In the past few months, OSA acquired two collections to complement its already rich archives on the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
The first was donated by Professor Gary Filerman, one of the founders and long-time board members of the American Refugee Committee. In 1956-57, under the auspices of the World University Service, Filerman was the director of the student reception center at Camp Kilmer in New Jersey. His task was to process and place Hungarian refugee students entering the US under special immigration permits.
The other donation contains the personal papers of Gábor Magos (1914-2000), an agricultural engineer and politician, and a prominent member of the intellectual circle around Prime Minister Imre Nagy during the Hungarian revolt. Among others, he was responsible for liaising between the revolutionary government and the police forces in Budapest. In 1956 November-December, Magos was involved in activities against the newly established Kádár government, including preparation of political documents and secret meetings with foreign diplomats. He eventually escaped to Switzerland, and testified before the UN Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary as Witness XXX.