Escape '56 by Richard Panchyk

Author:Richard Panchyk
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical;european history;military;family;military history;books for 12 year old girls;books for 12 year old boys;books for 13 year old girls;tween books for girls ages 11-14;books for 13 year old boys;teen fiction books;historical fiction books;books for 14 year old girls;battles;army;grandparents;teen books for boys;books for 14 year old boys;books historical fiction;historical fiction;teen books;young adult books;ya books;books for teens;young adult;books for teen girls;books for teen boys
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 2023-02-07T20:30:35+00:00

Chapter 17

November 16

The distinct sound of a volley of bullets ricocheting off a building.

This what János Molnár heard as he walked along Sztálin Street on this chilly mid-November day. It was impossible to tell exactly where the noise was coming from, but it sounded very close, maybe just fifty meters down one of the nearby side streets. People can be killed by stray bullets, he reminded himself. He adjusted his fedora in response to a gust of wind that had almost blown the hat off his head and began to walk at an even quicker pace.

He’d been undecided about going to work today, but his wife’s insistence that he stay home made the decision for him. He had something to prove. To himself and to her. He wasn’t afraid. He’d been through much worse during the war. Everyone had. The people of Budapest were not going to hide themselves away forever. According to the news reports, hundreds of Hungarians had been killed, maybe even thousands. But now the worst was over, the rebellion had been quashed. It had looked hopeful for a few days, but once the Soviets rolled in, the end was inevitable. They simply had too much firepower at their disposal. The gunfire was probably just some soldiers doing target practice, having little else to do now that they were not battling revolutionaries.

Life must go on! People had to start emerging and resuming normal life again soon. Why couldn’t he be one of the first? After all, winter was coming and the weather was getting cold. If the coal man could still make deliveries, then he could still sell coats. People needed coats and he had racks and racks of them waiting to be sold! No matter whom the profits went to, he was still proud and happy every time a customer walked away satisfied. Besides, he’d never been very good at sitting around at home. The last couple of weeks had been difficult; remaining mostly inside was torture. What was there to do that he didn’t already do in the evenings after the workday—listen to the radio, read the newspaper, engage in small talk with the family? There was plenty of time for that after a full day of work. In any case he was also curious to see whether his store was intact or had been damaged. He’d heard stories of entire buildings being bombed or burned. He’d passed one abandoned apartment house that looked as if it had suffered a few volleys of tank fire; entire hunks of the facade were missing, revealing portions of a burnt-out interior. A minute later he passed the remains of a Soviet tank whose turret had imploded. Maybe some of the brave freedom fighters had been responsible for that. The Soviets had suffered casualties too, for sure. But there were so many of them, and they had so much firepower compared to the outnumbered and poorly equipped Hungarians. He knew how blatant was their disregard for human life; he’d witnessed the bread line shootings a few weeks ago.

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