The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1985 (12. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1985-02-01 / 2. szám
churches, presently we have about one third of that left, and these are slowly disappearing, or loose their Hungarian identity. Besides churches, there were many fraternal societies established during the first 50 years (1890-1940) of Hungarian community life here in the United States. There are only two still in existance — the William Penn Association, which was created by the consolidation of many small societies whose names we might still remember, and the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, established in 1896. The American Hungarian Federation was founded in 1909, with a main office in Washington, D.C. and with branches all over the country. It represented all American citizens of Hungarian origin as a large national benevolent organization recognized by the Federal Government. It was a nonpolitical organization with the same purpose as the HETF — to foster the Hungarian Heritage amongst the new generations and keep the family ties with the Hungarian nation in the old country. This they did. They organized relief programs after the First and Second World War, also when they had the great floods in Hungary. They organized different programs for the second generation, established scholarships and sent them to Universities and Gimnaziums in Hungary. Every Church and society, large or small had representation, thousand of individuals belong to the respective branches, if help needed, it was there. After World War II, a new wave of Hungarians arrived. They entered through Camp Kilmer, or other refugee centers, and were greeted with open arms and brotherly love. It was repeated in 1956, after the Hungarian Revolution. But, by the 1960’s there were fewer old timers active in the AHF, and no second generation representatives. The division between the old and the new comers became greater and greater, and finally those who for decades were active in the organization, left and the leadership changed. Since then, instead of a benevolent organization it has become a political arena — broken into two different factions, mostly due to personality conflicts, finally ending up in the courts. Now we have two organizations claiming to represent the Hungarian community. what do you tell a grandmother, living in Cleveland, who complains that her grandchildren, although active in the Hungarian dance groups, are denied membership in the Hungarian Scout Movement. The reason given: they do not speak the Hungarian language. This rule was confirmed by one of the Scout Masters. This is contrary to the laws of this land. This magazine has only 98 subscribers from the Cleveland area, some of them gift-subscriptions from relatives living elsewhere. We have tried to reach the Cleveland area Hungarians in many ways, but without success. On November 23, 1984, the Amerikai Magyarok Országos Szövetsége (AMOSz) held a meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. Their 12 point Declaration showed that they are a political organization. Their action and words are completely out of step with the majority of the Hungarian Americans, and of the Federal Government of the United States. Since when can any one dictate to an American citizen (besides the Federal Government) not to go to Hungary, or to an American business firm not to have commercial agreements with a Hungarian counterpart? Presently Hungary is occupied by the Russian Army, as are many Central European countries (regretfully, it was done because of an agreement between an American president and Joseph Stalin). But it is only Hungary that shows improvement in their national life. You do not read or see people standing in line for a loaf of bread, meat, etc., like in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Rumania. By having a commercial relationship with the US, Hungary’s standard of living will improve, and when the time comes that they will regain their independence, the Hungarian nation will have the best chance to survive. We should have the satisfaction that we had some part in it. For many years we published, as part of this magazine, the Transylvanian Quarterly. Every member of the House of Representatives and the Senate received a copy. Through all those years Dr. Albert Wass and others spent countless hours, trying to persuade the Congress and the Government to withhold the ‘preferred Nation’ status from Rumania because of their treatment of Hungarians and other minorities. We have failed. Finally we had to stop the publication, because neither the editor of the TQ, nor we could afford it. Just for your information, strange as it may be, there were cancellations because of the publication, and later because we stopped it. “Magok csak mindig Erdélyt sirassák — You are always crying for Transyvlania” wrote a subscriber cancelling; another because the publication stopped; “I only subscribed because the Transylvanian Quarterly was part of the magazine”. So, it was us, who did not benefit either way. As for the Transylvanian situation; Mr. Salgo, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, said that neither he, nor any one can help, because they cannot be involved in the internal affairs of a foreign country. The best solution is the one that is now being put forward — to make Transylvania an independent state under the UN protection. Throughout the years we have supported many publications written about the Hungarian Nation. Some were reproduced in this magazine, and still continue, because we feel it benefits our readers. We were right in all cases, because the responses were favorable. In 1981, in the Hungarian section we had an article from a book by Victor Palanyi, sent to us by V. István Erdélyi. In December 1982 we started publishing segments from a book called “Origin of the Hungarian Nation” by Dr. Ida Bobula, submitted by Prof. Joseph Szurcsik. In March 1983 we started bringing some chapters from the “The Early Hungarians” by Dr. Tibor E. Barath. Finally the last but not least, “The Spirit of Hungary” by Stephen Sisa, punlished by the Rákóczi Foundation. (The last two books can be purchased through this magazine and that is Deing done by many.) The Spirit of Hungary, despite all the opposition, the nit-picking from certain elements, became a best seller amongst Hungarian Americans. It is now in its fifth printing. By acquainting our readers with the above publications, we have been charged with filling the heads of our readers with fable, untrue stories, fabricated in the minds of these authors. Through all these years we never said anything about the flack WE have received, but we felt that to criticize the authors was unjustified. On page two, you will find the names of those who contribute their talents and times to this magazine. Amongst them you find, namely: Ferenc F. Sajgó, Andrew Haraszti, László Könnyű, Bela Biro and Joseph Szurcsik. These people came to the U.S. and Canada after the Second World War, they felt in their hearts that they could help this magazine with their journalistic talent. Their names now seem to be stained because of their association with this magazine. To call this editor and Paul Pulitzer all kinds of names — or associate us with certain groups, - fine — we can take it, as we consider the source it’s coming from. But when innocent people are hurt that is a different story, and it can not be tolerated. Page 4 Eighth Hungarian Tribe
