Pepper and Eggs

51st anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution: A slightly modified recipe, but still the same old crap

As Hungary gets set to mark the 51st anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, it seems history will repeat itself -- almost. True, history rarely moves in a perfect circle; rather, it spirals toward some unknown destiny. Nevertheless, as the spiral seems to come full circle, we are often gripped by a feeling that somehow we have been here before.

Naturally, not everything is the same. What is foremost different this time is that there are no protesters in front of parliament chanting for the prime minister to step down. In many ways, it was the forced removal of these protesters in the early hours of the morning of October 23rd which sparked the day of upheaval last year.

Another important element that is missing is the absence of visiting dignitaries. Last year was the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, thus leaders and representatives from around the world attended the ceremonies. In order to keep away potential troublemakers, the police kept the public well away from the events, with snipers on the rooftops just in case. In essence, Hungarians were kept away from celebrating their own anniversary by a leader who himself, as an unrepentant communist, was (and to many still is) a representative of the former regime.

Since 2007 is not considered a threshold year, such pomp and pageantry will be absent from this October 23rd anniversary. Nevertheless, even though groups of visiting dignitaries won't be present, the authorities aren't taking any chances and have put up security fencing around certain areas. Crowds will be kept far back from the official ceremonies; the distance will be so far as to not allow any flying objects come near government officials. In other words, the authorities want to make sure that those who intend on pelting the prime minister and other officials with eggs and other forms of produce won't be able to.

Meanwhile, the main opposition party FIDESZ plans to hold a rally at the exact same place as they did last year. Some see this as a provocation of sorts as last year's rally served as a focal point for the police crackdown.

The police have already made plans to cordon off the entire inner city. Over ten thousand officers and some 100 CCTV cameras will help the authorities to monitor what's going on. In essence, a holiday that is supposed to celebrate the spirit of freedom and hope for the future is being commemorated under a climate of fear of the past.

Fascist Kids

Although some aspects to last year's demonstrations are missing, there are other, newer aspects which, depending on how circumstances unfold, may actually add fuel to the fire. Foremost among these is a huge controversy surrounding the statements of Socialist MP, Szofia Havas.

In an interview with the economic weekly HVG recently, Havas accused those who fought during the 1956 Revolution of being Arrow-Cross fascists, the same kind of people who had killed Jews in 1944. The statement created an uproar; Maria Wittner, an opposition MP and 1956 freedom fighter condemned to death by the former regime, warned Havas not to step out in public on October 23rd.

It should come as no surprise that Havas' statement has upset many people, not the least of which because she was categorically wrong. Many of the fighters during the 1956 Revolution were mere children -- some of them as young as 12. It's hard to see how these "fascists" were the same fascists which killed Jews as some of them were not even born at the time. Moreover, as the Jewish-Hungarian writer George Gabori mentions in his book "When Evils Were Most Free", many members of the Arrow Cross actually found refuge within the ranks of the communist militia. As a prisoner of both the Nazis (at Dachau) and later the Hungarian Communists, Gabori admits that his treatment was far worse at the hands of latter rather than the former.

Aside from the fact that Havas comes from the ruling Socialist Party -- a party which some feel changed little since 1989 when it was formally the Communist Party -- most people had not really heard of her before. Yet what makes her comments all the more substantial is that she happens to be the niece of former socialist Prime Minister Gyula Horn.

Gyula Horn is a highly controversial figure, both within Hungary and without. While the west generally considers him to have been a key player in helping to bring an end to the cold war, most Hungarians regard him as a traitor of sorts. Horn joined the Worker's Militia in late 1956 which aided Soviet troops in crushing the revolution, something he has refused to apologize for. What is more, last year on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the revolution, Horn gave an interview to the German weekly Die Welt in which he stated that he feels to this day what he did in 1956 was the right thing, and that he only helped to restore law and order.

What is important here is not only that Horn is related to Havas, but that Havas' father (Gyula Horn's older brother) was killed during the revolution in 1956. Although it's not exactly clear how he died, it's commonly accepted that the most likely cause was that a Soviet armored car accidentally killed him. Others, however, claim that he was killed by revolutionaries. Apparently, it's the latter reason why Horn joined the Worker's Militia; it's also the reason why his niece adopted such extremist views.

Coming on the heels of government scandals and an austerity program which has put the Socialist Party at its lowest level since the fall of communism, the Horn-Havas duo reinforces the claims of those on the right who maintain that the Socialist party merely changed names in 1989, and is in actuality the same party which had ruled Hungary for the previous forty years.

In order to salvage what can be saved of its tattered reputation, the extremist views of Havas were swiftly denounced by members of her own party, with the party's own 1956 committee taking the lead. They demanded an apology from Havas for insulting Hungarian society and the memory of those who died fighting for the revolution. In response, Havas demanded an apology from the committee herself, noting that she wasn't even aware of such a committee, viewing it as some sort of joke.

For those on the right, meanwhile, many feel exonerated. Their view that the Socialists are nothing more than wolves in sheep's clothing that changed their colors in 1989 when it became politically expedient appears to have been justified. As one observer pointed out, although members of her own party were quick to denounce her words, it's not the time it took to denounce them that people will recall, but that Havas voiced her offensive opinion at all, and the thought of whom else within the party hierarchy shares her opinion.

Propaganda Offensive

Despite this and a few other individual events which have flamed passions in the run-up to the October 23rd anniversary, most are not expecting some sort of large-scale protest. Indeed, if the weather is bad (as some forecasters are predicting) there will be few people in the streets, albeit there are many rallies and events planned. It goes without saying that what had helped both the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and the protests in 2006 were exceedingly mild October days.

Still, the authorities aren't putting their hopes on the weather and have already initiated a campaign intent on spreading fear and trepidation. In many ways, this propaganda campaign mirrors the one used last year. At the heart of this campaign is the view that extremists are set to cause trouble, so it's best for people to stay indoors -- or even leave Budapest altogether.

As with other holidays and anniversaries earlier this year (March 15th and September 18th), the authorities have now made it a tradition of warning the public ahead of time that extremist groups are getting ready to disturb events. As usual, there is little or no details of whom these extremists really are. So far this year, such warnings have proven to have been false; more trouble has been caused at football matches (where there are no warnings from the authorities of extremists plotting mayhem) than at any public demonstration.

Still, the authorities maintain they have information of extremist groups armed with eggs intent on disturbing the October 23rd ceremonies. This comes on the heels of a recent incident when the prime minister was pelted with eggs during a visit to a small town. Then riot police were used to break up the small crowd and four people were subsequently arrested.

This past week the propaganda offensive by the authorities was intensified as the state media broadcast images of riot police preparing for conflict by practicing maneuvers. The purpose of this was no doubt to scare people away from taking part in any demonstration by showing the level of violence that is being anticipated.

Yet for some Hungarians, such images have produced feelings of rage instead of fear. For them the images of fully armored riot police practicing paramilitary maneuvers is a form of sacrilege; the revolution in 1956 was a fight against police power and restrictions imposed by the state. Hence, instead than discouraging them from taking part in any of the planned rallies, such images have had the opposite effect, propelling some to make sure they are out on the streets.

In addition to the display of police power, the propaganda offensive of the authorities has also tried to make Budapest look like a city under siege. Last year, Socialist MP Ildiko Lendvai explicitly stated that foreigners and residents alike were "fleeing" Budapest in anticipation of violence, which had then turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. This year the warnings are more implicit. State television has reported that Budapest is deserted, reinforcing this with clips of empty hotel rooms. Likewise, the report added that there are few foreigners in the city, and that many locals have left for the countryside to take advantage of the long weekend at wellness centers and other resorts.

In addition to all this, the entire inner city of Budapest will be sealed off in conjunction with many other key points of the city, reinforcing the notion of a city under siege. Indeed, for those who live in the vicinity of the State Opera, where the prime minister will give a speech, the entire area will be closed to the public. Those who happen to live in the area and wish to go home must first show the proper identification, pass through a metal detector, and will then be escorted by police to their home. All this runs counter to the spirit of what is being celebrated.

Finally, in order to ally the concerns of those still left in Budapest and intent on attending one or more of the planned events, the police have promised not to use rubber bullets this time to break up any demonstrations. While this may appear to be a nice gesture on the part of the authorities, it betrays the brutal mentality which still exists within the minds of the police. Under normal circumstances, the police wouldn’t even have to say such a thing because they shouldn’t be armed with rubber bullets at all.

Moreover, the fact that the police have promised not to use rubber bullets is of little comfort to most. The authorities are still very well prepared with gallons of newly purchased pepper spray with which to face any egg throwing extremists they come across. Meanwhile, along with fully clad riot police practicing maneuvers, mounted police -- with razor sharp sabers clearly visible – also went through their own crowd dispersal routine. It's like something from Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell, the first part painting a perfect image of the Hungarian police and the environment of fear which they have created.

Whether October 23rd this year actually turns out to be a rerun of the events of last year is foremost up to the authorities. Indubitably there will be troublemakers around, however the question remains whether the mistakes of the past will be repeated, when the Hungarian police drove a small group of troublemakers into a large crowd of peaceful protesters (many claim intentionally), which were then subsequently attacked on all sides by excessive police force.

Yet even if the police don't provoke the crowds, or the weather intervenes in some way, the underlying problems remain, nonetheless. Unless these are properly addressed, tensions will continue to remain high and every holiday or anniversary will be the same -- the threat of extremists, excessive police preparations and restrictions, state media propaganda, etc. As graffiti from a building in Budapest aptly reads: "everyday is 56."