Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1984. július-december (38. évfolyam, 27-48. szám)
1984-12-20 / 48. szám
Thursday, Dec. 20. 1984. AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO 13. THE BEGINNING OF THE END The way Hungarians live and work A Central Office of Statistics survey of a representative crosssection of the population shows heavy and still growing feminization of intellectual occupations but male domination in posts of command. It has also found households to be well supplied with household machines and such gadgets as TV, tape recorders, etc. The survey comprises, as well as demographical and occupational data, statistics relating to working conditions, habitation environment and housing conditions, durable consumer goods, health and other factors bearing upon the way of living. The gap between the sexes is striking in the pattern of intellectual occupations: . less than a quarter of men, but 42 pc of women, hold down such jobs. However, one in four males in intellectual occupations is in an executive position, whereas the ratio with women is only one in ten. This confirms the view that males tend to opt for an intellectual career only if they see chances of rising to posts of command or they only choose certain types of intellectual occupation. On the whole, there is evident feminization of intellectual occupations, and this process is more marked still among the younger generations. The gender gap is also marked in the working class, where the ratio of skilled workers is increasing steadily, while women still preponderate among semi-skilled labourers. Unskilled labour is evenly divided between the sexes. Not set working hours: 7.4 pc of all workers and employees work in such jobs. Their proportions: executives with higher qualification-28.4 pc; executives with university degrees-17.4 pc, blue-collar workers-5.4 pc; and cooperative members-7.6 pc. Commuting: This takes up plenty of time. The survey considered commuting as cumbersome if one trip (to or from work) lasts longer than 45 minutes. Thus, nearly 90 pc of workers and employees travel less than 45 minutes to their workplaces. Dwelling environment: Of the population of over 15 years 16.9 pc live in housing developments, 20.5 pc in urban one-family houses, 2.1 pc in neighbourhood of factories, 3.9 pc in urban greenbelt areas, 12.3 pc in traditional densely built-over residential sections, and 34.7 pc in central parts of villages. Households are well equipped with household machinery and such devices as radio and TV sets, videos, tape recorders, etc. Exactly 88.8 pc of households have refrigerators, 91.3 pc have washing machines, 85.5 pc. black-white TV sets, and 97.1 pc radio sets.. The differences are negligible between various social strata or according to domicile. Cars: Here the division is far wider: 54 pc of people in intellectual occupations have a car, bluecollar workers-30.3 pc, cooperative farm members-27 pc, and private farmers, artisans and private tradespeople 37.2 pc. Statistics relating to culture and education give food for thought. Surveyors have found that 2.6 pc people in intellectual occupations read no newspapers at all, 7.1 pc of workers, 13.5 pc of coop members and 12.8 pc small commodity producers are non-newspaper readers. Magda Medvegy On October 15, 1944, Budapest radio transmitted an important announcement, which was soon followed by the so-called Horthy proclamation, informing the nation that the war had been lost and that it was now in Hungary's interest to learn the inevitable lesson: to end warfare against the Allies and to bring about peace. As subsequent events were to prove, the announcement of this proclamation and the political and military steps it involved were by no means well prepared. Hungarian political life and the rightist elements of the army clearly feared the implementation of the new situation outlined. For them, the day was saved by the occupying German forces, which took political and military control of the country immediately after the proclamation. The Regent and his family were transported to Germany under "protective custody" (Horthy survived the war and died in 1957 in Portugal), while supreme authority was conferred on the Arrow-Cross movement (the Hungarian fascists). Launched in the Thirties and recruiting its cadres from other ultra-right movements, the Arrow-Cross Party became the second strongest in the country at the 1938 parliamentary elections, which were by no means democratic in character. The party's membership and voters were comprised mainly of the lumpenproletariat, of certain layers of the middle class, and of the lowest elements of society. Headed by Ferenc Szalasi, a former army officer and a devoted supporter of Hitler's Germany, the Arrow-Cross Party had earlier been shunned and considered improper by the Germans who feared that in the event of the party's rise to power, it would only create antipathy and provoke the nation's resistance. In the autumn of 1944, however, the Germans had no alternative, since there was no other right-wing force in the whole country to collaborate with them. Thereafter, the Germans and Arrow-Cross became the supreme rulers of the country. The orders they issued were mostly aimed at continuing the war, using what little had remained of the Hungarian armed forces, exploiting to the limit Hungary's economic resources, and dismantling and mobilizing all the j removable assets of Hungary's industry. Within the country itself, with further advances made by the Soviet troops towards Budapest, plans were still being made for the liquidation of over 100,000 Jews in the Hungarian capital. Hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews living in the country were deported to the concentration camps by the Hungarian authorities and gendarmerie at the behest of the Germans, President Roosevelt and others tried to intervene for the sake of Budapest's Jewry, which may have been one reason why there was a relatively low number of deportations from Budapest. Despite all pleas, the Arrow-Cross men in power sent large numbers of Jews between 16 and 60 marching westward, many of whom died of hunger and beatings on the way, and even more met their death in the concentration camps. The Arrow-Cross Party soon opened a ghetto in Budapest, where all the Jewish children and old people still left in the capital were driven. They died there in great numbers due to the bad conditions, disease and atrocities. When the Red Army units encircled Budapest in a surprise military operation, the main concern of the Arrow-Cross mob stranded in the capital was to rob and massacre the Jews in the ghetto, and certain so-called "protected houses". ("Protected houses" meant that the diplomatic missions of Sweden, Switzerland and the Vatican in Budapest issued documents that ensured protection for Jews. The Arrow-Cross took note of this or ignored it as they wished). Masses of people were dragged down to the Danube and shot on the riverbank. The siege of Budapest began on Christmas Eve, 1944 and lasted until February 13, 1945, when the German and Hungarian armed forces couldn't hold out any longer.The supporters of the Arrow-Cross movement, however, continued their horrible crimes until the very last moment.. They planned to blow up the 70.000 strong ghetto in the city, but their scheme was foiled by a special Red Army unit formed expressly for this task. The reign of the Arrow-Cross Party was then restricted to the western part of the country for some months, until all of Hungary was liberated on April 4, 1945. (Based on articles from Valóság, História) The deportation of Hungarian Jews from Budapest
