Bartók Béla, ifj.: Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest, 2021)
Last Journey Home, “… But For Good” (1988)
LAST JOURNEY HOME, „...BUT FOR GOOD" (1988) 1988 France, the FRG, and Austria about the relocation through Europe by car. To prepare the Hungarian reception, we rehearsed each element to the minute at Hegyeshalom where the deputy commander of the border guard - unusually for a soldier - stated that they would obey all the rules, but also put their hearts into it. It was quite a scene when, because on top of the the time it takes to lift the barrier we also needed the time for the song which starts with “ Elindultam szép hazámból... ” [“I left my beautiful homeland...”], members of the committee there (representatives of ministers, counties, military and other bodies) were, in the absence of a better method, singing the song together while we measured with a stopwatch. At the same time my brother, arm in arm with our Consulate General in New York, was arranging all the work over there and preparing for the exhumation and the ship voyage. Of course lists of people to be invited in both places had to be compiled, plus the Hungarian guard of honor and the exact schedule. In addition, accurate transit and receptions had to be organized in the intermediate countries, too. Regarding this, it caused a lot of difficulties when they wanted to hold big celebrations and concerts everywhere, and these had to be reduced to a more modest size, mainly in the spirit of my father. After so much preparation, on 6 June 1988 I travelled through Zurich, Atlanta, and Tampa to Homosassa where I would spend 11 days at my brother’s, arranging - primarily by telephone - the American tasks. Then on the 18th we flew to New York, stayed at the Hilton, and I got to know personally our Consul General György Bánlaki and his family. 19 June - It was a Sunday, and the body of American Unitarians said goodbye to my father in a solemn service at the Unitarian Community 509
