Márton András
Born 20 July 1924, Sarkad. Before the Revolution he was a Member of Parliament and the commander of the Military Academy. During the Revolution he was one of the military commanders of Budapest, an officer on the general staff. He was arrested and sentenced to a prison term in 1957.
I was stopped somewhere near Baross Street – I don't recall the exact location – by a little man* with a gun. He had a shotgun, but, though he hung it on his shoulder, the butt reached to the ground. I seem to remember there was a little girl wearing a leather skirt next to him. Well, what does the little child want? He told me to identify myself. "Well, little boy, how dare you stop a colonel and ask for identification? What impudence is this?!"
He said: "Stop the gabbing and identify yourself!" And then he pulled on the gun on his shoulder so as to emphasise the fact that he was armed.
"And if I did not identify myself, what would you do? Would you shoot me?", I asked. "Sure thing!", he said with determination. "Son, God made you to be a soldier. Have you heard about the Rákóczi Military College? That's where you should go. Where is your commander?" "In Corvin Alley, but let me first see that ID!" "I'll show it to you, but get in the car, I am taking you to your commander!" He got in the car and took us to Corvin Alley without any hesitation or fear. The commander was László Iván Kovács at the time. I wanted to find out what that Corvin Alley really was. I had mixed feelings about entering the lion's den. Those with clear intentions have nothing to fear. That is a silly notion. Once inside, somebody did say: "Look, an ÁVO man, let's shoot him!" This happened because men enlisted with all divisions of the army had dark green caps. Those with the ÁVH (National Security Agency) and the Border Guards had light green, while the government’s Inner Guards wore blue... They could not place the dark green cap, so they wanted to shoot me. Luckily, I was able to answer them with the right tone. I have often experienced that the right bearing has a tremendous effect. I went in, introduced myself to László Iván Kovács and told him about my affair with the little kid. I said: "Listen, Laci, it is terribly irresponsible of you to send out such young kids! What would you have said if that child had shot me? Children that age should not be given guns!" My idea was that if I introduce military order at Corvin Alley, only those standing on guard would have weapons. The others would have to put their guns in the guard room. So there would be no free manhunts.
My idea was that the Corvinists would become the very models of order and discipline. Not this mad thing!
This is no revolution, this is nothing! It was then that László Iván Kovács told me he would take no advice or ask for any help from a communist soldier. Well, I don't have to tell you how much that hurt my pride. I came to them in that situation to offer my help, and that was the reply I got.