Budapest: 24 Octobre 1956 - 8 Novembre 1956 10"LP

Documents recueillis en Hongrie par Gilbert LAUZUN et André TEILLET envoyés spéciaux de EUROPE 1
(Documents collected in Hungary by Gilbert LAUZUN and Andre TEILLET, special envoys of EUROPE 1)

Extraordinarily rare French 10" album (over half an hour long), a contemporary audio documentation of the 1956 Hungarian uprising against Soviet-led oppression. Produced clandestinely by underground pirate radio staiton Europe N° 1.

This copy is numbered #624. I cannot locate a single reference to the existence of this album anywhere on the internet, so it is impossible to determine how many copies of this record were published, but needless to say it was not many and another copy is unlikely to appear for sale on eBay.

Liner notes from the back cover, with translation below:

Seuls des extraits de dépêches de presse et des textes de liaison ont été ajoutés pour résumer le déroulement des événements.

"Debout Hongrois! Voici l'instant
De choisir pour notre Patrie
Entre l'esclavage insultant
Et la liberté refleurie!" -- Sambor PETEOFI

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All documents collected on this disc are authentic and have been no trick. They were recorded in Hungary, from October 27 to November 8, 1956, on a portable tape recorder with batteries that were carried by two special envoys from Europe No. 1. The tapes have crossed the Austrian-Hungarian border controls hidden from many of the Soviet authorities.

Only excerpts of news releases and texts were added on to summarize the events.

"Stand up Hungarians! Now is the moment
To choose for our native land
Between insulting slavery
And freedom flourishing again!" -- Sambor PETEOFI

Europe 1 played a role in the May 68 political crisis by being the principal source of information untainted by government sanction; it was nicknamed "barricade radio".

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The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (Hungarian: 1956-os forradalom) was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956.

The revolt began as a student demonstration which attracted thousands as it marched through central Budapest to the Parliament building. A student delegation entering the radio building in an attempt to broadcast its demands was detained. When the delegation's release was demanded by the demonstrators outside, they were fired upon by the State Security Police (ÁVH) from within the building. The news spread quickly and disorder and violence erupted throughout the capital.

The revolt spread quickly across Hungary, and the government fell. Thousands organized into militias, battling the State Security Police (ÁVH) and Soviet troops. Pro-Soviet communists and ÁVH members were often executed or imprisoned, as former prisoners were released and armed. Impromptu councils wrested municipal control from the ruling Hungarian Working People's Party and demanded political changes. The new government formally disbanded the ÁVH, declared its intention to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact and pledged to re-establish free elections. By the end of October, fighting had almost stopped and a sense of normality began to return.

After announcing a willingness to negotiate a withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Politburo changed its mind and moved to crush the revolution. On 4 November, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest and other regions of the country. Hungarian resistance continued until 10 November. Over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed in the conflict, and 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees. Mass arrests and denunciations continued for months thereafter. By January 1957, the new Soviet-installed government had suppressed all public opposition. These Soviet actions alienated many Western Marxists, yet strengthened Soviet control over Central Europe.

Public discussion about this revolution was suppressed in Hungary for over 30 years, but since the thaw of the 1980s it has been a subject of intense study and debate. At the inauguration of the Third Hungarian Republic in 1989, October 23 was declared a national holiday.

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