1950 - From the letterbox of the "Car"

"The Stakhanovist movement is expanding in our country, and the Stakhanovists are increasingly understanding the great tasks that await them in the construction of socialism and the defence of peace...While our heroic Korean comrades are fighting with arms in hand, we must fight first and foremost on the front of work to strengthen the peace front..."

For heroic work The award for outstanding representatives of the Stakhanovist movement image source: wikipedia

The above quote is from "Car" (predecessor of Autó-Motor) 1950 August 15and although contemporaries obviously understood the meaning of the lines, it is perhaps worthwhile for the younger generation to recall what the Stakhanovist movement was:

The Stakhanovist movement, or the birth of the science of corporate chicanery

Although technological progress accelerated the speed of production thanks to the industrial revolution, the organisation of production was not efficient enough even in the late 1800s. In the early part of the century, an American industrial consultant, Frederick Winslow Taylor, was one of the first to recognise the inefficiency of the system. Taylor recommended that the work done by skilled workers should be documented in detail, then broken down into parts and that these parts should be done by skilled workers.

Postcard of the workers analysing the results of the work competition - source: mandab / Thúry György Museum

The birth of the party legend

Taylorism also attracted the interest of the communists. Lenin was also interested in Taylorist principles, but Stalin wanted to incorporate them into Soviet planned economy. The only problem was that certain elements of Taylorism did not fit harmoniously with the spirit of communist ideology, since the method of organised labour productivity extraction could easily have been associated with the 'inhumanity' of the Western world, which the communists described as 'savage and rotten capitalism'. This is why it became important for communists that over-fulfilment of plans should always be voluntary. The name of the Stakhanovist movement was given to Andrei Grigoryevich Stakhanov, a miner from the Irmino shaft in the Donetsk Basin, who, according to propaganda materials, on 31 August 1935, during the night shift, in 5 hours and 45 minutes, produced 102 tonnes of coal instead of the 7 tonnes required by the norm.

Stakhanov (centre) talking to a fellow miner Image source: wiki / Eleazar Langman - United States Library of Congress, Department of Printing and Photography (fsa.8e01058)

Stalin: Pravda can never be wrong

Stakhanov's great feat was even reported in the Soviet daily Pravda, with the mistake of spelling Stakhanov's first name Alexei instead of Andrei. When Stakhanov wrote a letter of complaint to Stalin about this, the reply was that Pravda could not be wrong, so there was no alternative but for Stakhanov to take the first name Alexei.

From the Kossuth Prize winner to the Red Baron

Stakhanovism, which was introduced in Hungary in 1949, became a mass movement in the year of its introduction, according to party reports. For the official recognition of the Stakhanovist achievement, it was necessary to exceed the norm several times, by 200%. A total of 115,000 Stakhanovist certificates were awarded in Hungary up to 1953.

Stakhanovist badge - source: mandab / Thorma János Museum Numismatic Collection

Despite the fact that many people have received Stakhanovist recognition, only a dozen Stakhanovist celebrities have been continuously featured in the Hungarian party media. Among them were Ignác Pióker, the famous gyalus, or András Bordás and Imre Muszka, two famous Stakhanovists of the Csepel Iron and Metal Works. In addition, only two of them had real careers, Ignác Pióker, who became a member of parliament, and Ede Horváth, who won the position of CEO of Rába in Győr and led the company for most of the Kádár era.

Ede Horváth is the stagehand of the Győr Wagon Factory - photo source: facebook.com/regigyor

He was later dubbed the infamous "Red Baron" after becoming one of the most influential figures in Hungarian industry.

Hungary, Győr 1960. Jedlik Ányos utca - Apáca utca corner at today's Gutenberg Square. Dunakapu Square and the Kossuth Bridge in the background, Kreszta House on the right. From left János Kádár, leader of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, and Ede Horváth, then director of the Győr Machine Tool Factory. On the right, Ferenc Lombos, First Secretary of the Győr-Sopron County Committee of the MSZMP, and János Kádár's wife Mária Tamáska (with a bag in her hand).

Although the glory of stachanovism has now faded, the underlying Taylorism is still widely used today in everything from car manufacturing to TV and computer production to fast food. In Hungary, classic Taylorist work organisation is used in fast food restaurants such as McDonald's and Burger King.

source: mandab / Károly Erdélyi

...and if we have already referred to the letterbox of "Autó" in the introduction, here is the whole short but instructive article by Imre Streit, the Stakhanovist driver of Autótaxi N.V:

♠

The Stakhanovist movement is expanding in our country, and Stakhanovists are increasingly aware of the great tasks that lie ahead of them in building socialism and defending peace. As a testimony to this, we publish the letter sent to our editorial office by Imre Streit, a Stakhanovist, which is only one of many letters from workers betraying a similar developed self-consciousness.

Budapest, May 15, 1952. Stakhanovist driver Sándor Futó is reading on the seat of his taxi with the door open on Dózsa György út. In the background is a section of Heroes' Square.
Photo by MTI National Photo Library

"While our heroic Korean comrades are fighting with guns in hand, we must fight first and foremost on the front of work to strengthen the peace front.
The task for the Stakhanovists is to lead the way in expanding the Stakhanov movement beyond the new norms, using the example of the mighty Soviet Union, by organizing a workers' competition. The Stakhanovists must mobilise the huge mass of workers in the struggle to meet the new standards.
The Korean fighters are showing us by example how great victories can be achieved in much more difficult circumstances.
We have to prove our loyalty to the Party through production, because it is useless to make solemn promises and declarations if production and the workers' competition fail.
Let the Korean example inspire us to heroic deeds on our own battle front, in the field of production.
With this in mind, we are launching a new struggle to widen the socialist competitive movement.

STREET IMRE
Autótaxi N. V.
driver's stahanovista"