In the Name of the Working Class: The Inside Story of the Hungarian Revolution

Rating:
Summary: Simple, powerful cautionary tale
Review: In a fluid translation, Kopacsi's memoirs (as police chief of 1950's Budapest and party representative) become gripping testimony to idealism and its betrayal. How does one live with lies? For the revolutionaries, they sought, in K's view, not so much a Western-style republic as a democratically-elected, neutral nation where both reforming Communists and other social democrats and other parties could share power. I found this intriguing, as I'd assumed naively that any Soviet-bloc nation yearning for liberation automatically would reject Communism--at least in 1956. As K. shows, gradually rather than suddenly, the nation edged towards revolt. In the wake of Stalin's death and the encouraging noises made by Khrushchev, Kaposci decided to back Imre Nagy and his allies against the Soviets and their Hungarian puppets.

We all know the aftermath, but Kaposci broadens his work to take in the years before 1956, so we fully understand the intrigues that made every move under the Soviets dangerous. What emerges from his account are the evasions that anyone who survived had to pretend as reality each dreary day under such a system--where early hopes had been crushed by mendacity, careerism, and brutality.

I wish he had included more about his own resistance against the Nazis, and about the prison life in the years after his show-trial, but these are minor quibbles. What you will find here is a matter-of-fact account of what it takes to be a hero, for K. and his compatriots have the chance to act nobly when so many around them turn traitor. A lesson worth remembering and passing on, as this book provides us with true role models.

Rating:
Summary: immigrant song
Review: written by the chief of police of budapest during the revolt of 1956, Kopaci held the insiders view of the poltical and military situation and how the revolution unfolded. actually, this is not a review but a request for any video tapes or video documentaries on the revolt of 1956. i am writing a book that has the hungarian revoltion as its' genisis.