50th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution: The Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.

Search Search WWW Search AHF

10/20/2006 - The American Hungarian Federation commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at Washington, D.C.’s Cosmos Club and recognizes outstanding Hungarian Americans.

The American Hungarian Federation honored the memory of the heroes of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, at a gala dinner at the prestigious Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C., on October 20th. Close to 150 Federation members, American Hungarians, their American friends and relatives attended the dinner. Former Senator Joseph Tydings gave the keynote address. During the ceremony, President Bush's Proclamation about the 1956 Revolt was read, as well as Viktor Orban's letter addressed to American Hungarians (see below for more). Seven American Hungarians received the Federation's "Michael Kovats Medal of Freedom Award" in recognition of their efforts on behalf of Hungarian causes.

1956 was the first tear in the iron curtain and a momentous historical event with broad implications lasting through today. As the world watched, Hungarians of all walks of life rose up, fought the occupiers against overwhelming odds, and left a chink in the Soviet empire that ultimately contributed to the events of 1989 and 1990.

Remembering 1956

With the “Strolling Strings” providing music, the program opened with a cocktail reception and a presentation of Walter Cronkite’s stirring report, “Hungary in Revolt.” With the tone set, AHF President Istvan Fedor officially opened the event and welcomed guests that included Maestro Leonard Slatkin, Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra; Hungarian Ambassador Andras Simonyi; Francis Gary Powers, President and Founder of the Cold War Museum; Alex Kingsbury of the US News and World Report; and diplomatic representatives from the Polish and Austrian Embassies.

Master of Ceremonies, Frank Koszorús, Jr.,AHF Co-President and Director of Public Affairs, remarked that the implications of 1956 are with us today and emphasizing the need to continue to be vigilant against the curtailment of democracy:

"Were the sacrifices of that incredibly brave generation in vain? Of course not! But in order to strengthen the democracy and safeguard the freedoms the 1956 heroes fought and died for, today’s generation – the beneficiary of these freedoms -- must be vigilant and guard against even the slightest curtailment of democracy or infringement of fundamental human rights. The heroes of 1956 deserve nothing less." [download remarks]

The keynote speaker was Senator Joseph Tydings who reminded guests that the friendship between the United States and Hungary goes back to the very beginnings of US history.

“The Hussar Col. Michael Kovats offered his sword to Benjamin Franklin, trained the first US Light Cavalry, and died in battle against the British in 1779. It was the “best cavalry the rebels ever had” noted the British.” He went on to comment on current events saying that the government of Hungary "owes it to the heroes of 1956 that helped win the rights they enjoy today to govern with honesty and integrity."

Hungarian Ambassador, Andras Simonyi, addressed guests, honored the memory of "a turning pijt in teh 20th century," shared hs personal memories as a child, and thanked the American Hungarian Federation for its work in commemorating the revolution

Hungarian Ambassador, Andras Simonyi, addressed guests, honored the memory of this "turning point in the 20th century," shared his personal memories as a child, and thanked the American Hungarian Federation for its work its efforts at ensuring that

"1956 will be forgotten." After these rememberances, AHF President Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Imre Bertalan, provided the invocation in Memory of the Fallen.

One of AHF's major efforts in 2006 was a grassroots campaign to pass resolutions in US State houses in honor of 1956. US Congress had earlier passed a similar resolution. The Honorable Mr. Peter Ujvagi, a Ohio State Legislator who spearheaded the AHF resolution in Ohio, presented excerpts from that resolution honoring the sacrifices and congratulating the American Hungarian Federation on it's 100th anniversary:

“To recognize the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, the sacrifices of the Hungarian Freedom Fighters, the contribitions that Hungarian-Americans have made to Ohio and America, and the one hundreth anniversary of the American Hungarian Federation, and to urge all Ohioans to honor and commemorate the contributions of Hungarian-Americans."

Zoltán Bagdy, AHF controller, read excerpts from a letter from President George Bush honoring the 1956 Freedom Fighters. An excerpt from President Bush's letter reads:

“The story of Hungarian democracy represents the triumph of liberty over tyranny. In the fall of 1956, the Hungarian people demanded change, and tens of thousands of students, workers, and other citizens bravely marched through the streets to call for freedom. Though Soviet tanks brutally crushed the Hungarian uprising, the thirst for freedom lived on, and in 1989 Hungary became the first communist nation in Europe to make the transition to democracy. The lesson of the Hungarian experience is clear: liberty can be delayed, but it cannot be denied.”

Hungary's Fidesz party leader, Viktor Orban, sent an open letter to Hungarian Americans [read Orban letter] to which AHF President Istvan Fedor would later respond [read Fedor response].

Recognizing outstanding Americans: The Colonel Commandant Michael Kovats Medal of Freedom

AHF Executive Committee Chairman introduced the Col. Commandant Michael Kovats Medal of Freedom, AHF's highest award. The award was established to recognize outstanding lifetime achievements, extraordinary contributions to freedom and democracy, and for the support and preservation of Hungarian society and culture. AHF's Asst. Treasurer, Atilla Kocsis, and Erika Fedor, National Secretary, presented the award to the 2006 recipients:

2006 Recipients
(see previous AHF award recipients)

Maj. General Robert Ivany, 2006 recipient of The Colonel Commandant Michael Kovats Medal of Freedom from the American Hungarian Federation Maj. General Robert Ivany, Ph. D.

Dr. Iványi and his family left Hungary after WWII and emigrated to the United States. A distinguished graduate of West Point, Dr. Ivanyi would go on to serve 34 years and rise to the rank of Major General. As an Army Cavalry Officer, he would lead troops on Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam where he was wounded in action and decorated for valor. He presided over the prestigious US Army War College and was the first senior military officer invited to Hungary to contribute to democratization of their defense establishment. He has served in a number of unique positions from Army Aide to the President to Asst. Professor and football coach West Point.

A recipient of many awards and expert in leadership development, Dr. Ivanyi was named President of Houston’s University of St. Thomas.

The Honorable Mary Mocháry

Mary Mochary graduated from Wellesley College in 1963 and the University of Chicago Law School in 1967. From 1971 to 1984, she practiced law in Montclair, New Jersey, in the firm of Mochary and Mochary, which later merged with the New York firm of Lane and Mittendorf. During this period, she was an active volunteer as president of the New Jersey Wellesley Club, on the board of the Whole Theater Company, and Foundation of the Archdiocese of Newark.

Ms. Mochary entered local politics in 1980 when she was elected mayor of Montclair. In 1984, she won the Republican primary in New Jersey and ran against incumbent Bill Bradley for the United States Senate. After losing her bid for the U.S. Senate, Ms. Mochary was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be Deputy Legal Advisor at the U.S. Department of State. She remained at the State Department until 1993 as a foreign policy expert and negotiator on property issues. In 1993, Ms. Mochary returned to private life. She is currently involved with many not-for-profit organizations, including the Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera.

The Honorable Anikó Gaal-Schott

Aniko escaped from Hungary as a child with her parents during the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Aniko grew up in Canada, where she received a degree in biochemistry and then went on to study dentistry at Montreal's McGill University. She lived and traveled abroad initially with the U.S. Foreign Service then later as Vice President of the famed Garfinckle's Stores of Washington D.C. Aniko is a professional artist with numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally. The recipient of numerous awards including:

the National Order of the Southern Cross from Brazil
the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Republic of Hungary for her significant contributions to promote hungary's name and for her work in 1994 in helping Hungary with refugees from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia

Most recently, she was actively involved in promoting the inclusion of hungary into NATO. In 2003 president bush appointed her to serve on his "Cultural Property Advisory Committee," a post she holds to present.

The Honorable Péter S. Ujvági

Fled Hungary on Christmas Eve 1956 at the age of 7. Arrived in the US in June 1957. Attended the University of Toledo and continues to live in an old Hungarian neighborhood of East Toledo. Elected as City Councilman for 20 years, President of City Council and currently only Hungarian in the Ohio State Legislature. Served in the President’s commission on neighborhoods. Co-founder National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee. Member of the official United State delegation to the funeral of Hungarian Prime Minister Antal Jozsef. A founder and former President of the Hungarian American Coalition.

Dr. Paul Julius Szilágyi

Fought in the Ulloi/Prater Ut area as a “Pesti Srac” (Boys from Pest) during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Despite high qualifying marks, he was refused entry to university as an “enemy of the state” for nothing more than his family name. He would hone is chemistry skills at Chinoin, but fled Hungary on November 22, 1956. Received scholarship through the International Rescue Committee to Colorado College. Went to Case-Western Reserve in Cleveland to become the only Hungarian-American to receive his Ph.D. from Hungarian Nobel Prize winner George Olah. A holder of patents for biomedical devices and an expert in the field of cyanoacrylates. Dr. Szilagyi was a professor at the University of Miami.

Dr. Imre “Jimmy” László Tóth

Dr. Emery Imre Toth is the last surviving Secretary of the Revolutionary Committee for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Imre Nagy Government.” Dr. Emery Imre Toth is a Motion Picture/Video Producer-Director with national and international reputation. Produced over 250 documentary and feature film projects. Received 38 National and International Awards for Excellence. Lifetime and Honorary Member of the CINE International Film Festival's Board of Directors. He was elected Co-President of the American Hungarian Federation in 2006. Read more about him on [featured members]

Dr. János Horváth, a distinguished emeritus professor of economics, has been a Member of the Hungarian Parliament since 1998, in the ranks of the FIDESZ-Hungarian Civic Party.

He first entered public life as a university student via the Hungarian Independence Movement against Hitler and the Nazis. In December 1944 he was arrested and cruelly interrogated by the Hungarian branch of the Nazis, the Arrow Cross, and was saved from execution by the advance of the Soviet army into Budapest. A few years later he was again imprisoned, this time by the Soviet imposed Communist dictatorship. Meanwhile he had been elected Member of the Hungarian Parliament in 1945, where he served until his arrest and imprisonment in 1947. He became a political leader in the 1956 Revolution against the Soviet occupation and communist dictatorship. After the Soviet military intervention he gained refuge with UN in New York and settled in his new home, the US. He earned a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University and became one of the leading experts of grants economics, an area of study of unilateral transfers in the economy with particular relevance for intergovernmental economics, intra-family resource allocation, and nonprofit service provision. He was active in public life during his 41 years in the USA, e.g. he was the Chairman of Economic Advisers of Indiana Governor Edgar Whitcomb in 1970s when he also served as the head of the Department of Economics at Butler University. In 1998 he repatriated to Hungary and was elected to the Parliament a second time, and in 2002 he was reelected. As a lawmaker his focus is political economy and world affairs. [read more] about him and the award event.

Professor Péter Hargitai

Prof. Hargitai wrote his first poem during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, when he was nine years old. His family fled after the Hungarian Revolution. He has published several books and award-winning translations from Hungarian literature for which he was awarded the Pro Cultura Hungarica medal from the Republic of Hungary. He has taught at several American universities including the University of Miami, the University of Massachusetts, and Florida International University where he is currently on the English faculty. His most recent work, "Daughter of the Revolution," a story of a brave freedom fighter - a 14 year-old girl – co-published by AHF to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the ill-fated Revolution. Read more about him on [featured members]

Mr. Sándor Taraszovics (Posthumous)

Sándor Taraszovics and his technician colleague tapped into the communications between the Hungarian Communist Party and Moscow. He reported the intercepts to Budapest, which reached Imre Nagy, the Prime Minister. On November 4. when the shooting phase of the undeclared war was launched by the USSR against Hungary, Sandor and his companion destroyed important elements of the communication equipment, thereby disrupting this vital connection between Moscow and Budapest. Sandor was also elected to the Workers Council in Nyiregyhaza during the Revolution, and his brother was killed in the fighting. Sandor had to flee Hungary to save his life.

Sandor joined Gen. Bela Kiraly (fellow Kovats Award recipient) in New York and became one of the founding members of the Hungarian Freedom Fighter-National Guard Federation. Within this organization Sandor participated in the work with the UN. General Assembly's Committee of Five's investigation of the case of the Hungarian Revolution. For years Sandor worked hard in disseminating useful information about 1956, pointing out the lies the Soviet agents spread about 56'; he also helped Hungarian refugees to find their place in America.

Sandor participated in the founding of the "Atlantic Studies on Society in Change" an English language book series, distributed by Columbia University Press world wide. The series have been concentrating on the question of the Hungarian history and safeguards the good reputation of '56. Sandor contributed an essay on "American Peace Plans and Shaping of Hungary's Post World War I. Borders" to volume No. 15. Béla K. Király Peter Pastor and Ivan Sanders (editors) War and Society in East Central Europe vol. VI. Essays on World WarI: Total War and Peacemaking, A Case Study on Trianon. New York: 1982. pp. 227-254. He was a member and officer of the American Hungarian Federation and other similar organizations.

Giving Thanks to to a "Great Generation"

AHF's Executive Chairman, Bryan Dawson-Szilagyi gave closing remarks:

"This is not only a night of remembrance, it is an evening of thanks. We are here to thank both those that braved communist bullets and those that braved an uncertain future leaving everything behind only to start again. AHF also thanks all those that worked so hard to make this event possible"

Dawson-Szilagyi asked those that took up arms against the communist regime to stand and be recognized. He then asked all guests who fled Hungary to stand. He continued:

"We thank the Embassy of Poland for again showing solidarity with Hungary as it has for centuries and for producing the film all of you will take home tonight, "Poznan to Budapest," the gripping story about the birth of unrest in Poland to the brutal hanging of Peter Mansfeld, a 16-yearold boy-turned-1956 freedom fighter after the Soviets crushed the Hungarian revolt. We thank the Austrian Embassy for their support and remember the open arms and help it gave to the thousands fleeing communist brutality.

Why Hungary? What is it about Hungarians that would give them the courage to rise up against such a powerful foe? To understand 1956, we must understand the Hungarian character. Hungarians are a fiercely independent people that for centuries rose up against foreign domination. A nation that spans over one thousand years cannot be understood in a short speech, but I hope to give you a taste of what it means to be a freedom-loving Hungarian. Democracy and the willingness to fight for it, is not a new phenomenon in Hungary…"

Dawson-Szilagyi would provide a historical perspective Hungarian resistence over the centuries. Long before Western Europe, Hungarians elected Kings, declared religious freedom, and fought repeatedly for independence, braving onslaught after onslaught from the East with little or no help from the West. Sadly, the West would again only watch in 1956.

"So why is 1956 important today?" The fierce political debate happening today [referring to the 2006 political crisis in Hungary] would not be possible without the sacrifices of 1956. He thanked all those that made the event possible and reminded everyone not to forget 1956. "1956 is an example for all of us. 1956 taught us honor, respect, and reminds us what it means to lose freedom and the terrible cost of regaining it. Today's leaders can learn a lot from this great generation of 1956-ers. We are Hungarians first, above party. We have a responsibility to each other. This is my challenge to next generation... it is my hope that the unity found in 1956 can be rekindled with us. Only in unity can we find strength. Remember Hungary! Most vagy Soha!” [download his remarks].

Subscribe Unsubscribe



Search Search WWW Search AHF Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution: The Cosmos Club Grand Ballroom, Washington, D.C., October 20, 2006