to 24 October 1956, just over three months. He had been Rákosi's close associate since 1948, and was involved in party expulsions, the industrialization and collectivization of Hungary. Later life and death On 23 October 1956, students marched through Budapest intending to present a petition to the government. The procession swelled as several people poured onto the streets. Gerő replied with a harsh speech that angered the people, and police opened fire. It proved to be the start of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. As the revolution spread throughout the country, the central committee met on 25 October and agreed that János Kádár should be made party leader and Imre Nagy be made prime minister, marking the end of the Gerő interregnum. Gerő went to the Soviet Union, but after the revolution was crushed, the Communist government of Kádár initially refused to let him return to Hungary. He was finally allowed to return from exile in 1960, but was promptly expelled from the Communist Party. He worked as an occasional translator in Budapest during his retirement. His character plays a central role in Vilmos Kondor's 2012 novel, Budapest Noir, and the whole series. He died in Budapest in 1980 at the age of 81. References Bibliography Almendros, Joaquín: Situaciones españolas: 1936–1939. El PSUC en la guerra civil. Dopesa, Barcelona, 1976. Chacón, R.L.: Por qué hice las checas de Barcelona. Laurencic ante el consejo de guerra. Editorial Solidaridad nacional, Barcelona, 1939. The First Domino: International Decision Making During the Hungarian Crisis of 1956 Texas A & M University Press, 2004, p. 33. Johanna Granville, "Soviet Documents on the Hungarian Revolution, 24 October – 4 November 1956", Cold War International History Project Bulletin, no. 5 (Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Washington, DC), Spring, 1995, pp. 22–23, 29–34. 1898 births 1980 deaths People from Veľký Krtíš District People from the Kingdom of Hungary Slovak Jews Jewish Hungarian politicians Hungarian Communist Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Hungarian Interior Ministers Finance ministers of Hungary Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1945–1947) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1947–1949) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1949–1953) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1953–1958) Jewish socialists Jewish atheists Hungarian atheists Hungarian people of the Spanish Civil War Hungarian People's Republic Hungarian expatriates in the Soviet Union People of the Hungarian Revolution