1956: The Hungarian Revolution

The Hungarian uprising against the Stalinist dictatorship in 1956 is a cornerstone of Austrian memory and memory politics of the Second Republic. The Austrian population’s spontaneous and generous helpfulness toward the 200,000 refugees who came to Austria following the suppression of the revolution by the Soviet Union is an integral component of Austrian identity today. The political elite did not expect to encounter such solidarity from the population. An abundance of measures subsequently introduced in regard to housing, physical and mental healthcare and support for Hungarians also played into the later establishment and optimisation of civil protection and welfare institutions in Austria.

Today, this generosity is generally regarded as evidence of Austria’s altruism when it comes to needy people in distress. What is often forgotten in this Austria myth, however, is how quickly the mood shifted after the beginning of 1957, when the government and media were fuelling a not so friendly and even negative sentiment toward the refugees – even though the majority of them had already left Austria for other countries at that time.