There are a couple of 1956 freedom fighters and groups of fighters who became well-known, either by their acts, their martyr deaths, or by archived photographs appearing in international newspapers or domestic publications. Some were even painted on firewalls of the capital.
The Széna square group of freedom fighters and the Pest lads are all well-known players of 1956, just like the commander of one of the groups, ‘Uncle Szabó,’ a 59-year-old truck driver and World War I corporal, or Péter Mansfeld, the youngest victim of the 1956 revolution, who was executed just 11 days after his 18th birthday. However, the archived photographs often show unknown faces of the uprising while detonating a tank, dismantling Soviet statues, or just posing with their weapons preparing for the fight for their freedom.
Thus, to mark the days of the 1956 uprising against Soviet rule, we have collected archived photographs taken at the time of the freedom fights on Budapest streets, which showcase the known and unknown heroes of 1956. The gallery was compiled used by the digital photography archive Fortepan.
Fortepan/Hajnal Gödér
the fallen Osztapenko statue at the junction of Budaörsi út – Balatoni út. (Fortepan/Mária Rédei)
Grand Boulevard, with a burnt-out tank. To the right, József körút number 85. (Fortepan/György Ádám)
the dissection of the demolished Liberation Monument (Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl). This is the “Liberating Soviet Soldier” part of the monument. (Fortepan/Ádám Klausz)
the dissection of the demolished Liberation Monument (Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl). This is the “Liberating Soviet Soldier” part of the monument. (Fortepan/Ádám Klausz)
The gathering of the Wesselényi uprisers in the Royal Hotel (today’s Corinthia), also known as the Wolf group. (Fortepan/Spaarnestad Photo):
