The Hungarian Student, 1958 (2. évfolyam, 1-7. szám)
1958 / 3. szám
2 the Hungarian student Letter from the Editor THE ROMANS began their New Year in March; the Hungarians also regard March as an important month. Ovid greets March with the words; “Salve leta dies meliorque vertere semper,” and the Hungarian poet welcomes the dawn of freedom with the sparkling month of March. On March 15, 1848, a few poets, university students, and many others who joined them, removed themselves from the rule of aliens, freed themselves of the shackles of a feudal system. They did even more: they united a nation which had fallen apart, and that united nation had such national consciousness, that even today, 110 years later, our hearts beat faster in remembering it. In 1848 the demands of the nation and the population, (which was becomeng increasingly civic-minded,) were evident. The leaders of the opposition in Parliament had for years made one new proposal after another, negotiations were broken off and taken up again. When Parliament was almost ready to accept them nothing was done because either the Austrian Ministry or the King opposed new measures. The most influential, progressive politicians, such as Kossuth, were often arrested. A solution, a new Spring for the nation was '“in the air” as they say in Hungary, but could not emerge. Negotiations were underway in the Spring of 1848 too, but these led to no agreement. Then on a rainy day the youth of Pest felt that they had to act. They summarized “the demands of the nation” in twelve short points, and a young, 25 year old, a hitherto unknown poet wrote a poem in seven verses, each one ending with the vow: “We swear by the God of the Hungarians We will remain prisoners no longer!” University youth, the demands of the nation on their lips, symbolically marched to the National Museum. Within a few hours the city was theirs and they had printed the first free, uncensored press release. Not a single gun had been fired. Vienna, however, was greatly alarmed at the news of the revolution. The King and Parliament at once sanctioned the demands of the people. The country was jubilant. But after the popular revolt subsided, the young Francis Joseph, at the advice of his reactionary, monarchist Cabinet, hesitated to carry out the orders he himself had signed. He was going to surpress the demands of the Hungarian people by armed force. The people resisted, and thus began one of history’s noblest, and in its final outcome, most tragic freedom fights. In a year and a half the Kaiser’s troops suffered serious setbacks. Finally Europe’s “policeman,” the Russian Czar, “took care” of the rebels. Blood and tears flooded the country in the wake of Russian troops and gallows. The young poet, Petőfi, who today is considered one of the world’s five best lyric poets, was killed by Russian guns. The generals of the revolution were hanged. Kossuth, the spirit of the revolution was forced into exile and the country was swept by a wave of terror. Maybe it’s strange, but maybe it’s quite natural that we Hungarians feel as if all this had not happened 110 years ago. Like the man in the folk tale we too “smile with one eye and cry with the other” as we think of those times. Today in an age of unfruitful negotiations, in an age when brute force is often prevalent, this movement of simple people 110 years ago is noteworthy. Not because there is a foreseable possibility of any kind of revolution. Still, it seems possible that one day the power of the people and their insight will force their leaders to serve the interest of the people. This has happened before, during those days of March—a memory which is etched so deeply in the hearts of all Hungarians. I hope that we, too, will see that day come. The Hungarian Student is an official monthly publication of the Association of Hungarian Students in the United States. Subscriptions are $5.00 a year for any person or organization. No fees are paid for published articles and all material for publication must be received by the 15th of the month prior to issue. Application for Second-Class Mail Privileges is pending at New York, New York. Editor-in-Chief: L. G. PAPP Managing Editor: A. B. NAGY Editorial Office: 22 East 38th Street, New York, 16, New York Business Office: Room 308, 44 Bromfield Street, Boston, Massachusetts Volume Two, Number Three March, 1958 FRAGMENTS... NEW YORK TIMES, January 2, 1958. “Western diplomats attended a Hungarian state function today for the first time since the anti-Communist uprising in the fall of 1956.” * DAILY NEWS, January 15, 1958. “About 120 youngsters were among some 600 refugees lured to the Dominican Republic with promises of land, fine prospects for the future and decent schooling for the young. As revealed in The Post last week, it turned out the refugees were hijacked into a form of forced labor under conditions that would rival the misery of Soviet camps. Nearly 400 have come back to Vienna. Many of the children who returned are clinically ill. In a group of 28, more than half, for example, have been classed as either neurotic or pre-psychotic. I have just seen some and spoken to them and their parents.” NEW YORK TIMES, January 15, 1958. “Under martial law, decreed in Hungary in December, 1956, conviction on charges stemming from October 23, 1956, rebellion carry a maximum penalty of death,” NEW YORK TIMES, January 15, 1958. “Experience gained by the United States in absorbing 38,000 refugees after the Hungarian revolt of 1956 was cited yesterday in a report. It said the experience might be useful when expected new waves of émigrés reached here from behind the Iron Curtain.” ‘At this point the Hungarian refugee seems to have had a good break and our community enriched by his presence,’ it said.” THE CATHOLIC TRANSCRIPT, January 16, 1958. “Msgr. Turcsanyi was sentenced to life imprisonment for having allegedly sacked the Hungarian government’s Church Affairs bureau during the anti-Red revolt in October and November, 1956. On trial, along with the prelate, were 14 other priests and seminarians and one laymen. None of the others received as severe a penalty as Msgr. Turcsanyi.” NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, February 4, 1958. “Mr. Horváth, Hungarian Minister, said: ‘It is better to liquidate hundreds of innocent people than to let one guilty person remain in the party.’ ”
