Magyar News, 1995. szeptember-1996. augusztus (6. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1996-01-01 / 5. szám
(continued from page 1) peoples. The genes of the conquered and also of the victor. Could you imagine the melting pot of those times? It never seemed to change. They either were invaded or they were the invaders. The tribes, that the migrating Hungarians were made made up, had their own separate identity. In the process of living together, while depending on each other, making history for all of them, they people surely exchanged genes. A new pool of genes were created. Well how do we read events of modem history? The Tartars invaded Hungary, but we don’t know what contribution they made for population growth. We know more about their devastating murders, killing everybody, men, women and children. This was read genocide. The Tartars even used the children for target practice. Then we had the Turks living in our homes for 150 years. People from other countries were asked to to relocate to the devastated, unpopulated land of Hungary. Our ruling dynasties married foreigners and they brought along their foreign entourage. After, the merchants came, also the goldsmiths to a land rich in gold. Germans, Italians found our country accommodating. Northern and southern Slavs, the Slovaks, Creations, Slovenians became equal partners in the life of Hungarians. So where do we stand with the genes in this melting pot? There is no question about the scientific advancement in this field. Today it is possible to to single out a sizable group of people with common characteristics and trace them back many-many years. It has been done up to a 140,000 to 200,000 years span, and also pinpointing the original location. As far as Hungarian history goes, we would be satisfied with 2-3,000 years. In the past decades an interesting research began based on the genes. The Hungarians teamed up with the Japanese to study a group of people living along the Silk Route in the northern part of Tibet. They made a connection, based on marker genes, stating that both Hungarians and Japanese are related to this group of people. We talk about the “Old Country”, that is were our ancestors came from. We also use the expression of “Homeland”. In this case it is not just a geographical area. It also contains the people who live there.This land with the people in it is home. We also say “Motherland”. This brings us closer to the definition of the “Gene-Pool”. That is the place where birth was given to us, birth to the Hungarian people. The gene-pool was renewed century after century, generation after generation. I am convinced that some of our readers will stop here and say that now we are participants in forming an other gene-pool, the American gene-pool. There are perfectly right. It has been going on for a few hundred years. The Hungarians had it going on for a few thousand years. Our genes and our descendents genes are being modified with mixed marriages, in some cases not just with a pool of European genes, but also those of other continents. This is how nature works. The question is, are we limited to the biological aspect of our existence? Isn’t there something more that determines what we are? Are we Hungarians just because our genes came from that pool? There is a lot more to it. Our ancestors accomplished great achievements. First let me talk about their communication. Try to find any other language that you would consider to be similar to the Hungarian. It is true that we could find some words and some grammar structure that we could search out in other nations’ languages. But, this is so minuscule that, specially in the every day language, it doesn’t even put a dent into it. We can be proud of our Hungarian ancestors for creating a language that is totally capable to communicate everything by containing the most complicated expressions, and having a literature of the highest quality, ranking among the best in the world. Our language wasn’t made by borrowing and exchanging. We were capable of holding our own during the Romans, Turks, Slavs and German occupation and influence. Many nations of Italy, France, Spain, English - including American - and the spin-offs, use some variation of the Latin just to be able to “talk”. Not just the language but the Hungarian ornaments, crafts, folk art are so distinguished that one could immediately single them out. So is the music and dance that was created in this gene-pool. We could go on-and-on. When we cherish this heritage, we don’t really think about genes. We consider the history of the people, the culture, and the traditions. These give new perspective to the gene-pool. This is not a matter of laboratories and jeans. This is a higher level. This is about creative human beings. Let us talk about what the Hungarians gave to the world, and let us talk about what we preserved of our culture and heritage. Also, we should look deep into ourselves and check whether we have lived up to our obligation in developing all this. We, as Hungarians in a host country, do spread our heritage to the benefit of all mankind. Coming out of the Hungarian gene-pool are great scientists, inventors and people with international fame. Even one of the first European persons known to step on the soil of this New World was a Hungarian. Then there is the name of the U.S.A.; IMRE (Emery), a truly Hungarian name - the Latin or Italian version of it is EMERICUS, EMERICO, AMERICO and we end up at AMERICA. Without the noneuclidian geometry and the knowledge of the surface factor on supersonic bodies we would not be in space. Also Hungarians made the first steps in television, also with color, LP recording, and let us not forget the group that made the nuclear age and the vast possibility of computers. The sacrifice of the Hungarian people, giving up their genes in deadly blood pools, was an important, if not the most important factor to preserve civilized life the way we know it. These and many more lay the ground for the Hungarians to be proud of their heritage. The Hungarian spirit was always an inspiring background for people. It is like the Biblical Ruth. Many foreigners, strangers who came from an other genepool not only become a member of the Hungarians but bring the Hungarian name to fame in many ways. We American Hungarians, - let it be first, second, third or whatever generation - live in a host country by choice or by chance. Do we fulfill our obligation and respect to our gene-pool? Some do, some don’t. Well, this would be a good time to search our souls and step out into the open and do something in memory of those whose genes we are made of. Here, we are in a different pool, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t enrich this society with the heritage of the Hungarian history of a few thousand years. Think about it. Give the new year a new start. Open a new page, an American Hungarian page for Hungarian genes in American jeans.. Joseph F. Balogh Page 3
