Magyar Egyház, 1973 (52. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1973-05-01 / 5. szám
8 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ of the book — “If you have a Hungarian for a friend, you don’t need an enemy — a folk saying”. The proposition, that this be a folk saying, and the implications of the alleged folk saying, are at once untrue and absolutely offensive! It is certainly hitting much further below the belt than the cute “ad” campaign of “Frito Bandido” — which, nonetheless, offended our American citizens of Spanish descent, and since, incidentally, has properly been banished from the T.V. screens of America. For millenea now, there has not been a single nation more dedicated to the ideals of liberty, equality under the law, justice and humanity than the Hungarians. Within the memory of most of us, her heroic struggle for freedom and independence in 1956 illumined the world, fa country of 10,000,000 people sacrificed 45,000 of her sons in death to these ideals, within a two week span of time). During the time of the war between the states, there were only some 3000 Hungarians living in the U.S.A., but many volunteered to show their devotion to their new home land, and to serve in Lincoln’s army. Of these volunteers, serving in the U.S. Army, there were two major-generals, five brigadier-generals, fifteen colonels and numerous officers of lesser rank. Their military achievement was outstanding. Hungarian officers organized the Lincoln Riflemen, by presidential permission. Major General Samuel Stahel-Szamvald received the Congressional Medal of Honor; he played a decisive role in the Battle of Piedmont, Va., on June 5, 1864. Major General A. Asboth also distinguished himself in the Battle of Pea Ridge. Charles Zagonyi, commanding officer, led the memorable cavalry attack at Springfield, Missouri, October 25, 1861. (See also “Hungarians in the American Civil War,,’ — Eugene Pivany — Budapest, 1913 and “Lincoln’s Hungarian Heroes” — Edmund Vasvary — Washington, 1939 — containing 110 biographies.) Things were different in 1956 — while Hungarians died and were murdered by the Russian oppressors, the West negotiated and deliberated, rung its collective hands and did nothing! The Hungarians, who so greatly distinguished themselves in Lincoln’s army, it is true, had had prior experience in the freedom fight against Austrian tyranny in 1848-1849. For the record, that endeavor also was terminated by the intervention of Russian troops — 200,000 of them, — requested by the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph and provided by Czar Nicholas II. The irony lies in the fact, that the light of freedom was snuffed out at the City of Világos, whose english meaning is “City of Light”. I shall not continue to pick at the strains of melancholy, but rather will attempt to enumerate some of the intellectual contributions Hungarians have made to the world at large. The world of music would indeed be much poorer, were it not for the contributions of composers such as Ferenc Liszt, Ferenc Lehar, Bela Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Frank Erkel, Pongrác Kacsoh, Emery Kalman, Gustav Mahler, Joseph Szigeti, etc. The first roadbuilders of non-eucledian geometry were Farkas Bolyai (1775-1856) and his son John Bolyai (1802-1860). Physics would not be as advanced, were it not for extraordinary contributions made by people such as Lorand Eötvös, Leo Szilard, Edward Teller (father of the H-bomb), John Wigner (Nobel Prize, 1963), etc. Hungarians have contributed materially to the understanding of chemistry — R. Zsigmond (Nobel Prize, 1925) and George Hevesy (Nobel Prize, 1943); Medicine — R. Barany (Nobel Prize, 1914), Albert Szentgyorgyi (Nobel Prize, 1937) and George Bekesy (Nobel Prize, 1961). Millions of mothers have been saved from child-birth because of the discoveries of Dr. Ignác Semmelweiss. Millions throughout the world have enjoyed movies produced by George Cukor, and film portrayals created by Bela Lugosi. I might ask — rhetorically — where the Pulitzer Prize would be, if Joseph Pulitzer had not established the proper instrumentality for its continued funding? Could it be, that, Simon and Schuster Co., in the publishing business, and Mr. Hayes, in the writing business, have not heard of this most renowned of prizes for good reporting? Good reporting and great literature cannot be based on catchily illustrated book covers with maligning and false subtitles, at the least it will offend some 600,000 U.S. citizens of Hungarian descent. In the name of fair play and the laws of the United States, which specifically prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion and national origin, we request, that you instruct your art department to dream up a more fitting subtitle, or at the very least omit the present one from your planned publication. Very Truly Yours, Hugo Pfahler, P.E. Lakeside Area Vice President American Hungarian Reformed Presbyter’s Association LEUENBERG 1973 Geneva — For the last 18 months, the “Leuenberg Draft Agreement”, setting out proposals for the creation of full pulpit- and altar fellowship between Lutheran and Reformed Churches in Europe, has been under discussion among the 79 churches concerned. Central elements of the Agreement are: a common understanding of the Gospel and of the administration of the sacraments. At Leuenberg, near Basel, Switzerland, March 10-17, 1973, a plenary session of representatives of the churches will consider the reactions that have been solicited and received from them since the proposals were issued in September 1971. A meeting of a continuation committee at Geneva, December 1972, registered considerable satisfaction with the generally positive trend of the responses received so far. It is anticipated that the March meeting, sponsored by the Faith and Order secretariat of the World Council of Churches, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Lutheran World Federation, will prepare a final draft for subsequent adoption. Joint chairmen of the meeting are Prof. Marc Lienhardt, Strasbourg (Lutheran) and Prof. Max Geiger, Basel (Reformed). RPS
