October 23. Several thousand people gather at a rally staged near the monument to Józef Bem in Budapest to manifest their support for changes taking place in Poland. The demonstrators are demanding immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops, free elections, liquidation of censorship and formation of a government by Imre Nagy.

György Gömöri (student of the Polish Philology Department of the University in Budapest):

The city’s Bem square was as tightly packed as a barrel of herrings. Only the first one hundred people marching in our column managed to get into the square. The rest got stuck in the street opposite the square. The noise in the square was terrible, resembling that made by a crowd gathered in a football stadium. [...] We were singing the national anthem when I suddenly spotted Dery’s characteristic face near the monument’s pedestal. He tried to address the rally but his voice was drowned in the noise made by the crowd – nobody had a chance to make a speech.

Ákos Engelmayer (high school senior):

[...] Besides Hungarian flags, which could be seen during the rally, the demonstrators also carried Polish flags. In fact, the most popular slogan of those days was: [...] ”All Hungarians come with us, we will follow the Poles.”