What can you cook from squid: quick and tasty

Janos Kadar (years of life - 1912-1989) is an ambiguous figure. In Russian reference books, he is called a great statesman and political figure, under whose rule Hungary achieved economic prosperity. Other publications stigmatize him as a Stalinist who came to power on the bayonets of Soviet troops, a Kremlin protege and organizer of the execution of Imre Nagy, the country's ousted prime minister. Who really was Kadar, who was awarded the Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union? In this article we will try to understand his confusing biography.

Childhood

Janos Kadar was born on May 26, 1912. He was the illegitimate son of the servant Barbola Cemranek from the soldier Janos Krezinger. Since he was born on the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in the city of Fiume (now Rijeka, in Croatia), he was recorded in the register under the name Giovanni Giuseppe Chemranek. When the boy was six years old, his mother moved to Budapest. In the folk elementary school, he showed extraordinary abilities. As the best student, he was sent to a free education at a higher city school. However, the family's financial situation was difficult. Janos Chemranek dropped out of education at the age of fourteen and took a job in a printing house. Strange as it sounds, but he was brought to the Communist Party ... chess. Young Janos was very fond of this game. Once he happened to win a chess tournament. As a prize he was presented with the book by F. Engels "Anti-Duhring". This work, in the words of Chemranek himself, completely turned his mind upside down.

Connection with Marxism

Janos Kadar won the chess tournament in 1928 when he was only sixteen years old. A serious and large-scale crisis was brewing in the world economy. Workers were the first to feel the deterioration in wages and living standards. A young printer mechanic helped organize a spontaneous meeting and strike. The government brutally suppressed this action of the workers, and many of Chemranek's comrades were arrested. In 1930, the printing house was closed due to the crisis. So the unemployed Chemranek, imbued with even greater antagonism to the exploiting class, came into contact with the then-banned Communist Party of Hungary. In 1931 he joined the Komsomol cell named after. Ya. Sverdlov and took the underground nickname Barn (Shaten). Already in May 1933, he became a member of the Committee of the Youth Wing of the Communist Party in Budapest. The Soviet Union, which generously financed this organization, offered him to study at Moscow University, but the young Komsomol member refused.

Times of the second world war

Janos Kadar, whose biography has since been closely intertwined with politics, as a true Stalinist had nothing against the union of the USSR with Nazi Germany. At that time, he had already changed the Communist Party, joining the ranks of the Social Democrats in 1935. There he also made a career and headed a cell of the SDPV. In fact, throughout the war, he was a formal participant in the Czechoslovak Resistance, but he was not involved in any special activities there. Years later, communist propaganda spread information that he allegedly created the anti-fascist Hungarian Front, but no one recorded any activity of this organization. In the early forties, he also betrayed the Social Democrats, re-enrolling in the Pest Committee of the Hungarian Communist Party. And again a deafening career take-off: in 1942 he was already a member of the Central Committee, and in 1943 - secretary of the Central Committee of the CPV.

In April 1944, Janos Kadar was arrested in Serbia for desertion. He managed to escape. While hiding, he took another pseudonym - Kadar (Bondar), which henceforth became his surname. In April 1964, the then leadership of the USSR, trying to present its ally as an "outstanding fighter against fascism", awarded him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and presented the most outstanding awards at that time - and the Gold Star medal. When Hungary was liberated from fascism, Kadar, at that time already an agent of the NKVD, was elected a deputy of the Provisional National Assembly, as well as a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (VKP). Since then, his career has skyrocketed. In 1946, he already became Deputy General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party. At the same time, from 1945 to 1948, he served as the secretary of the capital city committee. And finally, in August 1948, he was appointed Minister of the Interior of the country. In this post, he initiated the arrest of Laszlo Raiko, accusing him of anti-Soviet activities. Having become a potential rival of the Stalinist Matthias Rakosi, Kadar was removed from office and himself became a prisoner of a concentration camp. He was released only in 1956.

Janos Kadar: political leader of the socialist camp regime

At that time, dissatisfaction with the Soviet model of the country's leadership was brewing in Hungary. Government member Imre Nadia actively advocated cooperation with trade unions, the release of political prisoners, and the abolition of censorship. At first, Janos Kadar fully supported this political course and even said that he would stop the very first Russian tank that would cross the Hungarian border with his body. Thus, he quickly made a career, and on October 30, 1956, he was appointed minister in the cabinet headed by Nagy. But already on November 1, Kadar escapes from Hungary and in Uzhgorod meets with Nikita Khrushchev, who gives him clear instructions on the formation of a regime controlled by the USSR. A week later, the new ruler with Soviet tanks returns to Budapest.

The era of "goulash communism"

On November 8, 1956, Kadar announced the usurpation of power. Nadia and his associates sought refuge on the territory of the Yugoslav embassy. Kadar promised full amnesty to his former associates. But when Nadya left the embassy, he was arrested and executed two years later. At the same time, Janos Kadar, whose photo is still revered by the older generation of Hungarians, was a skillful politician. Under the conditions, he managed to squeeze out of his great partner, the USSR, the maximum benefits for his country. Cheap Soviet gas and Hungary's openness to tourists from the capitalist bloc made the country more or less prosperous. The era of "goulash communism" ended even before the collapse of the USSR. Already in May 1988, Kadar was dismissed, and a year later, on July 6, he died.

Janos Kadar(Hungarian Kdr Jnos, before 1945 surname Chermanek, Hung. Csermanek, May 26, 1912, Fiume, Austria-Hungary - July 6, 1989, Budapest, Hungarian People's Republic) - Hungarian statesman and politician, de facto leader of the Hungarian People's Republic as General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (from 1956 to 1988); in 1956-1958 and 1961-1965 he also served as Prime Minister of the Hungarian People's Republic. The period of his reign, marked by the liberalization of political life and the availability of consumer goods, was called "goulash communism".

early years

Janos Kadar was the illegitimate child of Borbola Cermanek, a servant of Slovak-Hungarian origin, from the soldier Janos Krezinger, and the childhood of the future Hungarian leader was spent in hardship and poverty. A native of the now Croatian Rijeka (then the free city of Fiume) as part of Transliteania, which was part of Austria-Hungary, according to the laws of the then native city, he was registered at birth under the Italian name Giovanni Cermanek.

In 1918, at the age of six, he moved with his mother to Budapest. As the best student of the class in the elementary public school, he received the right to study for free at the Higher Primary City School. However, from the age of 14 he was forced to leave school, was an auxiliary worker, and then a mechanic in a printing house. In his youth, he was fond of books, chess and football. At the age of 16, Janos Cermanek won an open chess tournament hosted by the hairdresser's trade union and was awarded the Hungarian translation of Friedrich Engels' book Anti-Duhring, which he admitted sparked his interest in Marxism and changed his way of thinking.

A convinced socialist, Cermanek, at the suggestion of his childhood friend Janos Fenakel, joined the Sverdlov cell of the banned Federation of Communist Youth Workers (KIMSZ), the Komsomol organization of the illegal Hungarian Communist Party, in September 1931, having received his first underground pseudonym - Barna ("Chaten"). Cermanek's next pseudonym - Kadar ("Cooper") - in 1945 officially became his last name. In November 1931, the Komsomol member also became one of the “five hundred brave” members of the Communist Party, which operated under the harsh conditions of the authoritarian regime.

Membership in the Communist Party affected the fate of Kadar: several times he was detained by the Horthy authorities on charges of illegal campaigning and illegal political activity. In 1933, Kadar, the secretary of the Central Committee of the Komsomol, was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. In prison, he organized a hunger strike, for which he was transferred to Szeged in the Chillag maximum security prison, where he met his future political opponent Matthias Rakosi. Subsequently, Kadar, following Jeno Landler's line of communist entrism in social democratic organizations, joined the Social Democratic Party of Hungary in 1935, and soon even headed the SDPV cell in the VI district of Budapest.

During World War II, Janos Kadar was an active participant in the Resistance movement in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia. While in Hungary, he was one of the initiators of the creation of the anti-fascist Hungarian Front. In 1941-1942 he was a member of the Pest Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Hungary; in 1942 he was introduced to the Central Committee, and in 1943 he was elected secretary of the Central Committee of the CPV. In April 1944, on behalf of the party, he left for Yugoslavia, hoping to establish contact with local communist partisans, but was arrested as a deserter. In November 1944, while being transported to Germany, he escaped from the train carrying him.

In his memoirs, the former head of the personnel department of the GUPP RKKA Lieutenant-General NV Pupyshev reports that in October 1944, 10 partisan groups were landed in the rear of the German troops in Hungary, which included Hungarians along with our fighters. Some of the political emigrants, including A. Apro and J. Kadar, returned to the country from the Soviet Union. "

On April 3, 1964, Janos Kadar was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11218) for his personal contribution to the fight against fascism during World War II.

Plan
Introduction
1 Early years
2 Post-war years
3 Kadar and the 1956 revolution
4 Age of Kadar
5 After death

Bibliography Introduction Janos Kadar (Hungarian Kádár János, until 1945 surname Cermanek, Hungarian Csermanek, May 26, 1912, Fiume, Austria-Hungary - July 6, 1989, Budapest, Hungary) - communist leader of Hungary as General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (from 1956 to 1988), in 1956-1958 and 1961-1965. who also served as Prime Minister of Hungary. 1. Early years Janos Kadar was the illegitimate child of Borbola Cermanek, a servant of Slovak-Hungarian origin, from the soldier Janos Krezinger, and the childhood of the future Hungarian leader was spent in hardship and poverty. A native of the now Croatian Rijeka (then the free city of Fiume), a part of Transliteania, which was part of Austria-Hungary, according to the laws of his hometown at the time, he was registered at birth under the Italian name Giovanni Cermanek. In 1918, at the age of six, he moved with his mother to Budapest. As the best student of the class in the elementary public school, he received the right to study for free at the Higher Primary City School. However, from the age of 14 he was forced to leave school, was an auxiliary worker, and then a mechanic in a printing house. In his youth, he was fond of books, chess and football. At the age of 16, Janos Cermanek won an open chess tournament hosted by the hairdresser's trade union and was awarded the Hungarian translation of Friedrich Engels' book Anti-Dühring, which he admitted sparked his interest in Marxism and changed his way of thinking. At the suggestion of his childhood friend Janos Fenakel, Cermanek joined the Sverdlov cell of the banned Federation of Communist Youth Workers (KIMSZ), the Komsomol organization of the illegal Hungarian Communist Party, in September 1931, having received his first underground pseudonym - Barna ("Brown"). Cermanek's next pseudonym - Kadar ("Cooper") - in 1945 officially became his last name. In November 1931, the Komsomolets became one of the “five hundred brave” members of the Communist Party, which operated under the harsh conditions of a right-wing dictatorship. Membership in the Communist Party affected the fate of Kadar: several times he was detained by the Horthy authorities on charges of illegal agitation and illegal political activity. In 1933, Kadar, the secretary of the Central Committee of the Komsomol, was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. In prison, he organized a hunger strike, for which he was transferred to Szeged in the Chillag maximum security prison, where he met his future political opponent Matthias Rakosi. Later, Kadar, following Jeno Landler's line of communist entrism in social democratic organizations, joined the Social Democratic Party of Hungary in 1935, and soon even headed a cell of the SDPV in the VI district of Budapest. During World War II, Janos Kadar was an active participant in the movement Resistance in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia. While in Hungary, he was one of the initiators of the creation of the anti-fascist Hungarian Front. In 1941-1942 he was a member of the Pest Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Hungary; in 1942 he was introduced to the Central Committee, and in 1943 he was elected secretary of the Central Committee of the CPV. In April 1944, on behalf of the party, he left for Yugoslavia, but was arrested as a deserter. In November 1944, while being transported to Germany, he escaped from the train carrying him. On April 3, 1964, Janos Kadar was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11218) for his personal contribution to the fight against fascism during World War II. 2. Post-war years After the fall of the Nilashist regime and the liberation of Hungary from the German occupation in April 1945, Janos Kadar was elected a deputy of the Provisional National Assembly, as well as a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Communist Party (VKP), and in 1946 - Deputy General Secretary of the Central Committee of the VKP. In parallel, in April 1945 - August 1948, he was the secretary of the Budapest City Party Committee. In March 1948, he chaired the commission for the unification of the CPSU and the Social Democratic Party, and on August 5, 1948, he became Minister of the Interior. At this time, Kadar supported the Stalinist model of socialism and even played a crucial role in the arrest of Laszlo Rajk, accused of "Titoism" and "anti-Soviet activities." and limiting the rakoshist terror. In June 1950, he was transferred from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs (he was succeeded by Sandor Zöld) to the post of head of the department of party and mass organizations of the Central Committee of the VPT, and in April 1951 he was removed from this post as well. Soon he was arrested, himself accused of titoism, declared by Rakosi a "traitor" and imprisoned in the camps for an indefinite period. Janos Kadar was released in July 1956 thanks to the de-Stalinization processes begun in the USSR. 3. Kadar and the 1956 revolution Appointed first secretary of the Hungarian Workers' Party (HWP) branch in the industrial XIII district of Budapest, Janos Kadar soon becomes one of the most popular Hungarian politicians thanks to his support of workers in expanding the independence of trade unions, which allows him to become a member of the government of Imre Nagy. Ardent opponent of the reforms, Nagy does not correspond to reality: like Nagy, Kadar was the target of persecution under Rakosi and therefore considered himself an ally of the head of government. Initially, he fully supported the political course of Nagy, aimed at liberalizing and democratizing political life in the country, freeing political prisoners, abolishing censorship and attracting political parties friendly to the UPT in government. In the face of the impending threat of Soviet military intervention after Nagy announced the country's desire to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact, Janos Kadar even said that "he would fall under the first Russian tank that violated the borders of Hungary." On October 26, 1956, he became a member of the Directory, on October 28 - the CEC chairman, and on October 30 - a minister in Nagy's cabinet. The PTV, which demanded moderate reforms, got out of control, and the only way out would be cooperation with the Soviet Union and other states of the socialist camp. Therefore, on November 1, 1956, Kadar and Ferenc Munnich, with the help of Soviet diplomats, left Hungary, and on November 2, 1956, Kadar was already negotiating with the leaders of the ATS countries in Moscow. On November 4, 1956, in Uzhgorod, Kadar met with Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev and discussed with him the formation of a new Hungarian government. On November 7, 1956, Kadar arrived in Budapest after the Soviet troops, and the next day at 5:05 am he announced the transfer of all power in the country to the Revolutionary Workers 'and Peasants' Government headed by him. the party, created to replace the former VPT, announced 15 points of its program, which provided for the preservation of the socialist and democratic character of the Hungarian state, the preservation of its sovereignty, an end to street fighting and the restoration of order, an increase in the living standards of the population, a revision of the five-year plan in the interests of the working people, the fight against bureaucracy, the development of Hungarian traditions and culture, as well as close cooperation with the rest of the socialist states, the preservation of the Soviet contingent of 200,000 troops and negotiations with the Department of Internal Affairs on the withdrawal of troops from the country. Kadar also said that the rakoshi slogan "Who is not with us is against us" will be replaced by a more democratic one - "He who is not against us is with us", which implied a wide amnesty for the participants in the uprising who remained in Hungary. Imre Nagy, who went into hiding with Gyordem Lukács, Geza Losontsi and L. Raik's widow Julia at the Yugoslav embassy, was also promised that he would be given the opportunity to freely leave the country. Nevertheless, when the former prime minister left the Yugoslav embassy on November 23, 1956, he was arrested and executed two years later. Still, Kadar limited himself only to condemning the leaders of the uprising and did not allow the state security agencies to start persecuting its rank-and-file participants, announcing an amnesty for the latter. 4. Age of Kadar Despite the tough Soviet control, Janos Kadar was able to carry out a number of innovative economic reforms during his leadership of the party and the state, which contributed to the liberalization of the economy and an increase in the standard of living of the population, which for a long time was not inferior to this indicator in developed Western countries. Kadar pioneered the development of the private sector in agriculture and the service sector in Hungary, removing obstacles to small businesses and significantly expanding the rights of those employed in collective farms. However, the 1968 economic reform, designed to improve the efficiency of the economy, but never achieved its goals, was gradually phased out under the influence of the suppression of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia. The 1973 agreement with the USSR allowed the country to use cheap Soviet energy resources. The Soviet Union was the main importer of Hungarian industrial and agricultural products. Thanks to the reformist course of Kadar, Hungary began to be called "the funniest barracks in the communist camp", and the economic system in the country - "goulashism" ("goulash communism", "goulash communism"; Hungarian gulyáskommunizmus). Hungary had the most liberal censorship, citizens enjoyed free travel abroad, shops were filled with inexpensive goods from all over the world. Nowadays, a significant part of Hungarian society feels nostalgia for the "times of Kadar" with their high quality of life, which was canceled out by the capitalist transformations of the early 1990s. Under Kadar, Hungary became one of the world leaders in tourism. The number of tourists visiting Hungary has increased tenfold; tourists came to the country not only from Eastern Europe and the USSR, but also from Canada, the USA and Western Europe, bringing significant sums to the budget of Hungary. Hungary has established close relations with developing countries, accepting many foreign students. The normalization of relations with the West was evidenced by the return by the Americans of the Holy Crown of King Stephen I to their homeland in 1979. In addition, Hungary in the late 1980s became the only socialist country with a Formula 1 track. Qadar was removed from his posts in May 1988. ., transferring the management of the RSWP to Karoy Grosu, and died a year later, on July 6, 1989. He was buried in the central cemetery of Budapest in the "Hungarian Pantheon" at the Kerepesi cemetery - the traditional burial place of prominent figures of Hungarian culture, science and politics. 5. After death On the night of May 2, 2007, at the central cemetery of the city of Budapest, unknown vandals opened the grave of Janos Kadar, as well as the urn of his wife, and stole his remains. At the same time, Janos Kadar was buried in a double coffin. On the crypt, located next to the grave of Kadar, the inscription was left: “The murderer and the traitor have no place in the holy land!”, Alluding to the line from the song “Neveket akarok hallani” by the group “Kárpátia”. Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany in his special address stated the following: “There is no justification for this despicable and disgusting act. This felony has nothing to do with politics and history. Every normal, civilized person will condemn him. " Links

Articles and speeches of the First Secretary of the RSWP Janos Kadar on Sovetika.ru - a site about the Soviet era In Budapest, the remains of Janos Kadar were stolen from a double coffin Wikiquote has a page on the topic
Janos Kadar Bibliography:

A good comrade

American Historical Review

A native of the Croatian Rijeka (Fiume), which was then part of Austria-Hungary, according to the then laws of his native city, he was registered at birth under the Italian name Giovanni Cermanik. From the age of 14 he was forced to leave school, was an auxiliary worker, and then a mechanic in a printing house. A convinced Marxist, Kadar joined the banned Hungarian Communist Party (and at the same time the Komsomol) in September 1930, after which he was detained several times by the Horthy authorities on charges of illegal agitation and illegal political activity. In 1933, the secretary of the Komsomol (KIMSZ) Kadar was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. In prison, he organized a hunger strike, for which he was transferred to Szeged in the Chillag high security prison, where he met his future political opponent Matthias Rakosi.

During World War II, Janos Kadar was an active participant in the Resistance Movement in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia. While in Hungary, he was one of the initiators of the creation of the anti-fascist Hungarian Front. In 1941-1942. was a member of the Pest Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Hungary; in 1942 he was introduced to the Central Committee, and in 1943 he was elected secretary of the Central Committee of the CPV. In April 1944, on behalf of the party, he left for Yugoslavia, but was arrested as a deserter. In November 1944, during deportation to Germany, he escaped from the train carrying him. On April 3, 1964, Janos Kadar was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11218) for his personal contribution to the fight against fascism during World War II.

Post-war years

After the fall of the Nilashist regime and the liberation of Hungary from the German occupation in April 1945, Janos Kadar was elected a deputy of the Provisional National Assembly, as well as a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Communist Party (VKP), and in 1946 - Deputy General Secretary of the Central Committee of the VKP. In parallel, in April 1945 - August 1948, he worked as the secretary of the Budapest City Party Committee. In March 1948, he chaired the commission for the unification of the All-Union Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party, and on August 5, 1948, he became Minister of the Interior. During this time, Kadar still supported the Stalinist model of socialism and even played a crucial role in the arrest of Laszlo Rajk, accused of Titoism and anti-Soviet activities.

However, Kadar has turned into a potential rival to the country's leader, Matthias Rakosi, speaking out in favor of expanding the personal rights and freedoms of Hungarian citizens and limiting the rakoshist terror. In April 1951, Kadar himself was removed from his post since June 1950, the head of the department of party and mass organizations of the Central Committee of the VPT. Soon he was arrested, accused of titoism, declared by Rakosi a "traitor" and imprisoned in the camps for an indefinite period. Janos Kadar was released in July 1954 thanks to the de-Stalinization processes begun in the USSR.

Kadar and the 1956 revolution

Appointed first secretary of the Hungarian Workers' Party (VPT) branch in the industrial XIII district of Budapest, Janos Kadar soon becomes one of the most popular Hungarian politicians thanks to his support for workers in expanding the independence of trade unions, which allows him to become a member of the government of Imre Nagy.

The widespread misconception about Kadar as an ardent opponent of Nagy's reforms does not correspond to reality: like Nagy, Kadar was the target of persecution under Rakosi and therefore considered himself an ally of the head of government. Initially, he fully supported the political course of Nagy, aimed at liberalizing and democratizing political life in the country, freeing political prisoners, abolishing censorship and attracting political parties friendly to the UPT in government. In the face of the impending threat of Soviet military intervention after Nagy announced the country's desire to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact, Janos Kadar even said that "he would fall under the first Russian tank that violated the borders of Hungary." On October 26, 1956, he became a member of the Directory, on October 28 - chairman of the CEC, and on October 30 - a minister in Nagy's cabinet.

However, bloody clashes in the center of Budapest, lynching of state security officials and the growing activity of anti-communist circles in Hungary convinced Kadar that the situation had gotten out of control, which required moderate reforms of the PTV, and the only way out would be cooperation with the Soviet Union and other states of the socialist camp. Therefore, on November 1, 1956, Kadar and Ferenc Munnich, with the help of Soviet diplomats, left Hungary, and on November 2, 1956, Kadar was already negotiating with the leaders of the ATS countries in Moscow. On November 4, 1956, in Uzhgorod, Kadar met with Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev and discussed with him the formation of a new Hungarian government. On November 7, 1956, Kadar arrived in Budapest together with Soviet troops, and the next day, at 5:05 am, announced the transfer of all power in the country to the Revolutionary Workers 'and Peasants' Government headed by him.

Best of the day

Kadar, taking over the posts of Prime Minister and leader of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, created to replace the former VPT, announced 15 points of his program, which provided for the preservation of the socialist and democratic character of the Hungarian state, the preservation of its sovereignty, an end to street fighting and the restoration of order, an increase in the living standards of the population. , revision of the five-year plan in the interests of the working people, the fight against bureaucracy, the development of Hungarian traditions and culture, as well as close cooperation with the rest of the socialist states, the preservation of the Soviet contingent of 200,000 troops and negotiations with the Department of Internal Affairs on the withdrawal of troops from the country. Kadar also said that the rakoshi slogan "Who is not with us is against us" will be replaced by a more democratic one - "He who is not against us is with us", which implied a wide amnesty for the participants in the uprising who remained in Hungary. Imre Nagy, who went into hiding with Gyordem Lukács, Geza Lozontsi and Raik's widow Yulia at the Yugoslav embassy, was also promised that he would be given the opportunity to freely leave the country. Nevertheless, when the former prime minister left the Yugoslav embassy on November 23, 1956, he was arrested and executed two years later. Still, Kadar limited himself only to condemning the leaders of the uprising and did not allow the state security agencies to start persecuting its rank-and-file participants, announcing an amnesty for the latter.

Age of Kadar

Despite the tough Soviet control, Janos Kadar was able to carry out a number of innovative economic reforms during his leadership of the party and the state, which contributed to the liberalization of the economy and an increase in the standard of living of the population, which for a long time was not inferior to this indicator in developed Western countries. Kadar pioneered the development of the private sector in agriculture and the service sector in Hungary, removing obstacles to small businesses and significantly expanding the rights of those employed in collective farms. However, the 1968 economic reform, designed to improve the efficiency of the economy, but failed to achieve its goals, was gradually phased out under the influence of the suppression of the "Prague Spring" in Czechoslovakia. The 1973 agreement with the USSR allowed the country to use cheap Soviet energy resources. Thanks to the reformist course of Kadar, Hungary began to be called "the funniest barrack in the communist camp", and the country's economic system - "goulashism" or "goulash communism" (Hungarian gulyáskommunizmus). Nowadays, a significant part of Hungarian society feels nostalgia for the “times of Kadar” with their high quality of life, which was canceled out by the capitalist transformations of the early 1990s.

Under Kadar, Hungary became one of the world leaders in tourism. The number of tourists visiting Hungary has increased tenfold; tourists came to the country not only from Eastern Europe and the USSR, but also from Canada, the USA and Western Europe, bringing significant sums to the budget of Hungary. Hungary has established close relations with developing countries, accepting many foreign students. The normalization of relations with the West was evidenced by the return by the Americans of the Holy Crown of King Stephen I to their homeland in 1979. In addition, Hungary in the late 1980s became the only socialist country with a Formula 1 track.

Kadar was dismissed from his posts in May 1988, transferring control to the young leader of the reformist wing of the SSWP Karo Gross, and died a year later, on July 6, 1989. He was buried in the central cemetery of Budapest in the "Hungarian Pantheon" on Kerepesi Street - the traditional burial place of outstanding figures of Hungarian culture, science and politics.

After death

On the night of May 2, 2007, at the central cemetery of the city of Budapest, unknown vandals opened the grave of Janos Kadar, as well as the urn of his wife, and stole his remains. At the same time, Janos Kadar was buried in a double coffin. On the crypt, located next to the grave of Kadar, an inscription was left: "There is no place for a murderer and a traitor in the holy land!" Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany in his special address stated the following: “There is no justification for this despicable and disgusting act. This felony has nothing to do with politics and history. Every normal, civilized person will condemn him. "

In May 2007, guards at the Kerepesi cemetery in Budapest discovered that one of the graves had been destroyed. Unknown persons stole part of the remains, scattered another part of the ashes around the grave, and left an inscription on the wall next to it: "There is no place for a murderer and a traitor in the holy land!"

The Hungarian authorities condemned the act of vandalism. Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc in a special address he said: “There is no justification for this despicable and disgusting act. This felony has nothing to do with politics and history. Every normal, civilized person will condemn him. "

Despite such strong condemnation, the perpetrators were never found.

He was buried in a ruined grave with his wife Janos Kadar, the man who ruled Hungary for three decades.

After the collapse of the socialist system in the countries of Eastern Europe, it is considered bad form to say something good about the leaders of the Soviet era. For the right, whose positions in Hungary are now strong, the communist Kadar is "a Soviet puppet and strangler of the Hungarian revolution."

But the older generation of Hungarians recalls the times of Janos Kadar with nostalgia, as a "golden age". Today it is hard to believe, but by the early 1980s Hungary was one of the most economically successful countries not only in the socialist camp, but in Europe as a whole.

Giovanni the bastard

The future leader of socialist Hungary was born on May 26, 1912 in Austria-Hungary, in the city of Fiume - modern Croatian Rijeka.

Maid Borbola Cermanek, half-Slovak, half-Hungarian, committed a terrible sin for a respectable Christian - she took on a child out of wedlock. The boy's father was a soldier of the Austrian army Janos Krenzinger, who refused to recognize his son as his own. According to the laws in force in Fiume, the newborn was given the mother's surname and an Italian name - Giovanni Cermanek.

The lot of people like Giovanni was poverty - it accompanied all his childhood. At the age of 6, after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the boy moved with his mother to Budapest.

In spite of everything, Giovanni, who in Hungary began to call himself in the local way Janos, having entered the school, became an excellent student.

As the best student of the class in the elementary public school, he received the right to study for free at the Higher Primary City School. But at the age of 14, due to extreme poverty, he had to leave his studies and become an auxiliary worker.

Communists - through chess

As a teenager, Janos was fond of football, reading and chess. At the age of 16, he won an open chess tournament of the hairdressers trade union and received a Hungarian translation of a book as a gift Friedrich Engels Anti-Duhring. The work of one of the founders of Marxism made Janos look differently at the world around him and the injustice that was happening in it. The young guy joined the socialists, and in 1931 he joined the Sverdlov cell of the banned Federation of Communist Youth Workers (KIMSZ), the Komsomol organization of the illegal Hungarian Communist Party.

After the fall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, the authoritarian regime of Admiral Horthy was established in the country. The Communist Party was banned, its activists were persecuted. But this did not stop Chermanek. He got his first pseudonym - Barna("Brown hair").

The arrest of Janos Kadar in 1933. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

In 1933 he was arrested and sentenced to two years. For protests in custody and a hunger strike, Chermanek was sent to a maximum security prison. After his release from prison, Barna, at the direction of the party leadership, joined a legal organization - the Social Democratic Party of Hungary, and soon even headed a cell of the SDPV in the VI district of Budapest.

Cermanek becomes Kadar

During the Second World War, Hungary was an ally of the Third Reich. Janos Cermanek became a member of the Resistance movement, and acted not only in Hungary, but also in Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

Janos Kadar in 1942. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

His influence among the Hungarian communists grew - in 1942 he was introduced to the Central Committee, and in 1943 he was elected secretary of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Communist Party.

In April 1944, he went to Yugoslavia to establish contact with Tito's partisans, but was captured by Hungarian policemen on the way. He was threatened with a concentration camp, but Chermanek managed to escape during the transfer from the train carrying him.

The liberation of Hungary by Soviet troops also led to a change in the political system. The communists came out of the underground, becoming one of the leading parties in the country. Chermanek, who bore the new party pseudonym Kadar ("Bondar"), was elected a deputy of the Provisional National Assembly, as well as a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Communist Party (VKP), and in 1946 - Deputy General Secretary of the Central Committee of the VKP. The pseudonym became the official surname, and later Janos Cermanek became known throughout the world as Janos Kadar.

Convicted for life

In 1948, the Hungarian Communist and Social Democratic Parties merged into the Hungarian Workers' Party, which became the ruling party in the country. Janos Kadar took over as Interior Minister.

Party leader Matthias Rakosi at an accelerated pace he built the Stalinist model of socialism, sometimes surpassing the original in political intolerance.

Kadar, who initially supported Rakosi in the fight against the supporters of the "Yugoslav path", began to speak out in favor of expanding the personal rights and freedoms of Hungarian citizens and limiting political persecution.

Matthias Rakosi. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Rakosi saw in Kadar not just an opponent, but a potential competitor in the struggle for power. At first, Kadar lost his post of minister, then he was removed from the leadership of the party. In the summer of 1951, Janos Kadar was arrested as a "traitor" and sent to jail. In December 1952, the Hungarian Supreme Court sentenced him to life in prison.

Why fellow Imre Nagy became his enemy

Death Stalin and the coming to power of new leaders in Moscow contributed to the release of Janos Kadar. He became the first secretary of the branch of the Hungarian Workers' Party (HWP) in the industrial XIII district of Budapest.

Imre Nagy. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Thanks to the support of workers in expanding the independence of trade unions, Kadar is becoming one of the most popular politicians in the country. Prime Minister Imre Nagy made him one of the ministers of the reform government.

At the first stage of the aggravation of relations with Moscow, Janos Kadar was a consistent supporter of Nagy, saying that "he would fall under the first Russian tank that violated the borders of Hungary."

The history of the Hungarian events of 1956 is partly similar to the events of the Ukrainian "Euromaidan" -2014. Both there, and there, peaceful protests gave way to bloody massacres. The veterans of the Horthy army, who fought on the side, took to the streets after the war. Hitler, and other anti-communists. The streets of Budapest have become a place for extrajudicial executions of communists and state security officers. October 30, 1956, during the defense of the Budapest City Party Committee, its head was killed Imre Mezø and 26 more communists and law enforcement officials. Their mutilated bodies were hung upside down in the trees.

Imre Nagy considered it possible to close his eyes to this. Janos Kadar considered it a crime that is leading the country into a large-scale civil war. And he decides to start negotiations with Moscow bypassing Nagy.

Carrot and stick

Kadar's initiative met with understanding Khrushchev... On November 7, 1956, Janos Kadar arrived in Budapest after the Soviet troops, and the next day at 5:05 am announced the transfer of all power in the country to the Revolutionary Workers 'and Peasants' Government headed by him.

The Hungarian Workers 'Party was replaced by the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which was to correct the mistakes of its predecessor.

Kadar's position was extremely difficult - the society was split, many looked at him as a "protege of Moscow." It was necessary to overcome the crisis.

A total of 22,000 criminal cases were opened in connection with the Hungarian insurrection, in which 400 death sentences were passed. About 300 of them were enforced. About 200,000 people fled to the West. In November 1958, Imre Nagy was hanged and Defense Minister Pal Maleter.

Most of the participants in the 1956 events fell under the amnesty announced by Janos Kadar.

The program he voiced provided for the preservation of the socialist and democratic character of the Hungarian state, the preservation of its sovereignty, an increase in the living standards of the population, a revision of the five-year plan in the interests of the working people, the fight against bureaucracy, the development of Hungarian traditions and culture, as well as close cooperation with the rest of the socialist states.

Hungary, 1956 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

"He who is not against us is with us"

A 200,000-strong group of Soviet troops remained in the country, but Kadar believed that their presence was not a reason that could prevent reforms. The Hungarian leader focused on the economy, where liberties unprecedented for the socialist countries were introduced - the dissolution of collective farms, the expansion of the rights of cooperatives, the rejection of central planning.

Kadar put into circulation the thesis "He who is not against us is with us", calling for cooperation from all who are really interested in the prosperity of Hungary.

Kadar managed to successfully combine the development of large enterprises and the agricultural sector of the economy. Ikarus buses became the backbone of the public transport fleet in the USSR, Hungarian medicines, food, footwear were popular in the Soviet Union and other countries of Eastern Europe.

Until the very end of the era of socialism, Hungary occupied a leading position among the socialist countries in a number of industries, in particular, in the electronics industry. The country did not know the concept of scarcity. The People's Republic of Hungary came out on top in Europe for the production of wheat and meat per capita, and the second for the number of eggs.

Hungarian government delegation led by 1st General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Socialist Workers' Party Janos Kadar on Red Square. 1968 Photo: RIA Novosti / Mikhail Kuleshov

"Merry barrack" "velvet dictator"

Janos Kadar went even further. The country simplified the rules of entry for foreign tourists, and in 1978 a visa-free regime was introduced with capitalist Austria. Hungary had the most liberal censorship; citizens enjoyed free travel abroad.

Hungary became the first country in the Eastern Bloc to have a Formula 1 track. On July 27, 1986, a concert of the rock band "Queen" took place in Budapest - the first such show in the country of socialism.

The system built by Kadar was jokingly called "goulash-communism", and he himself was called "the velvet dictator." Even critics of the regime called Hungary in the time of Janos Kadar "the funniest barrack in the socialist camp."

Janos Kadar reported on the state of the reconstruction of the traffic intersection at the Arpad bridge, 1984. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Historical injustice

By the beginning of perestroika, Janos Kadar was already over 70. As in the USSR, there was talk in Hungary about the era of "stagnation", that the model created by Kadar was outdated. In 1988, Janos Kadar took over as chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which was a form of honorable retirement.

Kadar, however, had to forget about the honor - he was reminded of the suppression of the "1956 revolution" and the execution of Imre Nagy. In one of his last speeches, the already very sick Janos Kadar said that he was sorry for all the victims, and he did not shy away from responsibility for his actions. He was ready for his guilt in the "Nagy case" to be considered by the court, but it did not come to that. In May 1989, Kadar resigned as chairman of the RSWP, and on July 6 he was gone.

In the late 1980s, it was believed that Hungary, which is more economically successful than other socialist countries, would relatively easily survive the transition to capitalist relations.

However, those who took over the country from Kadar turned out to be far less talented leaders. And although today the position of Hungary is quite stable, one can only dream of the heights to which the country raised in the era of "goulash-socialism".

And, of course, Janos Kadar, who led his country out of the deepest political crisis of the 1950s, did not deserve the posthumous mockery that he received in 2007.