Modern History Sourcebook:
Sixteen Political, Economic, and Ideological Points, Budapest, October 22, 1956
RESOLUTION ADOPTED AT PLENARY MEETING OF THE BUILDING INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGY
UNIVERSITY'
Students of Budapest!The following resolution was born on 22 October 1956, at the dawn of a new
period in Hungarian history, in the Hall of the Building Industry Technological University
as a result of the spontaneous movement of several thousand of the Hungarian youth who
love their Fatherland:(1) We demand the immediate withdrawal of all Soviet troops in accordance with the
provisions of the Peace Treaty.(2) We demand the election of new leaders in the Hungarian Workers' Party on the low,
medium and high levels by secret ballot from the ranks upwards. These leaders should
convene the Party Congress within the shortest possible time and should elect a new
central body of leaders.(3) The Government should be reconstituted under the leadership of Comrade Imre Nagy;
all criminal leaders of the Stalinist-Rdkosi era should be relieved of their posts at
once.(4) We demand a public trial in the criminal case of Milidly Farkas and his
accomplices. Mdty-ds Rdkosi, who is primarily responsible for all the crimes of the recent
past and for the ruin of this country, should be brought home and brought before a
People's Court of judgment.(5) We demand general elections in this country, with universal suffrage, secret
ballot and the participation of several Parties for the purpose of electing a new National
Assembly. We demand that the workers should have the right to strike.(6) We demand a re-examination and re-adjustment of Hungarian-Sovict and
Hungarian-Yugoslav political, economic and intellectual relations on the basis of complete
political and economic equality and of non~intervention in each other's internal affairs.(7) We demand the re-organization of the entire economic life of Hungary, with the
assistance of specialists. Our whole economic system based on planned economy should be
re-examined with an eve to Hungarian conditions and to the vital interests of the
Hungarian people.(8) Our foreign trade agreements and the real figures in respect of reparations
that can never be paid should be made public. We demand frank and sincere information
concerning the country's uranium deposits, their exploitation and the Russian concession.
We demand that Hungary should have the right to sell the uranium ore freely at world
market prices in exchange for hard currency.(9) We demand the complete revision of norms in industry and an urgent and
radical adjustment of wages to meet the demands of workers and intellectuals. We demand
that minimum living wages for workers should be fixed.(10) We demand that the delivery system should be placed on a new basis and that
produce should be used rationally. We demand equal treat ment of peasants farming
individually.(11) We demand the re-examination of all political and economic trials by independent
courts and the release and rehabilitation of innocent persons. We demand the immediate
repatriation of prisoners-of-war and of civilians deported to the Soviet Union, including
prisoners who have been condemned beyond the frontiers of Hungary.(12) We demand complete freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of the Press and a
free Radio, as well as a new daily newspaper of large circulation for the MEFESZ [League
of Hungarian University and College Student Associations] organization. We demand that the
existing 'screening material' should be made public and destroyed.(13) We demand that the Stalin statue-the symbol of Stalinist tyranny and political
oppression-should be removed as quickly as possible and that a memorial worthy of the
freedom fighters and martyrs of 1848-49 should be erected on its site.(14) In place of the existing coat of arms, which is foreign to the Hungarian
people, we wish the re-introduction of the old Hungarian Kossuth arms. We demand for the
Hungarian Army new uniforms worthy of our national traditions. We demand that 15 March
should be a national holiday and a non~working day and that 6 October should be a
day of national mourning and a school holiday..(15) The youth of the Technological University of Budapest unanimously express
their complete solidarity with the Polish and Warsaw workers and youth in connexion with
the Polish national independence movement.(16) The students of the Building Industry Technological University will organize local
units of MEFESZ as quickly as possible, and have resolved to convene a Youth Parliament in
Budapest for the 27th of this month (Saturday) at which the entire youth of this country
will be represented by their delegates. The students of the Technological University and
of the various other Universities will gather in the Gorkij Fasor before the Writers'
Union Headquarters tomorrow, the 23rd. of this month, at 2.30 P.m., whence they will
proceed to the Pálffy Tér (Bern Ter) to the Bern statue, on which they will lay wreaths
in sign of their sympathy with the Polish freedom movement. The workers of the factories
are invited to join in this procession.
Source:From Report of the Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary, UN General
Assembly, Official Records: Eleventh Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/3592) p. 69.
This text is part of the Internet
Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and
copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright.
Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational
purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No
permission is granted for commercial use of the Sourcebook.
© Paul Halsall, November 1998
halsall@fordham.edu
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 20 January 2021 [CV]
|