A lyukas zászló hung on Leonardo da Vinci Street in central Budapest. (Nov. 1956) Credit: Fortepan.hu / Colorization: Patrick C. Leech On October 23, 1956, university students in Budapest, Hungary organized a march in solidarity with the anti-Soviet events in Poland. The students were joined by workers and other residents of Budapest and eventually over 20,000 people …
One of the things I love about historical research is meeting people; sometimes that is at a conference or in the archive. And being a historian, sometimes those people are no longer living. No, historical research is not necromancy, rather history is similar to how G.K. Chesterton described tradition – it invites those from the …
After an unexpectedly long hiatus, I can finally return to the semi-scheduled programing, but first a brief update. In August, I finally graduated with my doctorate. All of my creative energies had been directed toward writing a dissertation which is why this languished. Additionally, I began moved to South Carolina to start teaching as an …
Leech, Patrick C. "The Unhappiest Barrack in the Soviet Bloc: Suicide, Well-Being, and Church-State Relations in Socialist Hungary" In Freedom of Conscience in (Post)Soviet Space: Legacies of Michael Bourdeaux and the Keston Archive edited by Julie K. deGraffenried, Michael Long, Xenia Dennen and Rowan Williams, 203-222. Cornell University Press, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501782749-014
As my time in Budapest comes to an end, I find myself returning to some the places with special meaning, one of which is the “Shoes of the Danube Bank” Memorial. I find this simple memorial quite moving, and despite the inhumanity of its historical antecedents there is something deeply human about the place. Along …
Continue reading Jane Haining, Stolpersteines, and Bearing Witness
Last week I wrote about the role of religion in the Solidarność movement, while I would not normally write about the same experience twice, there was another facet of my visit to the European Solidarity Centre that I need to tell. -PCL As a historian, I am rarely surprised by the critical role women play …
This past week I visited Gdańsk, Poland to guest lecture for the wonder Dr. Ania Marzurkiewicz and her graduate class on US-Polish relations. While in Gdańsk, my wife and I visited the European Solidarity Centre which houses archival collections related to Solidarność, the independent labor union that formed in Poland during the socialist era. The …
Continue reading European Solidarity Centre & Father Jerzy Popiełuszko
Late this week I had to privilege to attend a conference celebrating the work of the historians C.A. Macartney and László Péter. The conference was jointly hosted by Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem (KRE) in Budapest and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at University College London (UCL) and held in the beautiful …
Continue reading Conference in Memoriam: C.A. Macartney & László Péter
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia) plays a critical role in the development of Hungarian culture, education, and scholarship. Founded in 1825, the Akadémia served as a center for the development of a formalized Hungarian language, literature, and a repository for scientific knowledge. It is housed in a beautiful Renaissance Revival building overlooking …
Continue reading Library and Information Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Sometimes I forget the various Hungarian connections to daily life that sit just below the surface. A few days back a friend came over from the United States to experience Budapest, while showing him around the city I was reminded of this. My friend’s son, like many people enjoys solving Rubik’s Cubes. Yet, most people …
Patrick C. Leech 