The author seems to be from Budapest.

Looking at the wikipedia I see "In 1949, Hungary was declared a communist People's Republic (People's Republic of Hungary). ... After Nagy had declared that Hungary was to leave the Warsaw Pact and become neutral, Soviet tanks and troops entered the country to crush the revolt. Fighting continued until mid November, leaving more than 3000 dead."

So arguably, he knows better about how it is living under that kind of regime than most of people.