Verhovayak Lapja, 1946 (29. évfolyam, 1-52. szám)
1946 / Verhovay Journal
September 11, 1946 Verhov ay Journal Page 5 Hungary’s Calvary ♦ ♦ ♦ A Doctor’s Letter from Budapest i MESSAGE TO THE PEACE CONFERENCE (Continued from Page 4) symptoms and the diagnosing of illnesses by applying the methods of impersonal, scientific observa tion, he still is able to look upon and describe the chain of events with a detachment and clearness that could not be surpassed even by the best of foreign news correspondents. We believe to be rendering real service to those interested in conditions in Hungary, by publishing the following letter by Dr. Emszt. * * * Budapest, April 28, 1946. Petőfi, the Hungarian poet, once said: “The World is God’s hat and Hungary the flower in its band.” This was no exaggeration. Emerging from the calamities of the first “little” World War, unprecedented progress was made in our country. And Budapest was, I believe, one of the most beautiful cities of the world. During the years following 1930, it began to bloom like a flower in spring. Feverishly alive it developed into a clean, glittering metropolis. The beautiful bridges with the perfect lines of magnificent buildings and the romantic castle created a picture of harmonious beauty. Fate, however, seemed to begrudge our rapid advancement. Budapest had to live through the most cataclysmic tragedy that could fall upon a great city, so proud of its beauty! And the result? A city of ruins, with bridges tumbled into the river, with its line of burned out buildings full with black cavities, its streets in ghostly darkness, with traffic at a complete standstill. The people of Budapest, indeed, learned to get used to walking, for life never ceased, not even when debris, stories high seemed to block the way for every human being. Yet slowly, very slowly, the blood of life again began to circulate within the dead walls. And today we know: the Hungarian people, determined to survive, shall live! Hungary was cut to the core by the Treaty of Trianon. And the greatest tragedy that could come to any little nation, struck on March 14, 1938, when, powerful, expanding Germany became its next-door neighbor. Disarmed, powerless Hungary was drawn into the painful proximity to that mighty country. And when the treaty of Trianon was rectified to a certain extent by the decisions wrought at Vienna, a great part of the Hungarian people was put under an emotional obligation. Thus, when it came to choosing sides, Hungary made the wrong choice. Today, this is realized by all because we suffer from the consequences. Then came war. Let me tell you what it is. WHAT IS WAR? In the beginning, war is marching under proudly waving banners over roads covered with flowers . . . Enthusiastic singing cheerful seeing off of enlisted men . . . Glorious reports from the battlefield . . . Then, a few casualty reports ... a few men died the heroe’s death . . . More and more people in mourning. .. Wounded . . . More death notices, more mourning people . Strange times . . . We walk with closed eyes, seeing strange things with our spiritual eyes . . . The first enthusiasm, created by the propaganda machine, blinded us. And then came the first surprise. Airplanes from a country many thousands of miles away from our land, appeared over cur peaceful city. The usually watchful anti-aircraft units were caught by surprise. The air-raid found me on the street and even before I would have had ' a chance to run for an air-raid shelter, I heard the characteristic howling of the loosened bombs . . . That was my baptism of fire, for the bombs fell a few hundred feet from where I stood, hitting the oldest church in that section. Time passed. Great news of great battles came from the front. Attacks and counterattacks. Advances and retreats. And day by day there was less and less good news and more and ever more bad ones. Finally, I, too, received my call to arms. Then I lived through the great retreat on the Russian steppes from the forests at Briansk across the morasses cf Pripjet to the boundaries of Hungary. But that wasn’t enough. ■ I had to live through the retreat across oui own country . . . seeing the destruction and knowing that all that has been annihilated, is ours. Still it was not enough. X had to live through the encirclement of Budapest, the home-town of all whom I loved. With all the agonies of impotence, doubts and despair I had to listen to the reports of the terrific battles fought around and in Budapest. At that time I had to care for a flecktyphus ward in a little town in Transdanubia. It was a horrible assignment, but nothing compared to what the people of Budapest had to endure. THE SIEGE OF BUDAPEST Let me try to tell you about that, too. Already, in November, 1944, we could hear the thunder of the approaching battle. During December the city was hit by heavy shells. Of course, air raids were the orders of the day, one after the other. The people, determined, yet apathetic, got used to the constant danger to their lives. Christmas Eve brought the sudden completion of Budapest’s encirclement. It was dark, black Christmas. By and by all of the people moved down into the cellars, for the constant din of the battle and the continually mounting danger made it impossible for them to remain in their apartments. Then the real Calvary began which made true heroes of the besieged people. Jammed into their close underground quarters, like rats among rats, without food, light and heat, when the most elementary needs could be satisfied only at the risk of their lives—such was their existence. Occasionally, when the fury of battle abated somewhat, everybody had his task. One went for water, the other chopped wood, so that everyone may have a bowl of soup once a day. But death was stalking its preys everywhere. Stray shells, belatedly exploding mines, time bombs took a heavy toll. Death was .the price of life everywhere, all the time. No matter where one looked, there was blood and death. The cries of the wounded, the moaning of the dying was suppressed only by the whining of shells, the screaming of bombs the thunder of explosions and the rumble of collapsing buildings. These sounds rendered the accompaniment to the symphony of death the solos having been played by the wounded, the dying and the weeping people who had lost all their possessions, all their loved ones. And human hearts audibly throbbing in their throats, beat the fast rythm to the symphony of horrors. Thus it went on for weeks and weeks . . . AFTERWARDS ... I returned to Budapest last May, three months after the siege. Though hardened by battles and my practice with the sick, the scene that awaited me still wrung my heart. Ruins, debris everywhere. On the streets, in the souls of the people . . Yet reconstruction started immediately after the siege. First the streets were cleared of the debris, then came the rebuilding of the ruined homes. It is miraculous how much was achieved though there was nothing to start with. A new bridge spans the Danube, the streetcar lines were restored and traffic conditions are fair. Of course, inflation, the inevitable result of a lost warf creates terrible difficulties for the survivors . . . In conclusion, I must mention another matter. Preparations are made for the peace-conference in Paris. The Hungarian nation watches and prays with breathless anxiety. Faith and hope carry our prayers to heaven . . . Please, my dear friend, remember this poor, little, much suffering nation, deserving apd worthy of a better future. With warmest regards, your JULIUS EMSZT, M. D.” ' ------------77--------V----------------------Manager’s Grandson William George Sasko, S. 2/C William George Sasko, a member of Branch 33, Windber, Pa., the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Sasko and grandson of Mr. George Modock, manager of Branch 3 3, serves with the U. S. Navy at Portsmouth, Va. With his leaving, grandfather Modok lost a fine helper for Bill used to help him a great deal in securing new members, delivering their certificates and acting as chauffeur, always ready and willing whenever grandfather needed him. Good luck to you, Bill, and may you return soon and safely!----------------v---------------FAIRPORT HARBOR, O. Everybody invited to a dance to be held by Branch 20, at the Plum Street Hall, Fairport Harbor, O. Music by the Szikora and Medve Orchestra. Dance from 7:30 P.M. to midnight. Refreshments will be served. Admission 1 75 cents. THE COMMITTEE — An Editorial — As far as Hungary is concerned, the Peace Conference is ever, unless the terms imposed upon Hungary will be amended later on. When Dr. Emszt wrote his letter, the people of Hungary prayed with faith and hope in their hearts. Today they know that their prayers were denied. Transylvania has been handed over to Rumania. The fate of a million and a half Hunagrians has been sealed. What they can expect is made apparent by reports according to which Rumanian jails are filled to capacity with mostly Hungarians. 90% of hose arrested are—Hungarians. 90% of all convictions are brought by the Rumanian People’s Court agab“t— Hungarians. Of these 20% are condemned to die and 30% to life imprisonment. 99!/2% of all Hungarians arrested are charged with political “crimes!” Yugoslavia follows the example of Czechoslovakia by proposing to expel all Hungarians. Their possessions are to be confiscated, their homes taken over, like criminals they are to be dumped ever the boundaries of starving Hungary. That the Allied Nations prefer to punish the defeated people, is understandable, even though the world was promised that only THOSE FOUND GUILTY shall be punished while the innocent will not be made to suffer for the crimes of the war-mongers. But it is beyond comprehension why Hungary should be punished by those who fell TOGETHER WITH Hungary into the iren net of Nazi Germany, fought TOGETHER WITH Hungary on the side ©f Nazi Germany, and were defeated TOGETHER WITH Hungary by the Allied powers. Is Rumania really entitled to preferred treatment just because her armies surrendered AFTER having been crushed by Russia and left free to change sides by the retreating Germans? Hungary would have done the same thing, blit there the Germans preferred to make their last stand while the Russian armies advanced, just like in Poland, with agonizing slowness, using Rumanian troops, well known for their lack of heroism, »n spear-heading their advance thereby making it possible fei the Germans to prolong the war for unfortunate Hungary. It would be ridiculous if it weren’t tragic and vicious ihat Hungary’s neighbors, every one of them GREATER AND MORE POWERFUL than Hungary, now pick on the smallest and weakest people making it their scapegoat to be blamed for all those sins of commission and omission in which all of them had a share at least equal to that of Hungary. Indeed, we feel disillusioned and bitter about the repudiation of the Atlantic Charter by the victorious nations. But' how -hall we feel about the attitude of these liberated countries whose pt i pie suffered the same fate under Nazi occupation and yearned for liberation just as fervently as Hungary? How can we find words strong enough to express our feelings about people who turned into oppressors in the first hour of their liberation? Of course, it is not difficult to find the explanation for thesedevelopments. It is only natural for the defeated to heap all the: blame upon the head cf the smallest and weakest among them. This is the same scene that has been reenacted since the earliest beginnings of human civilization, whenever a gang of suspects was hauled before the court. What we can’t understand is, HOW COME THE ALLIES DON’T SEE THAT? Are the delegates to the Peace Conference deaf and blind that they can’t hear and see that of all the nations in the Danubian basin, Hungary is the ONLY one willing to render peaceful cooperation, even at a sacrifice, to rebuild its national life on the basis of democratic principles, and to join its neighbors in the construction of a Danubian Federation? Can’t they see that the Hungarian nation is the ONLY one approaching the Peace-Conference with THE DIGNITY OF JUST PEOPLE? Can’t they see, that the Hungarian nation is the ONLY one willing to settle its disputes at the conference table, the ONLY one willing to adopt democratic procedure when seeking satisfaction for its just claims and to abandon those undemocratic, inhuman, barbaric practices which, first introduced by Nazi Germany, still persist in the countries around Hungary? Or is that, too, a crime of the Hungarian nation? Nations liberated from the common bondage, shculd jointly rebuild Central Europe. If the victors forget the Atlantic Charter, at least the defeated, or rather liberated should not do so. The attitude cf liberated nations turning against one whose fate they shared, is indefensible. And if they are not willing to apply the principles of justice, equality and humanity to their dealing-; with other nations, they shculd be conmmanded to do so by those who liberated them from their unholy and unwilling alliance with Nazi Germany. If, contrary to the promises and assurances set icith in the Atlantic Charter, the people of Hungary can be made to swallow decisions against their own will ,then the same principle should apply to Hungary’s neighbors, too because they all were victims of Germany’s criminal policy. The Hungarian people believe, hope and pray. Their prayer has been denied. Still, all is not lost—yet. If the world, including the victors, will remember that IT IS ONLY A LASTING AND JUST PEACE for which the people of Hungary are praying, just like all the fathers, mothers and wives in every country, and if they will realize that God has put the granting of this prayer into THEIR HANDS, making it their sacred duty to obey HIS 'WILL in giving the people the Peace for which the whole world yearns, then the fulfilled prayer cf happy humanity will turn into a magnificent hosanna singing the praise of those who delivered the world from the curse of Cain. If, on the other hand, the victors and liberated refuse to obey the will of God as revealed in the yearning of mankind, all those fervent prayers, intended by God to be granted, will turn into curses against those who by rejecting the will of both, God and mankind, made it impossible for the people of the world to form a peaceful family of nations in which justice, good will and equality prevail! There is no peace for the wicked. Only for the just.
