as much as possible -to go out on the streets
where machine gun blasts are heard at regular intervals and stray bullets
whistle would be foolish in the present situation," said Embassy chief
Stig Rynell, who has his wife and three youngest [col. 5/col. 6] children
with him at the Legation. Two more infants are also in the villa -they
belong to Rune Ek, and he and his wife Marianne were strongly tempted to
send their children home on the DN plane, but they refrained in the hope
that the situation in this part of the city would not become threatening.
Lord Sigvard Kruuse of Verchou, who lives in the house with his wife Emy,
has during the entire length of the revolt had his mother with him, Lady
Frida Kruuse of Verchou.
She came down for a short visit immediately before the revolt broke out
and illness delayed her return until all connections were severed.
The DN plane, the only civil airplane which hitherto had received the rebel
government's permission to land in Hungary became a possible means of transport.
There is one more Swede to be found in the Legation -Margareta Klingspor,
a clerk.
Besides the residents there are also some Swedish journalists -how many
it is impossible to say for sure. In addition, Dr. Otto Galambos from Gothenburg,
a Swedish citizen but born in Hungary, is at the moment in the city with
his parents.
The Social Democratic party's re-elected leader, Anna Kethly, has left
for Vienna to take part in a meeting with the Socialistic International
Bureau, to discuss the new situation which has arisen in eastern Europe.
According to Budapest radio, it is the first time in nine years that
the Hungarian Social Democratic party has had contact with other lands'
Social Democrats. [67 (p.10, col. 6)/117 (p.1, col. 7)]
BUDAPEST, Nov. 1
(UP)-The coalition government of Nagy today sent a delegation headed by
Zoltan Tildy to confer with Cardinal Mindszenty. The latter received the
delegation in his palace after recording an address to the nation in which
he begged for the re-establishment of peace.
It is said by informative [col. 7/col. 8] palace sources that Mindszenty
declared to the delegation that he was trying to form a Christian democratic
party that would have representation in the cabinet, and that he could
not think of supporting the present government if this were not realized.
It is Mindszenty's purpose, according to informants, that such a party
would include all Christians, in other words, Protestants as well as Catholics.
It is believed that the former are no more than 20 per cent of the population
of the country, while Catholics are about 65 per cent.
The Cardinal also indicated that he was disposed to accept a coalition
government which would include the "Hungarian Tito Communists."
When asked by the United Press correspondent if he would personally accept
an office in a future government, the prelate limited himself to answering,
"Perhaps." [117 (p. 1, col. 8)]
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Richard Lettis: The Hungarian Revolt |