Mr. Speaker, a few days ago, President Bush traveled to Hungary to participate in events marking the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising. I commend the President for making this trip and for recognizing the sacrifices made on the streets of Budapest in the name of liberty and justice.
Fifty years ago, at the height of the Cold War, Central Europe was a prisoner, and Moscow was its jailer. Confronted with overwhelming Soviet domination, the Hungarian response was to reaffirm the core values of democracy: individual freedom and national independence.
On October 23, 1956, these two powerful forces, tyrannical communism and the principles of democracy, met and clashed in the middle of Europe. Within the Soviet Empire, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution presented an alternative to a deceptively dangerous idea, the idea that the best solution to a war-ravaged world is to eliminate political, cultural, religious, economic and national differences by imposing a single, universal “truth.” This idea represented the incontestable dogma of communism.
At the heart of the clash was Imre Nagy who assumed the post of Prime Minister even announced Hungary’s intention to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. But, when the Soviet Union crushed Hungary’s bid for freedom during those day in October, Imre Nagy and his colleagues were arrested, convicted in secret trials, and eventually executed as “traitors” on June 16, 1958. To prevent the inevitable expressions of support for Nagy and what he stood for, he and the others executed with him were buried by the Moscow-backed regime in Budapest in unmarked graves.
The significance of his and countless other Hungarians’ sacrifice is etched onto the political map of the 21st century and echoed in the recent developments throughout the world. As President Bush observed, “the lesson of the Hungarian experience is clear: liberty can be delayed, but it cannot be denied.” That is the real moral of the events of 1956 and the subsequent human sacrifices of Imre Nagy and his fellow freedom fighters.
As we remember and mourn those who gave their lives defending freedom those fifty years ago, I would like especially to remember the towering courage of a reluctant hero and a great Hungarian patriot, Imre Nagy.
