The Eighth Tribe, 1977 (4. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1977-11-01 / 11. szám
Page 4 THE EIGHTH TRIBE November, 1977 other public aid 38 Hungarian periodicals, 12 publishing houses, 5 literary societies and produced more books in the Hungarian language in one year than in the last 32 years all together, as wards of the Socialist Republic of Rumania. What the Rumanian propaganda is trying hard to conceal is the fact that the native Hungarian population of Transylvania is part of a highly cultured nation. As an integral part of the Hungarian Kingdom for almost one thousand years, Transylvania was drawn into the Western Christian Culture Circle from the very beginning of the eleventh century. By the sixteenth century, when book-publishing was still an exciting new achievement all over the civilized world, Transylvania produced more books in the Hungarian language than it is allowed to produce today. The Rumanians should not forget either, that their own culture was also nurtured and aided in its development by the Hungarians of Transylvania. In 1582 the first Bible translation in the Vlach language appeared (at that time the word “Rumanian” was not yet created) financed by Hungarians, in order to acquaint their Rumanian neighbors with the Word of God. While the Rumanian culture, as such, is scarcely a century old, since Rumania was established only in 1866, the Hungarian culture was already in the Middle Ages a very active part of Western Christian Culture, which explains the much higher cultural demands of the native Transylvanian Hungarians as compared to the relatively low demand of the Rumanian population. Rumanians are trying very hard to hide this fact under the disguise of an artificially created theory of their national origin, known as the “daco-roman theory”. This doctrine was conceived at the turn of this century to serve as a base to a completely falsified history which could be used to substantiate Rumanian territorial ambitions, and justify their conquest of Transylvania in 1919. Through this theory Rumanians claim to be the “direct descendants and legal heirs” of the Daks and the Romans who occupied Dacia in 107 A.D. The truth is that according to Roman historians the DAKS were exterminated by the legions of the Roman Empire, since they refused to surrender. On the other hand, when Emperor Aurelian withdrew his last outposts from Dacia, in 271 A.D., he ordered every fort and town destroyed, and the land was left completely devastated and deserted to the intruding Goths. This is an established historical fact. (See: Goos, G. “Studien zur Geographie und Geschichte des trajanischen Daciens”, Hermannstadt, .1874. Also Horváth: Transylvania, and the history of the Rumanians, Danubian Press, 1977.) However, even if some of the Roman legionnaires had deserted and stayed behind, their descendants would not be of Latin origin, since those legions, stationed in the North-East of the Empire were composed of so-called “barbarian troops”, recruited in the West, where the inhabitants belonged to the different Germanic tribes. Nevertheless, the Rumanians are of Latin origin. Their forefathers were brought over from Southern Italy to the Balkan peninsula by their Greek landlords, and settled near Albania. From there they slowly migrated northward. In the year 1167 their forerunners, migrating Vlach herdsmen, received permission from the King of Hungary to cross the Danube river in search of pasture lands. They settled first the Southern slopes of the Transylvanian Alps under their own tribal rulers, thus slowly establishing their claim to the land which was later called Vlashia or Wallachia. (See: Gruder, “The Byzanthine Empire and Her People” Oxford University Press 1877, Haraszti: “Origin of the Rumanians” Danubian Press, 1977, and Hurmuzaki: “Fragmente zur Geschichte der Rumänen” Bucuresti, 1878.) The first official report on the presence of Vlach herdsmen in Southern Transylvania dates back to the 13th century. In 1234 Pope Gregory IX sent a letter to Béla, Prince of Transylvania (later King Béla TV of Hungary), asking him “in the name of God” to grant asylum “to those poor Vlach refugees” who wished to escape the harsh rule of the CUMANS. From then on a slow but steady migration of Vlach refugees took place into Transylvania. These people were officially settled by Hungarian authorities on certain designated lands, under their own leaders. Being of the Greek Orthodox religion, separate churches were built for them by the Hungarian kings and some wealthy landlords, and a separate clergy was maintained in order that they might enjoy complete cultural freedom under the constitution of the Hungarian Kingdom. Nevertheless, these Vlach immigrants very seldom showed any sign of loyalty toward the Hungarian Homeland. Slowly increasing in numbers, they turned with the most vicious ferocity against the native Hungarian population whenever an opportunity arose. During the several Hungarian liberty wars, fought for religious and politiccal freedom against the Habsburg empire, these Vlachs again and again descended upon defenseless Hungarian towns and villages, torturing and killing thousands of men, women and children with such savage cruelty as Europe had never seen before. (The last of these
