Instead of listening to music in the morning, I’ve been turning on the TV to see the latest news from Ukraine. The war is compelling: horrifying and inspiring at the same time. Everyone hopes and prays for the triumph of good over evil, but down deep we’re afraid it will end badly. Because we’ve seen this movie before: Russian tanks rolling into Chechnya in the 1990s, Prague in 1968 and Budapest in 1956.
The 1956 Hungarian revolution sticks in my mind because I had a personal connection: a family of cousins in Budapest. My grandparents emigrated to Chicago from Hungary around 1900. My mother’s first language was Hungarian, and over the years she collected relatives and tracked down estranged kinfolk.
At some point she got in touch with distant cousins in Budapest, a family with four sons, and sent them packages of food and clothing. It was not until after my mother died that I learned that she also sent needed medicine that was unavailable in Hungary. When I was in high school I exchanged letters with the two younger sons, who were about my age and were learning English.
In 1956 Hungary was a satellite of an expanding Soviet Union. No one was under the illusion that any country behind the Iron Curtain was an independent nation. After years of repression and growing unrest, widespread protests escalated and briefly replaced the Stalinist government of Hungary with a more benign Communist regime. The Soviets retaliated by sending Russian troops.
As the Cold War was heating up, all the rest of the world could do was watch in horror as Hungarian teenagers lobbed Molotov cocktails at Russian tanks and refugees streamed across the border. United Nations resolutions and condemnations from Western leaders had no impact on what was effectively an internal Soviet dispute in which intervention could trigger nuclear war.
One of the most prominent calls for support for Hungarian refugees came from Elvis Presley. At the height of his popularity, he used his headline appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show to call attention to Hungary’s plight and solicit Red Cross aid contributions. In 2011 the Hungarians honored Elvis posthumously by making him an honorary citizen of Budapest and naming a street for him.
Happily, my cousins survived the uprising and its aftermath. The two oldest sons fought the Russians and fled the country. Years later I got to know one cousin who had emigrated to Canada. I visited him and his wife in Vancouver and they visited me in Albuquerque a few years ago. I follow the Facebook posts (in Hungarian, unfortunately) of another cousin who remained in Hungary.
The Hungarian revolution solidified the Cold War as a stalemate that lasted for decades. The Russian invasion of Ukraine promises to result in another geopolitcal reset one way or another. All we can do is watch in hope and horror, contribute to the many relief efforts that are emerging and urge our leaders to keep sending weapons. And remember the Hungarians and Elvis.
Russian tanks and Elvis
Instead of listening to music in the morning, I’ve been turning on the TV to see the latest news from Ukraine. The war is compelling: horrifying and inspiring at the same time. Everyone hopes and prays for the triumph of good over evil, but down deep we’re afraid it will end badly. Because we’ve seen this movie before: Russian tanks rolling into Chechnya in the 1990s, Prague in 1968 and Budapest in 1956.
The 1956 Hungarian revolution sticks in my mind because I had a personal connection: a family of cousins in Budapest. My grandparents emigrated to Chicago from Hungary around 1900. My mother’s first language was Hungarian, and over the years she collected relatives and tracked down estranged kinfolk.
At some point she got in touch with distant cousins in Budapest, a family with four sons, and sent them packages of food and clothing. It was not until after my mother died that I learned that she also sent needed medicine that was unavailable in Hungary. When I was in high school I exchanged letters with the two younger sons, who were about my age and were learning English.
In 1956 Hungary was a satellite of an expanding Soviet Union. No one was under the illusion that any country behind the Iron Curtain was an independent nation. After years of repression and growing unrest, widespread protests escalated and briefly replaced the Stalinist government of Hungary with a more benign Communist regime. The Soviets retaliated by sending Russian troops.
As the Cold War was heating up, all the rest of the world could do was watch in horror as Hungarian teenagers lobbed Molotov cocktails at Russian tanks and refugees streamed across the border. United Nations resolutions and condemnations from Western leaders had no impact on what was effectively an internal Soviet dispute in which intervention could trigger nuclear war.
One of the most prominent calls for support for Hungarian refugees came from Elvis Presley. At the height of his popularity, he used his headline appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show to call attention to Hungary’s plight and solicit Red Cross aid contributions. In 2011 the Hungarians honored Elvis posthumously by making him an honorary citizen of Budapest and naming a street for him.
Happily, my cousins survived the uprising and its aftermath. The two oldest sons fought the Russians and fled the country. Years later I got to know one cousin who had emigrated to Canada. I visited him and his wife in Vancouver and they visited me in Albuquerque a few years ago. I follow the Facebook posts (in Hungarian, unfortunately) of another cousin who remained in Hungary.
The Hungarian revolution solidified the Cold War as a stalemate that lasted for decades. The Russian invasion of Ukraine promises to result in another geopolitcal reset one way or another. All we can do is watch in hope and horror, contribute to the many relief efforts that are emerging and urge our leaders to keep sending weapons. And remember the Hungarians and Elvis.
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