Bartók Béla, ifj.: Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest, 2021)
War Years (1914–1919)
WAR YEARS (1914-1919) 1916 27 August - Romania entered the world war unexpectedly, and its troops invaded the mostly defenceless Transylvania. The practically untrained 22nd honvéd supplementary battalion, including the unit’s regimental surgeon Dr. Károly Ziegler, gets commanded to the inner territory of Hungary. 28 August - Mrs Bartok still writes to Rákoskeresztúr, that they needn’t leave. 29 August - In a letter Bartok asks his wife that they return home as soon as possible. 31 August - He writes again to Marosvásárhely: “ As things stand now - not for my sake, not even for the orchestral score - you must travel home most urgently, I repeat, no matter how” But this letter doesn’t arrive in time anymore. 3 September - The supplementary battalion sets out for Kolozsvár through the Mezőség region, Mrs Bartok, for lack of any other solution, accompanies them with her little son. 8 September - They arrive to Kisbács (Kolozs county) via Kolozsvár. 13 September - Bartok informs his mother about the doubtful situation in a registered letter. 15 September - He writes again that on 14 September he received the official notice from Nagyszalonta about his wife and son being this side of Kolozsvár. Afterwards the battalion got to Gyoma (Békés county) from where Mrs Bartok and her son travelled home. By the end of September they were already in Rákoskeresztúr. - In the meantime on 26 September Bartok was again in Besztercebánya. 4 October - Mrs Bartok’s account to her mother-in-law: “ Béla is well, he eats a lot. He kept his fingers crossed now for Tango who might be booed out [due to Italy having entered the war, Egisto Tango of Italian origin had problems] and consequently the performance of the ballet doomed; but there was no trouble, thank God”. 163
