There's a "family legend" that my dad kicked the asses of the nation of Hungary.
Dad (David March, no middle name) worked for United Airlines in South San Francisco as a machinist. One of his co-workers was an escapee from behind the Iron Curtain, having fled as Soviet tanks rolled into Hungary in 1956. Somewhere between 1968 and 1976 as best I can figure, this guy (name unknown to me) gets a letter from the Hungarian embassy saying basically "all is forgiven, we're letting people reconnect with their families". The guy gets all excited, my dad tells him it's a trap (as do others), he goes anyways and gets grabbed by the secret police coming down off the plane over there.
At the next union hall meeting (International Association of Machinists lodge 1327 in South San Francisco California I think?) everybody is miserable. My dad stands up and says "OK, so we go on strike, and we get the AFL-CIO to go along". It worked - Hungarian ships weren't being unloaded in the US, etc. A few weeks later the guy is back, with his family from Hungary, runs up, hugs my dad.
What's my best way to confirm all this?
is this the Hungarian version of 'Air-Bridge of Spies'?
form 1956-1957, more than 200.000 people escaped Hungary, and only 40.000 came back till 1960 using one of the amnesty (promises).
the Hungarian propaganda called the leavers 'dissidents', but aimed to lure them back for prestige and to weaken the emigrated community. for the cold war western governments this (Hungarians emmigrating back) could have been a political and morale defeat, so states were asked to be extra kind with Hungarians.
the first amnesty was declared in 1956. after this, 400 people were executed, and more than 22.000 imprisoned and tortured. the next mass amnesties were declared in 1959 and 1963, where some of the politically imprisoned were released. the last big wave of dissidents came back to Hungary in 1963, and the number of homecomers declined after that.
even short before the fall of the iron curtain, the Hungarian government still sent letters, with a 'promise' of amnesty for the homecomers. it was part of the propaganda i guess, so i doubt it was well documented.
how to look up your friend and confirm this story?
Hungarian ships weren't being unloaded
Hungary is landlocked, so thats no clue. also Hungary wasnt allowed to deal with inferior western governments. the trade between the USA and Hungary was insignificant during the cold war... but maybe enough to blackmail politicans for 1 man.