The Eighth Tribe, 1980 (7. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1980-04-01 / 4. szám

In 1598 there were 44 printing establishments in Transylvania, producing up to that date 380 books, of which 352 were in the Hungarian language, 18 in German, 6 in Lation and 4 in Rumanian or Vlach.

The Hungarian Kingdom, firmly based on the Constitution, did not discriminate against citizens of different cultures and different tongues. On the contrary : the Hungarian administration saw to it through long and turbulent centuries, that the Vlach (Rumanian) population of the Carpathian Basin developed its own culture, keeping in step as much as possible with the development of the other ethnic cultures within the Kingdom. Schools in the Vlach language were established and maintained by public funds in towns and villages with Vlach population. Greek Orthodox and later Greek Catholic churches were built and maintained in every Vlach village, priests were hired, even imported if necessary, paid by the Government, and seminary schools were established in order to ensure replacement.

The strong sense of justice and the tolerant nature of the Hungarian population enabled the descendants of Vlach refugees to establish themselves as a “new nation” in Transylvania. In our next issue we will explore the attitude of these new citizens, the Transylvanian Rumanians, toward their host-nation.

(For documentation of statements expressed in this article, read: “Transylvania, and the Hungarian-Rumanian Problem”, a symposium, 1979, Danubian Press, Astor, Fla. 32002.)

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Transylvania and the Hungarian-Rumanian Problem, a symposium, 330 pp. maps, statistics, bibliography, cloth ..............................................................$18.00

Wass: Deadly Fog at Dead Man’s Landing, novel ....$ 5.00 Wass: Hungarian Legends, illustrated, second edition, cloth..................$10.00 paper...................$ 8.00

Haraszti, Andrew: The Ethnic History

of Transylvania ..........................................................$10.00

Haraszti: Origin of the Rumanians. The Vlach

origin and migration ..................................................$ 5.00

Nánay, Julia: Transylvania, the Hungarian

Minority in Rumania..................................................$ 5.00

Wass: Documented Facts and Figures on

Transylvania, paper .......$ 4.00 hardbound .............$ 5.00

Zathuraczky: Transylvania, Citadel of the West ........$ 4.00

Wass, Albert: Our Hungarian Heritage, a

bicentennial publication .............................................$ 2.00

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VOICE OF A RUMANIAN

(Under the title “From Marxist Socialism to national- Socialism Under Ceausescu” an essay was published in the symposium “Transylvania and the Hungarian-Rumanian Problem” by Prof. Jonel P. Margineanu, ardent advocate of an independent Transylvania, and member of the Danubian Research Center. With the permission of the publisher — The Danubian Press — we are presenting here condensed excerpts from Prof. Margineanu’s essay.)

My forefathers were sheepherding people for more than a thousand years, moving their herds slowly northward from near Albania into our present homeland, in search of peace and better pastures. There is no doubt about our Latin origin and our migration, since we have left our footprints all over the Balkan peninsula in the names of mountains and streams, while our language bears witness to close connections with Albanians, Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians and finally the Magyars. (See: André Du Nay “The Early History of the Rumanian Language”, Jupiter Press, Chicago, 111. USA, 1977.)

We do not have to hide behind false faces or invent a politically motivated history in order to become equal to other European nations. We do not have to claim to be “first settlers” in our land while all geographical names around us prove the opposite. WE ARE NATIVE INHABITANTS of Transylvania — Erdély, Ardeal, Siebenbxrgen — together with others, having the same God given rights to this land as anybody else who belongs there. This does, and must, suffice for any one of us: Magyars, Germans, Rumanians. Together, we are the proud heirs of a Western cultural inheritance which goes back many centuries into European history. It is a Transylvanian culture, special and unique in this world. It is the blend of different cultures coexisting here for many centuries, forming a perfect foundation to a special Transylvanian brotherhood; which, I am sorry to admit, because of overwhelming outside influences, never was able to materialize.

There were times in my life when I felt that a Transylvanian brotherhood could be worked out, making our mutual homeland into a peaceful and wonderful place to live for all of us, no matter what language we spoke. First, it was during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, and again during the 1950’s, when it seemed that perhaps old hurts and grievances could be forgotten, and Hungarians, Germans, Rumanians could share the responsibilities of a brighter future, enjoying equal rights and carrying equal burdens.

Before World War II, it was the plague seeping across the borders from Germany that obstructed the natural development of mutual understanding and trust between us, and contaminated the air with the

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