Kerecsényi Edit: Távol a hazától… Lendva-vidéki magyar kivándorlók és vendégmunkások (Lendva, 1994)
Tartalmi kivonatok
Summary Edit Kerecsényi: Far from the mother country... Hungarian emigrants and guest workers from the region of Lendva The Hungarians of Lendva country in the 20 th century suffered enormous loss of blood three times. The traces of this large exodus have been preserved by letters, photos and printed papers, too. The first wave of the emigration can be dated to 1900-1914. The reason for that was the hopeless economic crisis caused chiefly by the large increase in population. Namely the peasants had no more opportunities in the grip of the huge Eszterházy landed estate to enlarge their landed property which had already been broken into little bits. At the same time there were no other possibilities of work because of lack of capital and because of undeveloped industry. Those who wanted a safe job could find it mainly in the mines and plants of Canada and USA. When they departed most of them firmly resolved to return home. However only a few of them managed to come back into a better financial situation. The fortunate ones were able to purchuse land, vineyards and threshing machine. Relatively few traces remain of these times. One of them is a pledge crucifix which was set up in 1911 by a Kapcza village ex-resident who had emigrated to America. This crucifix is still taken care of. The second wave diminished the population of Lendva villages after the birth of Jugoslavia. The fact was that according to the agrarian reform act of 1925 not even the families having many children could get land from the parcelled out portions of the manorial ones. Though they did hope so. The disadvantageous discrimination, expressed in many ways of the authority against Hungarians in favour of Slovens also played an important role in the extensive emigration. Some of those who took to the road, went to North America to the call of their relatives who had already been there. However the majority left for Argentina, Brazil and Urugvay to the encouragement of the inlistment stations in the hope of getting more profitable jobs there. Those who had profited by it then called relatives. Only a small fraction of those who had left the mother country that time, returned later with more money and could start a more prosperous life. After the first world war many people set out for France mainly for seasonal employment or to become a domestic servant and many of them remained there because the farmers there were happy to marry the hardworking girls from „Hetés”. The third wave of emigration which is generally called „deserting” started after 1945. The significant part of the youth that had been disappointed in the political system and become embittered, escaped from the country through the green border. Consequently the motive of their leaving is partly political and partly economical. Temporarily they were kept in Austrian camps, though some of them were taken to dieir newly chosen mother country by their relatives and friends who had arrived there erlier. They chose a wife from their village but they didn’t think of returning home for but a few 96
