Budapest 1956 -Popular uprising in Hungary
Photographs by Erich Lessing
09/21/06 - 11/26/06
Fifty years ago, on October 23, 1956, a student demonstration in Budapest sparked the popular uprising against the communist regime. The insurgents are demanding the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary and democratic reforms. For a few days it seems as if the uprising has been successful and the government under Imre Nagy can break away from the Soviet empire. But on the 3rd and November 4th, the uprising is bloodily suppressed by the Soviet Army. As a result, over 210,000 people flee Hungary.