Amikor minden összejött – az 1956-os magyar migránsok fogadtatása
When Everything Came Together: The Reception of the 1956 Hungarian Emigrants

Summary/Abstract: After the 1956 revolution, nearly two hundred thousand people left Hungary. Most of them settled permanently in other countries and relatively few returned. Reaching and crossing the western border was a difficult task, but it still seemed a realistic undertaking compared to previous years. Indeed, the technical border lockdown at the Austrian border was lifted in the spring of this year in the context of the general easing of political tensions at the international level. The study uses statistics compiled in 1960 to show exactly where the emigrants settled. Based on contemporary UN and NATO reports, it seems that the situation of the groups that have been considered political refugees by the developed Western states has evolved positively. The Hungarians were initially very positively received by Western public opinion. Additionally, the demographic characteristics of emigrants have also facilitated rapid employment and the start of integration. 1956 was thus an exceptional moment in the history of international migration, when (almost) everything came together.

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