William Penn Life, 2017 (52. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2017-03-01 / 3. szám

Forefathers of freedom

als were executed." In 1974, during the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of their execution, the generals' remains were moved and buried under this monument.

Other cities, like the capital of Hungary, Budapest, named a street "October 6th Street" to remind citizens of the date of the execution. Other streets were named in honor of the generals.

Hungarian composer Franz Liszt wrote a piano work entitled, "Funérailles." This is the seventh piece in Liszt's "Harmonies poétiques et religieuses" (Poetic and Religious Harmonies), a collection of piano pieces written as an elegy about October 1849.

There is a generally held notion that while these generals were being executed, Austrian soldiers drinking beer nearby were clinking their beer mugs together in victory against the Hungarian rebels. Hungarians promised to remember these generals by never clinking beer bottles or beer mugs. It is still often considered to be bad manners in Hungary.

The 13 Martyrs of Arad are one part of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. This Revolution reminds us, as Americans, how special and unique our American freedoms are and why we need to fight for them. □

The Thirteen Martyrs of Arad

by Judit Ganchuk

Every March, this magazine publishes information about the historical events of March 15,1848, because the old adage is true: Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. We teach our children about the past so they learn from others' mistakes. This year, we will look at the history of the 13 Martyrs of Arad.

March 15,1848 marked the beginning of the Hungarians rebelling against the ruling Hapsburg family and the Austrian monarchy. Lajos Kossuth and Sándor Petőfi gained fame at this time. For over a year, there were military battles won and lost.

By August 1849, Kossuth accepted his shortcomings as a military leader and placed his hopes, and the hopes of all Hungarians, on General Artúr Görgei (sometimes spelled Görgey). Kossuth gave Görgei power over the armies. Görgei claimed he could not break through the enemy's lines. Some say he double crossed Kossuth because he was never imprisoned by the monarchy after he signed the Hungarian armies back to the Austrians.

With the Austrians back in power over all of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, an example was made of the rebel leaders. So, on Oct. 6,1849, the empire executed 13 Hungarian generals in Arad, a city now located inside Romania. They are now known collectively as the 13 Martyrs of Arad. These Hungarian generals were: Lajos Aulich, János Damjanich, Arisztid Dessewffy, Ernő Kiss, Károly Knezic, György Lahner, Vilmos Lázár, Károly Leiningen- Westerburg, József Nagysándor, Ernő Poeltenberg, József Schweidel, Ignác Török and Károly Vécsey.

These generals did not start the revolution, but like Kossuth, they were tired of Austria stomping on their rights. How do we remember these brave men who tried to fight the monarchy? Some cities have commemorated these generals and their sacrifices by creating monuments. In Arad, a monument (shown below) featuring an obelisk and wreaths was erected. The obelisk bares the inscription: "Risen on the day of 6 October, 1881, where the 13 gener©