Register of the First Aid For Hungary
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 1998
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Stanford University
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Title: First Aid For Hungary
Date (inclusive): 1956-1958
Collection Number: 57014
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3 manuscript boxes
(1.3 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, reports, contribution lists, clippings, and printed matter, relating to relief and resettlement of Hungarian
refugees.
Creator:
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964
Creator:
First Aid for Hungary
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1957.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], First Aid For Hungary, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Alternative Form Available
Also available on microfilm (3 reels).
Historical Note
I was again called into service at the time of the Hungarian uprisings in the last months
of 1956. I accepted the honorary chairmanship of an organization called "First Aid for
Hungary, Inc.," which had been formed as the result of a meeting of several prominent
Americans of Hungarian descent called by Dr. Tibor Eckhardt on October 29, 1956; it was
organized to render vital services in a sudden emergency. Our immediate objective was to
bring aid to the hundreds of Hungarian Freedom Fighters who had been forced to seek
refuge in neighboring Austria and had thus cast an enormous burden upon that country. We
were one of only two foreign charities actually operating at the Hungarian border during
those first frenzied weeks. Immediate aid was rendered through seventeen first-aid
stations, four field kitchens,and three mobile pharmacies set up in the border zone to
distribute clothing and medical supplies. We were also able to send food and medical
supplies into Hungary itself -at first by direct shipment, then through the International
Red Cross, and finally by direct shipment again. During the latter part of this
organization's life, as Russian tanks halted the flow of Hungarians across the border, we
turned our attention to aiding the refugees in camps in Austria and for several months
provided a number of them with supplies, especially for children, and also with care for
the sick, wounded, and maternity cases. In February 1957, we determined upon a specific
program to deal with the emergency created by the interruptions of studies, particulary
of high-school age children. We supported programs in Austria, Belgium, Germany, and
United States by providing funds and textbooks. Later, our efforts were extended to the
problem of higher education for refugee students. Aid to the education of these young
people took some of our work out of the temporary and gave it an added significance of
future and permanent value. My personal feelings on the matter were conveyed in a message
of mine which was read at the Protest Meeting for the Hungarians in Madison Square Garden
on November 8, 1956:
Every people striving for freedom has over our whole
national life appealed to the American heart. But seldom in these hundred and sixty years
has any people shown such magnificent courage and sacrifice as we have seen in these past
few weeks in Hungary. Whatever we can do to alleviate their suffering and to protest this
wickedness must lie on the American conscience.
Among the officers of the organization, in addition to myself as Honorary Chairman, were
Dr. Tibor Eckhardt, President, and Mr. Tibor Jahoda, Treasurer. Through October 31, 1957,
the funds raised amounted to $1,143,055.43.
(from Herbert Hoover,
An American Epic, Volume IV)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hungary -- History -- Revolution, 1956
Refugees
International relief
Office File
1956-1958
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, fact sheet, lists, press releases, publicity material, clippings, and other printed matter, arranged alphabetically
by physical form
Thank you letters, arranged alphabetically by name of donor
box 2, folder 2
1956 December 29-1957 February 21
box 2, folder 4
1956 November 6-1957 March 1
box 2, folder 5
1957 February 25-1958 March 15
box 2, folder 7
International Rescue Committee
box 2, folder 10
Press releases. Includes press release announcing dissolution of the organization
1957 March 5
box 2, folder 13
Report. "Report on First Aid for Hungary, "
1956-1958
Individuals' Files
1956-1957
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, list, reports, statements, and clipping, arranged alphabetically by name of member or other individual working
on behalf of the organization
Eckhardt, Tibor (President)
box 2, folder 17
Report. "Organization and First Month Activities,"
1956 December 7
box 3, folder 5
Report on trip to Vienna
1957 January
Hoover, Herbert (Honorary Chairman)
box 3, folder 6
Eisenhower, Dwight. Includes correspondence with Richard Nixon
box 3, folder 9
Hoover, Herbert, Jr. Clipping
Shouse, Jouett (Chairman of Washington Branch)
box 3, folder 16
Japan. Ambassador to the United States
box 3, folder 18
List of companies contacted for contributions
box 3, folder 19
Thank you letters for contributions
Tuck, Hallam. Correspondence
box 3, folder 27
Reports. See also Correspondence/Hoover, Herbert
Subject File
1947-1957
Scope and Contents
Letter, reports, statistics, and printed matter, relating mainly to Hungary and in particular the revolt of 1956, arranged
alphabetically by subject
box 3, folder 28
Freedom Fighters of Hungary. Printed matter
Hungary - History - Revolution
1956
box 3, folder 29
The Revolt in Hungary: A Documantary Chronology of Events, 1956 October 23 - November 4. Printed copy
box 3, folder 30
A Magyar forradalom es szabadsagharc, 1956 October 23 - November 9. Printed copy issued by Free Europe Press (in Hungarian)
box 3, folder 31
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Printed matter
President's Committee for Hungarian Refugee Relief. See INDIVIDUALS' FILES/Voorhees, Tracy S. (chairman)
box 3, folder 32
Radio Free Europe. Typescript letter of Willis D. Crittenberger (Free Europe Committee) to Eugene Holman (Crusade for Freedom)
1956 December 3
Refugees - Hungary. Reports
box 3, folder 35
United States. Includes statistics
box 3, folder 36
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Printed matter