The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-07-01 / 7. szám
July, 1978 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 9 3. Documented Facts and Figures on Transylvania, by the Danubian Research Center (Danubian Press, Astor, Fla. 32002, 1977, paper $4.00, bound $5.00) This is a condensed presentation of the history, geography and culture of Transylvania, from 440 B.C. until 1977, thoroughly documented and carefully screened, compiled by a group of outstanding scholars of Hungarian, Rumanian and German background. Separate chapters deal with the population problems, statistics, as well as the grievances and demands of the native Hungarians, oppressed by the Socialist Republic of Rumania. Complete bibliography and a large appendix is also included, revealing acts of brutality, discrimination and genocide perpetrated by Rumanians against Hungarian men, women and children, as well as the struggles led by the Transylvanian World Federation, the American Hungarian Federation and other organizations in the United States and other parts of the world with the aim of saving the three-million Hungarians from the concentrated efforts of annihilation by the Rumanian government. 4. Origin of the Rumanians, Vlach Origin, Migration and Infiltration to Transylvania, by E. Haraszti (Danubian Press, Astor, Fla. 3002, 1977, $5.00) This carefully researched and documented book deals with the origin of the Rumanians, following their migration step by step during the centuries from Southern Italy to Greece, then further up the Balkan Peninsula into their present day location. The great value of this hook is that it refutes with documented proof the Daco-Roman theory, used for almost a century by Rumanians as a political tool in order to establish their claim to Transylvania. Though there was no contact of any kind between the two independent scholars, Prof. Haraszti of Canada and Prof. Du Nay of France, author of the book mentioned under No. 1., both researchers arrived to the same conclusion and their works complement and amplify one another. * * * ... If other nations want our friendship and support, they must understand that we want to see basic human rights respected, and this includes the rights of Hungarians wherever they may be . . . ”— President Carter Book Review: “A CONDENSED GEOGRAPHY OF HUNGARY”, Leslie Könnyű The American Hungarian Review, 1971. 80 pp. 32 photos. 8 maps, 35 tables. The book is a welcome English language edition to Hungary’s scientific assessment. The author is a faithful disciple of the internationally renowned Hungarian late geographer Professor Jeno Cholnoky who, — between the two World Wars, — correctly assumed the Carpathian Basin to be an untransgressable geographical unit in contradiction to the illegal borders of Central Europe established at Trianon, June 4, 1920. Könnyű’s geography book consists of five chapters. In the second chapter, where the five detached regions were treated, — Upland, Ruthenia, Transylvania, Voivodina, Burgenland —, the author quite correctly also supports the untenability of Hungary, dismembering, what happened after World War II again. Shocking historical facts such as the butchering of ten thousands Magyars by Serbian terrorists in the Voivodina region (Vajdaság), and the exile of 20,000 Magyars from Upland (Felvidék), following the Second World War, are disclosed by L. Könnyű. In Hungary, only Cardinal Mindszenty protested against this brutal action. The geographical regions of contemporary Hungary — The Great Plain, Transdanubia, Budapest, The Little Plain and its Western Border, North Central Mountains —, are treated well, in Chapter Three. The photographs poignantly illustrate and support the author’s theory. The general economic geography of present day Hungary is accompanied by many upto-date statistical tables which are analyzed and discussed within the following chapter. In our opinion the description of strong historical background, — especially regarding the occupied territories —, is justified. Through this, the author intended to furnish an expression to the geographic unity of the Carpathian Basin. The author omitted only one important achievement of the recent regime which is the Main Water Canal of the Hortobágy. We are hoping that, — in a new edition —, it will be mentioned too. Dr. Kálmán Bognár Professor emeritus of Geography * * * The Condensed Geography of Hungary can be purchased through Bethlen Press, — order slip can be found on last page.
