Our Story: Saga of a Hungarian-American Family

At times he falls asleep with his glasses on which he explains helps him see his dreams clearer. The family consisted of eleven members as follows: David and Fanny Sons: Miklos, Eddy, Sandor and Imre Daughters: Hermine, Bertha, Yolan and Irma Son-in-law: David was born in Gyongyos, Heves county, in and married Fanny Wise m He later bought a two story inn in Parad, a little village close to Gyongyos and on the road to Eger city. This move not only gave David a livelihood but provided room for his ever expanding family. David, in August of , considered himself to be an old man deserving of retirement.

Where could he find a better place to retire than in America?

His children could find good jobs and support him. His sons were becoming of an age to be conscripted into the army and forced to eat non-kosher food. Although it was not a good time to sell his inn, as there was an exodus from east Europe to America, the advantage that the US held for him was too great to pass up. Fanny would go wherever David went. Her reason for being on earth was to make a good and proper wife for her husband and a loving mother for her children.

She was a wonderful cook, with the reputation of being the very best among her relatives and acquaintances. She taught her cooking skills to her daughter, Bertha, the only daughter willing to help her in the kitchen. Fanny lost four teen age children, two girls and two boys to illness. Hemiine had recently married her cousin Bela and although they were leaving with the family tomorrow morning, they were going to Paris, not to America.

It would be their honeymoon and possibly a permanent residence. Bela was an excellent jeweler and had colleagues in Paris. He had been an officer in the famous 32nd regiment of the Hungarian army and was more worldly than his in-laws. Hermine, 25 years old, the oldest of the eight children, was the resident hostess of the family.

When company came she would greet them. Hermine would monopolize the conversation and be a spokesman for her sisters and brothers. However, she contributed very little work to make the visit a pleasant one. Bertha was 23 years old. She definitely did not want to go to America.

It troubled her more than it troubled Imre. The inn and Parad were her life Bertha loved her father more than any of the other children. She wore a chain around her neck from which a large silver Maria Theresa coin dangled.

The key to the wine cellar of the inn was attached to the coin. Bertha was the workhorse Cinderella of the family. It was Bertha do this, Bertha do that. Yolan, 19 years old, and Irma, 18 years old, were anxious to go to America. The idea so excited them they could not sleep. They compared the lack of eligible boys in Parad with stories of America, full of eligible bachelors and streets paved with gold. Miklos and Eddy, the two older boys were also happy to go to America. They would escape conscription into the army and would also not have to finish high school gymnasium.

The US held more business opportunities than Hungary. Sandor was also happy to go. He was the most intelligent of the children and knew he would be successful in the sciences. One week earlier, David decided to have the family go to Eger for a family studio picture. The photo is ten inches by fifteen inches and sepia toned. The photographer, with the help of Hermine, did an excellent job in arranging his subjects. The lower row of five family members are seated, except for Imre, while the upper row of six family members are standing. In the center of the lower group are Fanny and David with Imre standing between them.

To the right of David is Eddy and to the left of Fanny is Mikios.

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In the center of the upper group, above Imre, are Bela and Hermine. As the exposure was three seconds long the subjects could not hold a smile. Imre wears a dark sailor type suit with sparkling brass buttons. He holds a book in his hand. Like all the males in the photo, his shoes are highly shined. His brown hair is cut short He has a smallish mouth and thin lips. This may be due to a touch up by the photographer. David wears a black suit, with black buttons and out of style wide lapels.

He has a long vest showing his gold watch chain, a narrow white collar and a black bow tie. His hands are closed and rest on his thighs. His eyes narrowly spaced are set in a stern round face with a mustache coming down to the corners of his mouth. His hair is crew cut about one eight inches long. Fanny wears a long black satin dress. Her hands, in black gloves, rest on her thighs. Her left hand holds a white handkerchief, Fanny is stout, with a full face and a little double chin. Her hair, with a black bow, is dark brown and simply combed back and is set off by diamond earrings. Mikios is to the left of Fanny, while to the right of David s.

Mikios wears a black suit, the jacket is buttoned all the way up, and his legs folded at the ankles and his arms crossed at his chest. He sports a bow tie and his black hair is neatly combed back. Being the oldest son he looks out of the picture authority. Eddy the handsomest son also wears a black suit. His suit is only buttoned at the top, showing his long black vest displaying a gold watch chain. Both hands are on his right leg which rests on his left knee. He has a large white modem collar and a cravat tie. Hermine is in the middle of the standing group just above Imre.

Her hair is black and set in a large round bun.

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She is dressed in black with a long chain hanging from her neck. She has a chubby face. Bela is at the left of Hermine with his hand on her shoulder. He is a tall, well built handsome man. He is fashionably attired in a dark gray suit, small collar and a dark tie. He holds his head high and his well waxed French style mustache is pointed up. To the right of Bela is Bertha and then Yolan. Bertha, the shortest of the sister, appears in a black dress with a high tight collar and two rows of metal buttons in the front.

She also wears a long chin around her neck the end of which is tucked into a pocket of the dress. Hr waist line is very small. Yolan is the prettiest of the women. She is dressed in a fancy dark dress with a white lace collar. Finally the last two. Irma and Sandor stand to the left of Hermine. Her eyes are close-set and her mouth is large with wider lips than her sisters. Sandor is to the right of frma. He is just fourteen years old.

He wears a dark striped suit, without a vest, and the trousers come down to the knees. There is a medallion on his lapel and he also wears a bow tie. Now it is one hundred years since that cleverly posed picture was taken. It was a good time, , for Bertha, a recent Hungarian immigrant She had settled with her family in the Bronx suburb. Bertha had heard from neighbors of a wonderful park, in the middle of Manhattan.

One Tuesday, after Bertha had finished her ironing, she decided to take her three and a half year son, Feri, to visit this highly recommended park. Dressed in her best ankle length dress and fruit adorned hat she held Feri by the hand and walked four blocks to the now 10 year old Rapid Transit. Feri refused to walk up the two flights of stairs leading to the station platform. The subway was above ground in the Bronx. Feri screamed as if he was being kidnapped.

Bertha, in order to avoid a scene, carried Feri up the two flights of stairs. Bertha was strong, having worked hard in Hungary. On the train Bertha and Feri sat down next to a priest. The ride was not smooth and the hard straw seats did not help make it more comfortable. Feri began to get nauseous. The train had stopped at a station. Bertha grabbed Feri by his arm and they quickly exited. They waited until the next train came along and continued on their safari.

Bertha and Feri finally disembarked at the 58th street station.

Dalma Takács

The train was slow and it was a long ride. It was a typical beautiful sunny June afternoon. The cloudless azure sky was brilliantly set off by the warm green of the grass. Women seated on benches, with Japanese parasols to protect them from the sun, were dressed in the most expensive and modem fashion of the day.

The children romped and played games, laughing, having fun. The boys were dressed in natty white sailor suits and the girls wore pretty pink outfits. Young men, with their girl friends, rowed in a magnificent lake. The men were well-dressed; many wore bow ties, straw hats or bowlers.

Bertha sat on the grass, under a large white pine tree, where she could keep an eye on Feri and also enjoy watching the rowers. Feri played by him self but kept annoying his mother by asking questions about the unusual surroundings.

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Feri was astounded by the statues of men on horses, the Essex House, and other very tall buildings, visible from where they sat. After a while Feri came to his mother and told her he had to make wee wee. Feri had been toilet trained and did not wear diapers. Bertha did not know what to do. She spoke only one or two words of English and there did not appear to be any Hungarians around. Feri kept on complaining and crying.

Suddenly, a big, stout, six foot tall, pound policeman appeared out of nowhere. Fed stopped peeing, began to cry and ran to his mother who was also crying. Hungary was allied to the dastardly Huns who had raped Belgium. Hungarians were not too popular in the US, and Bertha was in deadly fear of deportation. The policeman escorted the two criminals to 60th Street and Fifth Avenue where a Paddy Wagon was parked. They were driven, along with two female Bloomingdale shoplifters who had been caught earlier, to the 77th Street police station.

A Hungarian Saga

The police station was dimly lighted, stuffy and filled with cigar smoke. The two shivering crying culprits were seated on an old worn mahogany bench in front of a police sergeant, sitting at a high desk, calling out orders to his men. After 30 minutes he was able to find time to talk to these two notorious foreigners. He did not know Hungarian and the desperadoes did not know any English. Fortunately a Hungarian interpreter was finally obtained. The two crying prisoners were informed of their crime. Bertha had the interpreter phone her brother-in-law, Gulya, who worked, as a linotype operator at the Hungarian Magyar Weekly paper.

Gylya came running to save his relatives. Although Bertha lived to a ripe old age she never again stepped a foot in that Central Park. Szablya, Honorary Consul General of Hungary, is an award-winning author, columnist, translator, and lecturer, and has been a Board Member of the Hungarian American Coalition for 20 years. Her family saga is a personal memoir that paints a vividly detailed picture about the daily lives and struggles of Hungarian citizens in the period between WWII and the Hungarian Revolution.

Hungary as the playground of tyrants in the 's,,is depicted in its inability to withstand fascism or communism. The Prime Minister Viktor Orban reminds readers that the Twentieth century is over, and sketches his ideas of the challenges facing Europe, and his own country in the next decades — not just in the short time-span of his government.

He calls for a strong Europe, rootedin its cultural, religious and moral traditions, and a turn away from the ideology of credit, speculation and skepticism. He also points out the risks which the Fidesz economic policies entail, as she sails before the wind on the high seas. George Schopflin identifies a certain disdain for central Europe, and Hungary in particular, in the western media. Writing of the days in the summer of when time actually stopped, Gaspar Groh asks, from the front seat of his Trabant, whether freedom is actually possible, in our world of time and space.

We also offer you a parade of unlikely, and more likely heroes. Brinkley and Cooper both address questions that arise when translating literature into English, including the problems of the interaction of literary traditions, and their essays are followed by excerpts from their translations of works of the two authors.

In fact, the title comes from our affiliate Magyar Szemle, a journal that has entered its twentieth year of publication. Ours is an inclusive Hungarianness, in an interdependent age. Central and Eastern Europe need champions, and the Review will offer space in its pages for authors from this region and beyond. Our aim is both to reflect an ongoing debate on the future of Europe, and to help shape it.

He argues for close central European cooperation — and for Hungary to play a leadership role in the south of the region, just as Poland does in the north. But his contribution to history permeates this issue. The Last Homework, a book in Hungarian with the life stories of fifteen graduates of of the Franciscan gimnazium HS in picture-perfect Szentendre, an artist colony.

Their early days and ventures during WWII, the Soviet-imposed Communist take over, the Revolution of — two of this group have been jailed and tortured — their life and adjustments for survival. This book will provide information about Hungary, back and forth and across. This book also invites you to travel in time. A new feature is that you may now discover Hungary in alphabetical order.

In the Glossary you will find terms and expressions that characterise the country regardless of time and place. You can order here: The Blinkens alternate chapters to recount their years as the U. Together they breathed new life into U. Theirs is a candid behind-the-scenes look at the glamour and challenges of diplomatic life: The energetic narration moves seamlessly from historical to contemporary political themes to the more personal and particular highlight of the book—accompanying Vera Blinken as she rediscovers what remains of the Budapest of her childhood.

The author, now living in the United States, describes with genuine humor the childhood of someone who would mature into an extraordinary man, providing us a highly readable account that elicits both smiles and tears. Cleveland, OH Year of Publication: These stories of coming to America, of being born in the old Buckeye Road neighborhood, of weddings, of Christmas and Easter traditions, of harvest festivals, were all transcribed and edited into a paperback book of pages, with over 60 older and newer photos of life in Cleveland's Hungarian ethnic community.

The book is all in Hungarian, and includes background information about the group, as well as an introduction written by an professional ethnographic scholar from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. For a long time, leaders of Hungarian groups in the United States have urged that the responsible parties in Hungary undertake a scientific analysis of the current social and demographic conditions of Hungarian-Americans, their organizations, the way the organizations function, and the size and composition of their membership.

After several years of discussions, the Government decided to fund the task of undertaking a comprehensive survey of Hungarian-American organizations in The book was edited by Attila Z. The authors of the book are: The book is written in Hungarian, but it includes an introduction and a summary in English language.

The book mentions a database of Hungarian American organizations in the United States.