Calvin Synod Herald, 1984 (84. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1984-06-01 / 3. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD — 3 — REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA HUNGARIANS PROTESTING IN WASHINGTON “I was in prison and you came!” “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6) To hold this kind of “fast”, chosen by God Almighty, on Ascensian Day, May 31st, 1984, more then 1,400 freedom-loving, caring American-Hungarians marched from the Washington Monument to the steps of the United States Capital. They came from 14 states of the Union and from 2 territories of Canada to raise their voices against the “horrible cultural genocide” of the minorities in Romania. They came in support of our 221 congressmen who sponsored House Resolution #147, which condemns the Romanian government for systematic destruction of minority cultures, for discriminations in education, religious and cultural activities, employment, and food distribution, for unwarranted and illegal imprisonments and tortures. They came in behalf of the numberless millions of their brothers and sisters, who can not protest against these inhumanities without endangering their freedom and even their lives! They came to help not themselves, but the oppressed in Romania, to help to loosen “the bonds of wickedness” by the passage of House Resolution #147. Several congressman addressed the demonstrators from the steps of the Capital, thanking them for their dedication to the cause of freedom, human rights and evident care. Chairman of the House Human Rights Caucus, Rep. Thomas Lantos, D-Calif., Rep. Mark Siljander, R-Mich., Rep. Edward Feighan, D-Ohio, followed by Reps. Matthew McHugh, Bernard Dwyer, and Bill Green all emphasized their committments to House Resolution #147 and to human rights and freedom. Many of them even proudly stating their Hungarian ancestry and/or associations with our Hungarian people. It was pointed out that the “Trianon Agreement” was not ratified by the U.S. Congress. It was the treaty of 1920, which took away more than 2/3 of Hungary’s terratory, creating the largest minority group in Europe, by misplacing 3 million Hungarians under Romanian authority and other millions under Czechoslovakian, Yugoslavian, Soviet or Austrian allocation (or more precisely disslocation). This treaty created the platform for injustices that exist in Romania today, or for horror stories like my own family, that was kicked out of North-Hungary with a 100 pound bag, where their ancestry lived for more than 1100 years. Mrs. Ilona Komjáthy from Montreal, Canada, Mrs. Barbara Szucs from Lorain, Ohio, Ft. Gabor Kish S.J. from Yonkers, N.Y., Bishop John Butosi from Bridgeport, Conn., Rev. Aaron Elek from Cleveland, Ohio, Rev. Imre Bertalan, President of the Hungarian Reformed Federation and many others greeted and thanked the protestors. It was heart-warming to see silvery haired men and women, side by side young children, walking proudly, silently, with dignity and determination, carrying Hungarian, American or Canadian flags, or signs. Priest beside a house-wife, bishop beside a steel-worker, university professor holding the hand of a child, marching for justice, for freedom, for human integrity, not for themselves, but for the oppressed, thousands of miles away. It was by no means the largest demonstration in Washington D.C., yet, according to political analysts only 1 out of every 30,000 citizens travel more than 300 miles to protest. Especially if it means two or three days of lost work, like in this case of people from Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Lorain, Cleveland, Daytona Beach, Bangor, etc. If we take only 70 persons on these grounds, (yet much more than that number came from Montreal or Ohio alone), and multiply it by 30,000 than more than 2 million American-Hungarians were represented in this protest. The 1980 census data tells us that 1—3/4 million people in the United States and 1/4 million in Canada claimed to be Hungarian or of Hungarian ancestry. In this light, we can say with self-respect, and thankfulness to God, that on the basis of political analysis, we American-Hungarians, all struck a blow in behalf of our oppressed brethren in Romania, for WE WERE THERE, FOR FREEDOM’S SAKE! „ „ , Rev. Zoltán D. Szucs
