My native land, so far away… Could I but see it again one day.

According to the legends of the 1956 Revolution, this song was being recorded at the Hungarian Radio studios as the shooting began outside on October 23. The story goes that the singer making the recording, Ida Boros, fled out of the besieged building by a back door and never stopped till she reached Vienna. But the song was head. At home, over the loudspeakers of the People’s Radio, which could not be turned down or switched off, and abroad, the refugee camps.

Skies, clouds and breeze, old moon, they breathe Tales only of him who’s gone for me.

On November 4, 1956, the Hungarian Revolutionary Worker-Peasant Government formed with János Kádár at its head issued an appeal to the Hungarian people, containing a promise: the government would not allow anyone to be persecuted for having taken part in the events of October. Prime Minister Kádár repeated this statement several times in November. And people believed him, why shouldn’t they? Relatives, mothers, loved ones and friends did not hesitate to pass on the good news to those in exile.

May moonlight pale, geraniums on the sill My every dream flies still to thee.

The national conference on judges convened on March 28, 1957 heard that a prime minister could not proclaim an amnesty. Kádár’s words should therefore be considered only as a political statement. Proceedings certainly had to be taken against all those who had managed and dared to do something for liberty between October and December 1956. There is no way of telling whether Kádár had made his statement in November in good faith or whether he had misled people on purpose.

There where my mother dwells is home, There could I only be glad, there alone.

Those who believed Kádár, those who believed what their relatives and friends relayed to them, and of course, those who believed the song, came home. And many of those who came home were prosecuted and convicted, to longer or shorter periods of imprisonment. Fourteen of them were sentenced to death: János Bártok, Tibor Földesi, László Huszár, István Kiss, József Kóté Sörös, László Nickelsburg, Zoltán Preisz, Lajos Steiner, Katalin Sticker, Árpád Tihanyi, István Török, József Újvári, László Veréb and Imre Zsigmond.

This film is about them. Historical adviser: Attila Szakolczai
Musical editor: Erzsébet Darázs
Sound engineers: Tibor Belovári and Zoltán Vass
Cutting editor: Gabriella Koncz HSE
Editor and reporter: Zsuzsa Méry
Director and cameraman: Flórián Góczán HSC
Producer and production manager: Réka Sárközy

The film is 58 minutes in length.

The film was made by 1956-os KHT, on behalf of the 1956 Institute, Budapest, with financial support from the Hungarian Historical Film Foundation and the National Radio and Television Authority.