Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1960-10-01 / 10. szám
FRATERNITY 9 by a band of Gypsies who began to fiddle their limiting melodies. This strange music inevitably echoes the sorrows and joys of the Hungarians. Nixon was visibly moved. Later, to reciprocate for the entertainment, he sat down at a battered piano in one corner of the stage and played “Jingle Bells"'. Tliree-year-old Jutka Ecker sat starry-eyed at his feet, and, zehen he presented her with a doll, she hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek. The father of two little girls, he made an awkward effort to restrain his emotion. After the impromptu play lie waved his hat and said, in well- rehearsed but heavily accented Hungarian: “Boldog Karácsonyi Ünnepeket kívánok” (I wish you all a Merry Christmas). A thunderous “Éljen” (Long live) burst out from the appreciative Magyars. Nixon's few zcords had touched, off sentiments that no oratorical brilliance could have accomplished. ★ ★ ★ During his three days in Vienna, Nixon stayed at the Embassy Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Llewellyn Thompson. A career diplomat, Thompson speaks Russian fluently and served in Moscow as second secretary and consul from 1940 to 1943. Thus, in the midst of Russian aggression in Hungary, Nixon teas able to gather first-hand information about Russian philosophy, political thinking and diplomatic methods. ★ ★ ★ In the opening part of this chapter reference was made to Nixon’s secretly planned pre-dawn visit to Andau — the no-man's land only two and a half kilometers from the Hungarian frontier. The tiny village zvas the main processing point for the refugees, and the idea that the Vice President should expose himself to the hazards of the dangerous border crossing presented problems to Austrian security authorities. The man in charge of security, Ministerialrat Maximilian Pammer, chief of the state police — similar to our FBI accompanied Nixon on the adventurous trip of inspection. Dr. Pammer frankly admitted to me that he had not been exactly happy about the excursion. “Of course, I did not know about the Andau trip a little ahead of time'', he said, “but the secret re as kept in order to prevent a possible incident. “On the day after Nixon’s arrival, at three-thirty in the morning, three cars carrying fifteen persons sped to Andau. The party zeent straight to a farmhouse zehere the proprietor used
