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Suddenly the public-address system went dead, the lights went out. The main power switch for the district had been pulled. And that seemed to be a prearranged signal. Like a well-trained football formation, the Communists began pressing toward the speaker's stand, shouting: "Munkások egyesüljetek!" (Workers unite!). It had the cadence of: "We want a touchdown."
Out came blackjacks and brass knuckles. Two Freedom Party men went down under the onslaught. A roar went up from the crowd; in a moment hundreds of people were bearing down on the Communists, brandishing chairs over their heads (see cut). One man went crashing through the glass to the ground, two floors below. Fury flamed up, then died out like a flash of powder. A couple of dozen casualties lay on the floor.
But the Communists were forced out of the hall. A cheer went up from the crowd; the unbroken chairs were put back into place. The meeting would go on.
You Can't Win. The Freedom Party secretary came dashing into my box. His eye was cut and his mouth was bleeding, but he shouted triumphantly: "We've taught the bastards a lesson—we've won."
But he spoke too soon.The Communists were back, and with them the grey uniformed police, rifles at the ready. One Freedom Party man who attempted to defend himself from a renewed attack by a blackjack-wielding Communist was promptly arrested.
On to the platform stepped a fat colonel of police: "In the interests of public order this meeting is closed."
While the injured were being carried out, the police calmly proceeded to arrest the "disturbers of peace" pointed out to them by the Communists.
When Nagy and two other deputies appeared in the window of the hotel overlooking the square, a tremendous cheer went up from the crowd that had gathered there. But this was a short-lived victory, too. The police colonel spoke again: "I warn you, if you appear anywhere in public, I'll arrest you for attempting to incite a riot."
Soon a hundred police were in the square dispersing the crowd of 8,000. They first drove a wedge down the center, then divided halves into quarters, until each group was small enough to deal with individually.
Finally someone said: "No free speech —but a lesson in tactics."