William Penn Life, 2018 (53. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2018-03-01 / 3. szám
Tibor s Take with Tibor Check, Jr. Discovering Kossuth I MAY HAVE MENTIONED this before, but my family loves to study history. While we like any subject that piques our interest, we particularly like discussing matters of American and Hungarian history. In fact, I think of myself not only as an amateur historian but also an amateur photographer, genealogist, historiographer, archaeologist and cartographer. In other words, my interest in the past extends beyond the summaries in books and delves into the actual physical remnants from bygone generations. When examining items from the past, whether it be an artifact, a recording, or a photograph, I feel a personal connection to history. Until recently, the book Louis Kossuth in America, 1851-1852 has been my main source for information regarding the 1848 Revolution in Hungary and its main champion, Lajos Kossuth. Compared to other books on history, this magnificent monograph is short in length but is jam packed with tons of information. Published in 1973, the book was written by John Komlos, an internationally acclaimed scholar, educator, and researcher. Komlos is also an expert in anthropometric history, which is the study of associating racial, cultural and psychological data in respect to the development of nations and societies. I have read the Kossuth book many times. Each time I read it, I experience the same sensation as when watching the classic movie Casablanca: that is, I discover new bits of detail or plot that I hadn't noticed before. (By the way, Casablanca was directed by American-Hungarian Michael Curtiz). As time has passed, my reflections on the Revolution of 1848 have raised questions involving the personal struggles, conflicts and hardships within the inner circle surrounding Kossuth. Many of these historical questions cannot be answered with straightforward facts alone. Recently, my wife Monika, brother András II, sister Lizzy and I played an impromptu trio of historical parlor games that my siblings and I had invented many years ago. We call one of the games, "What If?" Inspired by a book of the same name, this game involves changing specifics of a historical event and brainstorming as to what would have happened differently over the course of history because of those changes. For example, what if the Vikings founded permanent colonies in North America 500 years before Columbus? What if the Roman Empire never collapsed? The second game we like to play is entitled, "If I Was a Fly on the Wall." In this one, we speculate what it would have been like to be in the room when major historical decisions were made. The third game is called, "What Went Wrong?" This is a purely theoretical approach to why certain events transpired the way they did. Did an event occur because of major forces and trends? Or, because of the deeds of a great man or woman? Or, because of their failings and frailties? Did something else, something small, cause a monumental shift in the course of human events? For example, did the North win the Battle of Gettysburg because Confederate artillery fuses were too short and thus fired at the wrong time in the battle? As you can imagine, the revolutions of 1848 (not just in Hungary, but all across Europe) occasionally make an appearance in one or more of our historical games. One person I always want to know more about is Lajos Kossuth. Sándor Petőfi, Hungary's legendary warrior-poet also interests me, but his story ended much too quickly. In contrast, Kossuth lived a long life, wrote and spoke English fluently, spent much of his time out of Hungary, toured America in 1851-1852 and was well respected by the international community. I've learned that Kossuth wrote a book, Irataim az emigráczióból (Memories of My Exile), with particular Point to Ponder.... I have discussed in previous Takes how I feel it is important to preserve our family and ethnic histories. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have a story about a cherished item given to a loved one with the hope of preserving the history of your family or group? - Tibor 6 0 March 2018 0 WILLIAM PENN LIFE
