Both the power struggles after Stalin’s death, and the new course of Soviet leadership in the Cold War lead to a turn in the Hungarian government, as well. The Stalinist Rákosi was succeeded by Prime Minister Imre Nagy, and his reign started off with a huge wave of reform declarations. The whole country was relieved as a result of the measures that somewhat mitigated the repression of the system and slightly raised living standards. The reforms met also in Hajdú-Bihar an almost unanimous sympathy: from the cooperative owners through the individual peasants, from the working class through the intelligentsia, every social layer in the county found the parts they liked in the government program. However, several people wanted to see more in the reforms than what they indeed meant, at some places, people saw even the complete retirement of the system behind these measures. The party apparat took the measures facilitating everyday life (the “new period”) uncomprehendingly nation-wide, thus even in Hajdú-Bihar, and therefore they moved sluggishly to realize those measures, finding them too much. When the evolution of foreign policy of the Cold War created unfavourable conditions, the Soviet government also drew back from Imre Nagy. Therefore, the reform era – that was happily welcomed and that compelled further hopes, and at some places, illusions – ended.

The 1956 material contained in the Oral History Collection of the Hajdú-Bihar County Archives of the Hungarian National Archives might become an important resource for the researchers of the topic. The collection does not contain topic interviews, but it tries to present the antecedent lives of the participants, their roles during the revolution, and the time periods afterwards via complete life course interviews. By the latter, that is, through the passion of people struck by retaliation, the life of lawsuits and prison life also comes alive. The number of the ’56 interviews contained in the collection is 38, which is more than half of the complete assortment of interviews. Of course, most interviews are connected to Debrecen (19 interviews), the second most related is Hajdúnánás (8 interviews), followed by Berettyóújfalu (3 interviews), and then the material of the individual county settlements with one interview each. The interviews were prepared by Tibor Valuch (27 interviews) and Zoltán Völgyesi (11 interviews) in the years after the change of regime. The ranking of interviews in the collection follows the order of the date of entry.

The story of Tiszaújváros started in 1991. This is a valid statement, but the road leading to this state was a lot longer. There are just a few towns in Hungary that underwent so many name changes over the years as this South-Borsod town. Not only did it undergo a number of name changes, but it also ’enjoyed’ the state of namelessness for a short period during the construction of the new town. We can learn from the permanent town history exhibition of the Collection of Urban History how the village once called ’Szederkény’ became a new socialist town as a result of the largest industrial investment of the first 5-year plan, and was renamed to ’Leninváros’ (Lenin Town) in 1970, then developed into ’Tiszaújváros’ from a town known as an industrial town even after the change of regime.

Late dr. Elek Tóth lived in Hajdúböszörmény, serving the citizens as a GP. We hereby present a part of a diary he wrote. He had been preparing for a military career, but didn’t succeed, so he graduated from the Agricultural Academy of Debrecen. During the 1956 Revolution, he entered the National Guard and participated in its work all the way through. He was part of the negotiating delegation sent to the MÁV Járműjavító (Vehicle Repairs of the Hungarian State Railways). Together with four peers, he did not capitulate after the Soviet intervention, but hit the road towards Miskolc at 19:20 pm, on 4th November 1956. They wanted to join the resistant teams there. In his present reminiscence, he reports in detail about the days of the Revolution, and his role in it.