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Kiss, Tamás (1934) |
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Born in Tapolca, his parents were primary-school teachers. He became a Soviet prisoner of war in 1944 and was freed in 1947. In 1953, we went to work as a semi-skilled hand at the Mátyás Rákosi Works in Csepel. He entered the faculty of sciences of Szeged University in 1954, but transferred to law in 1955. In 1956, he helped to found the student organization MEFESZ as a rival to the official youth body DISZ, and chaired the MEFESZ assembly on October 16. He took part in the Bem tér demonstration in Budapest on October 23 and became a member of the revolutionary National Guard. After the revolution was crushed on November 4, he prepared and helped to distribute leaflets. He was arrested on April 8, 1957 in Szeged and sentenced on February 14, 1958 to eight years' imprisonment, reduced to five years on appeal on February 25, 1959. He was released from Vác Prison under the April 1960 amnesty, but had been expelled from the university. He worked briefly as a labourer at Győr Waggon Factory and as a warehouseman at the Machine-Tool Factory, before moving to Balassagyarmat as a labourer and then a bookkeeper. He completed the university by correspondence and received a law degree in 1976. He then worked at Őrhalom Agricultural Cooperative as a lawyer. He served as deputy mayor of Balassagyarmat for the Free Democrats in 1990-94. In 1996-2000, he was an adviser in the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister's Office, dealing with the affairs of former political prisoners. In 2002, he was elected deputy chairman of the political prisoners' association POFOSZ. He received the Imre Nagy Order of Merit in 2003. |
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Kiss, Tamás: 'I knew exactly what to expect'
Introduction (Hungarian)