The short lived and tragic Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was the first rip in the Iron Curtain. Virtually all segments of Hungarian culture rebelled against the communist government and their Soviet masters; students, factory workers, farmers, police, military and even some of the top Hungarian leaders. Many 10s of thousands fled to the West. Many of these were the best Hungary had, and as they assimilated into the West, in particular into the United States, many made significant contributions to the culture of their new nation. I have known some of these.