“Forty years have now passed and we have become forty years older. Had we not told our children the truth about what happened in 1956, they could not tell their children either. Our grandchildren, however, will unearth the truth for themselves. From archival sources and written memorials. From facts. Mercilessly. Out of the desire for knowledge. Without having lived in that age and breathed the air of those days. It may well be that the story they reconstruct will be more accurate than our own version. Hosts of young researchers abroad and in Hungary are working on that narrative already – as typified by the editors of this extraordinary volume – and I am sure that they will sincerely answer the prevailing questions of “why” and “how”. With this outstanding volume, the scholars at the 1956 Institute in Budapest and the National Security Archive in the United States are helping to lead the way in this important historical exercise.”
35+ YEARS OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACTION