Az Ember, 1943 (18. évfolyam, 25. éves jubíleumi szám)

1943-07-04 / 25. éves jubileumi szám

6-ik oldal. Az Ember July 4, 194?. '• leaders and members; mem­bers of the Vambery group and (their followers, among them some Hungarians of Czechoslovak citizenship and some intellectuals who sup­port the Vambery movement either because of their per­sonal regard for Professor Vambery or merely because of its being an escape from the Eckhardt Movement. Between these two groups stands Group Two, consisting of Hungarians who have found their place in Ameri­can social and economic life and are accepted as Amer­icans without any hyphen; busiess men, manufacturers, professional men, artists and men of letters, newspaper­men to whom ideals are of greater importance than the favor of “professional Hun­garians,” liberal Protestant ministers and Catholic priests to whom religion comes first, Americanism second, and Magyairism third,—in short, men who are strongly rooted in the soil of America, who have acquired the American way of thinking, who — through the natural process of Americanization—have di­vested themselves of chauv­inistic Magyarism, and who therefore are capable of look­ing at Hungarian affairs with the eyes of an interested and sympathetic American well informed on the subject. The members of this group — through their business, so­cial, and political contacts —have a far greater influ­ence on American public opinion than the “profession­al Hungarians” suspect, an influence much greater than Groups One and Three have together. In fact, they are part of American public op­inion. I pride myself on being a member of this Group Two. I have had the good fortune to meet, and talk with, many fellow -members. On the bas­is of these meetings and con­versations I shall attempt here to give a brief resume of the opinions characteristic of this group, although I freely admit that among men who think as independently as my fellow-members there must be divergence of indi­vidual opinion on many sub­jects. And I shall take the liberty of referring to this Group Two as “we.” HUNGARY AND THE HORTHY GOVERNMENT Our opinion on this sub­ject can. be best expressed in the following words taken from an article by Harold Callender published in the New York Times of June 18, 1943. It is necessary only to substitute ’'“Hungarian” for “Italian,” and “Hungary” for “Italy:” The Italian people are re­garded as a friendly na­­iton that has taken the wrong track and got into bad company through an unrepresentative Govern­ment. Once that Govern­ment is destroyed, as it is expected to be before many months, the Italian prob­lem will be regarded as solved in that Italy will not again be a potential men­ace. The “professional Hungar­ians,” in claiming that the Horthy Government is not responsible for Hungary’s part in this war, and some Hungarian newspapers here, in attempting to prove that Czechoslovakia, for example, has been helping Germany’s cause as much as Hungary, by manufacturing ammuni­tion at the Skoda Works, as­sume a stupidity on the part of our fellow-Americans that is an insult to them. ECKHARDT’S FREE HUNGARY MOVEMENT “Government by the peo­ple” does not mean merely a government entrusted to el­ected officials for their term of office. In a democracy like ours the people can as­sert themselves at any time through our free press, with­out the formality of an elec­tion. Public Opinion is the big boss here, the boss of the President, the boss of the Congress, the big boss of all the departments of the ex­ecutive branch. The Presi­dent tried to make Ed Flynn minister to Australia, but the big boss, Public Opinion, slapped his hand and ord­ered him to desist. The Con­gress felt about the Rumi plan like a child feels about castor oil, but Public Opin­ion asserted itself and the Congress had to swallow it. And we love our country so much because Public Opin­ion, which means us, the people, rules supreme at all times. We in Group Two of the Hungarians here are con­vinced that Public Opinion has rejected Eckhardt’s Free Hungary Movement. And from that rejection there is no appeal. Consequently, our opinion is that the Eckhardt Movement is dead. The fact that Mr. Eckhardt receives civil treatment in the State i Department, or that he has some friends among the high officials there, is of very lit­tle importance. A Free Hun­gary Movement, in order to do the people of Hungary any good, must be recognized at least by our most important allies. Those of us who read the newspapers know that Mr. Eckhardt has no follow­ers in Great Britain and his recognition by the Russian Government is inconceivable. And as to our own country, the State Department would not publicly endorse any movement headed by him. THE VAMBERY MOVEMENT It is a well known fact that Professor Vambery is sur­rounded and his movement is supported by a number of Hungarians who profess to be loyal citizens of Czecho­slovakia. The “professional Hungarians” call them trait­ors and Czech Hirelings. We believe that a Hungar­ian has just as much right to become a loyal citizen of Czechoslovakia as we have to become loyal citizens of the United States. If those Hungarians have sworn of their own free will to be true to their adopted country, and then violated their oath, we should despise them, just as we should despise a Hungar­ian who swore to be a loyal American and did not keep his vow. We even concede that a Hungarian of Czecho­slovak citizenship has the right to endorse and foster a movement aimed at assist­ing Hungary in becoming a democratic country, just as we feel that we have the right to endorse and foster such a movement. On the other hand, we do not lose sight of the fact that there is a boundary dispute between Hungary and Czech­oslovakia. C o n s e q uently, common sense dictates that for a loyal citizen of Czech­oslovakia it is not proper to attempt to represent the Hungarian point of view in such a dispute. This is so elementary that it should re­quire no explanation. There­fore, we must ignore the Vambery Movement, as we are unable to recognize it as one that is representative of the aims and ideals of the people of Hungary. THE HAPSBURG QUESTION Those who know a little more about the circumstan­ces surrounding the organi­zation of the Austrian Bat­talion than was published in the newspapers, are aware that there was no dark roy­alist plot behind it. The ap­pointment of Otto of Haps­­burg as the chief organizer of the battalion sprang from the lighthearted cordiality of a genial host who wanted to “give the young man a chance.” We don’t think that there is any serious Hapsburg problem, for the simple reason that—with the present composition of the United Nations—the restora­tion of the Hapsburgs as a result of this war is unthink­able. HUNGARY’S FUTURE The accusation that advo­cating a revision of Hun­gary’s Trianon boundaries is a sign of Fascist tendencies is, in our opinion, ridiculous nonsense. History will def­initely establish the fact, if it has not already established it, that the Trianon boun­daries of Hungary were dic­tated by anger and by an un­wise desire for revenge. We hold that the Trianon boun­daries of Hungary must and will be reviewed and revised by an impartial commission with the only purpose in mind that a settlement of this thorny question must be found that will make it pos­sible for Hungary and for her neighbors to live togeth­er for centuries in peaceful understanding and t f u e friendship. We also hold that the re­alization of the four free­doms for the people of Hun­gary is not possible without far-reaching political and ec­onomic reforms. We further hold that the people of Hun­gary could never assert themselves in the past through the secret ballot which is the first elementary requirement of democratic government, and therefore their political guidance and education in the democratic way of life should be under­taken by the United Nations as soon as this war is over. RADICALS AND COMMUNISTS We have no illusions about the radicals and commun­ists among the Hungarians in this country. We know what their attitude had been before Russia was attacked by Hitler. We concede that if the inconceivable should happen and Stalin should secretly make peace with Hitler, the war enthusiasm of our radicals and commun­ists would cool off consider­ably. But, so long as they are in this war effort with heart and soul, we can not see any reason why we should not accept and welcome their cooperation in the war work we are undertaking. We con­sider any suggestion that the radicals, in working with us for the Red Cross, for exam­ple, will influence or even change our political opinions, a’.i insult to our intelligence. We have been working with them in several phases of our war effort and so far they have made no attempt to in­fluence us politically. We do not follow the school - boy tactics of the “professional Hungarians”: if you don’t agree with me in everything, I won’t play with you, or even talk to you. WHAT CAN THE HUNGARIAN AMERICANS DO? The American;? of (Hun­garian descent will have no special representatives at the peace table; they will be rep­resented by the United States delegates who will act ac­cording to the instructions of the big boss, Public Opin­ion ,the people of this coun­try. Therefore it is obvious that the only way the Hun­garians of America can help the people of Hungary is through the’r influence on American Public Opinion. All the three groups of Hun­garians agree that the over­whelming majority of the people of Hungary are r^gainst Nazism, that they have been forced into this war against their own will. To impress this on American Public Opinion is the only, way the Hungarians here can help the cause of the unfort­unate people of Hungary. And this can not be done by writing declarations of loy­alty, through lip service that takes no sacrifice and no ef­fort. It can be done only through such an outstanding contribution to every phase of the American war effort that it can not go unnoticed; through a contribution that will require sweat, labor, and sacrifice of our time and money. For this purpose we need a national organization Utterly free of political color, without a past that can be criticized. We need a na­tional organization built on the following premises and on nothing else: 1. We are convinced that the overwhelming major­ity of the people of Hun­gary are opposed to Naz­ism and they have been forced into this war a­­gainst their will. 2. We shall prove this fact by demonstrating through our active participation in the war effort as one large national group, how the Hungarians can work in the interest of the vic­tory of the United Na­tions, when they can act of their own free will. To this end we shall unite all Hungarians without re­gard to religious belief or political opinion. And, so long as the “pro­fessional Hungarians” insist that cooperation with them in any war effort is possible only by joining a national organization which, in spite of all their protestations, is in fact a politcial organiza­tion, they are unwittingly the worst enemies of the people of Hungary. I am glad that I could ex­plain these ideas and opin­ions in the 25th anniverasry number of Az Ember, the publication which has been for many years the leader and the mirror of the ideals of Group Two of the Hun­garians in this country. It is a most appropriate place and a most appropriate oc­casion. My only wish is that Az Ember may continue for many years as a leader and reflector of enlightened Hun­­garion opinion ;tn America and thus continue to hold Hungarian public life here at a much higher level than would be possible without it. FÉSZEK RESTAURANT s*>6 East 78th St. — RH 4-9716 — New York City Nyitva a Victory Garden! New York magyarságának legkedvesebb találkozó helye. — Nyitva egész éjjel. — Bor és sör. — Min­den vasárnap déli 1 órától ebéd. — Szeretettel vár­ják barátaikat: Hegedűs Lajos és Margit

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