Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1986 (14. évfolyam, 47-50. szám)
1986 / 50. szám
HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER No. 50 ISSN: 0194-164X WINTER, 1986-87 Published quarterly by the Hungarian Research Center of the American Hungarian Foundation: Winter, Spring (two numbers included), and Autumn, Founder and editor: Bela Charles Maday; Managing editor: August J. Molnár. Communications concerning content should be addressed to the Editor, 4528-49th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20016. Communications concerning subscriptions, advertising, and circulation should be addressed to American Hungarian Foundation, 177 Somerset Street, P.O. Box 1084, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903. Annual Subscription in the U.S.A. $6.00. Abroad $8.00. Current single copy $3.00; back issues $3.50 each. BOOKS (Continued) Cohen, Asher. THE HALUTZ RESISTANCE IN HUNGARY 1942-1944. Translated from Hebrew by Carl Alpert. Social Science Monographs, Boulder, Col. and the Institute for Holocaust Studies of the City University of New York, distributed by Columbia University Press, 562 West 113 Street, New York, NY 10025, 1986. No. 206 in the East European Monographs series. 277 pages plus index. $30.00 cloth. The Halutz resistance in Hungary began with the arrival and absorbtion of some dozens of young Slovakian refugees in the spring of 1942. Their number and role in the overall resistance to German oppression has not been described because “every anti-Nazi action or effort which was not directed by the Communist Party was systematically minimized or ignored.” No activity or enterprise by any Zionist body is mentioned in major historical accounts. The Halutz groups, though small in number, were closely knit, disciplined units motivated by idealism. They “developed out of the Zionist Habutz youth movements, all of which were related to various kibbutz organizations in Palestine. Accordingly, they had diverse political tendencies, ranging from orthodox religious to left-wing socialist.” The Halutz resistance was the only “systematically organized body which operated on a broad scale and in various areas.” The result was that many people saw in its success a confirmation of the program and philosophy of Zionism asa national movement. The author maintains that “the conception by Hungarian Jews that they were one hundred percent Hungarians was not accepted by the majority of the Hungarian people, and was contrary to the expressed policy of the government.” This observation is responsible for the frame of reference of the study. FRIENDS AND RELATIVES: Finnish-Hungarian Cultural Relations. Budapest: Corvina, 1985. Translation from the Finnish by Literature Society, Helsinki; from the Hungarian by Corvina kiadd. 265 pages, illus. $9.50 cloth. Both, Hungarians and Finns have a feeling of loneliness based on their linguistic isolation in the human sea of Indoeuropean languages spoken by the majority of European peoples. But Hungarian-Finnish relationships are characterized by more than linguistic affinity. Intellectual and grass root relations proved to be lasting and becoming increasingly institutionalized during the past 150 years. Contact on the academic level began in the 1830s and continued almost unbroken ever since. Interest focused on the affinity of the Finnish and Hungarian languages and the history of the peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages in general. Early contacts were followed by visits resulting in organizations and publications. Further contacts were made in the fields of music and fine arts. The interwar years were characterized by intensive research in the field of ethnogenesis, i.e., trying to find common roots. The 1920s saw the beginning of Finno- Ugric studies conferences, developing ties between Protestant churches, and formal cultural agreements between governments. After a slow and cautious beginning, Finno- Hungarian relations blossomed out at the end of the 1950s as manifested by the founding of the Finnish-Hungarian Society. This study traces the development of Finnish-Hungarian cultural relations chronologically and topically. Following an introduction and a preface, five essays deal with academic relations in the humanities and the sciences. Eleven essays are on arts, folk poetry, lieterature, drama, cinema, music, architecture, etc. According to Vilmos Voigt “cooperation has never been as comprehensive, and mutual understanding has never been as thorough and reliable as it is today.” Gati, Charles. HUNGARY AN D THE SOVIET BLOC. Duke U. Press. 6697 College Station, Durham, NC 27708, 1986. 244 pages, tables, biblio, index. $40.00 cloth, $14.95 paper. This study offers “a series of interpretations and reinterpretation which place specific Hungarian issues in the broad context of Soviet foreign policy, bloc politics, and East-West relations.” The author finds “the Kremlin’s persistent lack of trust in, and its frequent inability to control even its most devoted and reliable supporters,” a striking phenomenon. The book is in part a quest for enlightenment on the problem. The first five chapters analyze the role of communists in coalition governments (1944-1948). Two chapters deal with the question of reform vs. revolution especially in the framework of Moscow and Imre Nagy and Moscow and János Kádár. Chapters 8 to 10 take another look at the Soviet bloc at century’s end. Here the author discusses the continuous controversy between Stalinist and anti-Stalinist approach to such questions as “differentiation” in Moscowsatellite relationship. The author advocates persistent implementation of existing U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union. He believes that the soviet position in East Central Europe is more vulnerable than commonly assumed in the West, and that the prospects of open rifts within the bloc are virtually nonexistent. Hence, the U.S. should encourage “within system” change, and cooperate closely with the West and Japan in promoting reform. The author is professor of political science at Union College (Schenectady), and senior research scholar at the research Institute on International Change, Columbia U. Hanke, Lewis, ed. GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF UNITED STATES HISTORY OUTSIDE THE U.S., 1945-1980. Kraus International Publications, One Water Street, White Plains, NY 10601, 1985. 5 volumes, total of 2,872 pages, biblio. $418.00 cloth. Sponsored by the American Historical Association and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This exemplary work of professional cooperation is the first systematic compilation of the vast body of diverse material about U.S. history teaching published in many languages. Now, these materials are being made available in one reference tool which comprises over one hundred essays written by scholars from 45 countries. In addition to dealing 2 NO. 50, WINTER, 1986-1987, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEW5LETTER
