Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2005 (17. évfolyam, 2-50. szám)
2005-11-11 / 44. szám
In Memóriám John Szablya (Szablya János) 1924-2005 John Szablya, Professor Emeritus of Washington State University and the husband of well-known Hungarian American author Helen M. Szablya, passed away on October 29, 2005. Professor Szablya graduated from József Nádor University of Budapest as an engineer. In October 1956, he was teaching at the Technical University of Budapest when he and his wife became active participants in the Revolution. They had to escape from Hungary after the suppression of the freedom fight, and they settled first in Vancouver. Since 1963, he and his wife had lived in the state of Washington. Professor Szablya was an external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, an Associate Professor of the University of Washington, a Fellow of the Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers, and a dedicated and active member of many organizations of the Hungarian American community. He helped his wife in establishing and running the Honorary Consulate of Hungary for the Pacific West. Ambassador András Simonyi and the Embassy of Hungary share the family’s grief and consider Professor Szablya’s death a tragic loss for Hungarian Americans and the Hungarian nation as a whole. His funeral mass took place on November 4, 2005 at 11 a.m. in Kirkland, Washington. AP Correspondent Endre Marton Dies NEW YORK (AP) - Endre Marton, The Associated Press correspondent who provided the first eyewitness account of the bloody 1956 Hungarian uprising against communist rule, died Thesday at his daughter’s home in New York. He was 95. His daughter, Kati Marton, confirmed the death Wednesday. Marton’s wife, Ilona, a longtime reporter for United Press who covered the Hungarian revolt with her husband, died last year at the age of 92. As Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest on Oct. 25, 1956, Marton watched Russian troops fire into a crowd of demonstrators at Parliament Square, but his communications were cut off and he was unable to send what he later called “the story of my life.” A friend arranged access to a government telex machine but it took hours to get an outside connection. He described the scene in his book, “The Forbidden Sky,” published in 1971. “The nighttime silence of the large room was suddenly broken when my machine sprang to life. I stared at it, waiting to see what would happen,” he wrote. “And then, miraculously, the words appeared on the paper: ‘Associated Press, Vienna.’ I sat there, with trembling fingers, and punched back: ‘AP, Budapest.’ Back came the message: ‘Endre ...is that really you?’“ His exclusive, front-page story, some 2,000 words long, appeared in newspapers around the world. It began this way: “Parliament Square in Budapest became a battlefield shortly after noon today when a Soviet tank opened fire on a few thousand peaceful demonstrators whose only weapons were Hungarian flags.” The revolt was crushed the following month when thousands of Soviet troops overran the country. “After 15 years under the heel first of Nazi Germany and then Communist Russia, Hungary got a whiff of intoxicating freedom in late October,” Marton wrote. “Then came Sunday, Nov. 4. Budapest was awakened by the roaring of guns. By authoritative estimate, Russians had moved 4,600 tanks and between 180,000 and 200,000 men into Hungary to crush the revolution. Against this might, Hungary had nine divisions of 90,000 men or less, equipped with obsolete weapons, and kids, some with guns.” Marton and his wife worked side by side as news agency competitors. In 1948, they covered the sensational show trial of Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, head of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary, and former Foreign Minister László Rajk. Both Martons were imprisoned before the revolution. In 1955, they were accused of spying for the United States and were convicted by a secret military court. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment, she to three. Both were released the following year, just in time to cover one of the iconic moments of the Cold War. In January 1957, Marton received warnings he might be arrested again and he, his wife and their two daughters were given refuge in the U.S. Embassy and secretly smuggled to Austria. The family moved to the United States, where Marton served for many years as the AP’s diplomatic correspondent in Washington. The same year, he and his wife shared the George .Polk Award, presented annually for outstanding reporting in the public interest. Marton was born in Budapest: on Oct. 29, 1910. He attended Budapest University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in 1932 and a graduate degree in economics four years later. He married Ilona Nyilas in 1943. In addition to his daughter, Kati, Marton is survived by another daughter, Julia Marton-Lefevre, of San Jose, Costa Rica; a son, Andrew, of Fort Worth, Texas; and four grandchildren. A private memorial service is planned. Marton Kati is the wife of Richard Holbrook, former US Ambassador to the UN. At his appointment ceremony (on TV) Mr. Holbrook introduced his wife and his wife’s parents to the US dignitaries as Hungarian-Americans. STATEMENT We the undersigned welcome developments that strengthen American Hungarian relations. It is this consideration that moves us to write this statement. We are concerned by the Hungarian Foreign Ministry’s decision to disclose selected statements taken from classified reports prepared by a former Hungarian Ambassador to the United States in his official capacity. Such disclosures of relatively recent and secret communications are highly unusual and may jeopardize normal diplomatic interaction among American (and other countries’ representatives) and Hungarian diplomats. The disclosures are likely to have a chilling effect on the normal discourse with members of the U.S. and any other Foreign Service. Diplomats may be reluctant to discuss sensitive issues with their Hungarian counterparts, fearing that their candid comments may be publicly disclosed in the course of political campaigns. We hope in the future the Hungarian Government will separate election campaigns in Hungary and the serious business of conducting an effective foreign policy and advancing U.S.-Hungarian relations. 2005. Oktober 28. Charles Fenyvesi, László Fulop, Robert Gabor, Frank Koszorús, Jr., Patrick LaCombe, Prof. Andrew Ludanyi, James G. McCargar, Dr. Janos Radvanyi, Louis Segesvary, Ph.D., William S. Shepard, Ilona Szablya, Bryan Dawson-Szilagyi, Csaba K. Zoltani November 11,2005 Ambassador Opens Library Dedicated to the Memory of György Bien Ambassador Simonyi and Dr. Gregory Neas, George Bien’s physician, examining Albert Szent-Györgyi’s gold watch Ambassador András Simonyi was guest of honor at a dedication ceremony held at the home of Eleanor Bien, wife of the late György (George) Bien, who passed away in June this year. A room, called the George Zoltán Bien Memorial Library, which features documents from Mr. Bien’s long and adventurous life, was opened to friends and, ultimately, researchers, on October 30. Among the many items displayed are rare documents and photos dating from the 1956 revolution in Hungary, including a Hungarianlanguage menu for Christmas Dinner from the refugee camp in New Jersey that temporarily housed many Hungarians before they left for cities on the East Coast. Also displayed in the library is a gold pocket watch that once belonged to Nobel Prize-winning Hungarian scientist Albert Szent-Györgyi, who gifted it to Mr. Bien’s father, a research assistant to Mr. Szent-Györgyi, in gratitude for his work on the discovery that paprika was a rich source of Vitamin C. Mr. Bien and his father were arrested in Budapest jn 1945 by the Soviets, charged with espionage, and sentenced to the GULAG for 10 years. The Library contains numerous documents pertaining to this event including the exoneration papers received 50 years after the sentencing. The text of Ambassador Simonyi’s remarks follows: „It is highly symbolic that this inauguration takes place on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Gyuri bácsi left Hungary in 1956. We are truly sorry that he cannot be with us to celebrate this anniversary because I’m sure he would have had many things to add, many stories to contribute to the general discourse. „We, however, know his life’s story well from his book ’Lost Years’ and the film that was based on this book, made by Zoltán Szálkái, called ’Walk on Gulagland: Kolyma.’ The film was shown at the Embassy to an appreciative audience. „I am truly glad that Gyuri bácsi was able to meet, before his passing, with Otto von Habsburg at an Embassy reception. One thing they had in common was that they both lived through the most tempestuous times of Hungarian history. „Gyuri bácsi lived through not one but two dictatorships - the Nazi oppression followed by Soviet tyranny. It is hard to imagine how difficult it must have been to face the fact that those who were hailed as liberators were no better than the Nazis. „The Jewish and bourgeois heritage of Gyuri bácsi meant that he was in the crosshairs of both murderous regimes, when all he wanted is to work and raise a family. It is sad he had to go all the way to the U.S. to realize his dreams. He remained true to-his Hungarian roots but it is a pity that his considerable talents did not enrich Hungary. „It is important that the message of Gyuri bácsi’s life is preserved for the next generations: that even the greatest humiliation and hardship can be borne with dignity and humanity, that you can walk out of a death camp with your head held high and still retain your belief in humanity. He could have well turned into a bitter man but we all knew him as a happy, content person who loved life and people. „It was his extended family that served as a haven for Gyuri bácsi all these years. It was moving to see when I visited him at his hospital bed how family members took turns to keep him company, learn from him until the last minute and assure him of their love for him.” AMERICAN Hungarian Journaf AMERIKAI tfagy ar Ijíriap DUNA Travel 8530 Holloway Dr. #102 W. Hollywood, CA 90069 SPECIÁLIS ÁR LAX-BUD-LAX $419.+TX. Információért hívják ZSUZSÁT TEL: (310) 652-5294 FAX: (310) 652-5287 1-888-532-0168
