Episode 35 Stories from the Revolution: Hungary 1956

After the Second World War Russia took military control of Hungary from Germany and enforced a strict communist regime. In 1956 Hungarian students staged a peaceful demonstration calling for the Russian military to leave and freedom of elections. The demonstrations turned violent and after a week of what looked like success for the revolutionaries the Russian military came back in force and violently put down the revolution sending thousands of freedom fighters fleeing west. Our project has recorded the stories of some of these refugees and their families and in this podcast you can hear just a few of these incredibly stories.