Lucas County Commissioners host Hungarian Pictorial Exhibition at library

The Lucas County Commissioners will host an exclusive exhibit in commemoration of the 50-year anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution at the Birmingham Branch Library, 203 Paine Ave., Toledo.

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the sister-county relationship between Lucas County and Csongrad County, Hungary.  The posters were a special gift presented in honor of the relationship.

This 22-poster display is a pictorial documentation of the events in Szeged, county seat of Csongrad County, during the revolution.  The 1956 Revolution is important for the message it sent the world. The Hungarian people demanded a change from the now defunct Soviet Union.

Despite the efforts of students, workers and other citizens, Soviet tanks crushed the demands for freedom.  While the Revolution failed, it proved to the world that the desire for freedom from Soviet domination remained strong and, in 1989, Hungary became the first “Communist” nation in Europe to make the transition to Democracy.

The Birmingham Branch Library was chosen to house this exhibit because it sits in the Birmingham neighborhood, where many who fled Hungary following the 1956 Revolution found a new home.

This is the only exhibit of these posters in the United States, which will be on display from Nov. 7-30, 2006.