Hungarian Reformer’s View on 1956 Revolt Apparently Rejected

A Communist Party spokesman indicated Saturday that party leaders have rejected a Politburo reformer’s reassessment of the 1956 revolt as a popular uprising.

Spokesman Emil Kimmel told Hungarian Radio that speakers at a crucial Friday session of the 108-member Central Committee said there should be no “single-word summary formulations” to reassess the past.

Politburo member Imre Pozsgay startled the nation Jan. 28 by saying the 1956 rebellion against Soviet control was “a popular uprising.” Officially, it was called a counterrevolution.

The meeting resumed Saturday with the media reporting few specifics.

Pozsgay said his assessment was based on findings of a Hungarian Communist Party commission investigating four decades of Communist rule in Hungary.

Prominent Central Committee member Gyula Horn, also state secretary at the Foreign Ministry, hinted late Friday that Pozsgay’s stance was not accepted by most members.

Varying only slightly from the official stance, Horn said on television that the meeting’s “very careful assessment” showed the revolt “started as an uprising, some may call it a ‘popular uprising,’ but later on it turned into something which could be termed a counterrevolution.”

State media displayed none of their new openness in reporting on Friday’s closed-door session. It was not known what was said by Pozsgay and other senior officials.

According to Kimmel, the speakers supported the basic idea expounded in a report submitted by Communist Party chief Karoly Grosz, which says “one can establish order without a reform, but the reform may not be instituted without order.”

He also said Grosz called for an action program for the future. Grosz’s speech has not been published and no other details were disclosed.

Communist Party spokesman indicated Saturday that party leaders have rejected a Politburo reformer’s reassessment of the 1956 revolt as a popular uprising.