Remembering 1956 at Budapest University of Technology and Economics – 70 Years On

Márton Albrecht was a second-year civil engineering student. His fellow students described him as a sociable young man who enjoyed going to the theatre and hiking with friends. On 22 October, he took part in the university’s general assembly. From then on, he returned home only to wash and occasionally to catch a little sleep, devoting all his time to the revolution. Deeply convinced that the revolution would succeed, he served in the National Guard at the university. On 3 November, his 20th birthday, he was on duty in the Ceremonial Hall of the university’s central building when a fellow student’s submachine gun, leaning against a wall, accidentally discharged. The single bullet remaining in the gun struck Márton in the heart. He was laid to rest in the library. His textbook and travel pass are on display at the BME Visitor Centre. He was 20 years old. 

József Bartók was a second-year electrical engineering student. On 23 October, he marched to Bem Square alongside fellow students, then proceeded to the Hungarian Radio building. Security forces opened fire on the crowd from the building. József and several of his companions took refuge in a cobbler’s workshop, where he was shot in the lung and heart. His companions carried him through the rear exit to the hospital on Trefort Street, where he died soon afterwards. He was one of the first victims of the 1956 Revolution and War of Independence. He was unarmed. He was 19 years old. 

János Danner was a fourth-year evening student of architectural engineering. A sensitive, lyrical soul, he enjoyed reading aloud and reciting poetry. On 1 November, as a member of the University of Technology National Guard Command, he accompanied a university delegation to the Ministry of Defence. Late that evening, he was returning by car. As the car crossed Liberty Bridge, members of the State Security Authority (ÁVH) pursued it. When it reached the main entrance to the university’s central building, they riddled it with bullets just as János was about to get out and flee. The bullet holes are still visible on the main entrance gate today. The following day, his body lay in state in the main hall, with National Guard student volunteers standing guard beside him. He was 27 years old. 

József Havas was a fifth-year chemical engineering student who came to the university from Nagykőrös, some 80 kilometres from Budapest. When Soviet troops entered the city on 4 November without a declaration of war, the university had already been evacuated. József joined the insurgents at Corvin Passage, where he died on 7 November from gunshot wounds sustained in the fighting. He was 27 years old. 

Lajos Ferenc was a second-year civil engineering student, an amiable and quiet young man. According to one account, he was still on armed guard duty at the university on the morning of 4 November 1956. After Soviet troops invaded Hungary that day without a declaration of war, the National Guard evacuated the university, and those present joined the insurgents at Móricz Zsigmond Square. That evening, some returned to the university to retrieve the weapons left behind and spend the night there. Soviet troops ambushed several of them and shot them. He was 19 years old. 

Géza Péch was a third-year evening student of mechanical engineering. He was a young man with a kind smile, an open gaze and great courage. From 25 October, he volunteered as a night-shift paramedic at the Péterfy Sándor Street Hospital, as the official ambulance service struggled to cope with the large number of casualties. He carried out even the most dangerous tasks with remarkable skill and a reassuring calm. On 30 October, for example, he transported several wounded people to hospital from the scene of the siege of the party headquarters on Köztársaság Square. Even after the revolution had been crushed, he continued to support the resistance. He produced leaflets and sought information about young people who had been deported to the Soviet Union. In January 1957, he managed to escape to Austria, but returned to Hungary to rescue the wounded. In February 1957, he was arrested alongside his comrades and tried in September. Initially sentenced to life imprisonment, he was later sentenced to death and executed in the spring of 1958. He was 28 years old. 

János Rössler, a fifth-year electrical engineering student, was brought up by his mother alone; they were very poor. On 25 October, out of concern for his mother, he accompanied her to her workplace at the Cable Factory, as her modest earnings provided for their livelihood. On his way back, he popped into the university, from where he set off with a group to take part in a demonstration. That is how he ended up in front of Parliament, where he was shot in the head when troops opened fire on the crowd. Although the doctors operated on him, he died three days later, on 28 October, at the hospital on Péterfy Street. He, too, was unarmed. He was 24 years old. 

József Szilágyi was a lawyer and a second-year evening student of mechanical engineering. He had worked as a department head at a company and enrolled at the university to make up for his lack of technical knowledge. On 22 October 1956, he attended his evening classes at the university, where he went on to address the participants in the mass rally. He is remembered as an imposing man with a deep baritone voice. On 23 October, he marched alongside his fellow students. He remained among the insurgents until 25 October, after which he became chief of staff to Prime Minister Imre Nagy during the Revolution and War of Independence. On 4 November, József and his family sought refuge in the Yugoslav embassy. They left after receiving assurances that they would not be harmed. However, he was later captured by the Soviets. As the eighth defendant in the Imre Nagy trial, he was sentenced to death on 22 April 1958 and executed two days later, on 24 April—his birthday. He is buried in a place of honour in the New Public Cemetery, next to Imre Nagy’s grave. He was 41 years old. 

Vilmos Vedrál graduated in architecture in 1953. After completing his university studies, he joined the Institute of Urban Planning. On 22 October 1956, he signed a contract at his workplace with his fiancée for the construction of staff accommodation. Two days later, he joined the insurgents at Corvin Passage, where he fought under the name Will the Blonde (Szőke Vili). He became known as one of the most determined fighters. After the fall of Corvin Passage, he withdrew to a house on Üllői Road. He was killed by a tank shell on 8 November. He was 26 years old.