Few historical events over the past 70 years have rivaled the 1956 Hungarian revolution in its domestic and international impact. The research presented in the first part of this article (published in the Fall 2017 issue of the journal), which was based largely on recently declassified archival documents, focused on a specific aspect of the international response to the revolution—namely, the efforts of the United Nations (UN) to deal with urgent events during and immediately after the revolution. This second part focuses on the tragic consequences of the revolution, including trials, imprisonments, and executions, in the years that followed. The limitations of the UN in this instance have rarely been discussed, particularly by the organization's supporters. The silence surrounding these issues has affected dissidents and others throughout the world confronting dictatorial regimes. An understanding of what went wrong is crucial if the UN is to be more effective in the future.

Few historical events since 1945 have had the same impact and reverberations as the 1956 Hungarian revolution both inside and outside the country. This article, based on recently declassified and other archival documents, focuses on an important aspect of the international response to the revolution: the response (or lack thereof) of the United Nations (UN) to the revolution and then to the tragic consequences, including trials, imprisonments, and executions that continued for years afterward. The trust placed by some Hungarians in the UN may have done more harm than good. Many Hungarians came to believe that UN officials were concerned less with responding to the ongoing tragic events in Hungary and more with jeopardizing the organization's future ability to prevent or respond to disputes between the Cold War superpowers.