A 70th Anniversary Documentary
On 23 October 1956, students marched through Budapest with a list of demands. By midnight, the Stalin statue was down, and shots had been fired at the radio station. Seventy years later, I walked the route of that first day with Judit of Memento Park.
We began at the Technical University, where students drew up the demands later known as the 16 points, cross the Danube three times, and end at the site of the Stalin statue, where only the boots were left on the plinth.
The First Day Film
The film was made with Judit of Memento Park, Budapest.
Camera: Jan Copher.
The unfolding of the event on the first day
- Műegyetem (Technical University), Buda
On 22 October 1956, students drew up their demands, later known as the 16 points. The next day, the march started here. - Petőfi tér, the Petőfi statue, Pest
Other students and workers gathered at the statue of Sándor Petőfi, poet of the 1848 revolution. By most accounts, the actor Imre Sinkovits recited the National Song here. - Bem tér, the Bem statue, Buda
All the participants met at the statue of General Bem, a Pole who fought for Hungary in 1848. - Imre Nagy statue, Jászai Mari tér, Pest
The statue was not there in 1956. The statue of the revolution’s prime minister stood beside Parliament from 1996 until December 2018. It now stands at the end of Margit híd, the bridge the crowd crossed on its way to Parliament. - Kossuth Lajos tér, Parliament, Pest
Thousands filled the square, waiting for Nagy. When he arrived around 9:00 pm, he opened with “Comrades,” and the crowd booed. It became a defining moment in his career. - Magyar Rádió, Bródy Sándor utca, Pest
While waiting for Imre Nagy to arrive at Parliament, part of the crowd walked to the radio station. Here they broadcast their demands. That evening, shots were fired from the building. - Ötvenhatosok tere, site of the Stalin statue, Pest
Later that day, the crowd pulled the statue down, and only the boots remained on the plinth. The memorial that stands there today was unveiled in 2006, on the fiftieth anniversary.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Watch the Film
The film is now on YouTube: The First Day Film
My thanks to Judit of Memento Park, who spent five hours walking me through a single day, and to Jan Copher behind the camera.
If your family left Hungary after 1956, or stayed, where were they on 23 October? I’d love to hear from you!