The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1984 (11. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1984-06-01 / 6. szám
barren part of the Carpathian range. Elsewhere, the Carpathian scenery is friendlier and more inviting. As for the mystique of the Carpathians, Prof. Andrew Medriczky, a historian and scientist of Slovakian origin, advanced an interesting,though far-fetched, hypothesis just twenty-five years ago, explaining why people from Carpathian Europe have made so many outstanding achievements in culture, science and sports. Prof. Medriczky theorized that this "plus" quality might be attributed to the peculiar geo-biological composition of the Carpathian soil which is unusually rich in minerals and especially quartz. Experiments conducted by the Bell System and the Rand Corporation in California have shown that the rays of the sun create ultrasonic waves (vibrations) within quartz crystals that are beneficial to growing plants and lend a special aroma, taste and quality to garden produce. The agricultural products of the Carpathian Basin, such as grain, grapes, other fruits, vegetables, herbs and paprika, are known world-wide to have a particularly delicious flavor and aroma, qualities which extend to the animals that feed on these products as well. Could the rich quartz content of the soil, blessed by the intense sunshine prevalent in the Great Plains of Hungary, have a favorable influence? If such products are benefited by the particular soil conditions, so the theory goes, it is reasonable to assume that the humans in the area are also endowed with this mysterious “plus” quality. According to this hypothesis, the people within the Carpathian Basin are beneficiaries of this "common great secret" and if their sons and daughters live in distant countries they long not only for their birthplace, but also for Carpathian Europe, the region of their “common destiny.” Romantic extravagance and far-fetched theory aside, a contemporary Hungarian writer, László Cs. Szabó, explains the "magic of the Carpathians” in a more political, but still nostalgic vein in a book written after the Treaty of Trianon, which deprived Hungary of her Carpathian frontiers: Pre-World War I Hungary no longer exists, but Hungarian literature refuses to recognize the reality of a dismembered Hungary... When, in these days, we travel through a neighboring country, then, unlike our fathers, we feel that we are crossing two frontiers: first we exit from the state of Hungary, and only after further travel do we leave what we still consider our homeland. We feel that we have left Hungary not upon crossing the gates of the state border, but after we leave the Carpathians behind. Aspects of the land (tájak — regions) itself pull more strongly than frontier lines drawn by politicians. On the southern foothills of the Carpathians facing Rumania proper (Wallachia) »he life-style has a character quite different from that of the northern side in Transylvania: the vegetation is not the same, sunlight falls on the slopes in a dissimilar way and the diffusion of light also appears to be unique. When I was wandering in the sky-scraping Southern Carpathians, I saw the army of wild rocks tower to an altitude of 6,000 feet or more from a wretched mountain hut beside an ice-cold pond. The rocky peaks seemed like eternal border guards, forming an obstacle not only for humans but also for the elements. When the winds blow from the south sweeping clouds ahead of them across the sky, the clouds are sent back by these towering guardians. The ridge stops them on the southern slopes where they are brought to a sudden halt like a frustrated invading army. When the clouds approach from the north, the same process is played in reverse on the other side. Local shepherds and peasants, ignorant of politics, explained to me that if fine weather reigns on the northern, Transylvanian side then almost surely the weather is bad on the Wallachian side, and vice-versa. The Carpathians separate not only two regions, but two climates as well. Detached from political nostalgia, a non-Magyar political scientist appraises the significance of the Carpathian Basin thus: The heart of the country — the Great Hungarian Lowland — shows a remarkable similarity to the homelands previously inhabited by the Magyars before 895, the year of the Conquest. The flat expanse of the country — this delicate and soft part of the .body of historic Hungary is, however, protected by a granite shield — the Carpathians, a frontier as eternal as the Alps, the dividing line separating the southern Latin and the northern Germanic culture. There is one difference, however; there is no sea approach to the Carpathians. This is an armored wall of defense behind which the Magyars have been living for more than a thousand years. This definite frontier has been at all times the factor guiding that people's actions: for they have never willingly crossed beyond this frontier, have never shown any enthusiasm for imperialistic aspirations and yet, at the same time have never acquiesced to any breach being made in that armored wall. Whenever any breach has been made, these people have struggled and strived, writhed and refused to rest, until the rift has been restored. The Carpathians have for centuries determined the actions of the Magyar people, and have inured them to think of the changing destinies of peoples in terms of "eternal frontiers." It is a characteristic fact, for instance, that when most seriously reduced in numbers, their conception of a homeland has not shrunk in proportion to the decrease in population; homeland for them has always and unchangeably meant the country encircled by the Carpathians. HELP SPREAD THE TRUTH! Let the World know what is happening in Transylvania! Our Sword is the printed Word! JUNE, 1984 The Rumanian Government breaks up homogeneous Hungarian ethnic communities, by controlling labor and housing markets. Rumanians in great numbers are being settled in purely Hungarian areas to work in the newly constructed factories, while the native Hungarians are forced to move to Rumanian areas. Page 7
