4 November
Remembrance Day for the Heroes of the 1956 Revolution

What exactly happened on 4 November?

Starting on 23 October 1956, a revolution erupted in Hungary, beginning with peaceful demonstrations and escalating into an armed uprising against the communist dictatorship associated with Mátyás Rákosi and the Soviet occupation. Despite promises from the Soviet leadership, Russian troops did not withdraw from the country. Therefore, on 1 November, Imre Nagy, the newly appointed Prime Minister, declared Hungary’s neutrality, announced its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, and appealed to the great powers of the United Nations for assistance.

The fate of the revolution was sealed by the Soviet invasion on 4 November. In the early hours, military occupation began across the entire country. The decision to intervene had already been made in Moscow on 31 October.

On the morning of 4 November at 5:05 am, a statement broadcast by the Uzhhorod (Ungvár) radio station announced that former ministers of the Imre Nagy government who had fled to the Soviet Union had severed all ties with Nagy’s government and called for the formation of the Hungarian Revolutionary Workers’-Peasants’ Government led by János Kádár.

At 5:20 am that same morning, Imre Nagy’s famous radio speech was broadcast, informing the nation and the world about the unannounced armed intervention. The Free Kossuth Radio broadcast ceased at 8:07 am.

Meanwhile, Soviet forces equipped with tanks advanced into the capital. The resistance in Budapest was suppressed only after several days of street fighting at locations including Széna Square, Corvin Passage, Óbuda, Kőbánya, various parts of the 8th and 9th districts, and finally in Csepel on 11 November.

The fighting on 4 November alone resulted in 135 fatalities in the capital. Between 23 October and 16 January, a total of 2,652 people nationwide lost their lives due to the events, and 19,226 were injured. According to an official 1991 report, the Soviet army lost 669 soldiers during the battles, with 51 missing. The number of those executed for participating in the revolution ranged between 220 and 340. The revolution’s leaders — Prime Minister Imre Nagy, Defence Minister Pál Maléter, and journalist Miklós Gimes — were executed on 16 June 1958, following show trials.

Since 2013, a national day of mourning:

In 2013, the Government of Hungary declared 4 November as the National Day of Mourning. On this day, Hungary’s national flag is flown at half-mast. According to tradition, commemorations include candle lighting at the Wall of Heroes in the House of Terror Museum, wreath-laying at Plot 300 of the Rákoskeresztúr New Cemetery, and memorial concerts held at St Stephen’s Basilica in honour of the martyrs and victims of the 1956 Revolution and its aftermath.