On October 27, 1956, a MiG-17 opened machine-gun fire on a celebrating crowd in Tiszakécske. Seventeen people died and one hundred ten were severely wounded. English translation of the account published in the Hungarian Lobby’s August 4, 2006 action letter, which also reproduces the autobiography of the general who gave the order. Read the original in Hungarian.

What happened

“On October 27, 1956, the residents of Tiszakécske marched to the flagpole erected beside the church, waving national tricolor flags and chanting revolutionary slogans, to express their solidarity with the Imre Nagy government that had been transformed in the spirit of national unity.

At an impromptu ceremony in the square, the townspeople sang the national anthem and the Szózat, listened to the National Song, and one speaker after another set out the nation’s demands.

No one imagined that death, in the form of a MiG-17 jet fighter, was already on its way to the town […]: a warplane swooped down on the unarmed, celebrating crowd, and in a matter of seconds took 17 lives and severely wounded 110 more.“

The victims of the Tiszakécske massacre

József Bognár (28) · László Csonka (17) · Imre Fazekas (20) · Ferenc Gyapjas (26) · Etelka Kállai (56) · Ilonka Kutasi (20) · József Lovas (35) · Gizella Mihályi (35) · István Mohácsi (47) · János Parádi (29) · Pál Parádi (33) · Bertalan Rédei (20) · István Sántha (21) · Péter Szabó (36) · János Szitár (27) · György Szóráth (37) · Mária Tekes, Mrs. Hercikova (62)

How the order came down

According to the account, the idea originated with Lajos Czinege, head of the administrative department of the Hungarian Working People’s Party’s Central Committee, who, at the outbreak of the revolution, proposed in his own words that “the gunmen at Corvin köz need to be trimmed down with aircraft, for the sake of restoring order.”

The order was carried out by Major General Lajos Gyurkó, commander of the air corps stationed at Kecskemét. On October 27 he ordered the duty officer of the Kecskemét-based 62nd Fighter Regiment to dispatch a pair of aircraft to Tiszakécske and fire on the crowd — because, according to his information, they were preparing to hang the local party secretary in the square.

“One of the escort aircraft turned back after a minute due to a technical fault — a stroke of great luck for the townspeople of Tiszakécske — so the lead aircraft, flown alone by Lieutenant Géza Takács, continued on. He flew low over Tiszakécske and radioed that he saw no sign whatsoever of a hanging, and requested permission to return.” It was at this point that Gyurkó screamed the order to open fire. “The young pilot did not dare defy his superior, and opened fire on the crowd with his aircraft cannon.”

Gyurkó’s authority to issue the fire order had been pre-approved by Colonel Károly Galgóczi, chief of staff of the National Air Defense and Air Force Command.

What stopped it

“The carnage did not continue only because the flight crews declared that, under the relevant provision of the Service Regulations — which states that ‘a subordinate is obligated to refuse to carry out an order directed against the people’ — they would no longer carry out any anti-popular order, from Gyurkó or anyone else.“

On October 28, Colonel Ferenc Nádor, a member of the Revolutionary National Defense Committee, ordered that henceforth aircraft could only be deployed with his personal authorization. Colonel Nádor was arrested for this act in November 1956.

Lajos Gyurkó fled to the Soviets on November 2 and returned on November 8. “It must have been embarrassing for the Kádár regime that Gyurkó had carried out his massacre so publicly, because they discharged him from the army and rewarded him with the directorship of a pig-fattening farm; later he put his considerable expertise to use at a gas station.”

Lajos Gyurkó’s autobiography, 1951

The Lobby published the text unedited, spelling and grammatical errors intact, on the grounds that the autobiography would “help our esteemed readers understand the counter-selective cadre policy of the socialist dictatorship.” Abridged.

“I, Lajos Gyurkó, was born in Budapest in 1912. My father Imre was a career non-commissioned officer after World War II, retired in 1928 as unreliable, was a very heavy alcoholic. I completed five years of elementary school and three years of vocational school. From 1927 to 1930 I trained as a baker […] At that time I did not know the political life of the workers’ movement, I was unconscious of it. […]

In September 1941 I came home, but I was arrested and they wanted to send me to the front, but before departure I scalded myself with 150 liters of boiling water and lay in the hospital for 10 weeks. When I got out of the hospital, I was brought before a court for self-mutilation but was acquitted for lack of evidence. […]

In November 1948, back and forth. I ended up on a course at the Kossuth Academy, and on May 1, 1949 I was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel.

I was never in any party in the past. I did not take part in the illegal movement. I have been a party member since 1945, and since then I have faithfully followed and carried out the party line and the party’s instructions. […] I do everything so that our beloved homeland, our party, grows stronger, and so that we ever more deepen our loyalty and love toward the great Soviet Union, toward Comrade Stalin. […]

Kalocsa, December 13, 1951″

The Ministry of Defense’s personnel recommendation, 1950

The Ministry of Defense’s personnel proposal for Gyurkó’s new assignment, again with the original errors preserved:

“Lajos Gyurkó, lieutenant colonel, infantry regiment commander /:38 years old.:/ We recommend him for command of one of the divisions to be formed this autumn.

Given his past, this should be considered very carefully. From a young age up until the liberation, his entire life was characterized by a thirst for adventure, driven by the ambition to advance by any means. /Enrichment./ Which he would have been willing to pursue even at the workers’ expense. For example: during the war he also worked on producing flour from wood, purely to satisfy his own selfish interests.

He did not take part in the workers’ movement before the liberation. […] It may happen that his current high position fully satisfies his ambitions, and that he will channel his drive and tenacity into developing the armed forces. Politically he has made some progress, but he is still confused.

Budapest, March 1, 1950. /:Major General István Szabó:/”

Source: Hungarian Lobby, August 4, 2006.