Infamous quote

“It is only with burning anger that we can speak of this attack by counter-revolutionary reactionary elements against the capital of our country, against our people's democratic order and the power of the working class.”


Hungarian Communist dictator János Kádár on the democratic Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Kádár was a life-long dedicated communist. He was also a Soviet puppet put into power right after the Hungarian Revolution to restore order and Soviet control of Hungary. Recriminations followed after Kádár was put into power. Tens of thousands of Hungarians were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and deported to the Soviet Union. In many of the cases, people were tried without evidence. It is also estimated that 350 people were executed.

Around 200,000 people fled Hungary fearing for their lives or simply to escape from the Communist regime. In a speech given on April 12, 1989, Kádár confessed to having played a role in the execution of Hungarian Revolution leader Imre Nagy, calling it his "own personal tragedy."

Editor's note: Sadly, after all of this, one can still hear some elderly Hungarians today recalling the good old "Goulash Communist" days of Kádár and living the good life.