EXPOSIÇÃO COMEMORATIVA DO CENTENÁRIO DO NASCIMENTO DE JÁNOS KÁDÁR

FONTE: Open Society Archives (OSA)

 

Kádár 100 – In His Own Words

Historical exhibition on the 100th anniversary of the birth of János Kádás in Galeria Centralis, OSA Archivum.

János Kádár was born 100 years ago. As General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party, he dominated the period between the crushed revolution of 1956 and the fall of the communist regime. Kádár’s career was shaped by Hungary’s turbulent 20th century, with its lost wars and dictatorships. For many, Kádár is still a living memory – and a highly controversial historical personality. Surveys show that the majority of Hungarians consider Kádár either as a highly influential and popular political leader or as a dictator, the traitor and blood-stained suppressor of the 1956 revolution.

By objectively presenting Kádár’s life and career, the exhibition is intended to compare the nostalgic image that still remains in public memory with the real historical person, in order to dispel the “Kádár-myth” and offer the public a true picture of his character as a statesman and of the decades of his reign. Using well and less well known documents, sound and film recordings of Kádár’s speeches and talks, our intention is not only to invoke the figure created by contemporary official propaganda but also to present a close-up image of the politician in his own environment.

Director András Sólyom’s latest film montage of Kádár will be screened at the exhibition. Furthermore, several hours of voice and film documents will offer an insight into the details of his career, including Kádár’s speeches at the meetings of the Political Committee in the 1980s and excerpts from the address that he delivered to a select audience on the occasion of his 60th birthday in 1972. A separate section, built up of materials from the Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the Historical Interviews of the National Széchenyi Library, is devoted to opinions about Kádár expressed by his contemporaries. At the exhibition, visitors can also examine the most important documents of the post-1989 literature on Kádár.

The exhibition runs from May 31 to July 29 2012
in Galeria Centralis, Budapest, V. ker. Arany János u. 32.

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m to 6 p.m.
Entrance is free.

Partner institutions:

Hungarian National Museum
National Archives of Hungary
The Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
Collection of Historial Interviews, National Széchenyi Library
Library and Archives of the Institute of Political History
Angyalföld Museum of Local History

Please, note the language of the exhibition is Hungarian.

NOVOS FUNDOS SOBRE A REVOLUÇÃO HÚNGARA DE 1956 NA OPEN SOCIETY ARCHIVES (OSA)

FONTE: New Sources on the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

In the past few months, OSA acquired two collections to complement its already rich archives on the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

The first was donated by Professor Gary Filerman, one of the founders and long-time board members of the American Refugee Committee. In 1956-57, under the auspices of the World University Service, Filerman was the director of the student reception center at Camp Kilmer in New Jersey. His task was to process and place Hungarian refugee students entering the US under special immigration permits.

The documents from his experience there include official manuals and reports on the operation of the camp, letters from officials and former students, a few publications, as well as photographs on fighting in Budapest and everyday life in the camp. See HU OSA 412.

The other donation contains the personal papers of Gábor Magos (1914-2000), an agricultural engineer and politician, and a prominent member of the intellectual circle around Prime Minister Imre Nagy during the Hungarian revolt. Among others, he was responsible for liaising between the revolutionary government and the police forces in Budapest. In November-December 1956, Magos was involved in activities against the newly established Kádár government, including preparation of political documents and secret meetings with foreign diplomats. In the last days of 1956 he escaped to Vienna, then went on to Switzerland, and testified before the UN Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary as Witness XXX.

His papers include original documents relating to the revolution and his life in emigration, articles and unpublished manuscripts, interviews, correspondence with the UN and fellow émigrés, and rare Hungarian publications printed in exile.

The documents were preserved, arranged and donated to OSA by his widow, Judit Gimes-Magos, who is the sister of Miklós Gimes, a journalist and politician executed together with Imre Nagy in 1958.