Fraternity-Testvériség, 2010 (88. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2010-07-01 / 3. szám
Fraternity I Testvériség Hungarian Immigrants in 1956 Return as Americans to Help a Hungarian City and Its Citizens Michael Rahill n October of 1956, as unrest was befalling the nation of Hungary and the revolution was beginning, Lajos and Margit Grego- rencsics, bookbinders in the City of Sopron, began their trek to the border of Hungary and Austria with the intent of waiting out the hostility. Lajos, Margit, along with their daughter Margit, son Lajos and his wife Mici, planned on going across the border only temporarily and then return at a later date to resume life as they knew it in the family’s bookbinding business on Magyar Utca 10 in the old city of Sopron. After all, Lajos and his family were no strangers to unrest. During the reign of Hitler when Hungary was allied with Germany, the Gregorencsics helped families hide in their grape fields near the border. His son, Lajos, was warned that if they continued to do this, they themselves would be taken away also. Lajos and Margit also faced the death of another son, Ocsi, when bombs falling from allied planes on the city indirectly killed their infant son. On another occasion, a Russian tank making a turn near the family’s business inadvertently drove through the bookbindery causing its collapse. The last straw for Lajos and Margit was the onset of the Revolution. Seeing the menacing looking Russian tanks’ track through their beloved Sopron again was too much for them. Not wanting to risk losing any more to the scourges of war and hostility, they set out with merely the clothes on their backs as did many families in October of 1956. As the family reached the nearby Austrian border, they ran into another family who had also had enough of the hostility. Pista and Mici Bokor along with their two sons, Pista and Rudi, also fled their homes. The difference was that while Lajos intended on returning to his business and his home, Pista and family were going to try to get to the refugee camps set up across the border and go to America to start a new life. After some discussion, Lajos agreed to do A group of Hungarians flee to the border of Austria in 1956 the same and never turned back that day. Lajos brother Janos had already emigrated to the United States in the thirties prior to the onset of WWII, so Lajos hoped he could go to America with his family and reconnect with his brother once again. Once they reached the refugee camp where the United States was coordinating the transport of refugees to the US, the family was processed and loaded onto a troop transport plane bound for the Azores, a refueling point for the trans- Atlantic flight and a “rest stop” for the refugees. From that point, they embarked once again for the refugees’ final destination ... America. Not knowing the language or the land or anything, the family was brought to the staging point for Operation Mercy (the military name for the airlift of Hungarians) Camp Kilmer in New Brunswick, NJ. Arriving in October, the family was processed by US Immigration and Naturalization, and just prior to Christmas of 1956, Lajos, Margit and his family were very happily reunited with his brother whom he had not seen in over twenty years. Now that they were in America, it was important for Lajos that he and his family would become American. Each family member went out and sought employment landing jobs in bookbinderies, hospitals, and restaurants to make ends meet. His daughter was enrolled in the school system to complete her education in America. After saving up, in i960, life had come full circle for he and his family and Turul Bookbindery was opened in Astoria, New York. The American dream had been realized by this family of immigrants who came with absolutely nothing, and through hard work would open their own business. Fast forward 51 years later in Sopron, Hungary. With heavy hearts, Lajos’ son, now called Louis Gregor, and daughter, Margit Rahill returned to Hungary to bury the family matriarch in the cemetery on the hill in Sopron where her husband Lajos and son Ocsi were buried many years before. With them was Margit’s grandson Michael, a volunteer firefighter for the borough of Hopatcong in New Jersey who currently serves as the Chief of the Department. While they were in the country for unhappy reasons, it was nice for the family to see their hometown once again. Michael made a request to a cousin who resided in Sopron and had connections with a firefighter in the city. He wanted to visit the city’s firehouse since firefighting is a brotherhood and no matter where in the country or world you are, one firefighter is another’s brother and is always treated as such. The night after the burial, Margit’s daughter and grandson visited the City of Sopron’s main firehouse and were treated to an in-depth tour and met many of the firefighters on duty that night. From this sprang an idea that would transcend oceans and states, involve multiple organizations, potentially save lives over time, and most of all, give back 1
