Budapest 56Copyright 2001

Budapest, Hungary, 23 October 1956

Apartment - City of Budapest. Miklos, a young man of 16 years of age, is asleep in a Budapest apartment. He lives in a grim one-room apartment with two other young men, Laszlo and Janos. The room is small with a bed, a sofa, a table, a wardrobe, a small sink in the corner, and a closet. The bathroom is communal and down the hall. The apartment has one large window overlooking a busy street. Two of the boys sleep in the bed, one on the sofa. Miklos is on the bed.

He awakes in the early afternoon, and gets ready to go to work. He works the night shift in a local steel mill. The sun is up and shining as he drags himself out of bed. He is still not used to the night schedule and so he is exhausted and up too early. He moves to the sink and splashes his face with water trying to wake up. His roommates are in various states of waking for they too are on the night shift. Janos reaches over and turns on a worn radio. The newscaster is in the middle of a story:

"…The planned demonstrations of University students will not be permitted. The people's government has refused to grant permission for any demonstrations in the streets of Budapest today. These demonstrations are the work of anti-socialist forces and capitalists operating in the University. These anti-socialist forces will be stopped and their efforts will fail. Do not join the demonstrations and do not support those who do!!"

The roommates do not take notice. They are unconcerned with politics.

Miklos is too young to really shave, so he simply takes out a razor and swipes a couple of times across some of his peach fuzz. He does not even use shaving cream. He opens the closet to reveal several sets of clothes arranged in three sections, one for each boy. In his section there is a set of dirty coveralls, two pairs of worn pants, and three shirts. He pulls out the coveralls and puts them on along with heavy work shoes and a heavy woolen coat. On the table is a stale loaf of bread and some old cheese. He takes a worn knife and cuts the bread and cheese, slaps them together, and carries them out the door, while sliding a worn workers cap on his head. As he leaves he admonishes his roommates that they had better hurry or they will be late.

Streets of Budapest. He moves to a streetcar stop, passing a young man who is posting a notice on a pole. The notice reads in bold letters:

RALLY: Rally will be held at the Petofi Circle in support of the Workers of Poland, Today at 2:00pm

He reads it without interest. He boards the streetcar and is heading for work, jostled by his fellow riders. All wear a gaze of boredom and exhaustion. Work has no appeal to any of these riders, but is a necessary requirement for survival. They travel through a bleak city, dark and dirty, despite the October sunshine. While the weather is sunny, there remains a Northern Europe chill in the air and the people move about in their coats.

As the streetcar heads down a street, a group of young people passes on the sidewalk. They are carrying signs of political protest and moving with a purpose toward some unseen destination. Miklos watches them go by with mild curiosity, but says nothing. It is an uncommon sight in Budapest, but he has other things on his mind and pays little attention to the protesters.

Csepel Steel Works. The streetcar stops at a huge steel mill where most of the riders jump off. Miklos enters the mill with hundreds of other workers. The mill is ominous and very dark. All is in black, covered with soot and other carbons. There are hundreds of workers moving around in some semblance of order. These workers are disheartened. No matter how hard they work, they will not gain more than they already have. The attitude that pervades the factory is to do the minimum and meet the quota - nothing more, nothing less. But first they must punch in and be counted by the foreman.

Miklos passes a radio speaker in the corner of the mill entrance that is blaring the latest news. The announcer says: "…The student protests being planned for Petofi Square are not approved by the government. The students do not have permission to assemble. They do not have permission to protest. If they insist on meeting they will be opposed by the authorities."

Miklos still takes little notice and neither do his fellow workers. Miklos is soon at work sweeping around the factory. Huge steel caldrons are being moved around the mill. It is a dangerous place and Miklos tries to keep a low profile.

He passes another radio. Again the newscaster is speaking, now with more urgency."The government is again announcing that the student demonstrations will not be permitted. Any demonstrators found on the street will be arrested. Any large groups of demonstrators who gather may be fired on by the police. Do not join these demonstrations. Do not leave your homes or places of work!!"He pauses at this announcement. A protest that is so important and threatening that the police are ordered to fire on the demonstrators. That is very unusual, but again, does not involve him. He moves on.

Streets of Budapest. A large group of demonstrators made up largely of university students gathers near Erzsebet Bridge, a multi-lane bridge over the Danube River, and begins to move through the city. These demonstrators are very young. They are moving

quietly and purposely. Some signs of protest are visible. There is little shouting or noise from the crowd as they are apprehensive about the reaction of the government. The demonstrators pass a collection of police. Both groups eye each other warily, waiting for some reaction. There is no reaction. The police simply watch.

Csepel. It is break time in the factory. Miklos joins his fellow workers in the crowded, dirty break room. The workers are boisterous and carrying on. They have taken up all the seats and are passing a bottle of Russian vodka around the table. An older worker, named Uncle Szabo grabs Miklos and pulls him to his table. He is obviously a favorite of the group.

"Miklos, Come over here, my boy!! How are you today?? Where are you working?? Would you like a piece of bread??" Szabo pulls him to a stool next to him.

"Yes, Uncle Szabo." Miklos is tossed down on the stool and gladly accepts the bread. Szabo also throws him a thick piece of sausage and Miklos combines the two for a sandwich.

"Miklos, did you shave this morning??" Geza, another worker chides."Yes, sir, I did""Why?" replies Geza. He giggles with some of the others."Miklos, are you working in the blast furnace??" asks Szabo."Yes, sir, I am.""Then you be very careful. They do not have all the safety equipment installed

over there and you could easily get hurt.""Yes, sir. I understand.""Very good. Now, how about a taste of good Russian vodka?? We stole it from

the manager's office!"Miklos smiles and takes a small drink from the passing bottle.

Budapest - Petofi Circle. A large crowd has gathered for the rally at the Petofi Statue. The crowd mills around the statue of the great Hungarian revolutionary leader of 1848. At one point a young writer named Peter Veres climbs on the base of the statue and begins to address the crowd."Fellow Magyars, today is a momentous day. We gather here under the eyes of the great revolutionary Petofi and protest the government refusal to implement the most basic of democratic reforms. Instead of expanding socialist democracy, as they promised, they continue to try to restore Stalin's and Rakosi's reign of terror in Hungary. We Hungarian writers have formulated seven points, the demands of a Hungarian nation:1. We want independence in our national policy based on the principle of socialism. Our relations with all countries, and particularly with Russia, should be based on equality. We demand a review of treaties and economic agreements between Hungary and Russia in the spirit of the equality of rights for both nations.2. We demand an end to discrimination on the part of the Russians against Hungarians. We want sincere friendship with our allies - the Russians and the other nations of Eastern Europe. This can only be realized on the basis of socialist principles.

3. We demand a clear disclosure of the nation's economic situation. We cannot hope to emerge from our present economic crisis unless we all, workers, peasants, and intellectuals, all do our part to pull the country out of economic depression.4. We demand that factories be managed by the workers and technicians. We also demand a living wage for our workers and real social security benefits for our older citizens. The trade unions must truly represent the interests of the Hungarian working class…….While Veres is speaking, a student waiving a Hungarian flag suddenly pulls it down and using a knife, cuts out the center where the hated hammer and sickle are. He raises the flag back up and waves it frantically. Other flags are pulled down and similarly modified.

Factory. Miklos is now cleaning a bathroom. It is quite foul, as someone has vomited in the corner. As he takes his mop and bucket to the sink he looks out the window to see a large crowd of police, moving purposefully into the city.

Budapest. Stalin Square where the large and obligatory statue of Stalin is standing. A crowd is milling around the statue, in various stages of interest. Suddenly, a student rushes from the crowd and places a placard on the statue. "Russians, however great your hurry to leave, don't forget to take me with you!!" The crowd is excited by the placard and coalesces. A rope appears and the crowd tries to pull the statue down, with little success.

Factory. Miklos is back to sweeping the floor of the mill. Workers are located above him banging away at some large piece of steel with hammers. Suddenly one slips out of the hands of its owner and drops to the floor, inches from Miklos, who is quite startled. The worker apologizes, and states that Miklos must lead a charmed life.

Budapest - Kossuth Square in front of Parliament. Night has fallen and it is dark in the square, although lit by street lamps. A huge crowd, now 200,000 strong is gathered singing the national anthem. When the anthem is concluded, the crowd begins to chant for Nagy, the old reformer. Party officials are gathered on a side balcony watching the scene. They decide to disperse the crowd by turning off all lights. A call goes out to maintenance workers to kill the lights and the street lamps are quickly extinguished. A call from the leadership goes out over the loudspeakers to disperse and go home. The people respond with anger and shouts of protest. A young man picks up a government newspaper, crumples it into a makeshift torch, pulls out a lighter, and lights it. He raises it in protest. Others do the same and soon the square is lit by the light of the torches.

Evening mealtime in the factory. Miklos sits in a corner and munches on a piece of cheese and drinks a bottle of beer. His hands are grimy and his face is covered in soot

from the factory. He wipes his hands on his dirty coveralls as he eats, oblivious to anything around him. He is already tired from his cleaning routine of the day and there are still five hours left in the shift.

Budapest – Main Radio Station. A young student stands at the locked gates of the radio station and reads out the last of a list of 14 points. "…Number 12. We propose that the government give a full accounting of the economic crisis facing the nation. Including the plan for the sale of Hungarian uranium to Russia.

"Number 13. We propose a closer relationship with the Soviet Union, but one based on socialist principles of complete equality.

"Number 14. We propose that Comrade Imre Nagy, and other comrades who fought for socialist democracy and socialist principles in 1954, should be called out of retirement to lead the government.

He finishes and turns to address the officials in the building. "I demand that these principles be broadcast over the radio to the people of Hungary. I request that representatives of the Student Union be allowed to broadcast our position to the nation!!" he shouts.

An official in the building responds over a bullhorn."This radio station belongs to the people and will not be turned over to anti-

socialist radicals to pollute the minds of the people with capitalist propaganda. "I am not an anti-socialist radical. I am a student at the Technical University. I

am merely asking that the government and the radio station be used for the people and not for the Russians!!" the student responds.

"This radio station will not be opened for students either. Now, disperse and go home or I will be forced to call in the authorities." The official replies.

A student runs up beside the speaker and hurls a rock at the radio building. Others join him and pelt the building with stones.

There is movement inside and out on the roof of the building as the secret police, the AVH, take position with rifles. Students continue to pelt the building with stones. Some AVH officers pull out a fire hose and spray the crowd to convince them to disperse. The crowd responds by using a car to try to batter in the main gate. A lone shot is fired from the building, which is quickly followed by a ragged volley. The students scatter for cover. A few students are hit, but not many. One body lies in the open square. The AVH volley signals a new chapter in the battle for the station. The students are reinforced and weapons appear. Some take up firing positions and begin to return fire on the building.

Factory. Back in the factory, there is a stir in the workers. Miklos does not notice. He is sweeping the floor again. A group of workers gather in a corner and hold an intense discussion. Uncle Szabo is the leader of the group.

"Alright, break open the armory and get the weapons distributed." he instructs. Workers disappear to carry out his orders. Other workers gather, asking what is going on.

"There is fighting in the city. Apparently, someone fired on the students while they were demonstrating outside the radio station. And I believe we should go into Budapest and investigate. What do you think??" he asks. There is widespread agreement and many nods. Workers return from the armory and rifles are distributed. A worker grabs Miklos.

"Do you know how to use a rifle?" he asks."Yes. I have been trained by the ARMY," he responds."Then take this and get it loaded." He is handed an old carbine, which he adroitly

opens, examines, and loads."Where did these weapons come from?" he asks."The factory armory. It was filled by the government so we could defend the

factory from the invading Americans." Miklos nods - he understands.The workers prepare themselves, then on Szabo's command they move toward the

entrance of the factory and are out in the street. They commandeer a streetcar and depart for the city.

Budapest. The workers arrive at a stop near the radio station. They can hear shots being exchanged across the square in front of the radio station. They dismount and begin heading for the square.

"Alright, Geza, you take twenty men and work your way around the flank of the building. We will set up a base of fire in the square and cover you for your approach. Work your way through the apartments there and signal me as best you can when you are ready to assault." Szabo instructs one of his lieutenants. Geza collects his men and moves off. The rest of the group follows Szabo toward the square. Szabo spots Miklos.

"Miklos, you have joined us!?""Yes, Uncle Szabo. I thought it my duty.""And so it is. You stick very close to me, son. Don't wander off and get yourself

killed.""Yes, sir," Miklos replies, more than willing to stay near the leader.The group moves toward the square in front of the radio station, but are stopped

short by the arrival of a truckload of army soldiers. The commanding officer of the group alights from the front of the truck and instructs his men to dismount. The soldiers form in a ragged line behind their officer. The workers line up behind Szabo and there is a wary confrontation. Then one of the workers, Miklos's roommate Laszlo, walks over to a soldier and disarms him. The officer is incredulous.

"Stop that. Do not go near my men!!" the officer commands. Laszlo ignores him. "You men, fire on these anti-socialist rebels!!!" The soldiers stand silent. Other workers walk over and aid Laszlo in disarming the group. The officer is beside himself with anger, but cannot stop the workers.

"Thank you, Hungarian soldiers. You have displayed real patriotism this night." Szabo says as he glances at the officer. The workers finish gathering the weapons and turn their attention back to the radio station.

Miklos is very excited about the turn of events and considers this a great adventure. He gleefully follows the group as they move back toward the square. When they arrive there, Szabo does a quick reconnaissance and then issues orders.

"You men, take cover behind that wall and fire on the building. Concentrate on the windows of the upper floors. Be careful with your ammunition, we don't have an endless supply," he directs. "Next group, take position on the corner and cover the door. Next group take position behind those cars and cover the lower windows. Last group concentrate on the roof. And keep an eye out for Geza's men!!"

The groups nod their understanding and move out. Soon, a base of fire is established around the square. Szabo spots Geza's group approaching the station and calls out to his men to be careful. Miklos is assigned a firing position near Szabo's corner command post. The workers close on the building with great skill, moving and covering each other as they approach.

"Uncle Szabo, how do they know how to move so carefully??""They are all veterans of the Great Patriotic War against the Nazi's. This is

simply instinctive for them." Szabo explains. Miklos nods his understanding.Miklos takes a shot at the building and is answered. A worker next to him does

the same, but remains exposed too long and is shot. He falls dead at Miklos's feet, a bullet in his head. Miklos is shocked and turns to Szabo in panic.

"This is a serious game, boy. You must remember that, and if you're not ready to play seriously, then go home." Szabo chides him. Miklos considers that, nods his understanding, then more serious, turns and fires at the station again.

Radio Station. Inside the station an AVH officer sees that the rebels are closing on the building. "That's it, men. They have gotten too close!! Now destroy the radio equipment and let's get out of here!!!" the officer commands.

Rifle butts smash the radio transmitter and other equipment and then the soldiers pile down the hall and out of the building.

The Radio Square. Szabo watches his assault element close on the building."Shift fire, men!!!" he shouts to his men. "Shift to the left and be careful of our

men!!" Soon he sees a man climb out on the roof and wave a Hungarian flag with the center cut out. He raises his arm in victory, as do the rest of his men. The men come out from their cover and hiding places and raise a cheer for their victory.Szabo takes inventory of the situation.

"Alright. Let's see where we stand. Does everyone have a rifle??" he asks. There are many men who remain unarmed, and they raise their empty arms.

"That's what I thought. We will need more weapons if we are going to take on the AVH in future battles. I need some men to go to the nearest Police Station and see if you can confiscate or steal their weapons."

Several men step forward, including Miklos. Szabo eyes him warily but nods to him that he can go.

"Laszlo, you take charge of the group and lead them to the station. Avoid a fight if at all possible. We don't want to involve the Municipal Police in this fight if we can avoid it." Laszlo agrees and waves his group forward. They move off in a semblance of order.

Stalin Square. They pass Stalin Square where the work on the statue continues. But now a worker has brought forward a welding torch and is cutting the statue off at the knees. As Miklos and his group pass, he completes the final cut and the crowd gives a yank on their rope. It topples in a huge crash into the square and a mighty roar from the crowd.

Budapest Communist Party Headquarters. The Hungarian Politburo is meeting. The leadership is haggling over how to handle the situation.

"We must crush this rebellion immediately before the Russians find out, or we are all going to be replaced!!" cries Erno Gero, current First Secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party

"But how?" asks Lajos Feher, member of the military committee. "The police are not responding and the Army seems to be siding with the anti-socialists!!"

"The AVH can handle the mobs!!" states Andras Hegedus, Prime Minister."There are not enough AVH agents in the city. And they do not have the

necessary military training to suppress the anti-socialists," states Laszlo Piros, interior minister. "We can bring in reinforcements from the countryside, but that will take days."

"Then we have no other choice but to call in the Russians!" states Feher."We cannot call in the Russians. I agree they will crush the rebellion, but the

fallout will topple us all. We will be admitting that we cannot control our own people!" declares Gero.

"Well, what alternative do we have??" asks Piros."We can appeal to the good nature of the people and allow them the time to calm

down." says Feher."What are you talking about, Feher??!!" barks Piros. "You know that the people

are really capitalists, being motivated by the Horthyites in Vienna. They will not simply calm down!! They won't stop until they have overthrown the government!!"

"Then we must call in the extra AVH agents and place a curfew on the city. We must also canvas the Army and determine which units are still loyal to the government." states Gero.

"But that will take time. Time that we may not have!!" states Hegedus."What ideas do you have, Hegedus??" asks Kovacs, obviously agitated."I say invite the Russians in.""You are mad!! They will take us all out to the courtyard and shoot us!!" cries

Gero. The meeting devolves into angry shouting by all participants across the table. In the midst of the arguments, Hegedus calmly stands up and departs from the room. His departure is not noticed in the chaos. He steps from the room and finds a telephone. He dials a number and waits.

"Yes, Comrade Mikoyan. Yes, this is Andras Hegedus in Budapest. Yes, now is the time. As we discussed previously, we do not have the resources to defend the government against the anti-socialists. We must have help…. Yes….. Agreed. We will support your troops in any way possible….. Thank you, Comrade. Good-bye."

Hegedus hangs up.

Russian military barracks, countryside outside of Budapest. A soldier is on guard in an office building. He is reading the newspaper behind his desk as the phone rings. He picks up the receiver.

"11th Tank Regiment….. Yes, sir…. Yes, sir….." The soldier stands up. "Yes, sir, I will wake the soldiers immediately. Yes, sir." He puts the phone down, then bursts into activity, running down the hallway to an open bay barracks where his comrades are sleeping.

"Wake up!! Wake up!! We have been ordered to move out. We have been ordered to Budapest. Wake up!!" he cries. The sleeping soldiers begin to wake and get out of bed.

Budapest Police Station - After midnight. Miklos and his fellow workers are approaching the police station. They are moving quietly, thinking they are sneaking up on the station. Suddenly, they are surrounded by police who have watched them approach and who capture and disarm them all. They march across the square and into the police station.

Russian Barracks. Tanks are starting up and lining the road. A commander in the lead tank looks behind him and signals. The column moves forward and passes through the gate.

Police Station. Miklos and his companions are sitting in the station under guard. A police sergeant is on the phone with his superior.

"Yes, Chief. Yes, I have several of them here now…… No, they are not anti-socialists or capitalists….. No, sir. They are young workers….. About 20 years old. One of them appears to be about 15." He looks at Miklos. "Yes, Chief……Yes, Chief. Yes, I agree…… I will do so immediately. Thank you, Chief…. Good-bye." He sets the phone down and turns to his officers. "Release these prisoners. They are obviously not capitalists and not the people we are looking for." The officers look at the sergeant, puzzled. "Go on, now. The government has stated that the rebellion is being led by capitalists. These young men are obviously not capitalists. Therefore, we must continue our efforts to find the capitalists who are the real leaders of this rebellion. Caution these boys not to take up arms against the government again, and release them."

The officers understand and begin to un-cuff the prisoners.

Budapest - Russian embassy - 2:00am. The first Russian tanks arrive and begin to spread out surrounding the embassy, preparing to defend it. The commander dismounts from his tank and goes to the entrance, where he is greeted by the ambassador, Yuri Andropov, and welcomed.

"Welcome, Comrade Lieutenant," says the ambassador. "We are so happy to see you. The situation has deteriorated very rapidly."

"Thank you, Comrade Ambassador," says the lieutenant. "We came as quickly as we could."

"And that was very quick indeed. How did you get here so fast?? I understand that the Hungarians only requested you at midnight??"

"That's correct, Comrade Ambassador. But we've been on alert for three days. Moscow had heard of trouble brewing here, and put us on alert for just such an eventuality."

"And I'm certainly glad that they did. Come inside now, and have some coffee." They head for the front door.

24 Oct 56Dawn arrives in the city. The city is empty. The residents have taken cover in their homes, trying to stay out of the fighting and too afraid to take sides yet.

Loudspeakers on a corner blare a radio announcement to the silent streets as Miklos walks slowly past in the growing dawn. He is tired and yawns broadly: "Anti-socialist elements have launched an unprovoked attack against our armed forces and government buildings. For the sake of restoring order and until further notice, martial law is in effect. All gatherings, meetings, and demonstrations are banned."

"Attention!! Attention!! The dastardly armed attacks of the anti-socialist and capitalist gangs during the night have created an extremely serious situation. The government was unprepared for these attacks and has therefore applied for help, in accordance with the terms of the Warsaw Treaty, to the Russian military forces stationed in Hungary. Russian forces, in compliance with the government's request, are assisting Hungarian forces in restoring law and order."

"Comrade Imre Nagy is appointed as Prime Minister of the Government. He will begin work on forming a new cabinet immediately. This work will go quickly and the new government will take power within three days.

"Attention!! Attention!! In a few minutes it will be 8:00 o'clock. Those who surrender before that hour will be exempt from punishment. We request that our listeners put their radio sets in their windows. We want to inform the capitalist rebels and those who they have misled that they must surrender before the deadline, otherwise they will face arrest, imprisonment and punishment."

"The Party and government are in complete control of the situation. This does not mean, however, that order and calm prevail everywhere. There are still small pockets of resistance in the capital where fighting continues between armed capitalist gangs and the forces of our people's democratic regime. The government has gained clear victories in many places and is proceeding with the complete elimination of all forms of resistance.

"Women! Do not let your husbands get into danger. You must prevent them from supporting the anti-socialist forces. Mothers! Do not let your sons run in the streets where they may become casualties of the current fighting. Women! Do not let yourselves be fooled by the capitalist provocateurs."

Miklos listens to the announcements, then moves on, making his way across the city. He is moving alone, having parted from his fellow rebels. He passes the offices of the Party Newspaper, which is being ransacked by rebels. A bonfire is being built in the middle of the street with red communist doctrinal books being burned. Miklos continues on. He passes a street intersection where rebels are building a barricade. He recognizes Janos and greets him.

"Janos, how are you??!" he greets his roommate."Miklos!! Good to see you. Where have you been all night??"

"Oh, a little misadventure over at a police station." He replies."But you're all right??""Of course. They let us go; said they were looking for "capitalist" forces which

we obviously were not. Hey, I'm looking for Uncle Szabo - have you seen him??""Yes, Szabo is over at the Kilian Barracks. He is organizing the students there.""Thanks, Janos. I must go report in.""Fine. But once you are done, come back out here and help with this barricade.

We have four more to build before noon.""Of course!!" Miklos chuckles - not if he can find something else to do.

Kilian Barracks. Miklos arrives at the Barracks and enters the front door. There is no guard on the door and he walks right in. The scene is chaotic with students and young workers scurrying around the building. Many of the rebels are carrying guns, but not all. Miklos walks up the stairs and follows the general pattern of traffic. The stream of people reaches the main office of the barracks, the old commandant's office. Here Szabo is directing the work.

"Alright, what caliber gun did you find?" Szabo interrogates a student."We believe it is 76mm.""Fine. Excellent. And you have ammunition??" the student nods. "Then place

the gun here in this alley" Szabo points to a map on the table. "I want you to cover this street, but build a strong wall around the gun with whatever you can find. You must build a heavy bunker or the Russians will squash you like a bug."

The student understands and turns to leave. Szabo sees Miklos and smiles."Miklos, my boy. Good to see you safe. I heard about the station. Are you all

right??""Yes, sir. They didn't harm us."A worker interrupts. "Uncle Szabo, where should we establish the ammunition dump??""Put the dump in the basement. Should be an arms room down there. Empty out

and issue the rifles to the workers, then refill the room with the extra ammo." He turns to Miklos. "Miklos, I have much work to do here. Go get some breakfast and then come back and I'll put you to work."

Miklos nods. "Where's the kitchen??""Back of the building. You will find some good rations there. The Army ate

well!"Miklos nods again and heads for the kitchen. He enters and sees a cafeteria line

stuffed with food and being operated by several young girls from a nearby high school. A very pretty young lady named Erika calls to Miklos and welcomes him.

"Hello there. Would you like something to eat??" she smiles at him."Uhhh," Miklos is stopped short by her beautiful smile. "Uhh, yes I would, thank

you." She collects some bread and some sweet rolls and hands them to him, then begins

to pour a cup of coffee for him. The pot is about empty and she begins preparing another."You may sit anywhere you like. I'll bring the coffee over to you when it's

finished." He moves to a nearby empty table, still keeping an eye on Erika. She is doing

the same thing and their eyes meet twice, embarrassing each. The cafeteria is half filled with students and workers. Erika walks over with the coffee, "Here you go, sir."

"Thank you," Miklos says weakly."Enjoy your breakfast!""Thank you, again. Uh, could you join me, perhaps?" He says hesitatingly. "I'm sorry, but duty calls. I have to get back to the line. Perhaps another time,"

she replies, hopefully. He is visibly disappointed."Yes, some other time. Well, thanks again.""You're welcome," She turns to walk away. Miklos watches her all the way back

to the line. He begins eating. While he eats, Nagy comes on the obligatory radio."Hungarians, Comrades, my friends! This is Imre Nagy. I speak to you on this very momentous occasion weighed down with the responsibilities that have been entrusted to me. As you know, on the request of the Central Committee of the Hungarian Communist Party and the Presidential Council, I have taken over the leadership of the Government as Prime Minister. It is with a heavy sense of the gravity of the current crisis that I take this post. Let me just say that the success of my government will largely be determined by the support given to me by the Hungarian people. Let me also says that we must enact real reform in this nation, but only under the leadership of the Communist Party. Only by doing that can we hope to succeed in building a true socialist democracy. Now to more practical matters. "People of Budapest, I announce that all those who lay down their arms and stop fighting before 1400 today, will be given general amnesty by the government. The fighting must end and we must restore order to the country. Then and only then can we have peace and begin to undertake the kinds of reform that we have so longed for…. The workers and students look at each other and stare. Szabo walks through.

"There are Russian tanks in the streets of Budapest, Mister Nagy. How can there be PEACE??!!" he snorts.

Budapest- Army Headquarters. General Istvan Kovacs is leaning over a map of the city and receiving reports from the streets. In the corner is Colonel Pal Maleter, a senior tank officer. He is on the phone with the city.

"Colonel Maleter, can you give me a status report on the Kilian Barracks??" the General asks.

"Sir, the last report I received stated that the barracks have been seized by the capitalists," says Maleter.

"Damn it. That means they have a strong base from which to work." Kovacs storms. "Colonel Maleter, collect up a platoon of tanks and go and retake the barracks. We cannot allow the rebels to establish a base in the Kilian."

Maleter stands and salutes. "Yes, General." He turns to his desk and grabs his pistol, then heads for the door.

Motor Pool behind the Defense Minister. Maleter goes down to the motor pool behind the HQ where several tanks are parked, their commanders gathered in a group awaiting orders.

"Sergeant, are these your tanks??" Maleter asks of the senior NCO."Yes, Comrade Colonel." He turns and salutes. Maleter waves a response. "Mount up and come with me. We're going to clean out the Kilian Barracks."

The sergeants leap for their tanks and order their crews to prepare to move out. There is a flurry of activity as the vehicles are started and lined up. Maleter climbs on top of the lead tank and into the commander's cupola. He puts on the CVC helmet offered by the loader. He looks back over the column and gets a thumbs up from the tank commanders. He speaks into the microphone and tells the driver to advance, then waves the other tanks in behind him. The column heads out into the city.

The column passes through the city, already strewn with debris. Near a bridge over the river there are 12 bodies hung by lampposts – they are secret policemen caught by the workers. Maleter and his column approach the vicinity of the barracks and see a roadblock in the street. He halts the column.

"Sergeant, you take the other four tanks and establish a firing position here overlooking the barricade. I will take my tank and attempt to outflank the position. Do not fire unless fired upon. I don't want to open a battle until I have more information on their weaponry and defenses." Maleter instructs.

"Yes, Comrade Colonel," The sergeant responds. He waves his other tanks into position overlooking the barricade and they eye the few rebels warily.

Maleter backs his tank off the position and heads down a side street. He runs through a back alley, then around a corner. He comes out on the flank of the barricade and is now on a side street leading to the barracks themselves. He drives up to the barracks and backs the tank into the main entrance.

"Not impressed by these rebels. Their security is terrible. They've allowed us to get to the doors of their stronghold without even noticing us," he reports to the crew. "I'll go into the barracks and see what I can find out. Remain here until I return. Do not fire at anything unless fired upon." The crew agrees.

Maleter climbs out of the hatch and steps off the back deck of the tank. He examines the massive door in front of him, then with his booted foot he kicks the door open and marches in. He is met in the large foyer of the barracks by university students. Some are armed and some not. They eye him cautiously, but say nothing. Maleter is armed with a pistol but it remains in his holster.

"Who is the leader of this group??" Maleter asks. An old man steps forward from behind a group of students – it is Szabo.

"I am the leader. What can I do for you, Colonel??""I am looking for the capitalists. We have heard that the barracks had been seized

by capitalists.""There are no capitalists here. There are only students and workers. We are

ordinary citizens, fighting against the Russian invaders.""Then there must be other leaders. The Horthyites and the other capitalists that

are filling the heads of these students with lies.""There are no other leaders. I am the leader of this barracks. At least for now.

There are no Horthyites here. You can search the barracks from the top to the bottom and you will find no capitalists."

Maleter considers the answer and is puzzled. He pauses before answering. "Does the entire rebellion consist of these workers and students??"

"It does. You see them all around you." Maleter pauses again, looking around the group at the faces of these young people. "Colonel, it seems that it is you that has been lied to. Is this the first time that the government has lied to you??"

Maleter does not answer, but simply looks hard at Szabo. It is the answer that Szabo expects.

"I am fighting for freedom, Colonel, freedom from the Russians and from the oppression of my own government. The freedom I thought I was going to receive after fighting in the Great War. But after the war the Russians, with whom I had fought for four years, decided that I could not have it. Instead I could have a dead-end job in a filthy steel factory and I could try to raise my family on half wages. I have decided to take up my rifle again and fight for my freedom once more and this time I intend to win it!! Have you not experienced these same emotions?? Don't the hollow promises of the government ring empty in your ears?? Isn't it time for the people to gain some of the socialist democracy that Rakosi and Gero are always talking about??"

"These are political questions, and I am a soldier," Maleter answers, looking away from Szabo.

"We are all politicians now, Colonel, if the definition of politician is one who has grown tired of the AVH and the government lies. The students protested yesterday and the government had the AVH attack them and called in the Russians. It is obvious that they have no intention of reform. They simply want to retain their power. And you are fighting to help them do it."

"You are quite eloquent for a steel worker." Maleter tries to change the subject."We discuss these matters every day over the lunch table in the factory. It's been

ten years since the Communists took over, so we’ve had lots of time to discuss our political views! Now tell me, have you grown tired of the lies?"

Maleter simply nods."Colonel Maleter, you have come here to fight us, but I ask you to think about

joining us. The government does not deserve your support or loyalty. We on the other hand desperately need someone of your experience and knowledge. Will you consider joining us? We would be pleased to have you stand with us."

Maleter pauses, looking around the group of young faces. Finally, he stands up straight.

"Does anyone else in this group have any military experience??""I fought in the war, of course." Szabo declares. "But the rest of these are mere

children.""Well, you will need a great deal of military expertise if you expect to defeat the

Russians.""Then we are in desperate need of your services."Maleter pauses again, then smiles broadly. "Yes, I will join you. What is your

name, and what steel mill produces such persuasive politicians?""My name is Janos Szabo, and I am a proud member of the Csepel Steel Workers

lunch discussion group.""Well, Comrade Szabo…" begins Maleter.

"We no longer use that term, Colonel. We are brothers and sisters, not Comrades anymore. And everyone here calls me Uncle Szabo."

"I can see why, ‘Uncle’ Szabo. I must report back to the Ministry of Defense. If nothing else, to tell General Kovacs what the true situation is in the city. Is there a phone available??"

"All the phone lines have been cut," replies Szabo."Then I need a runner. Is there anyone here who knows where Communist Party

Headquarters is??"Miklos steps forward. "I know the city well. I know where the Party

Headquarters is.""What is your name and how long have you lived in the city??" Maleter asks."Miklos Lents, and I have lived here for three years; I know it well." "Then where is Party Headquarters??""On Szabad Street, across from the National Theater.""Would you recognize the Party leadership if you had to??""I read the paper occasionally and have seen their pictures.""And do you think you can get by the Russians?""I will have a better chance than one of these older ones."Maleter ponders the answers. "Hmm, another persuasive worker. Alright, you

can go. But you will need to change your clothes. You look too much like a worker. You should try to look more like a lost adolescent. Do we have a change of clothes for the lad?"

"We will find him one." Says Szabo, and he turns to an assistant."Fine. Well, Mr. Lents, here is the message that you MUST deliver to General

Kovacs. Tell him that there are no capitalists and that the revolt is being led by students and workers. That the government is lying and that the Communists are simply interested in retaining power. Also tell him that I am staying here. Tell him that he should come here himself and see what is happening. Understood??"

"Yes, sir.""Fine. Then get yourself changed and on your way.""Yes, sir." A pile of clothes is handed to Miklos and the meeting breaks up.

Party Headquarters. Miklos arrives at the front steps of Party Headquarters. As he walks up, a BTR-152 pulls up at the front door, escorted by two tanks. From the back end, two men exit; Comrades Anastas Mikoyan and Mikhail Suslov straight from Moscow. They are unexpected and quickly slip in to the building. Their arrival causes confusion in the security team that is at the front door. They follow the Russian dignitaries into the building, thus abandoning their posts. Miklos follows behind and makes his way into the building in the confusion of their arrival. He wanders through the hallways, but generally following the diplomats, and manages to make his way into the vicinity of the offices of the First Secretary of the Party. A high level meeting is going on in the next office between Mikoyan, Suslov, and Gero, along with others. Miklos listens intently through the partially open door and hears shouting - Mikoyan and Suslov are arguing with Gero.

"Gero, you must resign immediately. You have lost complete control of the situation and you must turn over the government now," shouts Mikoyan, a big burly Russian bear.

"I will not resign. We have the situation well in hand. And in a few hours we will completely destroy the resistance!!"

"Are you mad!!??" Suslov chimes in. "There are rebels everywhere and your AVH is losing badly. We even saw a dozen of them strung up on lampposts by the Danube bridges."

"A temporary set back, I assure you," replies Gero."You don't have a choice in the matter, Gero," states Mikoyan. "First Secretary

Khruschev has already made the decision, and we are merely here to enforce it.""But I spoke with Secretary Khruschev only this morning and he voiced complete

confidence in my government.""That was this morning. We know more about the situation than we did this

morning and he has decided that you are to be replaced. Now face reality and resign or we will be forced to remove you in a less peaceful manner."

Gero pauses to contemplate Mikoyan's meaning. Finally he turns on his heal and storms from the room, slamming the door behind him. The door bangs against the jam, and remains open. Miklos hides in a doorway as Gero storms past him. He watches as Mikoyan turns to Suslov.

"The country is not ready for this news, so we should delay the announcement until the time is right."

"I agree. If we release this now, the rebels will believe that they have won a victory. We should talk to Kadar at the earliest opportunity and determine how best to package it." Suslov notices the door left open and goes over to close it. With that Miklos is shut out of the conversation and so he turns to go about his mission.

Miklos finds General Kovacs in a room on the second floor. The general is sitting in the corner staring at a map of the city. Miklos knocks softly on the door and waits for a reply. An aide to Kovacs turns to the door.

"Who are you and what do you want?" he asks sharply. He is obviously feeling the strain of the situation.

"My name is Miklos Lents, of the Csepel Steel Works. I have a message from Colonel Maleter for General Kovacs." At the name of Maleter, Kovacs sits up and takes notice.

"What do you know of Maleter, son??" asks Kovacs."Sir, I come from the Kilian Barracks. I have a message for you from Colonel

Maleter himself." "Go on.""The colonel said to tell you that the rebellion is NOT being led by capitalists. It

is being led by students and workers. There are no capitalists or anti-social forces at all. Only young men and women fighting for freedom. The government has lied to you. Colonel Maleter says to tell you that the Communists are only interested in retaining power."

Kovacs is incredulous. "Maleter is still alive??""Yes, General, very much alive."

"And he is returning from the Kilian??""No, sir. He has decided to stay at the Kilian. He asks that you come to the

barracks and see the situation for yourself."Kovacs is stunned. He looks over at the wall map, then sits back again. "Well, it

does not matter. The Russians are in control and are running the operation now. I am powerless to do anything, even if I believed you. Go tell that to Maleter, if you still can. Tell him that Kovacs is not in command of the Army any longer and has become a spectator to the events."

Miklos pauses, hoping for more. But there is no more. Kovacs merely closes his eyes and rubs his forehead. Miklos nods his head, glances at the aide, and turns to leave.

Streets of Budapest. Miklos makes his way back through the city in the dark. He moves in the shadows of still and ominous streets. There are occasional gunshots in the distance and the heavy report of tank cannon fire. Miklos crosses a street on the run and ducks into an alley. He emerges from the opposite end of the alley and is almost run over by a tank speeding past. He continues on across the street and into another alley. He comes out on a major street and begins to walk down the block. A Russian tank pulls around the corner followed by two others. Miklos backs into a doorway. From the apartment building across the street, a fusilade of shots ring out. Snipers in the windows spray the tanks with fire. A tank commander is hit and his tank comes to a halt. Immediately Molotov cocktails rain down on the tank. But they miss and burst in the street. The tank swings its turret toward the windows and opens fire. A gun battle opens and Miklos is caught and pinned down in the doorway as the combatants exchange fire. Suddenly the door opens and he is pulled inside. His rescuer is the lovely young lady, Erika, that he met earlier over breakfast at the Killian Barracks.

"You!! I did not recognize you when I opened the door. What are you doing in this neighborhood so late??"

"I am returning to the Kilian. I was out delivering a message for Colonel Maleter."

"Colonel Maleter?? You are working for Colonel Maleter??""Yes,""Well, then I am a bit more impressed with you. What is your name??""Miklos, Miklos Lents. I work at the Csepel Steel Works.""Good evening, Miklos Lents from the Csepel Steel Works. I am Erika Mezo. I

am a student at the Technical High School." Miklos takes her hand and shakes it gently."So what are you going to do now??" she asks."Well, I must get back to the Kilian. I have a message for Colonel Maleter.""I can show you a way to get to the Kilian.""Then show me!! I need to get back before it gets too late.""Follow me." She leads him to a basement and through a makeshift tunnel cut by

the residents. He comes out on the other side of the street safely out of the field of fire. He spots the Kilian Barracks at the end of the street and walks toward it, turning back and waving to her and smiling a thank you.

25 Oct 56Kilian Barracks. It is morning and Miklos is back in the Kilian. He is asleep in the corner of Maleter's office, lazily dozing while staff officers swirl around him. Maleter walks over to him.

"Miklos! Miklos!" he shakes the lad. "Wake up, son, I've got a job for you.""What…? Who…??" Miklos wakes slowly. "Colonel Maleter?? I'm sorry, sir, I

must have dozed off.""Quite all right. You were out very late last night. But now I have another

message for you.""All right. What is it, sir?""Go back to the Party Headquarters and find Premier Nagy. Tell him that we are

in control of the Kilian and that we would like to talk to him. Tell him that we are very interested in these reforms he is proposing and would like to discuss them."

"Yes, sir. I understand. I will go immediately." Miklos stands up and grabs his coat.

Streets of Budapest. Miklos is making his way back through the city. He is wrapped in a long overcoat with a workers cap on his head. His hands are thrust into his coat pocket as the early morning air is quite cold. He deliberately walks down Erika's street hoping to catch a glimpse of her. As he crosses the street a female voice calls to him from a doorway. It is Erika. He walks over to talk to her.

"Good morning, Miss Mezo!""Good morning, Mister Lents.""It looks like it is going to be a great day!""Why do you say that?""Well, the shooting has died down and the sun is out. I believe that we are

winning and today will continue that trend!""That is good news! So what brings you to my street again?""Just passing through on my way to Party Headquarters. I have another message

from Colonel Maleter.""Well in that case, I will accompany you. A young couple will be much less

conspicuous than a lone boy walking through the streets. You will run less of a risk of being discovered."

"I agree but are you sure you’re permitted to go out today with the curfew and all?"

"Of course! I am of age. I will just get my coat and we’ll be off." She ducks back into the house, grabbing a coat from a peg near the door. "Mother, I am going out. I’ll be accompanying a friend of mine into the city."

"You are not to go out, Erika!! Don't you know there’s a war going on??!!" her mother calls from the kitchen. But Erika does not hear. She is already out the door and clutching the arm of her escort. They head down the street, obviously pleased with each other.

They round the corner and come upon the Astoria Hotel. In front of the hotel, they witness a remarkable scene. A platoon of three Russian tanks is being confronted by

a crowd of youths. There is a heated discussion ongoing between the tank commander and a young student.

"You are invaders who have attacked our country without provocation!!" the youth shouts.

"We are simply following orders. We were told that the government was under attack from anti-socialist forces and we were to destroy them!!" the tank commander replies.

"As you can see, there are no anti-socialists here, so you can go home now and leave us in peace."

"There may not be anti-socialists here, but there may be…"A youth leaps up on the tank and offers a cup of coffee to the tank commander.

He pauses for moment then accepts, to the cheers of the crowd. Other youths mount the tank and bedeck it with Hungarian flags. The crowd begins to move to Parliament Square with the tanks in tow. Miklos and Erika follow the crowd, swept along by the mob which blocks their path in any case.

"Shall we accompany them??" Miklos asks Erika."Does not appear that we have much choice!!" They empty into the Square and are joined by hundreds more, all singing and

shouting slogans and chanting.

Parliament Building. Inside the building the AVH is in a panic. Again, they are confronting an armed mob, this time with tanks. General Serov, head of the Russian KGB, stands on a balcony and watches the mob approach through a pair of binoculars. He turns to his subordinates.

"Place the troops in position. We will defend this building from the mob - with force if necessary!!" he orders. The subordinates scatter in haste and begin shouting orders to troops waiting in the hallways.

A sergeant directs a squad as a heavy machine gun is hauled out to the balcony and placed in a sandbagged defensive position. Ammunition is inserted in the gun and it is prepared to fire. The crowd is unaware - they are celebrating their victory and holding a party. Miklos and Erika watch the party for a moment, then begin to sing the national anthem with the crowd.

Serov sees Russian and Hungarian soldiers dancing with the rebels and is infuriated.

"Open fire. Open fire right now!!!" he shouts. A burst is fired and next to the machine gun, a soldier opens with his rifle. Other guns join in, creating a crossfire in the open square.

The crowd scatters in panic. A shot pings off the tank and the crew panics. The young Hungarians riding on the tank scatter in confusion, as the tank prepares to fire.

"We have been caught in an ambush. Prepare the tank for action!!" the tank commander shouts as he grabs the cupola machine gun and prepares to fire. He opens with his machine gun on the Parliament Building. Then swings the gun around and fires on the crowd, trying to keep the civilians away from his tank.

Miklos and Erika dive for cover as bullets smash into the pavement near them. They are separated in the panic. Miklos is temporarily stunned by his crash to the pavement. He picks up his head and looks around for Erika, but he cannot find her.

"Erika!!? Erika??!" he calls for her. There is no response except the screaming of the crowd and the banging of the guns. The Russian tank is swinging its turret around toward him. Miklos looks up and realizes that the turret is swinging right toward him and he must get away or be killed. He leaps to the side and behind a concrete park bench as the bullets slam into the other side. The tank continues its traverse, leaving him alone and safe. He peeks over the bench and looks around. There is still heavy firing in the square from AVH snipers on the rooftops and from the windows. There are many lumps of bodies in the square and very little movement except for the wounded. A bullet smashes into the pavement next to him. A sniper has zeroed in on him. He decides to make a run for it and leaps to his feet. He is off across the street and into a nearby alley, with one final fleeting glance back in search of Erika.

Miklos gathers himself in the alley. He heads down it, away from the square and continues his search for Erika, hoping against hope to find her in the scattering crowds or one of the makeshift hospitals that are already sprouting around the square. There is massive confusion in the streets. A man runs past screaming that the AVH are killers and that they have killed Hungarians in the Parliament Square. Miklos has to dodge ambulances headed to the Square. He picks his way through the crowds, looking for familiar faces but seeing none but strangers. He calls for her, but receives no answer. Others are also calling out names of lost ones. He tries to remember what she was wearing and then begins a search of individuals with those colors. He passes a corner of the Square and sees the aftermath. There are bodies everywhere. Many are dead but some are moving slowly and trying to find their way out of the square. Some medical workers are moving through the chaos, triaging the wounded. Miklos moves on.

The wounded and casualties begin to thin out and he is soon back among regular crowds of people moving through the city. He continues to search, without success, until finally he arrives at the Party HQ. He remembers that he has a message to deliver, but Russian soldiers are guarding the front steps. He slips around the side and finds a maintenance entrance. He enters and winds through the back stairs of the building until he arrives at the hallway outside Nagy's office.

Another meeting is underway. Nagy is meeting with the party leadership around a large conference table. The table is strewn with papers and coffee cups. There are several overflowing ash trays placed around the table. Several of the leaders are smoking and the room is cloudy with their smoke. There is a sharp discussion about the revolution and how to contain it. A messenger arrives and whispers in Nagy’s ear. His face goes white. He turns to the assembled leaders.

"The AVH has just massacred civilians in Parliament Square.""How many??" asks a Nagy ally, Ferenc Donath."I have no other details beyond that."The leaders are stunned into silence."It will now be impossible to contain the revolution." Donath mumbles."What news do we have from the countryside?" Nagy asks.

"There is increased fighting in the cities across the nation," reports Geza Losonczy. "The revolution is spreading and will be difficult to contain now that many of the best Russian and Hungarian troops have been moved to Budapest.

"Prime Minister, you must make another radio broadcast to urge the people to restore order."

"I must first move to the Parliament Building, where I will be better able to control events. And to control the AVH."

"Prime Minister, the Parliament Building is obviously not safe," states Kadar. "You must remain here at the Party Headquarters where we can protect you adequately. If you are killed or injured, the country will collapse." Nagy considers this answer.

"Alright, I agree. I will address the nation on the radio from here in the Party HQ. But you must also speak, First Secretary. I need your words of support if we are to have any hope of restoring calm."

"Then I agree to address the nation with you, Prime Minister."

Radio Studio. Nagy makes his radio broadcast."Working people of Hungary, during the past few days our country has lived through tragic events. Several days ago, a small group of anti-socialist provocateurs launched an armed attack against our People's Republic of Hungary, an attack which has been mistakenly supported by the workers of Budapest. These workers are bitter over the political and economic situation in this country. They have every right to be bitter, but not to take up armed revolt against the government."My government is resolved to address these political and economic crises directly. We understand the frustrations of the workers and in large measure agree with their positions. We pledge to learn from the mistakes of the past and move forward in a spirit of openness and cooperation to address these problems and find solutions within our socialist framework. "I promise that soon after the restoration of order, the National Assembly will be called. At that session, I will submit an all-embracing program of reform to address all of the demands of the workers, the writers, and the students who have brought legitimate concerns to the government. "For all those who have taken up arms in pursuit of reform, I say stop fighting immediately and hand over your arms to the government. I promise that we will not arrest or imprison you, but will offer general amnesty to those who lay down their arms immediately. "To those of you who have taken up arms to overthrow the duly constituted government of the republic, I say that you will not succeed. We will mobilize the full strength of the government to defeat you. And we will win. We will also apply the full measure of the law against you and prosecute all anarchists to the full extent of the law. "In the interests of the people of Hungary, we desire peace and order. In defense of our socialist democratic state we will mobilize the complete strength of the people and we will fight to the death to defend it. Do not presume that because you have won some early victories that you can hope to overthrow this government, a government founded on the people. We will defeat you and will then move forward to establish our socialist democracy and bring peace and prosperity to our country. Good day.

Nagy finishes, gathers his papers, and gets up as Kadar takes the microphone. Nagy is congratulated by Donath on a fine speech, although he doubts he has done well.

Outside Nagy's Office. In the foyer to the office, Nagy is accosted by Miklos."Prime Minister, I must speak to you. I have a message from Colonel Maleter at

the Kilian Barracks." Miklos announces. Nagy is surprised by this encounter and indignant that this young man has interrupted him. He looks around for his security detachment, but there is no one in view.

"How did you get in this building, young man??" he asks, angrily."With all the confusion, I was able to slip in quite easily.""What message do you have from Maleter??""Colonel Maleter asked me to tell you that he is in command of the Kilian

Barracks and that he is defending the barracks against the Russians. He would like to open negotiations with you on support of your government."

Nagy is confused. "Why are the Russians attacking Colonel Maleter at the Kilian?"

"Colonel Maleter is leading the resistance at the Kilian. The resistance is composed of students and workers like me. We are fighting against the Russian and the AVH. These workers and students support you, Prime Minister, and all your reform efforts, but we must defend ourselves against the Russian attacks."

Nagy listens intently, but remains confused by this news. "You tell me that Colonel Maleter is in command of the Kilian??"

"Yes, sir.""Has the entire Hungarian Army gone over to the rebels??" Nagy asks

rhetorically."Sir, I don't know that. All I can say is that Colonel Maleter has decided to fight

for freedom with the students and workers at the Kilian.""If the Army has gone over to the revolution, we will never be able to restore

order without relying on the Russians! And that will leave us obligated to them forever.""Sir, I don't understand.""Never mind," says Nagy. He realizes that the youth does not understand the

politics of the situation. "I understand your message, son. Now go back to Colonel Maleter and tell him that I will try to get the Russians to withdraw. But the Colonel must understand that order must be restored or the Russians will send in more troops. He must help to restore order in that part of the city or the Russians will have their excuse to continue to fight. Once that is accomplished, he and I can sit down for a nice long chat. Do you understand??"

"Yes, sir, I understand.""Good. Then be on your way." Miklos offers a rough salute, then turns to leave.

26 Oct 56Kilian Barracks. Miklos sits despondently in the corner of the Kilian HQ. He is very depressed by his belief that Erika has been killed. He stares blankly at the ceiling. His thoughts are interrupted by Gergely Pongratz, a lieutenant of Maleter's.

"Miklos," Pongratz chides him. "Are you all right??""Yes… yes, I think so," Miklos says groggily."Are you hungry??""Not really, sir," "You have to eat. You have to keep up your strength." Pongratz hands him a cup

of coffee, some fresh bread, and an apple. "This is all courtesy of the farmers of the area. They have brought food into the city to feed us. There is more in the cafeteria, if you need it."

"Thank you, sir.""Now, why are you so glum??""I lost a friend in the massacre…" a tear comes to his eye."What was your friend's name??""Erika, sir, Erika Mezo.""Oh, that kind of friend," Pongratz says.Miklos continues. "She was with me in Parliament Square when the AVH opened

fire. I lost her in the confusion and the shooting. I don't know if she was hit or not… I simply lost her…"

"That's understandable in that catastrophe. But communications is very poor in the city now. It will take some time for her to get word back to you. Be patient - I'm sure she will turn up. And I will put her name out on the loop and see if anyone has heard from her."

"Thank you, sir." Miklos stares into his coffee."We'll find her. Even if she's in a hospital we'll find her." It is small consolation for the boy.

Party HQ. Another angry meeting of the Political Committee at Party HQ. Nagy is not in the meeting, which is being chaired by party leader Janos Kadar. Donath opens the discussion.

"We must seek a political solution to the crisis. We cannot continue to try to crush the revolt with brute force and tanks!!"

There is a cacophony of responses. Donath interjects again."Look, the Party must begin to look at the revolution truthfully and stop kidding

ourselves as to what is happening out in the streets. The Party must take responsibility for the revolution. It is the failed policies of Rakosi and Gero that have gotten us in this mess."

Kadar speaks up. "Yes, Donath, I agree, but how do we deal with these loosely organized bands of rebels?"

"We must first address those issues in our own house before we go out and look at others. The revolution is a reaction of the people to the bad policies of the past. We must begin to fix those bad policies and the people will respond."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

"I suggest that the Party meet the rebel's democratic, socialist, and nationalist demands. And after order has been restored, we start negotiating for a complete withdrawal of the Russians."

"A complete withdrawal??" asks Losonczy. "Won't that expose us to possibility that the Party will lose all power??"

"Yes, the Party may lose power. But we must remember that it was the failure of the Party to commit to real reform that has started this revolution. And it is the Party's continued failure to undertake reform that will lose it any remaining influence that it still holds." There is another round of shouting.

"Wait, wait," cries Kadar. "I tend to agree with Donath's assessment. I am leaning toward following this course of action. I have also asked my aides to begin drafting reform proposals that we can present to the people."

"Secretary, you cannot be serious," cries Antal Apro, a hard liner, and member of the military committee. "You cannot honestly be considering dealing with these rebels. We all must think hard about this, and consider what the very idea of negotiation will mean." He is met with hard stares. " Secretary, you must realize that negotiation will legitimize the rebels and de-legitimize the government and the Party. Think of it - if the uprising is based on nationalism, then the government that opposes it is anti-national. If it is based on democratic reforms, then the government is anti-democratic. And if the revolution is socialistic then the government is anti-socialist. If we negotiate we validate the rebel demands and we declare the Party a failure."

"Yes, Secretary," interjects Laszlo Foldes, another military committee member. "The Party cannot admit that it has made mistakes. The Party has always represented itself as the vanguard of revolutionary reform and human progress. To negotiate on the basis that the Party has made mistakes will signal that the Party is not the vanguard and therefore no longer legitimate."

"Accepting Donath's program will mean surrendering all Party power." Apro says. "And if they begin surrendering Party power, then the trend could turn into an avalanche and sweep away not only the Communist Party, but the Nagy government with it. And that means all of us with it as well."

They are stare at each other. Kadar, looking most grim, says nothing. Foldes lets that sink in, then begins again.

"The military option remains viable. I know that we've had some setbacks, but now we know what we're facing. Resistance, while still quite strong in some areas, appears to be weakening in the face of Russian attacks. The real hindrance to victory is not the weaknesses of military forces, but the weakness of the political leadership - and by that I mean you, gentlemen." Again, he pauses for effect. "You members of the Political Committee have been treasonous and weak and defeatist."

Donath stands and stares at Foldes, but does not speak."Your feeble efforts like suspending the curfew, decrying military action, and

siding with the workers were all the wrong tactics. You sent a message that we were all weak and unable to take the strong measures needed to crush this revolt."

Kadar listens intently; the others watching him and waiting for him to show which way he is leaning. Foldes continues.

"Draconian measures are working in the countryside. Soldiers and police in the provinces have managed to disarm many groups and break up many demonstrations, but

only because they have not flirted with the rebels. They have applied force where needed and maintained necessary order…"

"They have also caused great loss of life. In Miskolc, the police fired on a demonstration and the AVH is still being besieged in the local police station."

"An isolated incident," declares Foldes. "We are winning in the countryside and we will win in the city, but only if the party leadership supports the military in the restoration of order. And we must refuse to negotiate with individuals or groups that are obviously in open revolt against the legitimate government of the nation. We must continue to resist the revolution with military force, while at the same time working to separate the workers from the rebels. Only in this manner can we regain control of the country."

Mikoyan and Suslov enter as Foldes finishes his tirade."Good morning, gentlemen." Mikoyan announces their presence. "My apologies

for interrupting your meeting, but we have just returned from Moscow.""And what does First Secretary Khruschev have to say to us," asked Kadar. "The First Secretary sends his greetings and encourages you all to remain

steadfast. We have embarked on a course of action and we must see it to the end." Mikoyan begins. "Let me get to specifics quickly as time is of the utmost importance. First, Secretary Kadar, you cannot request the withdrawal of the Russian troops because withdrawal would mean the downfall of the Communist Party and of you personally. And withdrawal will also signal that intervention was a mistake and will leave the troops open to reprisals from the people." Kadar stands and begins pacing at the window, pondering the competing proposals. Finally, he turns to them and announces his decision.

"We will continue military action. We will also work to develop some meaningful reforms to placate the population. But we are going to crush these rebels and restore order. Only in that way can we save socialism in Hungary."

Mikoyan leaps to his feet. "Well done, Secretary Kadar. I am in complete agreement with you. And you must remember that the fate of the nation is in your hands!! While Nagy may be prime minister, it is in you that Secretary Khrushchev has placed his trust." He turns and shakes Kadar's hand. "We will return to Moscow at the earliest opportunity and brief the First Secretary on your decision."

"And we will take Gero and Hegedus with us when we go," interjects Suslov.

Parting scene in front of Party headquarters. Gero and Hegedus climb awkwardly into the back of the BTR 152. Suslov shakes hands with Kadar.

"Secretary, we will give the best report to Secretary Khruschev, you can be sure.""Thank you, Comrade Suslov." Kadar responds. Suslov climbs into the car.

Mikoyan gives Kadar a great bear hug."You must persevere, Secretary. We will give our report, then return to you in a

day or two, if that is acceptable.""It is," replies Kadar. Mikoyan climbs into the car. The door is closed and

latched. The convoy starts off with the diplomats firmly in hand.

Afternoon: Miklos is resting outside Maleter’s headquarters. He is still despondent because he believes that Erika has been killed. Pongratz comes out of the office and sees him there.

"Miklos, how are you doing?? Have you heard from your friend yet??""No, sir. No one has seen her.""That's too bad. Neither have I. But we are a long way from the Parliament. She

may have escaped and word simply has not had time to reach us here.""I hope so," says Miklos quietly. He stares at his hands.Their conversation is suddenly interrupted by an explosion."The Russians are back!!" declares Pongratz. "Everyone to their posts!!!

Everyone to their posts!!"The rumble of tanks can be clearly heard outside in the streets. The bark of tank

cannons is heard. The barracks erupts in activity as rebels man their battle posts."Sir, I do not have a post?!" Miklos tells Pongratz. Pongratz reaches into the

office and grabs a rifle and a bandolier of ammo, then hands it to Miklos."Stand by here until I come back for you. I will see where you are needed most."Pongratz heads down the hallway, while Miklos checks the bolt on the rifle.There is activity in every window as rebels take up positions. Pongratz is heard

from down the hallway calling for Miklos."Miklos!! Miklos Lents, come here!!" Miklos hustles down the hall.Pongratz waves him over and grabs him. He places him in a window bunker.

There is a rebel there already and Miklos places himself next to the bundled figure."Here Miklos, stay here. Keep your head down and fire when everyone else

fires.""Yes, sir," Miklos replies. He positions himself and places his ammunition

where he can reach it. He nods at the other rebel. "I'm Miklos.""Anna. You know how to handle that thing?" she nods at his rifle."Yes, I can hold my own." "Good. Not a time for amateurs. This is the third time today that they have come

and each time they have been stronger." Miklos grunts his understanding. He peers over the window sill and watches the action.

Russian tanks proceed straight up the street, firing their cannons at a massive barricade in the intersection. There are only a few rebels on the barricade proper, firing random shots at the tanks and drawing their attention. A tank leaps ahead and crashes into the barricade. It climbs over the debris, exposing its soft underside. A cannon shot rings out from the alley – an antitank gun blasts the tanks and rips it apart in a crushing explosion. The Russian tanks behind the cripple open fire on the antitank gun, but the gun has already been pulled back down the alley way and is unscathed.

Three tanks now crash into the barricade where an overturned bus forms the wall. The bus is crushed under the impact. A hole is ripped in the barricade and four more tanks pour through the opening. There are now seven Russian tanks in the square in front of the Kilian. All of the rebels take these tanks under fire. Anna opens with her machine pistol, struggling to control it. Miklos fires single, aimed shots. They are aiming at commanders and drivers who might remain exposed. From a side alley another antitank gun opens fire from a keyhole shot. A tank erupts in flames and halts. Two tanks stray

from the middle of the street and wander toward the buildings on the flank. From the upper stories, Molotov cocktails rain down on the tanks. The two tanks are hit and burst into flames. They continue to fire for a moment, but soon fall silent. From a doorway a rebel bolts into the square just as a tank moves past and slaps the tank with an old Teller magnetic mine. The tank drives on oblivious, then explodes twenty feet on. There are now only three tanks surviving. All fire is directed at them, including grenades. They turn and head back through the barricade. The initial antitank gun reappears and fires at the trail tank, hitting it in the engine compartment. It explodes in a ball of fire.

The attack is over. Two Russian crewmen have survived the infernos of their destroyed tanks. They climb from the wreckage and raise their hands. Hundreds of rifles are aimed at them, including Miklos’s. A leader calls out to cease fire. Two rebels move from the Kilian to bring the prisoners into custody. They are taken into the Kilian and brought up to Maleter’s headquarters. There they are offered food and drink and allowed to gather their wits.

27 Oct 56Kilian Barracks. Miklos is manning a guard post on the roof of the Kilian. Footsteps approach him and he spots his relief. The female sentry greets him and Miklos briefs her on his sector responsibilities and what to watch for.

“Good morning, Anna. Very glad to see you,” he says. “Good morning, Miklos. I'm not as glad to be here.”“Well, let me tell you the sectors and what to watch for. Your sector is from the

corner of that building, across the street there, then down to that building over there. You are to scan periodically, looking for movement and possible infiltration of snipers and infantry squads. The tanks will be obvious.”

“That building to this building over there. I understand.”“And keep your head down. The Russians have snipers down that street and they

have come very close to killing some of our careless sentries.”“Right. Thanks, Miklos. Oh and you are to go to the Headquarters, of course.”“Right, got it.” He climbs out of his perch and heads down to the office. As he

arrives, he sees that Maleter is being interviewed by Austrian Radio."Colonel Maleter, there are reports that you and your men have surrendered.""Who told you that, the lying radio?" Maleter says angrily. "Look around you and

you will see that we have not surrendered. And we will not surrender. For us there is no choice - either we win or we fall. There is no third possibility. We have confidence in Imre Nagy, but we will not accept simple promises. We will fight on until Hungary is free. We know what will happen if we fail, but that is not important. We want only to live in a free Hungary and if that is not possible, then it is not worth living at all.”

Party HQ. Nagy is working in his office. Donath knocks and opens the door. He whispers to some people behind him to wait. He enters alone.

“Prime Minister, I have some special visitors that I would like for you to see.”Nagy looks up, curious. “What kind of special visitors??”“Let me show you.” He returns to the door and retrieves his companions. They

are Miklos's roommates, Laszlo and Janos.“These are two recent acquaintances of mine,” Donath explains. “This is Laszlo

and this is Janos. They are workers out at the Csepel mill. They have recently been pursuing other interests, which is why I have brought them here to meet you, Prime Minister. I wanted you to see exactly who the rebels are.”

Nagy pauses to consider the situation. “All right, Ferenc. I'll talk to them.” He comes around the table and shakes their hands.

“Imre Nagy, nice to meet you. Please sit down. Would you like some coffee?”“Yes, I would,” exclaims Janos, but then thinks better of it, thinking the Prime

Minister was just being polite.“Ferenc, would you be so kind?”“Of course,” Donath goes to the corner where an end table sits with a coffee

service on it. He pours a cup while watching the interview from a corner of his eye.“So where are you boys from originally?” Nagy begins.“I am from Pecs,” says Laszlo.“Buda,” says Janos.

“And you work at the Csepel Works??”“Until four days ago, yes, we did,” says Laszlo.“And you have been fighting in the revolution since then?”“Yes, we have. We have been in the Kilian Barracks area.”“And why did you join the revolution?”“At first, we were told that we were fighting against the capitalists. That is the

word that went around the factory. But when we got to the city, we discovered that there were no capitalists. We found the students were fighting against the AVH. So we joined with the students and defeated the AVH at the Radio Station.”

Nagy glances over at Donath, "They were told they were fighting the capitalists too, Ferenc. And after the radio station?”

“That’s when the Russians showed up.” Janos interjects. “The morning after the battle at the Radio Station. So we went to the Kilian because we heard that a group was organizing against the Russians there, and we went to join them.”

“And you have been fighting against the Russians ever since.”“Yes, sir.”“And you have killed Russian soldiers?”“We defended ourselves against the Russians because they invaded our city.”

Laszlo says, defiantly. “And you have managed to defeat the Russians too.""We have held our own. Colonel Maleter warns us all the time not to think that

we have won yet. He says that the Russians have not really attacked with their full strength."

"Very wise of the Colonel," says Nagy. "But I still have one question. Something I don't understand. That is, what are you fighting for? What are your objectives. If you win the war, what do you want?"

The boys pause at the question. "Freedom," Janos finally says. "And hope!! We no longer want to live the dreary

existence that we were living!!” Nagy nods his head, encouraging them to go on.“We want freedom from the Russians. So we can build our own country. We

want freedom to say what we like, whenever we like.” Janos says.“Yes, we want to be able to talk to our neighbors without fear that the AVH will

come and arrest us for what we say.” Interjects Laszlo.“We want the freedom to work wherever we want, and not where the government

says we have to work. And we want a decent wage so that we can build a future for ourselves.”

“Are you capitalists?” asks Nagy.“Of course, not,” replies Janos. “We are good socialists, but we are terribly

disappointed with how the Communists are running the country.”“Yes, just look at how the Communists live in comparison to the rest of us.

Rakosi and Gero live in mansions with lots of food, just like Horthy used to do. What's the difference??”

“Right. All the wonderful promises of the Communists have been meaningless. They have run the country into the ground and all for the benefit of the Russians.”

“There is no hope, Prime Minister. We are fighting for hope.”

“Well said, Gentlemen. And it is my goal to give you back some hope. But I cannot make any promises at this point. There is still too much chaos, too much confusion. I promise to try, however. And that’s as far as I can go.” Nagy stands up, indicating that the interview is at an end. The boys do also and Donath intervenes.

“Thank you, Prime Minister. We appreciate your time. Come boys.”“Thank you for listening, Prime Minister,” says Laszlo.“Nice to meet you, Prime Minister,” says Janos. They shake hands with Nagy

and turn to leave. Nagy watches them go, his chin in his hand, then walks over to the window and stares out at the city. Donath returns from seeing the boys out.

“Is there anything you need, Prime Minister?”“No…” is the only reply.

Nagy is back on the radio."During the course of the past few days bloody events have taken place with tragic results. The fighting has been very severe and many lives have been lost. Never before have such events hit our country. "Yet the government rejects the view that the rebellion is part of a counterrevolution. It has become apparent that this uprising is a great national and democratic movement, supported wholly and fully by the people. "My new government wants to rest on the support of the fighting Hungarian working classes, and on the entire population of Hungary. We wish to support genuine socialist and democratic uprisings and to work with the insurgents to bring about genuine and progressive change in Hungary. "My government will work out a vast and complete program of reform, to give satisfaction to the just demands of our gallant workers. This program will include a revision of salaries, a new government program for housing construction, new collective farm programs, the dissolution of the secret police, and the establishment of a new Armed Forces. "The government welcomes the initiative taken by the workers to bring about socialism and democracy in Hungary. The government also approves the establishment of workers councils in the major cities and factories. These are necessary steps toward reestablishing worker control over the means of production, and is a vital component of a greater socialist democracy."Finally, let me say that the government is working toward establishing negotiations with the Russian government for the express purpose of the withdrawal of all Russian military forces from Hungary. We will pursue these negotiations completely until they are successful.

Party HQ. Another meeting of the party. The leaders are all gathered in Nagy’s office. Nagy is on the phone talking to Mikoyan. Everyone else is silent, listening to Nagy's end of the conversation.

"Comrade Mikoyan, we must have an immediate cease fire!! We cannot establish order without a cease fire from the Russian forces. I believe we can gain control of the rebel groups if we can guarantee that the Russians will not launch any additional attacks."

There is a pause as Mikoyan speaks. Nagy nods, gravely."Yes, and I must be allowed to name my own cabinet…." He waits for Mikoyan's

reply."Yes, my plan is to open up the government to all parties and invite participation

from all elements of the opposition. Of course, we will retain control but we will allow the small parties to voice their opinions. We hope by doing that to control the opposition, but to also give it a voice." Nagy nods again.

"Yes, Comrade, Secretary Kadar does agree with these proposals," he glances at Kadar, who nods his head. There is a long pause, as Mikoyan speaks. Finally, Nagy breaks into a huge grin and begins to nod vigorously.

"Yes, Comrade, we agree….. Yes, that is acceptable….Yes, I understand that we have three days to restore order……. We would like to announce the agreement immediately…. Yes, thank you. Good-bye." He puts the receiver down and turns to the group, shaking his fist in triumph.

"He has agreed!! We can go forward!!" There are cheers from the assembled leaders.

Streets of Budapest. People are standing outside the offices of Szabad Nep, the government newspaper. They are reading the clippings in the window and listening to the radio. Radio broadcast states:" The new national government held its first Cabinet meeting this afternoon. The Cabinet approved the participation of all political parties in the government. Several party observers attended the meeting. The Cabinet also approved the release of all political prisoners, held for non-violent crimes.

Interior of a jail. A jailer walks along the corridor of cells. He is accompanied by two armed guards, who are providing protection for him. He unlocks each cell in turn, opening the door, then moving on to the next cell. Prisoners look incredulous, but begin to wander out of the cells and into the corridor.

28 Oct 56Kilian Barracks. Miklos is sitting outside the Headquarters, eating breakfast. He is eating quietly and drinking his coffee when Pongratz summons him.

"Miklos?? Miklos?? You out there??" He sticks his head out the door and spots Miklos.

"Yes, sir, I am here.""Good. I need you to go out to the corner of Franz Josef and Baross Street and

find Colonel Maleter. See if he has any news for us, then come back and report his position. I do not like him wandering off like this, and need to know where he is in case of an emergency."

"Yes, sir." Miklos slings his rifle and heads down the stairs. Miklos comes up on the corner of Franz Josef and Baross Street, and finds

Colonel Maleter. Maleter is talking with two Russian officers. A young student is standing behind the colonel holding a pole with a white towel tied to it. A flag of truce. Miklos waits until Maleter has concluded his discussions, and shakes each officer's hand.

"Sir, Mr. Pongratz sent me out to find you and see if you were still safe,""Well, Miklos, I appreciate his concern for me. But I have Mr. Feher, here to

protect me and so you can see that I am perfectly safe.""Yes, sir. And I will report that to Mr. Pongratz.""But first, I have a mission for you. Go to Parliament and find Prime Minister

Nagy. Tell him that a truce has been negotiated in the Kilian area. Tell him that the Russians have agreed to a truce in this district. It will go into effect at 1800 today, and last for three days. I believe he will consider that good news."

"Yes, sir. I will leave immediately. And will you tell Mr. Pongratz that you have sent me out??"

"Of course, my boy. I’ll tell him, and will expect to see you back here this evening."

Miklos snaps off a sloppy salute and turns to leave. He heads down a major street and through the city. It is calm, with people beginning to reappear. As he passes a corner, a streetcar rounds it and moves on. The city is coming back to life. Venders are on the streets selling food. Stores are open. On the corners are hawkers distributing newspapers. There are many versions, all being sold for a modest fee. They are revolutionary papers, extolling the revolution and giving the latest news.

Felsopeteny Castle. A lone Russian staff car sits outside this large Hungarian castle. Inside, AVH guards are speaking with a Catholic cleric, Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty.

"Your Eminence, you must come with us now!" the guard says."Why?" the Cardinal responds, obstinately."Sir, your life is in danger. You must accompany us now so that we can get you

to safety.""I'm not moving. And who wants to put my life in danger?""The mob, your Eminence.""I am not afraid of "the mob". They are my people and pose no danger to me. I

am not leaving!!"

Voices are heard in the courtyard. It is a large group of citizens from the nearby towns, along with some Hungarian soldiers. The group is shouting for Mindszenty.

The sergeant of the guard opens the door of the castle."What do you want??"An Army Major, the apparent leader of the group, steps forward. "Sergeant, we

demand that you turn over Cardinal Mindszenty to us.""I cannot do that, sir. The Cardinal is not available.""We demand to know if the Cardinal is still alive!!""Yes, the Cardinal is still alive." He says nothing more."I must see the Cardinal immediately!! I do not trust you or the AVH. I believe

you mean to kill him, therefore, I demand that you release the Cardinal into my care.""Sir, I must consult with my superiors before releasing the Cardinal.""There is no time for that. I will see the Cardinal now." The major steps forward

and advances on the sergeant and the door. The sergeant raises his rifle, but thinks better of it as the turret of an armored car swings toward the door, as well as about a hundred rifles, carried by the crowd. The sergeant steps aside as the major storms in, followed by the crowd.

The guards are still pulling on Mindszenty, trying to get him to come with them. The major steps forward.

"Release the Cardinal this instant." The guards see the major and his entourage, and release the Cardinal. The major

steps into the room and kneels in front of the Cardinal."Your Eminence. I am Major Karoly Kardos, 4th Infantry Regiment. I am here

to affect your release and to accompany you back to Budapest.""I appreciate your offer, Major." The Cardinal declares. "You say I am free to go

to Budapest??""Yes, your Eminence. The government has freed all political prisoners, including

you. You are free to return to your palace in Budapest.""What government?? Gero would never release me.""Your Eminence, Gero is out of power, deposed by the Russians. Imre Nagy is

back in power and has released all political prisoners as part of his amnesty appeal.""Well," the Cardinal pauses. "We knew something was going on, but had no idea

it was this extensive.""We've had a revolution, your Eminence," the major says with a smile. "I will

explain everything on the way to Budapest. Would you like to go now??"The Cardinal stands up. "Of course!! If someone can help me collect my

belongings, we will be ready to depart."

Uri Palace, Budapest. Cardinal Mindszenty is sitting in a reception area of the Buda palace of Uri. He is giving a radio address to the nation."Good day. This is Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty speaking to you from the grounds of the Uri Palace in Buda. I have just been released from an eight year imprisonment, and have been asked to speak to the nation to give my opinions on the recent course of events in Hungary. This message goes out to all the sons of the Hungarian nation.

"I believe the current revolt of the workers against the tyranny of the Communist government is an honorable one. The workers have taken it upon themselves to liberate the nation from the horrors of the Communists. And it is a revolt without parallel in the annals of world history. Our youth deserve the honor and glory and the gratitude and prayers of all the nation for their sacrifices. Our workers, peasants, students, and yes, even the Army, have shown examples of heroic love for the fatherland of Hungary."The situation in the country remains desperate. The conditions for an honorable and just peace do not yet exist. An invading army still occupies ground here in Hungary. We still have isolated pockets of resistance from the secret police and other such groups. And we still have a government that has yet to demonstrate the necessary commitment to democracy needed to bring about true peace in Hungary. We must fight on until these matters have been resolved."I now appeal to the Great Powers in the West. I ask for them to collect and forward relief supplies to Hungary as quickly as possible. The people here have experienced great hardship and loss in the last week and we appeal to our brother Christians in the West to send help. "I also call on the authorities in the Soviet Union. The whole Hungarian people request that the Russian troops currently in Hungary leave this land as soon as possible. These troops are no longer needed and have no place here on Hungarian soil. We request that these forces return to the Soviet Union where they can better be used for the defense of that great nation."The people of Hungary want only three things for themselves and for the life of the nation. We want only justice, freedom, and truth. I pray that the authorities in the governments of both the Soviet Union and Hungary will allow us to pursue these noble goals. Thank you.

29 Oct 56. Party HQ. Nagy is in his office at Party HQ. He is gathering papers. A knock on the door interrupts him. It is Donath, who has been summoned to see the Premier.

"Prime Minister, you asked for me?" Donath inquires."Yes, Ferenc, I have an assignment for you," Nagy replies. "I need you to find

Sandar Kopacsi, Budapest Chief of the Municipal Police and tell him to take control of all the police forces in the city. Tell him to take control of ALL police, including the AVH. He is to use his men to restore order in the city."

"Yes, Prime Minister, I can do that,""Then go find Bela Kiraly, and tell him that I am appointing him the new

Chairman of the National Guard. He is to reorganize the Guard and use it to assist in the restoration of order. He is to work with Kopacsi on that issue."

"All right,""The city is calming with the withdrawal of the Russians. We need to complete

the work now and finish with the restoration of order. But I cannot do this myself. Can you handle the assignment?"

"Yes, Prime Minister, I can.""Excellent. I myself must see to the movement of the government to the

Parliament Building. Secretary Kadar has agreed that it is "safe" enough to move the government back to Parliament. And so I'm going straight over. I'm not going to give them the opportunity to imprison me again."

"Understood. I agree that you should move as quickly as possible. The Party is like a dying animal and the stench is very present here in the headquarters. You must get out before it sticks to you. The move to the Parliament will help to establish the legitimacy of the government. I will finish up work here and follow you as soon as possible."

"Fine. I'll go as quickly as I can," Nagy gets up, grabs a briefcase, and heads for the door.

Kilian Barracks - Mid Afternoon. Miklos is back at the Kilian. He is sitting outside Maleter’s office, awaiting assignment. Maleter comes out looking for an aide, and sees the lad there.

"Miklos, what are you doing here?" Maleter asks."Waiting for a mission, sir,""Well, soon I may not need you for missions! Soon we may be able to go home

and resume our lives!!"Miklos looks down. Home is not such a happy prospect for him. "What's the matter, son?""I don't really have a home, sir.""What do you mean by that??""Well, sir. My father has been dead for years. He was killed early in the war.

My mother never liked me and sold me to the Csepel Works. I have worked there for four years, while going to school occasionally. I have a useless job sweeping floors and cleaning toilets. I barely make enough money to live on, but only if I can share rent with two roommates. We have a one room apartment and not much else."

"Hmmm. So you have no future, then,""No, sir.""But Miklos, you don't understand. This revolution is not just about freedom

from the Russians. It is about freedom of opportunity and freedom of choice. In the new Socialist Hungary, we will be able to choose our own jobs, jobs that we want to work at as opposed as to those that the government chooses for us. In the new Hungary, you will be able to rise as far as your talents will carry you."

"That sounds fine, sir, but I don't know if I have any talents.""Miklos, my boy, it is obvious that you have many, many talents. Just look at the

way you've skipped through this city repeatedly without getting caught by the AVH or shot by the Russians or by us. You have a great future as a smuggler, if nothing else. Seriously, Miklos, you have a natural talent for survival and that will carry you a long way in this world. Now go down to the café and get some dinner, then bring me a sandwich and a beer. I'll be working late tonight and won't be able to get down there."

"Of course, sir. I'll see if I can bring you some fresh fruit, as well.""Excellent, thank you."Miklos grabs his rifle and heads out for the café.

Streets of Budapest. It is evening again. The city is calm. A line has gathered outside a bakery, waiting for bread to be ready. A small child standing with his mother, turns and points at a column of Russian tanks. The tanks are moving along in a column, moving out of the city. There is mild surprise, then disbelief in the crowd as the people realize that the tanks are leaving the city.

Bridge over the Danube. Russian tanks move in a long column over the bridge. Civilians gather at the exit of the bridge and watch joyously. Some stand in disbelief, some wave, one couple dances a jig together.

30 Oct 56Budapest. Sun rises warm and pleasant. It is cool, but the city is coming back alive. People are out on the streets walking. Stores are open and people are going to work. Vehicles drive by flying the tri-color Hungarian flag.

Kilian Barracks. Miklos again is outside the office in the Kilian. A commotion erupts in the stairwell below him. A crowd of men is coming up the stairs arguing as they move. Miklos leans over the railing and views the group. It is a delegation of leaders from the city district government wanting to talk to Maleter. Miklos turns and knocks on Maleter’s door.

"Sir, the group from the district government is coming up," Maleter rises and straightens his uniform. He mutters to himself something unintelligable. "What was that, sir?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just telling myself that now it begins - the peace may be harder than the war."

The group arrives heavily on the landing. They are greeted by Maleter as Miklos ducks around the corner, getting out of the way.

"Gentlemen, I am Colonel Maleter. So glad to meet you. Won't you come into my office," They all troop into the office and Maleter closes the door. Maleter sticks his head back out of the door.

"Miklos, why don't you go back to your apartment and get a bath or shower. Go now, but be sure to return in the afternoon. Can you make it in time??"

"I believe so, sir. I'll leave right now.""Very good. See you then."

Streets of Budapest. Miklos rounds the corner of his block and is amazed. The street is filled with debris. A major battle has obviously occurred in the street. There are two bodies lying dead in the gutter. One is an old man and the other is a young man. The young man is still clutching a rifle. Miklos stands over him to try to identify him, but he does not know him. He moves on to his apartment house.

The front of the building is gone, exposing the apartments to the sun. He looks up and spots his flat, then goes into the building and climbs the steps. He reaches his apartment and opens the door. The room is full of debris. He goes to the wall and looks out through the gaping hole. He then goes to his little desk and opens a drawer. He pulls out a little bible and a small notebook. It is an address book of those people he keeps in contact with. He stuffs both into his pockets. He opens his closet, but there is nothing there. His clothes have been removed. He moves over to the sink and grabs his comb. That is all that is left of his belongings. He turns, takes one last look at the apartment and leaves, closing the door behind him.

Parliament House. Mikoyan and Suslov walk through the Parliament House, en route to Nagy's office. They note the shattered windows and boards covering the holes, exchange

a glance. They find their way to Nagy’s new office. A security guard in posted outside the office. He identifies the two Russians and announces them to Nagy.

"Good afternoon, Comrades," Nagy welcomes them into his office. "It is good to have you back from Moscow. Can I offer you something to drink?"

"Vodka here," says Mikoyan."Nothing for me, thank you," says Suslov. Nagy pours a glass of vodka and a

glass of brandy. He passes the vodka to Mikoyan and keeps the brandy for himself. They all sit in the large chairs in the office.

"We are pleased to be back," states Suslov, "It is already quite cold in Moscow.""Yes, very cold," echoes Mikoyan."We believe we will still have a few more days of Indian Summer here in

Budapest," Nagy states. "It makes life a bit more enjoyable before the gray winter.""Yes, very much so," replies Suslov. Preliminaries over, the meeting begins."We bring you greetings from the First Secretary, Prime Minister," says Mikoyan.

Nagy nods. "He is very pleased with the direction of affairs here in Hungary.""As are we. We are restoring order and reestablishing the government here in the

Parliament Building.""We have reports that you have gained control of large segments of the provinces

and that most of the violence has ended here in Budapest," states Suslov."Yes, we believe that calm is coming over the nation. I have directed that the

municipal police resume their role as guardians of order here in the city, and they have been quite successful regaining control," says Nagy. "And reports from Debrecen, Pecs, and Miskolc are all positive."

"Yes, and that is all great news," says Mikoyan. "You have made outstanding progress in just a few days. We commend you. And because of the progress you are making, we are supporting your efforts and your claims."

"That is excellent, Comrades. We value your support.""Yes, you and your government are a welcome change over that idiot Gero. He

and Rakosi almost lost the country for you. We have heard reports that the capitalists were mobilizing in Vienna and planning to return to Budapest had there been the slightest opportunity. But you have blocked them with your successes and now I am sure they will stay on their side of the border."

"I am glad to hear it. I was also interested in discussing some of the reforms we have planned. But first we must discuss the withdrawal of Russian troops from Hungary."

"Yes, we must. But not now. We are in agreement, but the withdrawal is a military matter and must be discussed with the military leadership. I suggest that you bring your military leaders here and I will send General Malinin to meet with you and arrange the details."

"That is acceptable," Nagy breaks into a huge grin, reaches across the table, and firmly grasps Mikoyan’s hand. "This is progress!!"

Radio Studio. Nagy again broadcasting on the radio."Fellow Hungarians, this is Prime Minister Imre Nagy. These last days have been the most difficult this nation has ever experienced. In all of Hungarian history, no events

have been so filled with crisis and yet with opportunity as the events of the last week. And now the government is poised to lead this nation into a new era, an era of peace, freedom, and prosperity.After much intensive negotiation, the government has reached an agreement with the leadership of the Soviet Union. This agreement is of historic significance and I cannot stress enough how much effort has gone into it. Our Soviet brothers have been most gracious in working with us in trying to find solutions to the problems that now confront us. And I believe we have found a path.That path includes multi-party government. In the next weeks members of the different political parties will be invited to participate in the government. We welcome their partnership because we welcome their ideas for improving life in Hungary. Also, in the near future, free elections will be held with the political parties putting up candidates for all elective offices in the country.

In the wings of the radio station, Mikoyan and Suslov stand with Kadar. Mikoyan turns to Kadar.

"You approved this??" Mikoyan asks."….yes," says Kadar reluctantly. "I had little choice.""You understand that after the years of Rakosi and Gero, that free elections will

mean the complete destruction of the Communist Party.""Yes, I understand." Mikoyan stares at Kadar for a moment, then turns back to

watch Nagy finish.

"I am also announcing the formation of a new National Guard. The National Guard will be under the command of General Bela Kiraly, and will be charged with maintaining internal order within the nation. The AVH is hereby officially disbanded and will never be resurrected by this government. The new National Guard will take the place of the AVH, but will not engage in internal spying on citizens. All workers within the nation are required to enroll in the National Guard. The details for this enrollment will be issued at a later date by General Kiraly.That is only the beginning of the government's reform program. My friends, it is the heartfelt intent of this government to provide a better life for all Hungarians. We can do this, but only within the context of socialist democracy. I ask for your support as we move forward to create our socialist democracy here in Hungary. Thank you.

Kilian Barracks. Miklos returns to the Kilian in the evening. As he approaches the building he sees Maleter and his entourage exiting the building and climbing into a staff car. Maleter sees Miklos and calls to him.

"Miklos, you're late!!""No tram service in my district, sir!" "A likely excuse," chuckles Maleter. "We are going to Parliament for a meeting

with Prime Minister Nagy. You stay here and watch the office.""Yes, sir. Be glad to." Maleter gives him the victory sign and climbs into the car

and drives off.

31 Oct 56Steps of Parliament. Nagy is coming to work early in the morning after spending the night at his Budapest home. He is greeted by Donath.

"Prime Minister, Good morning, sir," Donath greets him."Good morning, Ferenc. Anything important this morning?""Yes, sir. That is why I was waiting for you to come in. Radio Free Europe is

reporting that the British and the French are bombing Egypt. It appears that the bombing is a precursor to an invasion of the Suez Canal. The Israelis have already attacked in the Sinai desert. The radio says that the British and French are trying to regain control over the canal."

Nagy stops in his tracks and stares at Donath. "This is not good news, Ferenc. These attacks on Egypt will draw the world's attention away from Hungary and to the Middle East. It will free the Russians to do as they wish without fearing the intervention of the United Nations." He pauses. "I have a meeting with Mikoyan and Suslov this morning, do I not??"

"Yes, sir.""Well, I will attempt to gauge their mood to see if this news has changed their

outlook. You will sit in on the meeting and you must do the same.""Of course, Imre," Donath is visibly concerned by what Nagy has said. So much

so that he has used Nagy's first name in his address.

Nagy's Office - Parliament Building. A short meeting, that includes Mikoyan, Suslov, Nagy, Kadar, and Donath. They are all standing in the room, since Mikoyan and Suslov have concluded their business and are preparing to depart.

"We will return to Moscow and report to First Secretary Khruschev," says Mikoyan.

"And what will you report?" asks Nagy."We will report that you are making great progress toward restoring order here.

That you have undertaken an aggressive approach to reform and that we have confidence in you."

"Thank you, Comrades, that is very encouraging," Nagy replies."We will also tell him that your National Guard is a very important idea. It has

great potential and with every worker in the nation being enrolled, it will be a very formidable force."

"Yes, we believe that also. The workers of this nation are strong and resourceful, as they have shown in the last week. That is why we are placing our confidence in them."

"I will tell that to the Secretary. Again, we thank you for your continuing hospitality and for the manner in which you have defended socialism."

They shake hands all around. Mikoyan and Suslov then depart, accompanied by Kadar.

"Well, how did you think that went?" asks Donath."…. I think it went well. But I wonder what that mention of the National Guard

was meant to convey?" the question hangs in the air.

Parliament Square. Miklos is walking through the square carrying a message from Maleter to Nagy. It is a personal note, and so must be hand-delivered. He passes the Parliament Square, now cleaned up from the massacre. A makeshift celebration is taking place. A band has set up and is holding an impromptu dance. Miklos pauses to watch, then is surprised to see Erika dancing with a young man.

"Erika!! Erika!" he calls. She stops dancing, sees him, and squeals with delight while running to him. She grabs him in an exuberant hug, obviously delighted to see him.

"Erika, what happened to you? Were you hurt at the massacre? Why did you not come back to the Kilian? I have been so worried about you!"

"Oh, Miklos, I'm so happy to see you!" she cries. "But slow down. I'll tell you, but you have to quit asking questions."

"All right. I'll stop. Now tell me everything.""I was hit by the guns in the square that day. The wound bled a lot, but was not

really serious, just creased the skin here in my side. I was taken to an aid station, then sent over the river to a hospital. I was there a day or so, then they let me go. I still have a bandage, would you like to see it?" She pulls up her blouse to reveal a neat white bandage covering the wound in her side.

"But you're all right now?""Of course. My mother wouldn't let me out if I wasn't all right. But after they

released me from the hospital I couldn't get back over the river because the Russians had all the bridges blocked. I had to stay with my aunt on the Buda side. And I couldn't get word back to the Kilian either."

"Well, you had me very worried. I thought you were dead!""I'm sorry, Miklos, I really am. I thought you had been hit also, and so I was

reluctant to go to the Kilian and have my fears confirmed. But now all is well!! You are alive and you've found me! The revolution has won a great victory! And the Russians are leaving and giving us back our country. Isn't it wonderful?!"

"Yes, it's very wonderful. But there is still work to be done. Not time to throw a party yet!" he looks warily at the other young man, wondering if he is a rival for Erika's affection.

"Oh, but it is!" she cries, she sees the look. "Especially now. Oh, I am sorry. I forgot to introduce you to my brother. This is my brother Karoly. Karoly, this is my friend Miklos, that I have told you about."

Karoly reaches out his hand, eyeing Miklos warily, as a big brother should."It is nice to meet you, Karoly," says Miklos, relieved."Sure," says Karoly."Miklos you must dance with me! We are back in the Parliament Square but now

it belongs to us and you must dance with me to celebrate!!""No, I can't. I have an important message that I must deliver.""Nonsense! The message can wait. You can spare me five minutes for a dance?!""No, I can't…" he protests, but it is in vain. She is already dragging him out to

their makeshift dance floor. Karoly takes his rifle from his shoulder as he passes and grins at his discomfort. The band is playing traditional Hungarian music and the revelers

are enjoying themselves immensely. Erika begins to dance, but Miklos stands still. She looks him in the eye.

"You meant that you can't dance, didn't you??""…yes…""Oh, no. A Hungarian that can't dance?? That's impossible.""Well, maybe I could, but I have never had the chance to practice. I had to go to

work in the steel mill when I was ten.""Poor Miklos," she pouts. "So deprived. But I am just the person to teach you!"She places his arms in the correct position, then patiently begins to teach him

rudimentary steps. They enjoy a nice dance together in the square and more importantly, each other's company. Each is delighted to find the other.

When the music stops, Miklos remembers his mission and grabs his rifle."I must go to Parliament and deliver my message!""I'll go with you!""No, Erika," says Karoly, "You remember what Mother said - no more

adventures!!""Karoly, you know how sad I have been these last few days. He is the reason and

now that I have found him again, I'm not going to let him go. Besides, I'll go with him to the Parliament and be right home."

"But Erika, Mother…""I'm sorry, Karoly. I'll be careful," and she runs after Miklos, catching up with

him and grabbing his arm tightly.

Budapest Airport. Mikoyan is on the phone with Moscow. He is talking to Khrushchev.

"Yes, Secretary….. ""We must control Hungary if we are to control the Danube basin," states

Khrushchev. "Yes, Secretary, I agree."

"And there is a very real possibility that the revolution could spread throughout the Eastern Territories if we allow it.

"Yes, Secretary, the Hungarians have always been the cultural leaders of the East and as they go, the rest of the states will go…"

"The Poles have already called some labor strikes in support of the Hungarians. I think there is a very real threat of this spreading."

"I could not agree more, Secretary,""The Suez Crisis will provide excellent cover for the operation. NATO is fighting

among themselves over Egypt and will not have time or energy to focus on Hungary.""Yes, Secretary, I agree,""Eisenhower is afraid of war and will be paralyzed politically because of the

upcoming Presidential Election.""And what of the Chinese?""They are in favor of intervention. They have their own satellite problems and do

not like this any more than we do.""That is excellent, Secretary. How soon will we move??"

"Serov says we can initiate troop movements tonight. We will replace the Russian troops with Siberians who will not be so sympathetic to the Hungarians."

"Yes, Secretary," Mikoyan says gravely. "I shall inform my comrades here immediately."

"Keep the information close hold. We cannot afford to lose the element of surprise."

"Yes, Secretary. You can count on me."

Parliament Building. Miklos and Erika enter the building and stumble onto a scene of chaos. People are running everywhere, and there is widespread confusion. Miklos stops a Nagy aide - Geza Losonczy.

"Sir, what is the news??" he asks."The Russians are on the move.""Where are they going?? I thought they were leaving??""No one knows. But their troops are moving in many places, both in and out of

the country.""I understand," Miklos says. "Can you tell me where the Prime Minister is? I

have another message for him from Colonel Maleter.""He is in the Conference Room.""Thank you, sir," he turns for the conference room. "Erika, you wait here while I go in and deliver the message." Erika nods.The leaders of the government are gathered in the Conference Room. They are

discussing the latest events."The last word from the border was that military traffic was moving in both

directions, both in and out of the country," reports General Kiraly."And what does that tell us?""Nothing definitive, Prime Minister. It could mean that the Russians are

continuing their withdrawal or they may be replacing fatigued units with fresh troops.""And have we asked the Russians about this?""Informally, yes. But they have not yet answered. And we have no formal

military links with them yet."There is a knock on the door. An aide opens the door to find Miklos standing

with his rifle and message. "Miklos," cries Nagy. "So good to see you. Another message from the Colonel?""Yes, Prime Minister," Miklos says as he hands the note over. Nagy opens and

reads it, then smiles. It says:

Premier Nagy,I am grateful to you for your offer of yesterday. While I am merely a modest and humble tank officer, ill equipped to work in politics, I stand ready to serve in whatever capacity you deem fit. I must insist that before I take up my duties that I be allowed to return home and bath, as these last eight days have not been kind to my scent.

Respectfully,COL Pal MaleterKilian Barracks

"Thank you, Miklos. Please tell Colonel Maleter that I agree to his conditions and I am glad to have him in the fold."

"Sir, I don’t understand,""That's fine, son. Just tell him exactly what I told you.""Yes, sir.""Oh, and this is important. Tell him that he must gather his soldiers and begin

preparation for further combat. The Russians are threatening action again, and he must be ready. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir. I will tell him." Miklos departs.

1 Nov 56Hungarian Border Crossing Site. Russian tanks are crossing a bridge at the Hungarian border. On the side of the bridge, a staff officer is checking unit numbers and pulls over a staff car.

"What unit are you with?" he staff officer asks. The other officer shrugs. He does not understand.

"I said what unit are you with?""Oh, I am sorry. I do not speak Russian all that well. We are the 125th Guards

Tank Regiment.""From Rostov?""No, we are from farther east. I am from Gorki.""Right. Fine, thank you. You may proceed," the officer turns to his companion.

"Siberians. They do not speak Russian very well."

Premier's Office, Parliament Building. Nagy is in his office with Donath when a knock on the door is heard.

"Come in," the door opens. It is Yuri Andropov, Russian Ambassador to Hungary.

"Welcome, Mr Ambassador," Nagy says in a frosty manner. He sips his coffee but does not offer any to the ambassador. It is an intentional snub. Andropov is not invited to sit either. Nagy is angry and is trying to keep that anger below the surface. "I called you here this morning to protest the movement of Russian troops into my country."

"I know of no troop movements into the country," Andropov claims."My intelligence service tells me that over 75,000 Russian troops have moved

across the border in the last few days. Can you tell me why?"Andropov does not answer.Nagy stands and addresses Andropov directly. "If the troops are not withdrawn, I

will be forced to remove Hungary from the Warsaw Pact. And then the Russians will have no authority to intervene in Hungary."

"Prime Minister, I must tell you that I have no knowledge of troop movements. But I will promise you that I will speak with First Secretary Khrushchev and tell him of your concerns."

"Is that all you have to say?""That is all that I can honestly tell you, Prime Minister.""Then I will ask you to leave and to speak with the First Secretary immediately.

We must have some answers very soon or we will be forced to take action.""Yes, Prime Minister." He turns to leave.

Kilian Barracks. Miklos is back at the Kilian. He is sitting in a meeting being held in the Kilian HQ. The meeting is being led by Colonel Maleter and includes all his principle lieutenants.

"All right, gentlemen, listen carefully. We have a very limited time to get this done, so we must keep talk and meetings to a minimum and get to work. First, we must collect up all the ammunition we can find. That includes all types and calibers. I am

primarily concerned with antitank ammunition, but we will need small arms as well. If the Russians come, they will launch a full-scale attack this time. They will come with a combined arms team, including artillery and tanks accompanied by infantry. As we learned the other day, the key is to separate the tanks from the infantry with small arms fire. Then killing the tanks off becomes much easier.

"Now the antitank weapons must be carefully sighted. We should try to get keyhole shots from relatively close range, because our weapons will need all the help they can get to penetrate Russian armor. The Russians used their old T-34 tanks in the initial attack. But this time they will bring in their heavy T-55s. They are much more heavily armored and so will be harder to kill. We will have to get close shots to penetrate that armor. So hold your fire until the last minute, then shoot for the creases between the turret and the body.

The meeting continued.

Kadar's Office in the Parliament. Nagy is on the phone with Andropov, with Kadar listening in.

"Ambassador, your troops are continuing to advance. Can you explain this?""The troops are only repositioning in preparation for withdrawal," says Andropov.

"They are only assembling in strategic areas prior to being withdrawn back to Russia.""You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?""Prime Minister, that is what my government has told me.""Then your government has lied to you," he pauses. "We have only one choice

and that is to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. Please tell your government that Hungary formally withdraws from the Warsaw Pact as of this date. Formal papers will be forthcoming."

"Does Secretary Kadar agree with this action?""Yes, he does, but would you like to talk to him?""Yes, Prime Minister, I would," Nagy signals Kadar to go ahead and talk."This is Secretary Kadar," Kadar states."Secretary, do you agree with Prime Minister Nagy's action to withdraw Hungary

from the Warsaw Pact?" asks Andropov."Yes, Mr. Ambassador, I do agree. I agree completely," he says, his anger rising.

"And you should understand that if you attack us again, we will fight you with our bare hands. We will fight with our bare hands against any invading Russians who attempt to enslave us again. And you will have to kill us all to conquer us!!"

"Secretary, I understand. I have not yet been able to speak directly with Secretary Khrushchev yet, but when I do, I will relate your sentiments."

"Tell him exactly what I said, Ambassador. I do not want any confusion as to what our position is."

"Yes, Secretary. Good-bye."Kadar replaces the receiver without another word.

Kadar's Office, Parliament. Kadar is in his office. Ferenc Munnich knocks and appears at the door.

"Secretary Kadar," Kadar raises his head from his desk."Yes?""It is time."Kadar pauses. He replaces his pen into the holder, stands up, turns off the desk

lamp, and collects his coat. He follows Munnich out of the office without a word. They exit out of the back of the building and into an alley. In the street a car

awaits. They climb in silently and the car drives off. As the car leaves the curb, the license plates are seen and it is identified as belonging to the Russian embassy.

2 Nov 56Nagy's Office, Parliament Building. Nagy is looking over telegrams from the countryside. Donath enters without knocking.

"Prime Minister, I am afraid I have bad news!" he reports."What is it, Ferenc?""No one can find Secretary Kadar," Nagy is surprised by that news. "What do you mean, no one can find him?""He has not been seen since last night. And Munnich is also missing. They are

not in their offices and they do not answer the telephone at their homes.""Send a car to Kadar's house to see if something has happened to him.""Yes, Prime Minister. I will do so immediately." Donath turns to leave."… and if Kadar is not at home, then we should expect a Russian attack no later

than tomorrow morning. Tell everyone that, please."Donath pauses, looks back at Nagy grimly and nods his understanding.

Budapest Airport. Russian tanks are gathering. Columns of tanks move into the area and begin refueling. They gather in unit sets in assembly areas on the open ground with the tank guns pointing outward. Ammunition is being loaded on tanks. To the side, artillery units are getting into position and stockpiling ammunition.

Communications Room, United Nations. The teletype machine whurrs into action. It prints out a telegram from Nagy to Dag Hammerskold, requesting UN assistance and UN sponsored negotiations. The telegram prints out, but is left to sit on the machine as workers pass by unconcerned.

3 Nov 56Prime Minister's Office, Parliament Building. Morning dawns partly cloudy. Nagy awakes on the sofa of his office. An aide stands over him with a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Prime Minister," the aid says. "I have some coffee for you."Nagy sits up, startled. "Thank you…. What, what time is it??""It is 8:13 am.""That is very late - much past dawn. Have the Russians attacked?""No, Prime Minister.""They should have attacked this morning, when our defenses were weak," he

takes the cup of coffee and slurps a drink. "Perhaps Andropov was telling the truth."

Kilian Barracks. Miklos is sitting in his guard post at the Kilian. A sound rustles behind him and he turns to see Erika coming up to him. She kisses him lightly and greets him.

"Good morning, Miklos. How was the night?""Very quiet," he replies."I thought the Russians were supposed to attack this morning?""They were, at least that is what I was told last night," he yawns, tired from

staying awake all night."When is your relief coming?""Another thirty minutes. So what did your Mother say about you staying here in

the Kilian?""She was not happy. But I told her that I would behave myself and that this is too

important an event in our history to sit in my house and miss it. She had to agree.""Well, I am certainly glad to have your company."There is more rustling behind him. Anna, his relief is early."Miklos, you are relieved," Anna states. "Good morning, Erika. Miklos, you

must report to Colonel Maleter for urgent business. He has a message for you to deliver.""Right, understood." He gathers up his rifle and ammunition and with Erika in

tow, departs for the HQ office.

Kilian Barracks, Office. Miklos reports in, leaving Erika in the hall."Colonel Maleter, sir, I am here as requested," he states. "Miklos, good morning. You were on guard duty all night?""Yes, sir. Most of it anyway,""Are you able to carry a message for me?""Yes, sir. I rested yesterday,""Very good. Well, go to Parliament and tell Prime Minister Nagy that we have

made our preparations for defense of the Kilian and that we are ready for whatever the Russians can throw at us. Also, take him this note. It is my formal acceptance of the position of Minister of Defense."

"Minister of Defense?" Miklos is surprised."Yes. It appears that I am the senior and most visible officer to join the revolution

and therefore the most reliable as far as Nagy is concerned. Besides, I apparently have

become some sort of folk hero and have won great popularity with the people, and that will not hurt the government any. Nagy and I discussed the appointment the other day and I have agreed to accept it. The note is my formal acceptance and so it must get to the Prime Minister personally."

"Yes, sir. I will deliver it," he turns to leave. Maleter sees Erika waiting in the hallway."Miklos, is that your sister in the hallway?""No, sir," he blushes. "You're not involved with a girl, are you?""Uhhh, no, sir. She is simply a good cover story for me as I move through the

city."Maleter looks at Erika again. "Well, she is a very pretty cover story at that!" and

he chuckles. Miklos turns away again, smiling.

Streets of Budapest. Miklos and Erika walk through the city on the way to the Parliament Building. He is barely holding her hand, and doing it covertly so as not to upset the social sensibilities of society. He has exchanged his rifle for a less conspicuous pistol, one that is obviously bulging out of his pocket now.

They pass through the city market, now thriving with merchants and customers. Miklos buys two apples, one for each. They munch happily as they walk on. Miklos smiles to himself.

"What are you smiling about, Miklos?""Just something that Colonel Maleter said.""What did he say?""That you were a very pretty cover story,"She blushes and smiles as well.Miklos spots a streetcar moving past. They climb on board. It is crowded and

there is only one seat available. Miklos offers it to Erika and she sits down. He places his hand on the railing, and she places hers on top of his.

They reach Parliament Square and they exit the car. They walk up to the front of the building where they see a guard has been placed.

"Good morning. My name is Miklos Lents, and I have a message from Colonel Maleter for Prime Minister Nagy," Miklos announces.

"You are much too young to be a messenger for Colonel Maleter. You cannot enter the Parliament Building. I am sorry."

Just at that moment, Geza Losonczy exits the building and passes the guards."Miklos, how are you this morning. More messages?""Yes, Mr Losonczy. I have a very important message for Prime Minister Nagy,

but the guard will not let me in the building.""Oh, no problem. Sergeant, this is Miklos Lents, personal messenger for Colonel

Maleter at the Kilian Barracks. I will vouch for his loyalty.""Yes, sir," the guard says, expecting rebuke. "We were not informed….""That is quite all right. But he must get in to see the Prime Minister.""Yes, sir," the guard opens the door, and Miklos and Erika enter. They go up to

Nagy's office and he tells Erika to wait outside. Miklos knocks and is invited in.

"Miklos, good morning. You look tired," Nagy asks."I had guard duty last night, sir, but I am fine,""Good. Well, what do you bring me today.""A personal message from Colonel Maleter," he hands the message to Nagy, who

reads it quickly."Very good. Excellent," Nagy says. "Please relay my thanks to the Colonel.

Also tell him that there will be a meeting here at noon. A Russian Military delegation will be coming and I would like Colonel Maleter to greet them and to lead our end of the negotiations. The Russians say they are willing to discuss their withdrawal."

"Yes, sir. I will tell him." Miklos turns and leaves.

Parliament Building - Noon. Colonel Maleter stands at the top of the steps to the Parliament Building watching a line of Russian staff cars approach. Around him is an honor guard of Hungarian policemen. The Russians pull up to the steps and out steps General Malinin in full dress uniform, with all his medals from WWII.

"General Malinin, welcome to the Parliament," Maleter announces. Malinin shakes Maleter's hand.

"Colonel Maleter, I am glad to be here on this important occasion.""Won't you follow me, General," Maleter says as he opens the door to the

Parliament."Of course,""General, I once served under your command in the Great War.""Is that so? What unit were you in?""I was a lowly battalion commander in the 8th Guards Tank Division.""One of my finest units," the General announces. They disappear into the

building.

Parliament Building. Conference Room. Maleter sits across from Malinin, the two entourages arranged on each side of the table. Maleter ticks off the list of agreements.

"Let me summarize, General. We have agreed on the following points: 1) The Russian Army will evacuate the country, 2) The troops will leave by degree, being fully withdrawn by 15 January 1957, 3) The government of Hungary and the Defense Ministry will provide food and fuel to assist the Russian units in their withdrawal, and 4) the withdrawal will be peaceful and friendly."

"That is acceptable to us," Malinin announces.Maleter grins. "Then we have an agreement." He stands and offers his hand.

Malinin grins also and stands to take it."Colonel Maleter, you must join us for dinner at my headquarters at Tokol. We

will work out the final details and then finalize the agreement. And afterward, we can reminisce about our days of glory."

"That sounds fine, General. We shall join you at Tokol."

Kilian Barracks. A side office where Maleter has been sleeping. Miklos is assisting Colonel Maleter in his preparations for departure. He is trying to get dressed in a full military dress uniform. Miklos is helping him get everything straight.

"Sir, I am concerned about you going to Tokol.""Why?""Well, can you really trust the Russians?""Of course not," says Maleter, while straightening his tie."Then why are you going? Don't you think the meeting could be a trap?""Yes, I realize the meeting could be a trap. Is this straight?""Yes, it's straight. But you're going anyway.""I must go. I must demonstrate that the Hungarian government is willing to stand

up to the Russians. That we are not afraid of them. That we stand ready to negotiate with them as equals. And that we are honorable men, even if they are not."

"And if they are not honorable men?""Then history will judge them and perhaps God also.""Let me go with you, sir,""No, Miklos. You are young and have too much life ahead of you. I will go with

some of the older men. And if we are lost, there will be young ones like you to carry on after us."

"And what are we young ones supposed to do?""Stay vigilent, and stay alive. Someone must survive to tell the story, whichever

way it goes. And that's you Miklos." He turns and touches Miklos on the arm. "You stay alive and tell the story, understand?"

"Yes, sir.""Fine then. Time to go. Is the car out front??""It is. Your escort is waiting for you at the car.""Very well. Good-bye, Miklos. I will see you tomorrow, if all goes well."Miklos cannot answer, he is too choked up.

Russian Headquarters, Tokol Airbase - Dining Room. Dinner is over and the officers are gathered around the table smoking cigars. Malinin offers Maleter a refill of his brandy.

"Another glass of brandy, Colonel?""Yes, General, I believe I will," Maleter responds."Now, are there any other details that we have to work out for the withdrawal of

our troops from your territory?""No, General, I do not think so,""Excellent, then we can get down to more important matters.""And what would that be?""Why, telling old War Stories!"

Kilian Barracks. A side room away from the office. Erika is sitting in the room listening to the radio. Miklos enters, having been searching for her for a while. He sits next to her on the sofa.

"There you are. I've been looking for you,""Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you knew I had claimed this room,""No, but that's okay," he is obviously saddened."What's bothering you?""Colonel Maleter has gone to meet the Russians in Tokol.""Why does that concern you?""I don't believe that I will ever see him again,""Why not?" she is equally alarmed. "He is simply going to finish the negotiations

with them, then come back.""I don't trust them, and Colonel Maleter doesn't either.""Then why did he go?""He said he had to. To prove to the Russians that we are not afraid of them.""Oh," she sighs. "Just like him."They do not speak any more. There is nothing else to say. He puts his head on

her shoulder and she calmly strokes his hair.

Midnight at Tokol. The meeting has transformed into a reunion of sorts. Maleter and Malinin are discussing the Great War. Malinin is telling a war story.

"And I was just a lowly colonel, commanding a brigade of tanks. And they were those horrible T-26s, the old death traps we had at the beginning of the war. We were going to be reviewed by Stalin himself and so we had spent the previous three days scrubbing those worthless tanks to get all the mud off of them."

Maleter nods, knowingly."And Stalin came and walked down the tank line and you know, as always

happens, he found my worst soldier to talk to. And he asked him what he thought of the T-26, and the man told him that it was a piece of junk and not worth the powder to blow it up. I thought I was going to be taken out and shot right there. But Stalin listened, nodded as the man described how poor the gun was and how weak the armor plating. And then he turn to Zhukov and told him to halt production on all T-26s immediately and convert all the factories to the new T-34s."

Maleter grins, appreciating the story."Now I doubt that they did that based on this one soldier's opinion, but I was still

happy to hear it and happy to escape the encounter with my skin.""A very good story, General," Maleter responds.The door to the dining room bursts open and the room is quickly filled with KGB

troops. The small bodyguard that accompanied Maleter is quickly subdued and lined up against the wall. Malinin is apoplectic with shock.

"What is the meaning of this?!! On whose orders do you break into my headquarters and disrupt my meeting??!!"

The crowd of KGB men part like a sea, and an evil looking man makes his way through them. It is General Serov, head of the KGB.

"Serov!!" cries Malinin. "Are you responsible for this indignity??!""General Malinin, with all due respect, you must calm yourself," Serov says

calmly. "I am responsible and am now in charge of whatever negotiations that will occur."

"You cannot act so dishonorably in the face of these officials from a duly constituted government. You cannot simply march in and arrest them with no pretext or charges!!"

"I just did, General," Serov snears. "The Army had its opportunity to destroy this so-called revolution. And now it is the KGB's turn to restore order here. And we will, you can count on it." He turns to Maleter. "Colonel Maleter, I arrest you for crimes against Socialism and rebellion against your government. Take him into custody."

Maleter is hand cuffed, as are all the Hungarian officers and led out of the room. He says nothing, simply gazes at Malinin, showing by this that he is profoundly disappointed in the Russian officer.

4 Nov 56. Kilian Barracks. Miklos is sleeping on the couch with Erika. They simply fell asleep last night listening to the radio, which is still cackling in the corner. They are awakened by a blast from an artillery shell exploding the square outside the building. Plaster falls from the ceiling. Miklos instinctively rolls onto the floor, sheltering her body with his. More explosions as more shells crash into the city.

It is just barely light in the city, the barrage starting at 4:15am. Shells crash into buildings and city indiscriminately. It is obvious from the intensity of the bombardment that the Russians are serious and not concerned with civilian casualties. Miklos takes advantage of a lull in the shelling.

"Are you all right, Erika?" he asks."Yes, I am fine.""Quickly now, we have to get you to the bunker." He pulls her to her feet and

leads her out of the room and to the stairwell. They crash against the walls as more shells impact around the barracks. Finally they reach the bunker.

"Here you are. You'll be safe here for now. Help the others with the wounded, if you can. I'll come back and get you as soon as I can,"

"All right, Miklos. Try to be safe because I'll be waiting for you,"He kisses her and then turns and heads back up the stairs.

Kilian Barracks - HQ. The office has been reinforced with sandbags against the walls to protect it against this type shelling. The walls are holding well and the sandbags muffle the sounds of the shelling. Miklos opens the door to find much confusion. The staff officers are on the phone talking to the outposts. Miklos enters and goes to a corner to stand quietly and await an assignment. Pongratz sees him.

"Miklos, have you seen Colonel Maleter?""No, sir, I haven't seen him since he left for Tokol.""Right. He's been missing since last night. No word from he or his party since

about 2300 hours.""Do you think the Russians have killed them?""Doubt it. That would look very bad. But too early to speculate. Lets keep our

hopes up. Maybe they just had trouble getting back through the city at night.""Right, sir,"The radio crackles in the corner. It is Kadar, announcing the formation of his new

government:"Attention!! Attention!! Comrade Janos Kadar speaking. The Hungarian Revolutionary Worker-Peasant Government has been formed. The government is being led by myself, Janos Kadar as Premier, with Dr Ferenc Munnich as Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense. This new government has been formed to restore order to the nation once and for all."We know that many questions remain unanswered in the country. And we know that we have many difficulties to cope with. The life of the workers is still far from what it should be in a country building Socialism. While progress has been made over the course of the last twelve years, the Rakosi-Gero clique committed many grave mistakes. These mistakes and the policies that they pursued rightfully brought about discontent in the

workers of the nation. We resolve to correct these mistakes and to bring about true socialist progress in the nation."The Nagy government has made bold promises of reform. But we believe that the Nagy government has been taken over by reactionaries. These reactionaries are now seeking their own selfish ends. If we allow them to win, they will not bring about freedom, peace, and democracy. Instead they will bring out slavery, misery, unemployment, and a ruthless new oppression. "Hungarians, brothers, patriots, soldiers, and citizens! We must put an end to the excesses of these anti-socialist elements. The hour of action is here. The interest of the people and the nation demands that they have a strong government, a government capable of leading the country out of its grave situation. That is why we have formed the Hungarian Revolutionary Worker-Peasant Government, and why we have assumed control of the government.The rebels in the bunker stare at the radio incredulously. Pongratz breaks the silence.

"Well, that explains a great deal.""What can I do, sir?" Miklos asks."Stand by, Miklos. We will have need for you soon enough. Just stay there in the

corner and wait. Thanks."The radio crackles again. It is Nagy who reads a proclamation:

"This is Prime Minister Imre Nagy speaking. Today at daybreak Soviet troops attacked our capital with the obvious intent of overthrowing the legal government of Hungary. This will not be allowed. Our troops are in combat. The government is at its post. I speak this morning to notify the people of our country and the entire world of this barbaric invasion. "We will continue to fight, as long as we have breath. Even if we are consumed, we will continue to resist. I will close now with a call for Defense Minister Pal Maleter and his delegation immediately return to Budapest and take up their duties in the Parliament Building. And with a call for all Hungarians to rise up and defend the fatherland against these brutal invaders."

Again, the bunker is silenced by the news. Pongratz breaks it."Now listen. Colonel Maleter is gone and we must take control of the resistance

here in the Kilian as best we can without him. Understand?? I will take immediate control until someone senior arrives. Any questions??" There are none. The atmosphere is grim.

Streets of Budapest. Russian tanks pour into the city. They are accompanied by BTR-152 APCs full of infantry. A column moves into position around the Danube river bridge and begins establishing defensive positions.

Another column heads down a Budapest street, and is fired on by snipers in an apartment building. This fire is immediately met by concentrated tank fire, until the apartment building collapses under the fire. The sniper is silenced.

Parliament Building. At the Parliament building there is confusion and chaos as the building is being evacuated. Donath is on the phone in Nagy’s office.

“Yes, I understand. Yes. Yes. Fine. Thank you. Just a moment,” says Donath into the phone.

“Prime Minister, it is the Yugoslavian embassy. They are offering you official asylum.”

Nagy looks at Donath in disbelief. “Has it come to that already?” “Apparently so,” says Donath.“But how will we lead the government if we are in exile in the embassy?”“Sir, how will you lead from a Russian prison cell?”Nagy pauses – he has no answer. “I will consider it. Tell them we appreciate the

offer.”Donath turns back to the phone, while Nagy goes to the window.

Parliament Square. The Russian column rounds the corner and enters Parliament Square. They are met by random fire from the Parliament Building. The Russians respond with tank rounds. The fire stops.

The tanks stop 100 meters from the building and deploy. They line up in front of the building with their cannons aimed at the front door. Infantry vehicles behind the tanks also line up and stop. The infantry dismounts and charges into the building. They begin to arrest everyone they meet.

Inside the building the Russians intimidate every one they come in contact with. They advance on the radio station, where Istvan Bibo is reading a proclamation to the nation and the world. The Russians drag him away from the microphone and smash the radio transmitting equipment.

Upstairs Donath hears the commotion and looks out the window to see the tanks.“We must go now, Prime Minister. The Russians are here.”Nagy nods. He grabs his coat and a handful of paper from the desk, then is led

from the room by Donath.

Kilian Barracks. The shelling continues. Reports are coming in from the outposts.“Yes, yes, I understand,” says an aide. “Mr Pongratz, the Russians have captured

all the bridges over the river.” “Mr Pongratz, the radio says that the Parliament Building is under attack.”Pongratz nods his understanding.A phone rings in the corner. An aide picks it up. He listens, then reports. “Mr

Pongratz, they are reporting that the Russians are attacking all military barracks in the countryside and disarming all Hungarian Army soldiers.”

“Can anyone tell me where we have strongpoints still standing?” Pongratz asks.“Sir, I am in contact with Moricz Zsigmond Square. Uncle Szabo is still in

command there.”Other areas are listed,Pongratz turns to Miklos. “Miklos, go to Zsigmond Square and take a message to

Uncle Szabo. Tell him that the Russians have captured Maleter, attacked Parliament, and

are crushing all resistance in the countryside. Tell him to take control of all resistance in the area. Tell him he must gage the situation and determine for himself how long he should resist. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,”“Tell him he is not to expect any assistance from the Kilian. We are going to

need every bullet for our own battle.” Miklos grabs his rifle and starts to leave.“One more thing. You are not to return here. You are to join Uncle Szabo and

fight with him. And try to stay safe. You are not to return to the Kilian under any circumstances.”

Miklos is disappointed, but sees that Pongratz is serious. He leaves silently.

Kilian Bunker. Miklos is at the entrance calling for Erika. She appears with fear in her eyes.

“It is time to go. Collect your things and come with me.”“I have my things,” she says.“Let’s go then,” He leads her out the back of the building and they exit. They

head for the river with shells continuing to land. There is widespread destruction and no movement in the streets. They approach the river and a bridge, but see that it is already secured by the Russians. Miklos looks around for an alternate approach.

“Come with me,” he tells Erika. “I think I remember a footbridge just up river here.”

They run in that direction. They arrive at the footbridge and discover that it is unoccupied. They run across as fast as they can and find cover in a doorway across the river. As they open the door, a column of Russian trucks arrive and troops pour out to seize the bridge. Miklos tries the door and finds it locked. He smashes a window and opens the door. They enter and scramble through the building as quickly as possible, and exit out the back. They move through alley ways and corridors until they arrive at the road leading into the square. They walk carefully down the street, careful to let the rebels on the barricade see them. They approach cautiously, unable to see anyone behind it. At 50 feet, they are challenged by an unseen sentry.

“My name is Miklos Lents. I bring a message for Uncle Szabo from the Kilian Barracks.” The sentry looks them over carefully, then tells them to advance. There is a small opening over the top of the barricade and they climb up and over it.

“Can you tell me where Uncle Szabo is?”“He is over there in that Barber Shop,”“Thank you,” Miklos and Erika walk over to the shop. They find Szabo there

talking on the telephone. It goes dead when they enter. Szabo looks at the phone with a sense of resignation.

“That should be about it for the phone service,” he pronounces.“Uncle Szabo,” Miklos interrupts. “I have a message for you.”“Miklos, my boy. It is good to see you. What have you been up to for the past

week??”“Not all that much,” he lies. “I have been working over at the Kilian.”“So I’ve heard. And you have made quite a reputation for yourself. So what have

you brought for me today, besides a pretty girl.”

“Oh, yes, this is Erika. Erika, this is Uncle Szabo. We worked together at the steel factory.”

“Nice to meet you, Erika,” Szabo says.“Nice to meet the famous Uncle Szabo,” she replies.“Not so famous after today, I’m afraid. So what do you bring me from the Kilian,

Miklos?”“I have a message from Pongratz. He says to tell you that Colonel Maleter is

missing and we presume that the Russians are holding him prisoner.”“That’s bad,” Szabo mumbles.“And that the Russians have attacked Parliament. And that they are crushing all

resistance in the countryside. He says that you are to take control of all resistance within this district. You are to determine for yourself how long to fight. Oh, and you should not look for any assistance from the Kilian.”

“Yes, I expected as much. They have not hit us here yet, but it is only a matter of time.” Szabo considers the message for a moment. “Is that all?”

“Yes,”“And are you returning to the Kilian?”“No,” Miklos pauses, “Pongratz said to stay here with you and not to return

under any circumstances.”Szabo nods knowingly, understanding the message that Pongratz has sent by this

gesture – it is safer here at Zsigmond than at the Kilian.“Well, I am glad to have you back. We need all the rifles we can get. Now send

Erika someplace safe, then report back to me and I will assign you a position.”“All right,” “It was nice to meet you, Erika,” Szabo says as they leave.

Streets of Budapest. Miklos and Erika enter a nearby church. “I think this will be a safe place for you. It is out of the fire zone and has not

suffered any damage so far. You can stay here until this last battle is over.”“So you think this will be the last battle?” she asks. She is distraught, believing

that he will be killed.“Yes. This is it for us. The Russians have launched a full scale attack and we

cannot stop them. Especially without Colonel Maleter.”“So why fight them?”“We have to. We have to show them that we are honorable men,” he says,

echoing Maleter’s words. “And let history judge. Besides I must stand with my comrades.”

“But they will kill you all,” she begins to cry. He hugs her very tightly.“No, they won’t get me,” he announces. “I lead a charmed life!”“You are a foolish boy, Miklos,” she sobs. He stands up and turns to go.“Stay here, Erika. I’ll come back for you when it’s over.” He exits the church.

Moricz Zsigmond Square. Miklos is positioned in the window of a tall apartment complex overlooking the square. The window has been bunkered and the position

centers around a heavy machine gun. Several riflemen flank the machine gun - Miklos is one of these. The leader of the bunker is Miklos's roommate Laszlo.

"Here they come!!" one of the riflemen says. A long column of tanks and BTRs is moving slowly down the street. The infantry in the BTRs is all still mounted. It appears that the Russians are not expecting resistance, since the barricades appear deserted. The machine gunner swings his weapon around to bear on the column and the riflemen reposition to windows that overlook the street. Laszlo looks down at an antitank position across the square. Szabo is positioned there, looking up at Laszlo through a pair of binoculars. Laszlo waves a signal and points down the street that the Russians are approaching from. No fire comes from the rebels.

The tanks advance down the street, and smash into the barricade in the street. They advance into the square. Still no one fires. Szabo raises and lowers his arm and the antitank gun barks. A shell crashes into the lead tank and it explodes in a ball of fire. The other two guns open fire on other tanks with some effect. The rebels in positions in the buildings also open up with small arms fire. There is massive confusion in the column. Infantry troops dismount from the BTRs and begin to move toward the square. Other tanks move past the burning hulks of the leaders and move into the square. They are greeted by antitank fire, as the gunners fire as fast as they can. Several more tanks explode, but others move up.

Infantry pours into the square but take heavy casualties from the snipers in the buildings. Tanks take the AT guns under fire and destroy them. The tanks also try to take the snipers under fire, but cannot elevate their cannon high enough to reach the windows. The machine guns and rifles pin the infantry down. The Russian attack falters as the Russian officers are shot down. Finally a tank moves up to the barricade and fires over the top. It destroys one antitank gun position, then the second. Szabo's gun still fires and finally kills the tank. But his position has been identified and concentrated machine gun fire is directed at it.

Another tank arrives at the barricade and fires a round that completely destroys Szabo's antitank gun. The tank advances into the square and crosses it. It is trying to find a position to take the apartment complex under fire. It reaches the other side of the square and elevates it's gun, then fires at a window position. The position explodes in fire and smoke and the rifles inside are silenced.

A Molotov cocktail rains down on the tank and it explodes in flames. The crew tries to escape but are cut down as they exit the burning tank. Another tank moves across the square, firing at windows where the Molotov's came from. The tank again positions itself where it can take the windows under fire and systematically destroys several positions. Finally it elevates it's gun and aims at Miklos's window. It fires.

The shell crashes through the window and explodes against the back wall. The concussion knocks all the rebels inside flat. Miklos recovers and looks around. All the rebels are still alive, although dazed.

"What happened? Why are we not all dead?" Miklos asks."The stupid Russians are using armor piercing rounds and they don't explode. We

only got the concussion of the round hitting the back wall. Otherwise we would be dead. In any case, it is time to go." The rebels back away from the windows and depart through the gaping hole in the back wall. They make their way through the building, ducking into apartments and climbing through holes in walls to escape searching Russian soldiers.

They emerge onto the street behind the Russian column. Fighting is dying out in the square as the rebel positions are systematically destroyed. There are Russian bodies littering the street. Laszlo surveys the situation.

"Okay, boys. This is it for us. There is nothing more we can do," he declares. "Ditch your rifles and then split up. Make your escape as best you can. You are all on your own from this point on. The resistance is no more."

"Where should we go?" Miklos asks."That's up to you. Go home, go to relatives in the countryside, go to Austria, if

you think you can make it. But keep a low profile and stay out of sight of the police. They will be looking for young men of our age for questioning. Now let's go before they find us."

Street Leading to Zsigmond Square. Miklos makes his way down the street and to an alley. He comes out near the church where Erika is hiding and goes to retrieve her. The church is filled with women and children, all very scared. Miklos cannot see Erika for the small crowd.

"Erika?? Erika??" She stands from a pew near the front and runs down the aisle to him. She throws her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly. "We must go now, they might find us here." They make their way to the street and head out with the sound of fading gun battles in the distance.

Streets of Budapest - Outside Miklos's Apartment. Miklos and Erika arrive at the street in front of Miklos’s apartment complex. As they round the corner, they halt. AVH police are leaving Miklos’s apartment with his roommates in tow. The roommates spot him and frown at him, telling him to get away. Miklos and Erika turn and walk the other way.

Uri Cathedral. Evening. Miklos and Erika are hiding in the large cathedral next to Cardinal Mindzsenty's palace. They are sitting in a pew and talking over their options.

"You can hide with us in our home," Erika states."You know that's not possible. The AVH will search every square inch of this

city to find us and when they do, anyone who has helped us will be jailed," he declares."Then you can hide in the countryside until the storm dies down and then come

back to the city.""No, that's not possible anymore.""But why?""Because I've got a taste of freedom and now I can no longer live under the

Communists. I have to go to the West and find my freedom there.""They will catch you and kill you!""Not if you come with me. You're my cover, remember."She starts to cry silently. "I can't go with you….""Why not?"

"Because my grandmother is very feeble and needs lots of care. And my mother can't do it without me. Besides, Budapest is all I've ever known. I can't leave it."

"I must go. I can't stay here….""And I'm too afraid to go to the West. The capitalists will kill us as soon as we

cross the border, just like the government says.""The government lies, you know that. The Austrians will not kill us. They will

give us asylum and freedom." She cries softly, knowing that he is right."…just hold me, Miklos," He holds her closely as she cries.A priest comes in and sees them in the pew. Miklos is afraid of him and starts to

move Erika out of the pew. The priest approaches and Miklos fingers his pistol."I expect you are from the resistance," the priest states. Miklos looks at him

carefully - he knows this man. It is Cardinal Mindszenty in ordinary priest garb. But he does not reply to the statement. Their silence confirms the priest's conclusion. He moves closer to them.

"Don't I know you, young man?" he looks Miklos over closely. "You are Miklos Lents, from Perrcseny. I knew your father."

"Yes, Your Eminence. I am Miklos," Miklos replies."Don't worry, you know I won't turn you in. They are after me too. I believe I

understand your situation also.""Can you help us, Your Eminence?""Perhaps. But you can't stay here, the cathedral has already been searched four

times.""What should we do, Your Eminence?""Go to the priest in Dorog. Tell him that I sent you. He will connect you with our

system and get you to the border. But you must leave her here.""Then I can leave her in your care, Your Eminence?""Yes, of course. We will take care of her and get her safely home.""Thank you, Your Eminence," he stands to leave. Erika stands also, and clutches

him, still crying softly. Mindszenty puts his hands on the both of them. "Wait for one moment, Miklos. I will give you a blessing. Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray a blessing on these two young people. Keep them safe from harm and give them the strength to endure the hardships that lay before them. Let them understand that you love them and that your protecting angels will go with them. Bless them as they depart from here." He kisses each of them in turn, then pulls out a St Christopher medal and gives it to Miklos.

"You must go now," he says. Miklos kisses Erika gently on the forehead, then on the lips, then turns to leave. She reaches after him, but the Cardinal is holding her now, keeping her close to him. Miklos heads toward an exit, glancing back once to see them. The cardinal is holding her as she cries on his shoulder.

The Budapest Train Station. Prisoners are being herded through the station and into box cars. There are hundreds of them. The engine is viewed with a sign that states that it is an express train for Moscow. The cars are closed and locked tightly. The train begins to leave the station, and as it does, the prisoners throw papers from the cars, all containing messages to families and names of the prisoners.

Hungarian Countryside. Miklos makes his way down a lonely country road. There is no traffic and he walks slowly. He is next seen sleeping under a bridge. Next he is walking through a woodline. Next he is in a barn, eating some wormy potatoes. He is riding on a farm cart. Next he is walking along a railroad track. He is handed from one farmer to another. Finally he is taken into a barn and told to sleep here.

Interior of Barn. It is morning, but just barely. The farmer enters the barn and wakes Miklos.

"Miklos, get up now. Time to go," he says, as he rustles Miklos. He has a strong cup of coffee in his hand and some cheese. Miklos awakes, eats hungrily and drinks.

"You must hurry now. There is just enough light to see by and you must reach the woods before it gets completely light."

"Yes, I am ready." Miklos stands and retrieves his coat."These are your directions and you must follow them exactly. Go due west and

you will reach the woods. Then go two miles south and you will see an old church. From the church head directly west. That will take you between two border guard posts. Continue on for another two miles through the woods and toward the river. Do not let the guard posts see you. When you come out at the river you will find a small footbridge that you can cross. Once on the other side you will be in Austria. From there find the nearest village and report in to the authorities. They will take care of you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand.""Under no circumstances are you to return to the barn. If you do, I will turn you

in myself.""I understand," Miklos declares."Good. Then go now,"Miklos exits the barn, and as he does, he takes off his St Christopher medal and

wraps it around his hand.He reaches the woodline and makes his way along it until he sees the church. He

heads due west through the woods. As he walks he is startled by a voice."You there!! Halt!!!" It is a border guard. He has been spotted. Miklos begins

to run. The guard, now joined by several others is coming after him. Miklos runs as fast as he can toward the west. He pauses briefly to get his directions and hears the river in the distance. The guards are close now.

Miklos reaches the river, but is startled that there is no bridge. He runs briefly up stream but sees nothing, with the guards closing. He has no choice and jumps in. The guards reach the bank and begin shooting at Miklos. Miklos is being swept downstream in the swift current. His heavy coat is weighing him down and he is struggling to stay afloat. He tries to take it off, but he only becomes tangled in it. He is nearing the far bank when he goes under for the last time. He is sinking, unable to swim back to the surface.

A man in uniform is standing on the river bank staring into the river. He sees a twinkle of light and looks closer. It is some kind of medallion. He steps into the river

and reaches his hand into the water to grasp the hand connected to the medallion. He pulls Miklos from the river and drags him up the bank.

There are several soldiers on the bank around him. They are armed and when the Hungarian border guards fire across the river they return fire, cautious to shoot over their heads. The Hungarians back off.

Miklos spits up water and gasps for breath. He looks up at his rescuer and sees the badge on his uniform. The badge says Austrian Border Service. A smile crosses Miklos's face. The officer smiles as well.

"Welcome to Austria," he says. They get Miklos to his feet – he is freezing from the cold water and a soldier produces a blanket and wraps him in it. They walk off

The End

Under the credits:

Date: June 1958. A prison in Rumania.

A group of prisoners walk into a large room in single file. They are covered in shadow and cannot be seen. They mount a scaffold and stop. As they step forward to the nooses before them the light reveals that they are Nagy, Maleter, and several others.

The movie ends with the trap door opening.