State Secretary Rejects Russian Denigration of the Events of 1956

In 1956, the Hungarian people rebelled against the communist dictatorship, this is a clear and obvious fact, not a matter for debate – this is how Tamás Menczer reacted to the news that a Russian history textbook claims that in 1956, rebellious radicals, former fascists, took up arms, reports Origo.hu.

The State Secretary for Bilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade sent the above reply in response to Origo‘s question about a Russian history book describing 1956 as a fascist uprising.

Any claim to the contrary is false. What happened is so clear that we will not open a debate with anyone about it,”

Menczer added.

As Magyar Nemzet reported the other day, the history textbook was written by Vladimir Medinsky, an adviser to President Putin, for 11th grade students. The book contains two paragraphs concerning the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, which was eventually crushed by Soviet troops.

In today’s Russia, children are now taught that “the Hungarian crisis was initiated through the actions of the Western secret services and the internal opposition they supported. The Soviet Union sent troops to Hungary and helped the Hungarian authorities to suppress the protests.”

The Russian textbook, illustrated with a photo of the toppled Stalin statue, portrays 1956 as a fascist uprising and calls the Soviet withdrawal from Hungary in 1990 a mistake.

Featured Image: Sándor Bauer/Fortepan