Magyar News, 1997. szeptember-1998. augusztus (8. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1997-10-01 / 2. szám

YOUR FUTURE ABOUT YOUR PAST

lion against the Communist government. Their "sin” was toppling Soviet Monuments, tearing down the red stars along with the pictures of Lenin and Stalin. Tilts kind of activ ity was basic enough to satisfy the people outside the big cities. The oppressed, humiliated countryside missed out on the great possibility to make retribution against their torturers. They didn't take advantage, and they didn't follow in the footsteps of the Balkan tradition of eliminating the "enemy." With this restrained behavior our Revolution became known as the cleanest, most respectful, the most sincere Revolution of all. Examples of broken storewindows still filled with merchandise were untouched. Collection baskets for unfortunate people of the community. left on the sidewalk with a note explaining the need of donation were untouched. In the villages the rhythm and lifestyle of the peasants was different to the high strung, stressful, sometimes hysterical ways of the city dwellers. This determined their behavior. One may categorize it as slow, cautious maybe cowardly, or probably as the influence of 400 years of serfdom. One thing is sure that they did things by human consideration and w ithout malice The people in the villages elected those who were the best to lead during this time They wanted those who committed atrocities against them to be punished in due process, in court and not locally. This showed that they were law obeying members of society , human in their behavior. Well, locally there w ere judgements passed out.

Spending time at the Kistarcsa prison camp. 1 miked to some of my inmates, peasants rounded up for trumped up reasons. Their behavior was that of dignified at the camp and 1 credited them with the same behav ior during the Revolution. In their villages, where they were elected leaders of the time, they let me know that only the Party secretary was a "victim." The secretaries were usually from other towns or cities and they never had the backing of the people in the village. Their action was always based on instructions coming from above w ithout the knowledge of the local situation. The population naturally considered them as enemies, and during the Revolution it w as only the human

During my meeting at the National Archive. I brought up the subject of research on family trees. Occasionally we get a phone call or a letter asking for information on how to find out about their ancestors. Our usual reply is to find out w here a marriage was conducted, or a baptism. and try to work backwards. This could be done by the vital statistic department or through the church, specially if the recording was done at a Hungarian church. There arc occasions when they could only submit a few names not tied to any location. Very few family names are so unique that only one family has it. But. let us say the name Szabó and a big portion of the Hungarian population raise their hands. Here in the states one could ask the Mormons in Salt Lake City to help. You have two choices. One is to do the research on your ow n with the provided records, or you have them do all the work. No question. they are very good. Your contribution is also measured by the very good service. The National Archive in Budapest also has a serv ice. Though they do not do family

dignity of the then leaders that kept things on a decent level. Rage wasn't accepted, and justice was left to the justice sy stem. There was judgement practiced locally; The secretary’ was ordered out of the house, then a cow noose was put around his neck. They lead him into the stable and tied him to the trough. Here he spent a full day in full view of the public. After the day. he was let free and told to get out of the village that he never identified with anyhow. He was never hurt. He was told to go back to where he came from, to those who sent him. In the Great Plains this seemed to he the way of punishment. Any body who sank to such a low level, that his attitude and actions are not worthy of social behavior, who is not considered to be one of the people should be cast out. considered to be an animal, and to be tied into the stable. It is not the corporal punishment that counts, it is degradetion. shame, humiliation and separation from society. This kind of judgement, fit for the

trees, nor complicated research work, but for limited information they give you the best there is. Also the expense on this is in the category of paper and stamp. You can’t go wrong with it and it could pul you on the right track for example to find relatives here or overseas. The address is;

MAGYAR ORSZÁGOS LEVÉLTÁR 1014 BUDAPEST BECSI KAPU TER 4 HUNGARY

There are also companies that do this kind of a work. For a fee they could accommodate you with limited or extended research. Find anything and everything there is. going up and down the tree or filling out all the branches. Whatever you request. We will ask for detailed information on this and let our readers get the full picture. Their address is:

HUNGAROGENS 1085 BUDAPEST VIII JÓZSEF KÖRÚT 50 HUNGARY.

Don't forget to save some of your Hungarian heritage with your family tree.

Bible, is what raised the judges to a level of higher moral. The Hungarian peasant lacks the cruelty of retribution This might have put liim to a disadvantage dunng history, but at the time of the Revolution tins attitude added the cleanness to it throughout the country . We didn't boast to the world about this, all we did was to strengthened our self respect and the national moral. This moral should be part of every Hungarian's spirit. For this sake, we have to stop the distortion of history done by the Kadar regime, the hiding of the values of our Rev olution. The upcoming generation should have the opportunity to sec the 12 days in its truthfulness. The memory of individuals may fade, forgive and forget the atrocities, but the nation has to preserv e the knowledge of the events so the following generations could draw moral strength in building the future without tripping on the stumbling stones. The human behavior cannot be forgotten, also the horror that followed the failed Revolution, the hundreds of innocent Hungarian citizens who were hanged, the tens of thousands who were imprisoned, and tens of thousands who were discriminated against. This cannot be forgotten even under the "liberalization of the Kádár regime.

Closing. I would like to quote András Sütő; "The observation of people liv ing in tire mountain concludes that those lost in a snow storm get into a desperate situation if they can't find the direction they came from because the snow already covered their foot prints.”

lie received this article by the courtesy of Világlap, the monthly publication of the World Federation of Hungarians

A very long line waiting at the bread factory in the Capitol

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