The Bridge at Andau

I just read James Michener's book The Bridge at Andau, written in 1957, a few months after the Soviets crushed the Hungarian uprising against their occupation.

After years of war and struggle and one year of Nazi occupation, Hungarians had opened their doors to Soviet Russia and initially embraced the ideals of communism. However, over the next twelve years the average Hungarian became aware of what a fraud communism was, at least the Soviet brand of it.

The ugliest face of this awful life was the AVO, or the "party." The worst elements of the Hungarian population were elevated to positions of power and authority over the rest of the population, and the result was a culture of fear, scarcity, and terror.

A glorious revolution began in October 1956 as a people temporarily overthrew their oppressors. Students, factory workers, young married people, intellectuals, soldiers, and children fought tanks with their bare hands and primitive weapons and temporarily won. Five sweet days of freedom followed, with pleas to the UN, the USA, and the rest of the free world to help prevent the Soviets from returning in force.

Their pleas were met by silence and inaction, and Soviet tanks, airplanes, and other heavy weaponry rolled into Budapest on a Sunday morning in November 1956. The city was utterly laid waste. Efforts at resistance continued for some time, and the ragged resistance fighters had remarkable success considering their resources, but eventually the overwhelming odds caused them to cease fighting and fade back into the fabric of society.

Nearly 200,000 Hungarians subsequently fled, mostly through Austria, many of them across a rickety wooden footbridge near the Austrian village of Andau. Michener writes, "It was an American diplomat, exhausted from days of work during the crisis, who best described the Hungarian. Limply he cried, 'When this pressure lets up, I want just one thing. A transfusion of Hungarian blood. I want to feel like a man again.'"

The story of this people breaks my heart, and at the same time, gives me great courage and conviction that evil can never triumph over good, and that the human spirit can face overwhelming trials and survive. If you are reading this post, I strongly encourage you to read this book.