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Puchert, János (1934) |
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Born in Komló, he completed elementary school, then trained as a fitter and began work as such in the Kossuth Colliery in 1951. He was called up in November 1954 and served as an anti-aircraft gunner in Esztergom. On the night of October 23, 1956, his regiment moved up to Budapest unarmed for public order duty. On November 1, his unit was ordered to Juta Hill, where there was a gun battle with one of the Soviet units entering Budapest. The division was disbanded on November 5 and he returned home to Komló, before being demobbed in Esztergom. While working back in the mine, he was asked to join the new special police but refused. He was arrested on October 18, 1957, and on August 14, 1958 condemned to death in the first instance. This was confirmed on November 13, but an appeal to the Presidential Council led to the death sentences on him and two others being reduced to life imprisonment-defined as twenty years in 1962. He was released on March 25, 1970 and returned to his job in the Komló mines until his retirement in 1989. He was appointed an army reserve officer in 1990. He served as a Socialist member of Komló local assembly in 1994-8, and received the Order of Imre Nagy in 2003. |
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János Puchert: 'I thought all the fifty-sixers were out by 1970'
From Esztergom to Budapest (October 23-4, 1956)