Geza Losonczy was born
in Hungary
in 1917. A journalist, he
became a member of the Hungarian Communist Party. He was arrested
when Matyas
Rakosi gained power in 1947.
After his release from
prison Losonczy edited the joyrnal Magyar
Nemzet. The
Hungarian
Uprising began
on 23rd October by a peaceful manifestation of students in Budapest.
The students demanded an end to Soviet occupation and the implementation
of "true socialism". The following day commissioned officers
and soldiers joined the students on the streets of Budapest. Stalin's
statue was brought down and the protesters chanted "Russians
go home", "Away with Gero" and "Long Live Nagy".
On 25th October Soviet
tanks opened fire on protesters in Parliament Square. One journalist
at the scene saw 12 dead bodies and estimated that 170 had been wounded.
Shocked by these events the Central Committee of the Communist Party
forced Erno Gero to resign from office
and replaced him with Janos
Kadar.
Imre
Nagy now went
on Radio Kossuth and promised the "the far-reaching democratization
of Hungarian public life, the realisation of a Hungarian road to socialism
in accord with our own national characteristics, and the realisation
of our lofty national aim: the radical improvement of the workers'
living conditions."
On 3rd November, Nagy announced
details of his coalition government. It included Lodonczy, Janos
Kadar, George
Lukacs,
Anna Kethly, Zolton
Tildy, Bela Kovacs, Istvan
Szabo, Gyula Keleman, Joseph
Fischer, Istvan Bibo and Ferenc
Farkas. On 4th
November 1956 Nikita Khrushchev sent
the Red Army into Hungary and Nagy's government
was overthrown.
Geza Losonczy was arrested
and died in prison during a hunger strike in 1957.
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