Following the conflict, Pongrátz escaped capture and by 1957 had moved to the United States where he spent the majority of his exile until returning to Hungary in 1991.

[citation needed] The Corvin fighters were initially led by László Iván Kovács, with the young and charismatic Pongrátz taking command on 1 November.

[citation needed] Though they had destroyed at least a dozen Soviet Tanks, with little more than Molotov cocktails, the overwhelming force of the assault caused the group to abandon its base.

While others retreated into the cellars of the buildings until they were crushed by their enemy's superior numbers; the Communist forces having poured 31,550 troops and 1,130 tanks into Budapest.

Despite the events of 1989, Pongrátz witnessed the democratic successor organization[3] to the communist party of his youth continuing to be the dominant political force in Hungary.

[citation needed] Depressed by what he saw as the continued presence and pervasive influence of former Hungarian communists in the senior posts of government, commerce and public life;[4] he became a leading figure in a new Hungarian nationalist movement, eventually participating in the foundation of a right-wing political party, the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), the third largest party in Hungary today.