Gergei Pongratz ( Hungarian. Pongrátz Gergely ; February 18, 1932, Gerla - May 18, 2005, Kiskunmaysa ), also spelled Gergei Pongratz , a Hungarian agronomist and political activist, one of the commanders of the 1956 anti-communist uprising . He commanded the rebels during the decisive battle for the “Corvin Passage” in Budapest on November 1–9, 1956. After the suppression of the uprising, he managed to escape and emigrate, he lived in Austria , Spain , and the USA . He was in the leadership of the Hungarian immigrant organizations. In 1991 he returned to Hungary. He was one of the founders of the right-wing radical Jobbik .
| Gergei Pongratz | |
|---|---|
| Hungarian Pongrátz gergely | |
 Gergei Pongratz, 2004 | |
| Date of Birth | February 18, 1932 |
| Place of Birth | Gerla |
| Date of death | May 18, 2005 (aged 73) |
| Place of death | Kiskunmaisha |
| Citizenship |  Hungary |
| Occupation | agronomist; 1956 rebel commander political emigrant; anti-communist politician, co-founder of Jobbick |
Content
Biography
Origin
Gergei Pongrats was born in a large family of Magyar-speaking Transylvanian Armenians in the city of Samoshuyvar ( Gerla ). He was born under the Romanian flag. However, from childhood, Gergei was brought up in the spirit of Hungarian nationalism and anti-communism . In 1940, Gergei's father headed the city administration of Samoshuyvar [1] . According to the Vienna Arbitration held by Germany and Italy on August 30, 1940 , Romania was forced to return Northeast Transylvania to Hungary [2] . Eight-year-old Gergei witnessed the ceremonial entry of Hungarian troops into Samoshuyvar.
In 1944 , before the Romanian and Soviet troops entered Samoshuyvar, Pongrattsi moved to the Hungarian Matesalka , then to the village of Soroksar Pest-Pilish-Sholt-Kishkun . The family received 13 acres of land and took up farming. Gergei Pongratz was educated and worked as an agronomist . He was extremely hostile to the communist regime of Matthias Rakosi .
| I became an agronomist, and I owe only to my guardian angel that I have lived in the communist system for almost 12 years without a prison. |
He wrote in 1982.
Rebel Commander
On October 23, 1956, the Hungarian uprising began. On October 24, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Budapest, demanding the withdrawal of Hungary from the Warsaw Pact, the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the dissolution of state security agencies and the transfer of power to the workers' councils. Gergei Pongratz and his four brothers immediately arrived in Budapest and joined the anti-communist rebels [3] . They joined the detachment of Laszlo Ivan Kovacs , grouped in the shopping complex Passage Corvina (which included a chain of stores and a cinema). "Corvin Passage" provided control over the capital's radio, army barracks and over the junction of the main transport highways. The 26-year-old military sports instructor Laszlo Kovacs and the 24-year-old agronomist Gergei Pongratz gathered here up to 4 thousand fighters with small arms, grenades and Molotov cocktails. The 33rd Guards Mechanized Division of the Soviet troops unfolded against them, under the command of Major General Gennady Obaturov [4] . Corvin’s convenient position, narrow approaches and well-adjusted defense allowed the Hungarians to repel several tank attacks. With the mediation of the Hungarian major general, the communist Gyula Varadi , General Obaturov on October 29 went on negotiations with Kovacs. Kovacs was inclined to compromise. Then on November 1 he was removed from command, which was taken by the determined Gergei Pongratz [5] . Under his leadership, the fighting continued for another eight days. Formally, the 4-thousandth Pongratz detachment obeyed Pal Maleter , but in reality Pongratz independently determined the political line and military tactics. Pongratz did not recognize the leadership of Mahler, because he had a negative attitude towards the government of the communist Imre Nagy . The battle for Corvin's Passage finally ended on November 9th. The rebel fortifications were taken one by one by the Soviet troops (having lost 12 tanks). Pongratz managed to escape under artillery fire with several hundred fighters. The town guerrilla of the Mustachio Pongratz continued for several more days. After that, Gergei Pongratz managed to get out of the encirclement and leave Budapest. At the end of November, he managed to cross the border and move to Austria . In Vienna, he joined the exile Revolutionary Military Council.
Political Emigrant
In 1957 , Gergei Pongratz left for the USA , worked at a factory in Chicago . In 1959 he moved to Spain . After 12 years, he returned to the United States, worked in New Jersey , Boston , Chicago , even at a pig farm in Arizona . In emigration, Pongratz actively participated in the activities of Hungarian anti-communist organizations, was deputy Bela Kirai in the Association of Hungarian Freedom Fighters . Since 1982 , he headed the Association. In October 1967 , in Toledo, Pongratz participated in a joint commemorative ceremony for the Franco defenders of Alcazar and Budapest rebels.
Right-wing Politician
The dismantling of the communist regime in Hungary allowed Gerghey Pongratz to return to his homeland in 1991 . He headed several organizations of veterans of the 1956 uprising, was a member of the leadership of the World Federation of Hungarians, and founded the Museum of the Revolution [6] . The right-wing nationalist and anti-communist views of Pongratz have not undergone any significant changes since his youth.
In the fall of 1997, Gergei Pongratz was one of the leaders of the peasant protest movement. 65-year-old Pongratz was physically involved in clashes with the police and was injured [7] . In 2002, he became one of the founders of the ultra-right youth association, the following year transformed into the Jobbik nationalist party.
It consisted of nationalist students of the University of Budapest. And they were led by Gergei Pongratz, who fought with arms against the Soviet troops in 1956 ... Speaking at the constituent congress of Jobbik, this elderly gray-haired man sensed that the torch had fallen from the hands of the “heroes of the 56th year” ”, Now taken by the young generation [8] .
On September 4, 1993, Gergei Pongratz participated in the reburial ceremony of Miklos Horthy . At the same time, he was not a supporter of the solemn mourning ceremonies dedicated to Imre Nagy and Pal Maleter.
Death and memory
Gergei Pongratz died of a heart attack at the age of 73. He was buried in the Armenian Catholic rite . "The great loss for Hungary" was called the death of Pongratz Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany (representative of the Socialist Party , ideological and political opponent of the deceased) [9] .
In 1989 and 1992 in Budapest, memoirs of Gerghey Pongrtats Passage Corwin 1956 were published (the book was first published in 1982 in Chicago).
One of the national prizes of Hungary is named after Gerghei Pongratz.
Family
Six Pongratz brothers participated in the battle for “Corvin's Passage”: Gergei, Eden , Andras , Erneu , Christoph , Balint [10] . Their sister, Marika , who was then 12 years old, conducted street intelligence - she reported the numbers of advancing tanks by telephone [11] .
Eden Pongratz, the elder brother of Gerghey Pongratz, also emigrated to the United States, died on December 17, 2009 . The brothers are buried together in the Armenian Catholic chapel [12] .
Andras Pongratz, the younger brother of Gerghey Pongratz is an activist of the Jobbik party [13] .
Gergei Pongratz was married, had two children. His son and daughter reside in the USA [14] .
Interesting Facts
During the October-November battles of 1956, Gergei Pongratz received the nickname Bajusz - Mustachioed . Wearing a magnificent mustache remained his stylistic feature until the end of his life.
See also
- Jozsef Dudash
- Janos Szabo
- Robert Ban
- Laszlo Rusnyak
- Kemal Ekrem
- Sandor Rat
- Maria Witner
Notes
- ↑ Pongrátz Gergely
- ↑ Southern Transylvania remained in Romanian hands.
- ↑ 1956 ÉS ELŐZMÉNYEI (FOLYTATÁS) (unspecified (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment October 23, 2016. Archived October 24, 2016.
- ↑ FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY FORCES IN THE EARLY PHASE OF THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION OF 1956 by Major Zoltan Virag
- ↑ Budapest 1956: uprising of a free padded jacket
- ↑ Kiskunmajsán megnyílt a Pongrátz Gergely '56 -os Emlékmúzeum állandó kiállítása
- ↑ Elhunyt Pongrátz Gergely. Az 1956-os forradalom élő jelképe volt
- ↑ Black International
- ↑ The leader of the Hungarian rebels passed away
- ↑ A Pongrátz-testvérek
- ↑ Egy modern városi felkelés és leverésének katonai-politikai tanulságai, Budapest, 1956
- ↑ Kiskunmajsán eltemették Pongrátz Ödönt, az 1956-os Corvin közi fegyveres ellenállás egyik szervezőjét
- ↑ AZ EMLÉKEZÉS ÉS A TISZTELET KOSZORÚI PONGRÁTZ GERGELY SZOBRÁNÁL
- ↑ In Memoriam: Gergely “Bajusz” Pongratz