Mátyás Rákosi: the story on HearLore

Fifteen Years Behind Bars

Rákosi served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War until he was captured on the Eastern Front in 1915. Russian forces held him as a prisoner-of-war in Far Eastern camps until the war ended. He escaped detention and moved to Petrograd, the center of the Bolshevik Revolution. After returning to Hungary, he joined the communist movement led by Béla Kun and became part of the Party of Communists in Hungary. During the short-lived 133-day Communist rule known as the Hungarian Soviet Republic, he served as Deputy People's Commissar for Trade from the 21st of March to the 3rd of April 1919. Between the 3rd of April and the 24th of June 1919, he acted as one of six people's commissars for social production alongside Jenő Varga and Antal Dovcsák. Following the fall of that government, Rákosi fled Hungary on the 2nd of August 1919 via the Austrian border. He eventually reached the Soviet Union where he worked for the Communist International. In 1924, he returned to Hungary to organize the party underground but was arrested immediately. He spent over fifteen years in prison before being released to the Soviet Union in 1940.

When and where was Mátyás Rákosi born?

Mátyás Rákosi was born on the 9th of March 1892 in Ada, a small village within Bács-Bodrog County. He was originally named Mátyás Rosenfeld before changing his surname to Rákosi in 1903.

What role did Mátyás Rákosi play during the Hungarian Soviet Republic?

Mátyás Rákosi served as Deputy People's Commissar for Trade from the 21st of March to the 3rd of April 1919. Between the 3rd of April and the 24th of June 1919, he acted as one of six people's commissars for social production alongside Jenő Varga and Antal Dovcsák.

How many officials were purged under Mátyás Rákosi rule between 1948 and 1956?

Approximately 350,000 officials and intellectuals were purged under Mátyás Rákosi rule between 1948 and 1956. His government orchestrated show trials modeled on those of the USSR that led to the deaths of thousands of Hungarian people.

Why did Mátyás Rákosi resign from power in July 1956?

Mátyás Rákosi was forced to resign in July 1956 after Nikita Khrushchev delivered his famous Secret Speech denouncing Stalin's crimes. Large numbers of people within the party began speaking out against him following this event.

Where did Mátyás Rákosi live during his exile until his death in 1971?

Mátyás Rákosi lived in the town of Tokmok in Soviet Kirghizia from 1964 to 1968 where he became a manager at a wallpaper factory. He later moved to Arzamas and then to Gorky before dying there in 1971 without returning home.

Mátyás Rákosi.

Fifteen Years Behind Bars

Slicing The Opposition

The Purge Machine

Economic Collapse And Shortages

The Secret Speech And Resignation

Exile In The Soviet Towns

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