A spontaneous uprising by Hungarians, which began on 23 October 1956 at the monument to Jozef Bem, led to the Hungarian government declaring neutrality and withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact on 1 November. On 3 November, an attempt was made to negotiate with Soviet troops about leaving Hungary. However, the delegation never returned from the talks, and on 4 November Soviet troops entered Budapest. The defence of the city lasted until the early evening hours. Only until 10 November did fighting continue on Csepel Island. The fighting claimed several thousand victims and many people were wounded. Help was needed, and that help began to be sent from Poland. Blood was donated, gifts were collected and then sent in crates to the Hungarian capital. This generosity is commemorated by an inscription in Polish and Hungarian and the symbol of a weeping dove placed in 2016 near the Józef Bem monument in Budapest:

DURING THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION AND THE 1956 STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM, AND / AFTER THEIR SUPPRESSION, THE POLES, FAITHFUL TO THE IDEA OF THE CENTURIES-OLD FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN / THE TWO PEOPLES, BORE WITNESS TO EXTRAORDINARY SOLIDARITY. / FROM THE AUTUMN OF 1956. FOR MANY MONTHS THEY SENT AN UNPRECEDENTED / AMOUNT OF GIFTS TO HUNGARY - BLOOD, MEDICINES, DRESSINGS, FOOD, CLOTHING AND BUILDING MATERIALS / AND HUNGARIAN / FLAGS WERE DISPLAYED IN MANY POLISH TOWNS AND CITIES. THEY SUPPORTED THE "HUNGARIAN BROTHERS" MORE GENEROUSLY THAN ANYONE ELSE. / THIS PLAQUE WAS ERECTED ON THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1956 REVOLUTION, AS AN EXPRESSION OF REMEMBRANCE / AND GRATITUDE BY THE CAPITAL CITY GOVERNMENT OF BUDAPEST ON THE INITIATIVE OF THE HUNGARIAN / INSTITUTE OF CULTURE IN WARSAW AS PART OF THE COOPERATION BETWEEN THE TWO CAPITALS OF BUDAPEST AND WARSAW. //.