"The city commander doesn't want a social democrat mayor. He says they're far harder to work with and they can't be ordered around as easily as civic (polgármester) mayors," reported Ernő Gerő his boss on March 22, 1945. His boss was Mátyás Rákosi, first secretary of the Hungarian Communist Pary (MKP), and he was still in Debrecen at the time. Ger ő w ho was deputy first secretary, was referring to the wishes of General Ivan Terentovich Zamertsev, who had just been appointed, and he was justifying his failure to replace J ános Csorba, the current mayor, with a more trustworthy individual. This all happened just two months after Csorba, a Smallholder, had been elected - on the back of a Communist nomination!

Legend has it that Csorba, who had been involved in the armed resistance to the Germans, paid a visit to the MKP's offices. He introduced himself to Zolt án Vas, the MKP's boldest leader, who welcomed him warmly. "So your Dr. Csorba? I was looking for you. We agreed in Debrecen that if we can find you, we'll make you mayor of Budapest!" K ádá r-era documents testify that one day later, on January 19, the four parties permitted by the Red Army to delegate representatives to the Budapest National Committee elected Csorba mayor.

But it would seem that things were less straightforward. The historian Mária Palasik recently found some notes written by Csorba in 1980, fifteen years before his death. On that day he was elected by only eight representatives. A full sitting of the Budapest National Committee did not take place until January 23 or 24. But the decision-makers thought it more prudent to tell the public that the decision had been taken at a full sitting. And Csorba's real nomination only took place once the liberating Soviet army had given its assent to his appointment.

The idea of replacing Csorba with a more "trustworthy" - or communist - mayor had to wait until the government had moved to Budapest in mid-May. By this time, the MKP and the Social Democratic Party felt that their position was "significantly stronger," according to Palasik. The two parties wanted to divide the positions of council leader and mayor between them. And there was little need for a fight. Vas, the communists' mayoral candidate, had already won the title of "potato king" for his potato-distribution action on platform 11 of Nyugati station - he could be sure that the Smallholders would not veto his appointment.