Imre Nagy

After two years as Prime Minister (1953-1955), Nagy was forced to resign and was expelled from the Communist Party by hardline colleagues as a result of the liberalizing tendency that he showed in this office.

He became Prime Minister again during the brief anti-Soviet revolution in 1956. After he had secured sanctuary in the Yugoslav Embassy, he was captured in violation of a guarantee of free passage and was executed after a secret trial in 1958. He was buried along with others in a distant corner of the Municipal Cemetery to which access was not allowed until 1989. Next to his grave stands a memorial bell inscribed in Latin, Hungarian, German and English. The Latin reads: "Vivos voco Mortuo plango Fulgura frango," which is quaintly translated as: I call the living persons, I mourn for the died persons, I chase the lightnings.

Plot: A cenotaph was placed in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery Paris, France as a memorial at a time when the Communist leadership of Hungary would not mark or allow access to his true burial place. Since 1989 the true grave has been restored and is now accessible.

Referenced By