Imre Nagy's Hungarian Communist Party Central Leadership ID

Imre Nagy's Hungarian Communist Party Central Leadership identity card from November 1946, signed by Mátyás Rákosi, General Secretary of the Party from 1945-1956. Rákosi's name is synonymous with the Stalinist era in Hungary.

Imre Nagy (1896-1958) was served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary (1953–1955), during which time he fell out of favor with the Politburu for his ideas on a "New Course" for Socialism. He was sacked in April 1955, but reappointed by popular demand in 1956 and, as reformist Prime Minister, announced Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact on 1 November 1956, and asked Western states for recognition as a neutral state.

After Soviet troops returned to crush the revolution, Nagy and colleagues sought refuge in the Yugoslav Embassy in Budapest, before being betrayed by János Kádár on 22 November, when Nagy was arrested by the Soviet as he was leaving the Yugoslav Embassy, and taken to Snagov, Romania.

Nagy was later returned to Subsequently, the Soviets returned Nagy to Hungary, secretly tried and charged with treason. After the death sentence was announced, Nagy asked for clemency to deliver his final words, in which he stated his belief that the trial was a ‘miscarriage of justice’ and that one day, his conviction would be overturned "by the Hungarian people and the international working class."

He was executed by hanging on 16 June 1958.

Buried in an unmarked grave at Plot 301 in Budapest's New Public Cemetery and publicly reburied on 16 June 1989.

This item was used in OSA's 2008 reconstruction, “The Trial.”