Fraternity-Testvériség, 1955 (33. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1955-12-01 / 12. szám
4 TBSTVÉEXSÉG Random Notes of Hungarian Interest By EDMUND VAS VARY “IRON CURTAIN ROLLS UP like velvet” — says a headline in one of the Washington papers, followed by a glowing description of the lavish eating and drinking at the reception of the Soviet embassy in our capital. Of course it does; the territory around the Soviet palace is not mined, unlike the Hungarian and other borders, where the curtain is made of a much harder material. There could be very few more disgusting and revolting sights for “simple” Americans than the picture of the well-fed but always hungry, thirsty and seemingly insatiable crowd of “notables” milling around the richly laden tables of the Soviet, disdainfully and contemptuously looked over by the unsmiling and cruel face of the Soviet ambassador. ★ ★ ★ SIXTY YEARS AGO, on December 1, 1895, a statue was unveiled in Paris, representing the figures of Washington and Lafayette. It was a gift to the French people from the famous Hungarian-American, Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the New York “World”. This gift was meant to be a friendly gesture, reciprocating in some measure the gift of the French people to the United States of the world famous “Statue of Liberty”, standing at the entrance of New York harbor. It was the creation of the same artist, Bartholdi, who conceived the figure of “Liberty”. ★ ★ ★ FORTY YEARS AGO, on the 4th of December, 1915, a ship left New York harbor on a most singular mission; its passengers were determined to take the soldiers out of the trenches by Christmas, and thus end World War I. The nobly conceived but far-fetched idea was born in the brain of a Hungarian woman, Rose Schwimmer, who for a long time was identified with the feminist movement and who succeeded in convincing Henry Ford, the Detroit millionaire automobile manufacturer, to undertake the financing of the expedition. Ford firmly believed that the idea would be a complete success. He himself went to Europe on the peace ship, but in a couple of weeks he was back again in the United States. The neutral countries, realizing the futility of a venture of this sort, received the delegates coldly, without giving them the least bit of cooperation. The only result of the short-lived world sensation was the many millions of dollars’ worth of free publicity for Ford and his “tin lizzies”, along side of which the total cost of the undertaking was not even chicken feed. Rose Schwimmer died in New York, at 70 years of age, in 1948. ★ ★ ★ THE FACT THAT the peculiar conditions of our Hungarian-American life never have made the publishing of books profitable or even advantageous, seems to be refuted nowadays, when a surpisingly large and promising crop of new Hungarian books are published in many parts of the world. Among the more recent publications, without question the most important is Dr. László Vatai’s philosophical treatise, “Man and His Tragic Life”. The long 220-page volume was published by the Philosophical Library in New York, in the excellent translation of Rev. László Kecskémé thy of Woodbridge, N. J., who also wrote a worthwhile introduction to the book. Dr. Vatai’s thought provoking book unquestionably will be appreciated by many as a valuable contribution to the understanding of modern man, his inner problems and crises. ★ ★ ★ A SHORT TIME AGO our Federation published in our own “Htmgarica-Americana” series the epic poem about the beloved figure of Pocahontas, written in Hungarian by the veteran minister-poet, Rev. László Szabó, of Windber, Penna. Rev. Szabó, who as a poet is a renowned master of poetic Hungarian language at its best, with his numerous books has already proved himself to be one of the most outstanding poets of American-Hungarians. In his “Pocahontas”, which shows many signs of being a creation of devotion and love for his subject, the poet worthily celebrates his half- century of literary activity. ★ ★ ★ “A MAN WHO HAS told me everything” — is a quotation from the Gospel of John, 4:29. Probably its Hungarian equivalent, “Mindent megmondott nékem”, was taken from the Gospel and given as a title to a remarkable book written by Mrs. László Szabó, wife of the author of “Pocahontas”. To my best recollection, this is the first time in our 65-year history that one of the wives of our ministers published an original Hungarian book in the United States. The handsome 176-page book contains a goodly number of articles which are biblical, inspiring and enjoyable to a high degree.
