THE LEGACY OF THE 1956 HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION AND THE GLORIA VICTIS STATUE OF SAN FRANCISCO Speech date: Monday, October 28, 2013 Speech by: Ernest Konnyu to those assembled at the rally sponsored by the Bay Area Hungarian Freedom Fighters Association at the foot of the 18 feet tall bronze statue “Gloria Victis” in the courtyard of the California Sate Building (on Van Ness), San Francisco, California. Ernest Konnyu is a Hungarian born American residing in San Jose, California, and is a former member of both the United States Congress and the California Legislature. Konnyu secured the funding and the location of the statue ‘Gloria Victis’ from then Governor George Deukmejian while he was a California State Assemblyman. Telephone: 408-369-1231, email: konnyu@live. THE LEGACY OF THE 1956 HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION AND THE GLORIA VICTIS STATUE OF SAN FRANCISCO By: The Honorable Ernie Konnyu, (R-San Jose) Former Member, U.S. Congress I am honored to be invited once again to be with you at the foot of this statue, Gloria Victis, that is Glory to the Vanquished to make the annual English language address memorializing the Hungarian revolution of 1956. First, I am here to congratulate the Bay Area American Hungarians and specifically the Bay Area Hungarian Freedom Fighters Association led by Andrew Rekay, association president, his dedicated wife, Cecilia Rekay, Elvira Orly and her late husband, Cyril Orly, their daughters, Ilona Orly Magyary and Elvira Orly Machall, Dr. Eva Voisin, and, of course, the late Olga Rozsa whose artistic hands created this statue. All of those mentioned and others visited me in Sacramento numerous times on behalf of this bronze memorial to 1956. Andy and his group of Magyar leaders were the one’s who held a competition in the 1970’s for the design and picked this one named after a the strongest poem representative of the 1956 Revolution, Gloria Victis, that is Glory to the Vanquished by Dr. Watson Kirkconnel of Canada. When they were short of funds and lacked a prominent location they turned to me in Sacramento, a Hungarian born Bay Area California state assemblyman. After much searching we found that the art budget for this building, then under construction, had not yet been allocated to specific art projects by the California Arts Commission. With the support of Speaker Willy Lewis Brown Jr., Assembly Republican Leader Bob Naylor went to bat for me and asked Governor George Deukmejian to allocate the necessary funding and authorize the location for our Gloria Victis statue. We must remember, as inscribed on the foot of this statue erected in 1986, that California also created this statue to honor all immigrants forced to leave their homeland and who found California as their refuge. Viewing THE STATUE, YOU SEE BOTH THE ERECT GLORIA WITH HER HANDS OPEN TO THE SKY CRYING OUT FOR THE GLORY OF THE REVOLUTION’S VICTIMS AND AT her FOOT THE MOTHER WITH HER SON IN HER LAP KILLED BY THE REPRESSORS OF THE REVOLUTION. Written on the base of the statue is the quote from Canadian professor Watson Kirconnel: “THE MAGYAR SPIRIT SHALL ABIDE IMMORTAL AND RISE TRIUMPHANT TO REDEEM MANKIND.” For this occasion I have composed some thoughts based on a poem by retired professor Peter Hargitay. My poem is about the statue’s dead son in his mother’s lap. I named these thoughts after the statue, Glory to the Vanquished, or Gloria Victis. GLORY TO THE VANQUISHED – GLORIA VICTIS By Ernie Konnyu YOU LIE THERE, SON OF THIS STATUE A TEENAGER DEAD IN HIS MOTHER’S LAP YOUR SUBMACHINE GUNNED HEART FLOWING YOUR BLOOD REDEEMING MANKIND. YOU ARE A MONUMENT TO THE DEAD FOR THE LIVING GLORY TO THE VANQUISED I SAY YOU GAVE WHAT MANKIND CRAVES RELEASE FROM THE SOVIET CHAINS. YOU ARE THE COLLEGE STUDENT TURNED WARRIOR WHO DARED TO RAGE AGAINST SOVIET ARMOR YOU SHOUTED LONG LIVE OUR HOMELAND. YOU SACRAFICED ALL FOR MANKIND’S FREEDOM! NOW YOU ARE IN BRONZ IN FREEDOM’S LAND A DARK MONUMENT TO MAN’S INHUMANITY TO MAN AS GLORIA VICTIS, HER ARMS POINTING TO THE SKY YOU ARE THE IMMORTAL WHO REDEEMED MANKIND. For the American ears not familiar with the 1956 Hungarian revolution that eventually resulted in the break-up of the Soviet Empire let me share some history. After the Soviet Army’s cruel repression of the Revolution came thirty-three years of communist hell executed by Hungary’s János Kádár-regime. They tried to break the backbone of the nation, ruled by repression and created the so-called “goulash communism” but generally mismanaged the economy. By 1989 Gorbachev’s Soviet Union was fading. Hungary faced total political bankruptcy. So, in the summer of 1989 the Communist government surrendered by agreeing to start roundtable negotiations with the opposition parties. At the end of September an agreement was signed. The peaceful transformation of the system to democracy was achieved. Twentyone years ago, on October 23, 1989, a democratic republic was proclaimed from the balcony of the Hungarian Parliament, where thirty-three years earlier a revolutionary crowd demanded independence and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary. Thus, Hungary became the first Soviet sattelite state to leave the Soviet bloc. Yes! As a free Hungary’s first Foreign Minister, Géza Jeszenszky, wrote, „The moral victory of the 1956 Revolution turned into a real victory.” With the free elections held five months later the process was completed, Hungary became a republic and a western-type parliamentary democracy. That meant that the people, repressed so long, had a real say in their future. The bloodless revolution of 1989 in Poland and Hungary, unopposed by the Gorbachev leadership in the Soviet Union, the breakthrough of the Iron Curtain by 800 East Germans through the Austrian-Hungarian border opened for them by the Hungarian government, led to the collapse of the East German regime and the fall of the Berlin Wall. That, in turn, inspired the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, followed by the uprising in Romania at Christmas, and the surrender of the communist leadership in Bulgaria and Albania. The Soviet satellite dominoes all fell one after another. By the end of 1991 the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union itself was dissolved and all the captive nations of the Soviet Empire became free. Importantly, for us in the United States, the cold war was won against the Soviet Union. And it was won through the visionary leadership of our president, Ronald Reagan, without the enormous sacrifice on the field of battle that a military fight against Soviets would have required. We, American-Hungarians, have every reason to be proud of the historic role Hungarians played in undermining the Soviet Empire in 1956 and causing one of their buttressing nation columns to fall in 1989. Indeed, Professor Kirkconnell was right in stating that the 1956 Revolution was redeeming for mankind. The blood of the 1956 Revolution not only freed Hungary in 1989 but it became a key development in redeeming the West from the Evil Empire! We must not allow this historic event to be ever forgotten or overshadowed. (Comment on the Hungarian government’s delegation laying a memorial wreath at the foot of the statue.) President George Bush in 2006 commented on the country’s progress this way, and I quote “The lesson of the Hungarian experience is clear: liberty can be delayed but not denied. Today this beautiful country has held democratic elections, established a free economy, and inspired millions of people around the world.” President Bush’s comments on Hungary echoes what California Governor Ronald Reagan said about freedom. In his January 5, 1967, speech the former governor of our state explained the nature of freedom this way, and I quote Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation. That is what the 1956 freedom fighters did and that is what America must do even today as terrorism is the way of the World now-days. Finally, I raise my right arm to the 1956 freedom fighters here today. Let me as a major in the United States Air Force retired reserve and as a former United States Congressman salute you FREEDOMFIGHTERS for the freedom you gave the Western World. Thank you Magyar freedom-fighters. Thank you for all of us! -30-
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 22:05:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015