The Freedom for Hungary memorial in Toronto, Ontario (a Canadian city). Image credit: Hungarian Heritage in Canada

Written by: Daniel Xie

On the shores of Lake Ontario, bordering Toronto’s Sunnyside neighborhood, there’s a little-known space called Budapest Park. The most important structure within the Canadian park is a monument titled the “Freedom for Hungary” monument. This monument was erected in 1966, 10 years after a failed uprising against socialist rule in the Hungarian People’s Republic. It was created by Victor Tolgesy, who participated in the uprising himself. The monument commemorated the 10th anniversary of the so-called “Hungarian freedom fight”. In 2008, two Totem poles were added to the monument by Canadian Rakoczi Foundation, both also commemorating the “fallen freedom fighters” that fell during the uprising.

Today is the 76th anniversary of the attempted fascist counter-revolution in Hungary.

Freedom for Hungary Monument whitewashes Fascist Counter-Revolution

The Hungarian Uprising of 1956, which the Budapest Park memorial commemorates, has been often portrayed by the western media as a democratic revolution against Soviet Communism. This sentiment is shared by elements of the anarchist and anti-Marxist Leninist left as well, who view the Hungarian uprising as a democratic socialist uprising against the supposedly “authoritarian” USSR. The reality surrounding the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 is far more sinister. While there were legitimate grievances elements of the uprising did put forward, the uprising was dominated by anti-Communist and outright Fascist groups. The most influential element of the uprising was the right-wing, anti-communist Smallholder’s Party. Another party involved in the counter-revolutionary uprising was the Social Democratic Party. Both parties gained legal status (explain this?) during the 1956 uprising. Anti-Communist Catholic priest József Mindszenty played an important role in leading the demonstrations.

The fascist nature of the uprising was further demonstrated in the actions of the participants themselves. Counter-revolutionaries destroyed memorials to the Red Army, lynched Jewish Hungarians and Communists, burned communist literature and removed communist iconography from buildings. Even the CIA would admit that fascist ideology drove the Hungarian counter-revolution. According to the CIA, participants in the uprising adhered to Hungarian ultranationalism, which is defined by anti-Semitism, Catholic Fundamentalism, and Slavophobia. These were also the ideological tenets of the Fascist Arrow Cross Party, which dominated Hungary in the last years of the Second World War before Hungary’s liberation by the Soviets. Under Arrow Cross rule, 565,000 Jews were murdered as the regime worked with Nazi Germany in perpetuating the Holocaust.

Radio Free Europe (RFE), a CIA funded anti-Communist news organization operating in Eastern Europe, would also play a role in the counter-revolutionary uprising. RFE encouraged the counter-revolutionaries to fight the Soviets. Western support in the uprising was promised to the counter-revolutionaries by RFE. That support never came -- RFE’s rhetoric was seen to be too escalatory even for the US government at the time, as the Eisenhower administration refused to militarily support the uprising.

While elements of the Hungarian Communist Party under Imre Nagy supposedly formed the face of the uprising, they sought to leave the Warsaw Pact. This, combined with the anti-Communist ideology of the uprising’s participants, put Hungary in a situation where it could fall into NATO’s sphere of influence. The threat of Hungary falling into the NATO camp spurred Soviet intervention into Hungary, which led to collapse of the counter-revolutionary forces. When Soviet troops entered Hungary, Mindszenty and other counterrevolutionaries demanded that the UN (in reality meaning NATO) intervene in Hungary. Only the decision of the Eisenhower administration to not intervene in Hungary, prevented World War III from breaking out. While the fascist counter-revolution was ultimately crushed, US media outlets whitewashed the uprising as a pro-democratic revolution. Time Magazine would deem Hungarian “Freedom Fighters” as the 1957 “Man of the Year”.

While the US would choose not to risk nuclear war over Hungary, US intelligence operations such as RFE would continue to incite anti-communist uprisings. Two major instances of this in Eastern Europe were the 1968 Prague spring, which was also suppressed, along with the 1989 ‘revolutions’, which led to the downfall of socialism in Eastern Europe.

Following the restoration of capitalist rule in Hungary, decades of socialist gains were reversed and living conditions changed for the worse. Between 1990-1996, the unemployment rate skyrocketed from 1.7 per cent to 11 per cent. 50,000 Hungarians lost their homes and preventable diseases such as tuberculosis increased substantially from 1990-1999. Today, Hungary is under the rule of Viktor Orban and the far-right Fidesz party. Fascists have been rehabilitated and their role in the Holocaust whitewashed by the Hungarian government. Meanwhile, openly organizing Communist parties has been deemed illegal under Hungarian law, forcing Hungarian Communists to rebrand themselves to survive politically.

A very-Canadian History of allowing Fascist Collaborators and Apologists to memorialize themselves

After the Hungarian counter-revolution was crushed, many anti-Communists fled Hungary for the west. The Canadian government would take in 37,500 of them. The majority of Hungarian anti-Communists, arriving via a streamlined immigration process, settled in urban areas such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Montréal.

It was no accident that Canada took in Hungarian fascists and allowed a memorial to be built commemorating their counter-revolution attempt. In fact, this memorial is not the first memorial of its kind honoring anti-Communists to be built in Canada.

On July 17, 2020, it was reported that the St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery has been vandalized. The words “Nazi war monument” was sprayed onto the monument. This cemetery was indeed a Nazi war monument, built to commemorate the Ukrainian Galician Division of the Waffen-SS. The Ukrainian Galician Division, along with its parent organization, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), enthusiastically collaborated with the Nazis during the Second World War. The OUN and the Galician Division were responsible for horrific atrocities against Jews, Russians, and Poles. The Galician Division in particular, would massacre more than 1,000 Polish civilians in Huta Peniatska in 1944. Following the end of the Second World War, the Canadian government would allow 1,200-2,000 members of the Galician Division to settle in Canada.

These Ukrainian Nazis would spread Ukrainian ultranationalism within the Ukrainian-Canadian diaspora. They would form associations such as the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the League of Ukrainian Canadians to spread far-right ideas. Both groups glorify OUN-B leader Stepan Bandera and other Ukrainian Nazi collaborators. The UCC is connected with deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who whitewashes both Bandera and her Nazi collaborating grandfather, Michael Chomiak, as anti-Communist freedom fighters. Freeland has also sought means to escalate the 8-year war in the Ukraine as a member of Trudeau’s cabinet. She would support in 2017 expanding Operation UNIFIER, the Canadian Armed Forces’ mission in Ukraine to provide training to the Neo Nazi-infiltrated Ukrainian army.

Soon after Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine began, Freeland openly posed with the flag of the Nazi collaborating Ukrainian Insurgent Army at a pro-Ukrainian rally. When confronted on social media, she tried to hide her links to the Ukrainian far-right by re-tweeting a picture of her at the rally without the UPA flag. In addition, Freeland would also push for sanctions on the Russian Central Bank with the rest of the G7 countries in order to punish Russia for its’ opposition to NATO expansionism.

The Canadian government has also sought to build their own memorials honoring far-right anticommunists. In 2010, the Canadian government planned for a memorial for “Victims of Communism”. Planning for this monument was the result of lobbying by a group called “Tribute to Liberty”.

The concept behind this memorial is rooted in the trumped-up statistics presented by the Black Book of Communism. The Black Book of Communism alleges that 100 million perished under Communist regimes. It counts Nazis, along with anti-Semitic tsarists and White Army officers killed in battle with Communists among the death toll. This whitewashing of Fascists as “innocent” victims of Communism whitewashes the horrific crimes of Fascism and implies Communists were worse for fighting reactionary anti-Communists. Contributors to the Black Book themselves admit that Stephane Courtois fabricated the numbers to arrive at the death toll of 100 million. Already, fascist apologists in Canada have been drawn to a potential monument that could whitewash the crimes of Fascism and demonize Communism. In July 23, 2021, it was reported that donors to the memorial have donated bricks dedicated to Croatian, Hungarian, and Ukrainian fascists.

Oppose further glorification of Fascists

The “Freedom for Hungary Monument” in Budapest Park is yet another memorial built on Canadian soil commemorating fascist counter-revolutionaries under the banner of anti-communism. It is not the first memorial of its kind, memorials in Canada have already been built for Ukrainian Nazi collaborators, and plans are in place for a memorial to the “Victims of Communism” based on the false statistics of the Black book of Communism. All of these memorials whitewash Fascism and its atrocities by presenting its adherents as giving their lives to stop the supposedly more “dangerous” ideology of Communism.

Canada and NATO’s support for the Nazi-infested regime in Ukraine can potentially escalate the conflict into nuclear war. At this time, it’s especially important for Canadians to oppose the attempt of Canadian fascist-sympathizers and apologists to whitewash history, under the banner of demonizing Communism.

Editor’s note: The Canada Files has spent nearly three years doing critical investigative reporting on Canada's imperialist foreign policy. We’ve established a clear track record of exposing the truth Canada's political establishment hides from you. Currently we are at $673 CAD per month in support. There's so much more we can do, but only with your financial support.

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Daniel Xie is a firm anti-imperialist, who writes about the need for an anti-imperialist and independent Canadian foreign policy. He serves as the Associate Editor of The Canada Files.

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