Biszku appeared on DunaTV as part of the show Közbeszéd back in August 2010.  He spoke of the events of 1956, but in a defiant interview said that he believed that the revolution of 1956 was a counter-revolution that wanted to reinstate capitalism in the country. He also said that the punishment doled out to those who took part in the revolution (executions, hard labour in prison, etc) was just and right. While these comments could be confused for the ramblings of an old man, his words go against Hungarian law, in which it is forbidden to downplay the events that took place under communism or show them in a good light.

Just as it is against the law to diminish the Holocaust or deny the horror that it was took place, so too it is a crime to do the same with the numerous crimes committed under communism.  The Jobbik Party brought Biszku's words to the attention of the prosecutor, who plans on bringing the 89-year old hardline communist to trial.

If the court case goes ahead, it could signal the beginning of a process where Hungary will finally wash its dirty laundry and lay it out for all the public to see. The country has too long worked to sweep the heinous crimes committed under communist rule under the carpet and pretend as if they didn't happen.  The memory of those times still remains, and it has been impossible for Hungary to get rid of the warts, boils and scabs of the past by letting bygones be bygones.

As is clear from the words of Biszku, there remain people who flourished in the previous system, acted immorally, had no regard for human life, exercised cruelty against their fellow Hungarian with abandon, and are even today proud of having done so. 

Biszku said that even though he was the Interior Minister, he felt no responsibility for any of the events that took place at the time, including arrests, show trials, forced labour camps and executions. When asked what he thought about the 1956 revolution and the role that Imre Nagy played in it, Biszku was adamant.

Biszku said, "I don't think of '56 as a revolution... but rather a national tragedy.  In fact I would go so far as to call it "a tragedy of the Hungarian nation," in which I too suffered... I believe it was right to fight for the system."

To an outsider, this might not seem such an extreme statement.  But for Hungarians, the 40 years of communism rule was not a period of sweetness-and-light, with workers and party members walking hand-in-hand in a socialist utopia.  No, for almost all Hungarians the post-war period was a time where the borders were closed and Hungarians were not allowed to travel abroad. When Hungary was little more than a large prison, it was a time when your fate could be decided by the flick of a Party secretary's wrist.  It was a time when, if the State singled you out for special treatment, you had no recourse.  The female figure of Justice, holding the scales in her hand, was replaced by a machine that did what it was told and danced to the beat of the communist drum.  Behind the ruling of every judge stood the opinion of the state.  Behind every show trial, the venom of the country's slighted leadership.

The country was in no way fair and no way just. While, in theory, communism is a system in which everyone in equal, in practice communism distilled the power into the hands of a small elite group, a group that the average person could never join.

Communism allowed those to flourish (relatively speaking) and advance simply because they towed the line better than others.  Those outside this tightknit group had no choice but to pray - no surprise that more people regularly went to Church during communism than had either before or after - because the system was unfair and rotten to its core.

Béla Biszku remains a proud communist, which is still surprising even though he thrived in the unbalanced and cruel regime. Born in 1921, he advanced through the Communist Party and was appointed Interior Minister between 1957 and 1961, probably the most brutal era in post-war Hungary.  As Interior Minister, he had power and influence over the sham that masqueraded as a judicial system, and was either directly, or indirectly, responsible for thousands of exceutions.

Later he served as Deputy Prime Minister (1961–1962), and then as Secretary of the Central Committee (1962–1978) before Kádár made moves to remove him from power.

It is a sad reflection on the man that even in retrospect he still believes that what he did was right, when every piece of testimony and evidence screams the opposite.

For most Hungarians, saying that you believe that putting down the revolution of 1956 was a good thing is equivalent to a German saying that Kristallnacht in 1938 was just and valid. Both were horrible events - calling them otherwise is nothing more than attempting to whitewash a dirty past, so it is good to see that the authorities have begun to pay attention to those who have managed, so far, to escape the microscope of investigation and prosecution.

Biszku will likely be the guinea pig in an experiment to see how the new government deals with those who flaunt the crimes of their past.  While what Biszku did was "legal" at the time, what he was involved in was cruel and a violation of human rights.  In the same way that a nazi concentration camp guard cannot defend his actions by saying, "I was just following orders," so too Biszku cannot justify his actions by saying, "then it was legal."

His crimes, and that of many involved in the 40-year dictatorship, cannot be justified. Hungarians deserve to know what happened in the past, and have a right to know the names of those responsible for holding Hungary in totalitarian limbo for decades.

György Szilágyi is one of the Jobbik politicians who brought Biszku's words to the attention of the prosecutors. He believes that while Biszku should be brought to book for what he said, the prosecutor's shouldn't stop there.

Szilágyi said, "as far as I am concerned, Biszku should be prosecuted for what he did after 1956 rather than what he said just now. Unfortunately the Hungarian laws don't allow for this. I am hopeful that he will be punished, if only for the things he now said."

"This man ruined the lives of tens of thousands of families.  He had people imprisoned, he had people executed, he had people tortured. And let's not forget those who made the "forbidden lists * " and whose children, as a result, were not allowed to continue their education.  He destroyed their lives also," said Szilágyi. 

* Once a name was placed on a forbidden list, that person would be banned from taking certain jobs, attending higher education, or travelling abroad. Sometimes being on the forbidden list would mean the individual would have to move (with their family) to a new town, city or village.

Some have said that as an 89-year old, Biszku is simply too old and that putting him on trial is not something that the system should waste its resources on.  But the crimes of the past are too great and have had too much of a lasting effect on the Hungarian nation.  Not putting him on trial sends the message to others like Biszku, that not only did they commit crimes against their fellow Hungarians in the name of a unfair system, but their crimes have been both forgotten and forgiven.

They must not be forgotten.

As for forgiveness, I will settle for having the truth of their past deeds come out. How they are judged is a question that only the judicial process can answer, but in the memory of all those who died and suffered, it is important that the truth be told.

Hungary should follow the trail blazed by Israel after World War II and pursue those who were responsible for shoring up the cruel and inhumane system.  Those who flourished and prospered by rising through the party ranks still live among us and have never been called to book. This is wrong. Just like former concentration camp guards have not been allowed to get away by nazi-hunters - Simon Wiesenthal is the best example of those who worked tirelessly in order that those who killed Jews would not live out the rest of their life without facing justice - Hungary should step forward and began uncovering the truth from those dark times. 

While authorities are only beginning to investigate Biszku's words, it could be the impetus needed for Hungary to examine its past, make public its darker secrets, and ensure that those who took part in the cruel regime have their day in court.  Hungarian society needs this, and Hungary as a nation deserves to know the entire truth.

As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant.”