Mária Schmidt: On October 23, 1956, the nation could no longer tolerate humiliation

In her commemorative speech, Mária Schmidt emphasized the suffocating oppression and humiliation faced by the nation, leading to the choice of resistance in October 1956. She highlighted that over 400 resistance fighters were executed by communists in the decade preceding the revolution and recalled the victims of forced labor camps and internment. Schmidt stated that the communist regime could only function through continuous terror. On October 23, the nation demanded independence and free elections, honoring the students and workers who took up arms, as well as her mentors, including Mária Wittner and László Balás-Piri, who endured communist prisons. Wittner became a symbol of 1956 by embroidering Christ's face into the center of a tattered flag, which she donated to the House of Terror Museum, expressing hope it won't be discarded.