Verhovayak Lapja, 1940. január-június (23. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1940-01-25 / 4. szám
everybody is to be turned into something else with heat. Our period is a difficult one. I don’t know how the current world crisis is going to develop or what this country is going to do in the long run in connection with it. Whatever happens, I hope that a good many of us will try to be careful and intelligent... As I’ve said, we have here between 15 and 20 million people of the German background. The thing to do is to remember that they are one thing and the German Bund is another thing; that Hitler is over there and Thomas Mann is here. It may be that the worst is yet to come in the Old World, that we are witnessing the Page 8 beginning of a cultural blackout over there, and that it is going to be our job here to save some of the good phases of Western culture and make them elements of the American culture. We have abundant materials for such a job. When this country was formed, there were people, Jefferson included, who believed that the hope of the world was here. They probably were right. But we’ve got to be careful. There is need of exerting our individual and collective intelligence. We have serious economic and social problems; as we proceed to try to solve them, we should watch out that prejudice and intolerance don’t turn the American Dream ____Verhovayak Lapja.____ January 25, 1940. into a Nightmare. The future, ours as the world’s, is in unity within diversity. Our various backgrounds are important and valuable, but, in the long run, not in themselves, not as something perfect and final. They are important and valuable only as material for our future American culture. As I say, we have a chance to create a universal, a panhuman culture, more satisfying than anything humanity has as yet devised or experienced. The American Dream is a lovely thing, but to keep it going, to keep it from turning into a Nightmare, every once in a while we’ve got to wake up. My Travels Abroad with the Verhovay By Alexander J. Goydan Our arrival at Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday, July 21st, proved to be a gala occasion for all of us. Having been on water for 8 days and at last finally seeing dry land and a friendly group of anxious people eager to greet and welcome the M/S Pilsudski, was an experience which I will never forget. The thrill which one feels as the huge boat is slowly pulled into the dock by small tug boats, amidst the stirring march music of the ship’s orchestra and the welcoming band on shore, leaves one with the impression that the arrival of an oceanic liner from a distant pert is really an occasion well worth the reception. It is almost two hours after docking that we are finally permitted to leave the ship. As a tour had already been arranged by the ship’s sightseeing office we proceeded to a sightseeing bus which was already waiting for us. Our guide, a Bohemian by birth and ex-army man, explained the points of interest as we slowly drove along the streets of Copenhagen in a modern streamline bus of German make. We were amazed at the number of bicycles being used. It was a familiar sight to see men and women of all ages ride the two wheeled vehicles with the greatest of ease and nonchalance. Our curiosity and humor got the best of us as we watched ladies attach their babies in a basket to the front of their bicycles and slowly drove through the streets. Our guide informed us that Copenhagen has a population of 900,000 people of which 300,000 have bicycles, this being their principal means of travel to and from their work. There are 25,000 Catholics and 6,000 people of the Jewish faith living in Copenhagen. The rest of the 900,000 population are of the Protestant faith. As we slowly travel thru the city we learn that the people living there are very honest. There are very few crimes committed and their jails are always empty. The workers in this peaceful city receive free hospitalization and medicine for themselves and their families in case of sickness, contributing out of their weekly salaries towards those state institutions. The world renown universities and laboratories for the curing of cancer are located here. There is no traffic problem and very few traffic police. We pass the famous Rozenburg Castle and the Kings garden. The king never needs a bodyguard and is well liked by all his subjects. We pass the Tivoli, famous for its open air performances, which can seat from 50 to 70,000 people, A brief stop is made at the Ludwig Church which is still under construction and is nearing completion. This church is world renown for its unusual style of architecture, being built in the styles of a huge pipe organ and which is perfect in every respect. It will seat 3000 people on the ground floor and 1500 in the basement, which will be a huge meeting hall. There are over 200,000 telephones in the city. Returning to the dock, we pass the Grand Hotel, Stock Exchange Building, Sporting Stadium, The Royal Theatre, and the Railroad Station. The tour being- over, the young people decided to do a little' exploring on their own, making their way through huge parks to the Copenhagen Boating Club. Here we found boats from many countries, including quite a few from Germany, all of which were privately owned. Our shore leave just about up* we slowly made our way back to the ship feeling sure that our first steps on foreign soil were well spent. It was about 6 p. m. when the ship once again slowly moved out of the harbor. We had lost about 100 of our Danish friends, who had reached their destination and the ship seemed suddenly to become very empty. It was a matter of a few hours until we all would be leaving the ship which for 9 days had been our home. That evening seemed to be the busiest of all the evenings. All evening everyone was busy packing and returning borrowed clothes, brushes, books, cameras, fountain pens, and most everything. We were awakened the next morning at the early hour of six as all luggage was to be prepared and ready for unloading. The morning of the 9th day at sea was an eventful day in our lives. By 8 a. m. we could see the home port of the M/ S Pilsudski and the pride of the Polish Nation, the seaport town of Gdynia. In the distance we could see two huge battleships anchored against the light of an early morning sky. Merchant vessels of foreign nations were also visible. The ship was still moving into the docks' when the faces of those on shore could be recognized. It was Marie Gallovich second year winner, who was the first to see the anxious face of the representative of the Verhovay F. I. Association in Hungary and Europe, that of Mr. Andrew Fay Fisher. The majority of us knew him not just then but the unmistakable expression on his face signified that he knew all of us even though we had not been formally introduced. It was not long before the bands had stopped playing, boat whistles were silenced and Mr. Fisher was on board with his Verhovays whom he had so impatiently been waiting for. The thousand and one problems which we had were beginning to solve themselves with the arrival of Mr. Fisher. Polish Passport Inspectors and Customs Men were on board and before long we were saying farewell to the ship and to the people who had been so courteous to us the entire trip. The customs men examined our luggage very lightly and permitted us to take them to the waiting express train. Having placed our luggage and having a few hours before departure, we decided to see the sights of Gdynia. It didn’t take Marion long to find a group of us and we were showed the beautiful town of Gdynia. “The city”, he explained, “was comparatively new, having been built in 1925”. The buildings were all modern, streets were wide and well paved. The postoffice building, the docks of the steamship lines were all new. Continueing along the streets of the city, a farewell toast was given at the beer gardán where all of the sailors and members of the crew met after the ships docking at the home port and in which we also took part. Slowly we returned to the docks to find our train in readiness with everyone on board. Little did we realize then that this would be our last view of Gdynia and of Marion who kept chatting away and bidding the entire group a pleasant journey with the hopes for a happy reunion on our return. The thin shriek of the train whistle a.nd the slow start of the Polish Express towards Danzig and Warsaw was an indication that the first group of Magyar-Americans to visit Hungary in its new found glory of having former territories restored, were on their way through a country which showed the greatest spirit of unity—of Polish- Hungarian friendliness and understanding. (To be continued) Special Note: Most of the Verhovays will remember Rev. Peter J„ Klita, Assistant Pastor of St. Stanislaus Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who crossed on the Pilsudski with us, and whose destination was Poland in the interest of education in boy scout activities and boys work. His arrival home at the late date of December 7th from Göteborg, Sweden and his account of war torn Poland, his narrow escapes was an experience never to be forgotten. He was bombed continously for 18 days and was forced to live with Communists for 6 weeks. The war caught him in Warsaw and he was in Wilno on October 28th when the Lithuanians took that city. He traveled via Lithuania, Latvia, Esthonia and Sweden finally to arrive home on December 7th. Father Klita had occasioni to observe the Russian Sol-i diers. He was not at all impressed by either their ap-i pearance or their actions, j In Wilno, he saw ill-fedj Russian soldiers daily beg j for bread. “In the Red Army j that occupied the entire j eastern sector we were j amazed at the ignorance j not only of the soldiers butj especially the officers whoj could not decipher the elementary things of a passport.” It was fortunate for | Father Klita that they did j not know what the word j ‘Clergyman’ meant. Travel j was exceedingly difficult. In) three days their train wasj only able to proceed 50 miles j and then only at night. They j “snitched rides” on military trains, walked for days, rode in horse cars and were daily | dodging bombs and machine gun bullets. We welcome back to ourj midst Reverend Klita and j are happy to have him with us once again.--------------O-------------When a Turkish mother bears her sixth child she is entitled to a silver medal and a small pension.
