T. Bereczki Ibolya (szerk.): GYERMEKVILÁG MAGYARORSZÁGON (Kiállítási katalógusok - Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 2003)

ten thousands for being Hungarians. And children witnessed this all and were victims of the atrocities. New suffering awaited a part of the Hungarian society in the 1950s. Thousands of farmer families were resettled to other regions of the country, because they had more land then the state approved it. Successful farmers had to leave the land of their ancestors. The deportations were carried out very fast so that they could not even take their belongings along. The same happened to townspeople too. Those, who had more property than the state liked, were the victims. But members of historic, noble families were also not spared. They found themselves all of a sudden in a wagon to be resettled in a distant village. When the revolution broke out in 1956 against the Soviets and communism, children participated in it. 12-13 year old children fought for the freedom of Hungary. Many of them died. Children are innocent. The two-year-old girl, who was set behind the cannon on the photo, was also innocent. Children like playing soldier. Toy swords, toy guns, toy tanks, toy cannons, toy planes ... RENEWING TRADITION Three quarter of Hungary's inhabitants lived in villages at the end of the 19

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h century. Therefore, our "every day history" is closely attached to the history of village families. Today every family has at least one ancestor from a village. Events and history of the past century have completely changed the economic and social life in Hungary, and as a consequence, the village and with it the peasants' way of life underwent a change too. Socialist co-operatives replaced family farms after the Second World War. From the fifties many young people left their villages, moved to towns to become labourers or intellectuals and lost their roots. Many houses became empty, villages were depopulated. Old village workshops remained without master. Traditional family and village ties disintegrated. Official politics supported the preservation of traditions and fold customs only formally. Those who left the villages, left their national costumes also behind and wore factory made garments. The preservation of the values of the peasant past became an urgent task. Beside the museums, young teachers with their students engaged themselves in the collection of hidden treasures, relics of the farmer's world. Many village museums were filled with these goods. Researchers asked old people about village life, noted down dances, songs and life-stories. This rich heritage is stored in the archives of research institutes. In the seventies-eighties a national movement "Know your country" emerged. Folk-song circles, folkdance groups were founded and these activities became well known through the television. A new movement started among the young people of the towns, especially of Budapest in the seventies. They turned to the village and wanted to learn about the way of life of country folk in earlier times. The movement was propelled by those dance and music groups, which collected music and dance from the original sources. So-called dance houses were founded. Many youngsters learned here traditional Hungarian dances and music. Folklore look became the fashion. Homes were decorated with peasant furniture, textiles and pottery. Youngsters learned crafts before their extinction from old masters and became themselves masters of folk art. Nature is appreciated again. Nowadays many town-dwellers move to the countryside. First, these all seemed to be fashion, later it developed into a movement and today it is a lifestyle. It seems that the youth of the seventies found their roots again. This generation tries to forward traditional values to their children. The immense interest shown to our Open Air Museum and to its programs as well to the handicraft fairs proves this. A further evidence of the successful revival of traditions is the introduction of ethnography as subject in primary and middle level education. Peasant tradition can constitute a part of life of today's children with the help of parents and pedagogues.