25th anniversary of a Samisdat publication

This year "Beszelö", the first and most important of the former underground newspapers, celebrates its 25th anniversary since it was founded in 1981. Editor Zoltan Adam describes the time as one of constant liberalisation and democratisation. "Founded in 1981, this Samisdat publication represented an alternative both at a political level and in everyday issues to the blunted awareness of a society which had been incapacitated by the totalitarian regime. Its writers were openly critical of the system and its editors published their real names and even their addresses and telephone numbers to assert their rights as free people. Nowadays, fortunately, such heroic deeds are no longer required. Society still sometimes shows itself to be immature in certain aspects, but being a free person is no longer construed as criticism of the system."

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