A Path to Freedom: the Bridge at Andau
A Path to Freedom: The Bridge at Andau The Bridge at Andau by James Michener tells the true story of the Hungarian revolution in 1956. A popular historian and novelist, Michener’s account of the Hungarian uprising awakens the reader to the shocking plight of millions who suffered the iron fist of communism and Soviet puppet leadership. The revolution was a rebellion of students and intellectuals directed against the Soviet occupation and communism in Hungary. Viewing the revolution as a threat, the Soviet Union mercilessly sent tanks into the city center of Budapest violently extinguishing the uprise. The Soviet destruction of a magnificent city left Budapest and the Hungarian people in ruin. Interviewing those who escaped Soviet repression in Hungary, Michener traveled to the city of Andau at Austrian-Hungarian border to put the courageous stories on record. The bridge at Andau was an escape route and path to freedom for Hungarian refugees fleeing across the border into Austria. For several weeks, Michener hovered at the border village of Andau as beaten Hungarians limped and staggered away from Soviet terror. Michener writes in detail about the domineering relationship between the Soviet Union and its satellite communist states. Arranged into a series of interconnected stories, The Bridge at Andaucenters around young students, intellectuals, and reformed communist political leaders. The novel opens on Tuesday evening, October 23, 1956, on “a day which the world will be slow to forget” (Michener, 1). Attracting thousands of protesters marching through central Budapest, the revolution began as students demonstrated in the streets calling out over Radio Free Europe shouting, “Out with the Russians! Out with the Russians!” (Michener, 17). Starting as a collection of students seeking to end repeated changes to their curriculum, the revolution quickly became a five-day rebellion of the Hungarian people. The protesters no longer
Cited: Michener, James A. The Bridge at Andau. New York, New York: Bantam Books, 1966. Print.