OSA / Guide / RIP / 1956 / RFE/RL Background Reports : Subjects | Browse | Search

The text below might contain errors as it was reproduced by OCR software from the digitized originals,
also available as Scanned original in PDF.

BOX-FOLDER-REPORT: 30-4-57
TITLE:             The Career of Janos Kadar
BY:                A
DATE:              1958-12
COUNTRY:           Hungary
ORIGINAL SUBJECT:  Hungarian Research
THEMATIC SUBJECTS: Hungary--1956-1965, Communist Parties--Hungary, Personalities

--- Begin ---

RFE NEWS & INFORMATION SERVICE - EVALUATION & RESEARCH SECTION

Background Research 

THE CAREER OF JANOS KADAR

Hungarian Research (A)

December 1958

HUNGARIAN RESEARCH (A), December 17, page 2

THE CAREER OF JANOS KADAR

Janos Kadar was born on 26 May 1912 in Kapoly village
(county Somogy) . His original name was Csermanek. His father was
an agricultural worker, his mother a day laborer. In his 
childhood Kadar helped on the land, worked for a swineherd as 
shepherd boy, then as a servant on a farm. Later Kadar's mother moved
the Budapest with her two sons where she earned her living as a
casual laborer, an under-janitor and by delivering papers. Kadar,
after finishing primary school, attended the Wesselenyi street
higher elementary school. He also helped his mother to deliver
papers and run errands. At 14, he became a tool-maker's apprentice;
at 17 he joined the youth organization of the trade union of
iron workers. In 1929, after three years of apprenticeship he 
became a tool-maker's assistant. For a time he was unable to get
a job in his trade. In the summer of 1930 he worked at the 
warehouse of a carpet wholesaler; in the first part of 1931 he was
unemployed. Later he was able to work in his trade at different
places.

In September 1931, Kadar joined one of the local 
organizations of the Young Communist Workers' Association in Hungary
(KIMSZ), and participated in its activities. This association had
a structure similar to that of the Hungarian Communist Party (HCP)
and served as a reserve for new cadres of the HCP; it functioned
illegally.

During a demonstration he was arrested in November 1931
and released under remand after a three days detention. He became
a member of the Budapest north district of the KIMSZ committee and
later secretary of KIMSZ for Great Budapest.

Joins Communist Party

In 1932 Kadar joined the Hungarian Communist Party and
participated actively in its work. In 1933 he was arrested again,
after being under police surveillance since 1931, and spent 17
months in prison. The HCP, very weak and having few members, was
torn by factional struggles between emigrant Communists and those
in Hungary. Thus, at the beginning of 1936, the Control Committee
of the Communist Internationals held an investigation and established
that mistakes had been committed in the activities of the Communists
in Hungary. The members of the Central Committee were dismissed and
given severe Party punishment. The Party was invested with new
leaders who carried out their activities abroad. Kadar was arrested
again, as the "black comrade" registered with the police. He was
taken to the Vac prison, where he extended his Party relations, and
formed a close friendship with Zoltan Vas. In the fall of 1938 the
leading body of the HCP in Hungary was reconstituted.

[page 3]

HUNGARIAN RESEARCH (A) December 17, page 3

During the war Kadar played an active part in the
resistance movement. In 1942 he became a member of the Central
Committee cf the HCP. Kadar was very close to Rajk, the true
leader of the HCP in Hungary. In 1943, Kadar became one of the
secretaries of the Central Committee. After the dissolution of
the Communist Internationale in May 1943, the Central Committee
of the HCP passed a resolution for the dissolution of itself. The
emigrant faction did not approve of this liquidating resolution,
but the Communist Party remained inactive till September 1944.
In the meantime the Communists formed the so-called Peace party
and Kadar became the secretary of its Central Committee. At the
beginning of December 1944, the Peace party, the Social Democrat
party, the Independent Smallholder party and the National Peasant
party combined into the Hungarian National Independence Front.
The propaganda work of the illegal Hungarian Front was shouldered
by the Peace party. ICadar participated in the editing and 
circulation of illegal publications, "Szabad Nep" among them. He also
cooperated with Antal Apro, Karoly Kiss and Laszlo Rajk in the
organization of partisan groups. In 1944 Kadar tried to get into
contact with the general staff of the Yugoslav (Communist) 
partisans but was arrested near the river Drava; a warrant had been
out for his arrest since 1942. Kadar then going under the name
cf Lajos Luptak, got into the hands of the Gestapo, but succeeded in
escaping. Around Christmas he went to Budapest, then left the
city under Party orders and tried to establish contact with
the Russian military commandatura already on Hungarian territory 
at the time.

Between January and May 1945 Kadar was organizing the
Budapest police. At the time Laszlo Rajk was at the head of the
police. Kadar established close relations with Gabor Peter, head
of the political police and later became the Budapest deputy chief
of police. In 1945 the Hungarian Communist Party assigned him the
task of organizing and directing the Budapest Party organization,
as the successor to Laszlo Rajk. He became the secretary of the
Great Budapest Party Committee. At the 1945 parliamentary elections
Kadar was returned as the representative of counties Heves and
Nograd-Hont. At the Third Party congress of the HCP, at the end
of September and beginning of October 1946, he was elected deputy
chief secretary, next to Rakosi. At the end of August 1947 he 
reentered Parliament as the representative of the Great-Budapest
electoral district. In June 1948, there took place the congress
of the Hungarian Communist Party and the Social Democrat party
which resulted in both parties merging into the new Hungarian
Workers' Party; Kadar was given a senior position in the new party.
He became one of the 14 members of the Political Committee and the
eight members of the secretariat, next to Rakosi, Gero, Rajk, and
Imre Nagy. The Party's First Secretary was Rakosi, its 
president was Arpad Szakasits; its deputy secretaries were Farkas, Kadar
and Marosan.

Minister of Interior; Rajk Trial

In August 1948, Kadar succeeded Rajk as Minister of the

[page 4]

HUNGARIAN RESEARCH (A), December 17, page 4

Interior and in this capacity became the supreme director of the
AVH which fell under his authority. He appointed Gabor Peter as
its head. At the 1949 elections Kadar was elected to parliament as
the representative of the Hungarian Independence Front for counties
Heves and Nograd-Hont. In December 1949 the AVH became an 
independent organization subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers invested Kadar, as Minister of the Interior,
with the power of ultimate superintendence over the AVH. During
Kadar's term at the Ministry of the Interior, the Mindszenty and
Rajk trials were held. In spite of his close relations with the Rajk
family he played a sinister role in the case. Rakosi charged him
with the duty of visiting Rajk in prison and persuading him to make
a false confession. Kadar, in his capacity as Minister of the
Interior, was one of the four persons who signed Rajk's order of 
execution. After Rajk's death he damned him publicly. In June 1950
he resigned from his post of Minister of the Interior; the reason
given was that the HWP had appointed him to important Party work.
The Presidential Council of the People's Republic awarded him the
gold medal of the order of Hungarian Labor together with 5,000
forint for "his good work carried out in the interest of 
strengthening the Hungarian people's democracy".

Disgraced by Rakosi

At the Third Congress of the HWP, February-March 1951)
Kadar delivered a speech on the admission of candidates for Party
membership and on organizational work; he also criticized the
departments of the Central Committee, mainly over the directing and
control activities of the Party, the conduct of the mass 
organizational department and the Budapest and county Party committees. In
the Party Politburo, with its 17 members and its secretariat of
nine, he was placed fifth immediately after Rakosi, Gero, Parkas and
Revai, the so-called muscovite "foursome".

In the Organizing Committee, Kadar was placed immediately
below Rakosi. But his days of power were numbered. After the congress
Rakosi carried out another purge against the background of the
smouldering factional struggle between the muscovites and the home
groups and this meant Kadar's downfall. In April 1951 he was arrested,
and accused of espionage, treason and Titoism. Among the large number
of arrested were also Kallai, Marosan, Donath and Losonczy. After
cruel and humiliating tortures, in which Vladimir Farkas, son of
Defense Minister Mihaly Farkas, and the deputy of Gabor Peter, played
a part, Kadar appeared in court in December 1951 and was subsequently
sent to the Vac prison, where he spent a long time in solitary 
confinement.

Rehabilitation

After Stalin's death, a "new course" was ushered in with
the June 1953 resolution of the Central Committee of the HWP. In
July 1954, under the Premiership of Imre Nagy, Kadar was released

[page 5]

HUNGARIAN RESEARCH (A), December 17, page 5.

from prison "but a total political rehabilitation did not follow;
he was given Party work as a middle-cadre, becoming first secretary
of the Party organization of the HWP in the 13th district. At the
end of October 1954, Kadar was elected a member of the National
Council of the Patriotic People s Front which had just been formed.
At the November 1954 council elections the Patriotic People's
front nominated him for the Budapest Thirteen district. At the
end of 1955 Kadar was appointed first secretary of the HWP Politburo
for county Pest. In the increasingly strained political tension Kadar
was becoming a more and more noticeable figure. In spring of 1956
he participated in discussions held by the HWP with Imre Nagy and
his associates on their rehabilitation. Kadar insisted that Imre
Nagy should exercise sharp self-criticism before his readmission
to the Party. His joining the Central Committee was opposed by
Rakosi. When Rakosi got wind of the news that Kadar had joined
a group which demanded the calling to account of persons responsible
in the Rajk case, he played back at a Central Committee meeting in
May 1956, a tape recording of a conversation between Kadar and 
Rajk which took place shortly before the latter's conviction.

Kadar's complete political rehabilitation took place in
July 1956. On July 18, Rakosi resigned at Mikoyan's summons and
Gero succeeded him as First Secretary in the Central Committee.
Kadar was elected to the Central Committee, the Politburo and
the Secretariat. Through his demand for Party political and 
organizational reforms and his condemnation of AVH atrocities, his popularity
increased and his position became strengthened. In September 1956
Kadar was head of the HWP delegation participating in the Eighth.
Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. At the beginning of October,
together with Gero, Hidas and Szanto, Kadar conferred with Mikoyan
and Suslov in Moscow. In mid-October he went to Belgrade as a member
of the HWP delegation headed by Gero.

The Revolution
          
After the outbreak of the October 1956 revolution, Kadar
replaced Gero on October 25 and became the First Secretary of the
already disintegrated HWP. On October 28 a six-membered Party
 presidium headed by Kadar (including Apro, Kiss, Munnich, Imre Nagy
and Szanto) took over the direction of the Party. On October 30
Kadar announced over Radio Kossuth that each member of the HWP's
Presidium agreed with the decisions of the national government. One
of these decisions was the discontinuation of the one-party system.
On November 1, Kadar conferred with Mikoyan and Suslov on the 
withdrawal of Soviet troops; on the same day he spoke over Free Radio
Kossuth to the narticipants in the "glorious uprising", asserting

the glorious uprising of our people has delivered the
nation from the Rakosi rule, achieved the freedom of the
people and the independence of the country, without which
there is and can be no socialism. We can state openly that
the spiritual and organizational leaders of this uprising and
those who prepared it came from your ranks -- the Hungarian
Communist writers, journalists, university students, the

[page 6]

HUNGARIAN RESEARCH(A), December 17, page 6

young members of the Petofi Circle, thousands of workers,
peasants, old fighters imprisoned because of false 
accusations, who fought in the first ranks against the Rakositite
tyranny and irresponsible policy. We are proud that in
this armed uprising and its directing you stand your own
ground honorably, filled with true patriotism and faith
in socialism".

Kadar also referred in his speech to a counter-revolutionary
danger and announced the formation of the Hungarian Socialist
Workers' Party. The members of the executive committee of the HSWP
were Donath, Kadar, Kopacsi, Losonczy, Lukacs, Imre Nagy and Szanto.

Kadar also took a hand in government work; on October 30
he was a member of the cabinet of Imre Nagy. On November 3 he became
Minister of State, and left Budapest on the same day. On November
4, during the second intervention, Munnich announced the formation
of the Hungarian Revolutionary Worker-Peasant government; among
its members were Apro, Kadar, Kossa, and Munnich. Kadar went to
Moscow and returned to Budapest, via Prague, on November 7. As the
leader of the Party and president of the government, power was
concentrated in his hands. The reappraisal of the "armed uprising",
so recently glorified by him, began; it became a "counter-revolution",
the achievements were gradually pushed into the background and a
great purge reminiscent of the Russian "cleansings" started. The
whole course was carried out with Kadar's full agreement.

Trust of the Kremlin

During the period following the October-November 1956
events Kadar has had the full trust of the Kremlin. In its 20 March
1957 issue, "Pravda" published Kadar's portrait and an extensive
biography. According to "Pravda" Kadar is "a great personality of
 the Hungarian revolutionary worker and Communist movement" and "one
of the most outstanding personalities among the Party and state
leaders in Hungary". In April 1958 Khrushchev visited Hungary at
the head of a seven-member Soviet Party and government delegation.
Khrushchev singled out Kadar, whom "he hardly knew before", for
especial praise and bolstered up his position against the Stalinists
(Rakosi-ites). In the summers of both 1957 and 1958 the Hungarian
leader spent his vacations in the Soviet Union. Khrushchev, in his
interview with Adlai Stevenson in summer 1958, stated that he would
be spending his summer vacation with Kadar. The "Great Soviet
Encyclopedia" published a relatively detailed biography on Kadar
in its Year Book for 1958.

Dominating the Party

Kadar's role in the Party is a dominating one. The leading
organ of the newly organized Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party,
a temporary Central Committee with 23 members and a smaller temporary
Executive Committee were both headed by Kadar. On 26 February 1957

[page 7]

HUNGARIAN RESEARCH (A), December 17, page 7

the Party's governing bodies were extended. Kadar became the president
of the Central Committee, member of the Executive Committee and
head of the Secretariat. The strengthening and completion of the
HSWP's provisional governing bodies took place at the end of June
1957. Kadar became one of the 11 members of the Politburo and was
First Secretary of the five members of the secretariat.

Except in a few cases, Kadar has headed all Party and
government delegations to go abroad: Moscow (March 1957), Peking
(September-October 1957), Moscow (November 1957, fourth conference
of the Communist and worker Parties), Bucharest, (February 1958),
Karad jordjevo (Karageorgevo) March 1958, for discussions with Tito,
Moscow (May 1958, meeting of the Council for Mutual Aid and of the
states belonging to the Warsaw treaty), Sofia (June 1958), 
East-Berlin (July 1958).

In October 1957 Kadar became the vice-president of the 
National Council of the Patriotic People's Front. He retained
his position as head of the government till the end of January
1958 when the new "regrouping of power" took place. The government
was reformed and Kadar, in the interest of "raising the level of
the work of the Party, and of the social and mass organizations"
resigned his Premiership but still remained a member of the Cabinet
as Minister of State. He was decorated for his work as Premier with
the medal "For the Worker-Peasant Power" by the Presidium. At the
November 1958 Parliamentary elections he was returned to Parliament
on the Budapest list of the Patriotic People's Front.

Kadar's part in the execution of Imre Nagy and his
associates is not cleared. But the fact remained that Kadar later
disowned the same Imre Nagy whom he had spoken of as his friend,
his honored and esteemed fellow patriot in the days of the
"glorious uprising" and whose decisions made on November 1 Kadar
sanctioned and to. whom he promised immunity after the people's
uprising and whose return into political life he held to be possible
Later Kadar denied Imre Nagy, called him a person who "submerged
himself into the morass of treason" and approved of his execution
as a well deserved punishment.

Kadar is no muscovite; since he joined the Communist Party
during its illegal period, he remained in Hungary up to the end.
He has not the capabilities of any outstanding Communist leaders.
He has a strong will, a hardy physique and his personality is 
unassuming. He is married and his wife is a decorated employee at the
Government Information Office. He has a brother who emigrated
to Canada between the two World Wars.

[page 8]

Hungarian RESEARCH (A), December 17, page 8

A Note on Sources

For general "background on Janos Kadar the following
were consulted: "Szabad Nep", 6 August 1948 and 3 March 1957;
Year Book of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia 1958, p. 632; "Tovaris
Janos Kadar", a biographical essay in "Pravda" 20 March 1957;
Current Biographical Yearbook 1957, pp. 287-288; "Hungary's 
Split--Minded Premier" by Gyorgy Paloczy-Horvath; "Sunday Times" (London)
24 March 1957; "Die Geschichte des Janos Kadar" by Gyorgy 
Paloczy--Horvath, "Der Monat" March 1957; "Janos Kadar -- Partner und 
Befehlsempfaenger Moskaus" by Gyorgy Boesai, "Osteuropa" 6 June 1957.

On particular aspects of Kadar's career and personality
there is much information from a wide variety of sources. Details
on Kadar's childhood, his youth, his membership in the Young 
Communist Workers' Association, (KIMSZ) and his first arrest were
given in "Magyar Ifjusag" of 11 and 18 May 1958. "Nepszabadsag"
of 3 May 1958 also touches on his activities in KIMSZ. Kadar's
mother is referred to in "Szabad Nep" of 23 August 1947. His brother
(a Canadian citizen) who condemned his treachery in the revolution,
was interviewd in "Time" of 17 December 19 56. Kadar as sportsman is
referred to in "Szabad Nep" of 25 December 1946. For the tortures
inflicted on him, see RFE Item Nos. 1730/56, 1733/7-56, 1066/10-57.
His relations with the Rajk family and the incriminating part he
played in the Rajk case were covered by Paloczy-Horvath in "The 
Sunday Times" op. cit;his public condemnation of Rajk was reported in
"Szabad Nep" and "Nepszava" of 2 October 1949. "Magyar Kozlony"
of 24 June 1950 and 30 January 1958 contains references to his 
official decorations. The visit to Moscow shortly before the 1956
Revolution was reported by Radio Kossuth on 6 October 1958. RFE Item
No. 791/58 contains interesting references to his services after
the 1956 earth tremor, his narrow escape from becoming a Soviet 
prisoner-of-war, and his attacks on Vladimir Farkas in the spring of
1956. RFE Item No. 174/XII-3612 a/l-58 reports his part in the
dissolution of the Tancsic Circle and the victory over the Revai-ists.
Kadar's relations with Imre Nagy after the revolution are covered by
a number of sources: his statement on the possibility of Nagy 
returning to public life was broadcast over Radio Kossuth on 14 November
1956; his promise of immunity for Nagy appeared in "Nepszabadsag"
of 27 November 1958; his description of Nagy as "a person submerged
in the morass of treason" in "Nepszabadsag" of 12 June 1958. The
Report of the Special Committee (of the UN General Assembly) on
the Problem of Hungary, Chapter YII pp. 42-47 also contains referencea
to his relations with Nagy, together with his part in the 
October--November events and the formation of the Worker-Peasant government.

[page 9]

HUNGARIAN RESEARCH (A), December 17, page 9

On relations with Tito see "Est et Quest" November 1958. The 
question of Kadar's ghost writers is discussed in RFE Item No. I-17477w/
/12-57.

A regime view on Kadar's career is contained in Istvan
Friss: "The Hungarian Communist Party's Fight from October 1929
 to August 1939" (Budapest 1955), and in "Documents Relating to
the Study of the Hungarian Party's History" (Budapest 1955).

The following are the more important articles written by
Kadar since November 1956: "First Steps" published in "Magyar
Ifjusag" 11 May 1958 - this essay was one of a series entitled
"We are the Young Guard"; an introduction to the new edition of
"Tarsadalmi Szemle" in May 1957; "On the International Significance
of the October Revolution" in "Tarsadalmi Szemle" October 1957; 
"Proletarian Internationalism and Soviet Union" in "Pravda"
9 October 1957, also published in "Szabad Nep" 10 October 1957;
"The Day of Liberation" in "Pravda" 2 April 1958; "The Unity of the
Working Class - the Guarantee of its Victory" in "Nepszava" 12
June 1958; "For Our Friendship" in "Izvestia" 6 August 1958.

A selection of Kadar's speeches entitled "Firm People's
Power: Independent Hungary" was published in 1958 by the Kossuth
Publishing House.

End.

  OSA / Guide / RIP / 1956 / RFE/RL Background Reports : Subjects | Browse | Search