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Already on December 7, it was decided that parties or street dances could not be held on New Year’s Eve, the curfew would be maintained and, to the delight of many, firecrackers were subsequently banned. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been saying for a week and a half that a decision will be made on December 21 on whether Christmas Eve will be an exception. Well, today it seems that December 24 could be an exception.
It will be a little Christmas this year
The prime minister said in a traditional Friday morning interview with Kossuth Radio. He added that he doesn’t want us to risk it, so he asks people to stay home more at Christmas. It is not yet clear if the restriction will be lifted on Christmas Eve, this will be decided at the government meeting on December 21, because as one night could fit, and families of 10 cannot include those under 14 so more people can celebrate together.
The curfew was last ordered in Hungary in November 1956, which remained in force in the capital until April 1957.
There is no other similarity between the two measures, as it is different from a law enforcement ukase aggravated by the state due to a crushed revolution, and again from a defense against a pandemic.
The curfew was, by implication, necessary to separate the peaceful crowd from the insurgents: whoever is on the streets despite the ban is certainly a “counterrevolutionary.” And the statarium served as a tool for effective and dissuasive action
– Historian Réka Földváryné Kiss, president of the National Committee for Remembrance, told 24.hu about the measure ordered in 1956.
The curfew was in effect throughout the month of December, suspending only one day, on December 24, to attend midnight mass. Many at the time called the temporary lifting of the ban a “gift from Kádár.”
The contemporary press wrote quite succinctly about the curfew. THE Will of the people on December 24, it was reported that the curfew would be suspended for the night of December 24 to 25 in view of the midnight mass. This was announced by Police Colonel Vilmos Garamvölgyi, head of the National Police Headquarters, and quickly added that the ban would re-enter into force on the 25th, as usual, from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. The news also recalled that everything this was done with the consent of the Soviet command.
The writer and publicist Károly Szenczi Tóth in Magyar Hangban recalled the 1956 curfew:
The radio announced it already on October 24; Imre Nagy and János Kádár ask the residents of Budapest … not to be on the street from six in the afternoon until four in the morning, there is a ban on going out. Later, on December 23, a street sign; According to the command of the Soviet forces, the curfew lasts from 22 to 4 in the morning. This was not a restriction. Not even a friendly recommendation. But bloody strict police ordinance, static military order. In the streets of the capital, patrols, certifications, stab weapons, we also hear the crackling of rifles at night. I, the child, was very scared. I did not understand anything. Dad sat with me, calmed down. Everything will be fine, son. My mother waved to Dad: “Even if you are the doctor, I will not let you go at night.” There is an official duty, they drive, they leave. Or ambulances.
The ban was not lifted multiple times until April 1957, with no exceptions on New Year’s Eve. Although the Freedom of the people Its issue of December 30, 1956 also reported that more and more plants, offices, and institutions were seeking permission from the Budapest Police Headquarters to hold a joint New Year’s Eve meeting.
The headquarters will comply with these requests. At the same time, it draws attention to the fact that the ban on meetings is still in force, so that joint meetings can only be held with permission. At the same time, the venue repeatedly announces that the curfew, from 10 am to 4 pm, will also apply on New Years Eve.
(Cover image: Elizabeth (Lenin) Boulevard from New York Palace to Blaha Lujza Square in 1956. Photo: Pesti Srác3 / Fortepan)
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