This is a work of historical fiction set during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, when Hungarians were fighting for their freedom from Soviet and AVO (secret police) oppression. The AVO being their own "fellow Hungarian citizens," feared and known for their fearsome brutality.
Apu, Anyu, Maria and Stephen, along with friends, Pali, Dini, Bandi and others, all do their part, some of them joining the youth and uni students' resistance fighters. It was a terribly appalling time.
Some of these characters are loosely based upon the real-life Helen M. Szablya (co-author of this book) and her family, who suffered during that time but managed to escape with their lives into Austria and beyond.
I say it is a "good book," NOT because loss of life and destruction is good, but rather, it is an eye-opener showing the depravity and bullying of mankind against others, documenting such conflict for the world to know and also of the determination and resilience of those who fought for freedom and a just cause, often giving their lives to do so.
~ERC October 2022~
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