William Penn Life, 2016 (51. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2016-10-01 / 10. szám
Tibor's Take before returning to Hungary to be reunited with his wife and five-year-old daughter. He scrimped and saved every penny earned and never sent money back to the family as it would have been confiscated by the Communists. Ronnie, with the aid of American cash, bribed his way back into Hungary, despite several pending criminal charges against him. After more greasing of palms, a short stint in prison was imposed before Ronnie was allowed to return home. Over time, he became a minor player in the local political party, worked for the government and built a house in Csőt and a vacation home overlooking the Balaton. As with many men of that era, he imbibed in pálinka and other distilled spirits to help forget the past and embrace the future. A few final notes to the story of Ronnie and his daughter Rhonda: Ronnie was the same age as my nagyapa Cseh. In fact, my granddad got Ronnie his first job in Youngstown at the Standard Slag Company. A few months later, my great- grandfather Cseh got him a higher paying job at the Sheet and Tube. I learned that Ronnie's mother and my great- grandmother were sisters (née Kadi). Most of that part of the family has moved away from Csőt to either Győr or Budapest. Rhonda has rediscovered her roots in Csőt and will soon be opening a bed and breakfast, wellness center and folk/cultural business in the near future. ****************************************************************** There are other stories 1 learned concerning the men who returned to Hungary following the Revolution. • One gentleman told me about a cousin of his, Mikey, who returned to Hungary, only to vanish from the face of the Earth. It was common fact that Mikey spoke out loudly against the Communists prior to the revolt and continued to do so once he moved to the U.S. He returned to Hungary because his parents were ill. It is believed Mikey was greeted at the border by state police upon his return and was either executed or sent to Siberia. Inquiries were made with government officials in Hungary only to be told it would be good for his family to forget about Mikey as he had "an unfortunate accident" and died. • One gent originally from Pécs left America, but on his way to Hungary, decided to stop in England and ended up staying there. • Another young man escaped but returned due to what may best be described as a circumstance of location. Before the Revolution, Gary lived only a few kilometers from the Austrian border. He was scheduled to enter the Magyar Army after the Christmas holiday and was unhappy. When news of the Revolution broke, he quickly scampered to the other side of the border. His thoughts were fleeting and not well planned. He did not discuss his intentions of escaping Hungary with anyone and believed he would return home before his army stint began. The quick closure of borders and the shoot-on-sight mentality of the border guards turned his anticipated short vacation from Communist rule into three years of wandering across western Europe. Gary was a very lucky fellow: his father was a local civil authority and was able to pull strings to get his son back to Hungary with little consequence. • George escaped his ho-hum life of working for the state owned co-op dairy farm to a better life in the west. Unfortunately for him, he ended up being sponsored by a church group located in the panhandle of Texas that employed him doing basically the same thing he did back in Hungary. Living in an area far removed from any fellow Hungarians, George soon became homesick and eventually returned to Hungary a bit older and wiser. • A brother/cousin trio of Roma background fled Hungary via work visas issued by the Communists. In September 1956, Géza, Árpád and Zsolt were a trio of musicians who performed at various restaurants located at or near tourist spots around Lake Balaton. By mid-September, most of the vacationers who flocked to the Balaton area were gone, and, as they did in previous years, the three musicians applied for October through December work visas in Austria. When the Revolt ended, the trio continued to perform at various Austrian cafés and restaurants as if nothing happened in nearby Hungary. Only news from the radio and newspapers gave the musicians any idea as to the severity of the Revolution. By the latter part of December, the three began to discuss their choices of either returning to Hungary or becoming refugees. They agreed that their decision had to be unanimous because, if only one or two of them stayed in Austria, the ones to return would be persecuted. All three young men were graduates of the gypsy school of music in Devecser, and their credentials were quite impressive. Knowing this, they decided to stay in Austria with the hopes of making more money in the West. As time progressed, the trio found that it was hard to make money as a three-piece band performing traditional Hungarian folk music outside of Hungary. For several years, they traveled throughout Europe performing where and when they could. Eventually, they made it to Canada and performed at restaurants in Montreal and Toronto. For one year, they played at the now-closed Hungarian Village in Niagara Falls. Years of substandard living took its toll on Árpád, the cimbalom player. He died in the winter of 1968 in British Columbia. Géza, the violinist, decided to test the waters Continued on Page 3 I Tibor Check, Jr., is a member of Branch 28 and an attorney working in Washington, D.C. Let's hear your take If you have any questions or comments about me or my column, please email me at: silverkingl937@ gmail.com, or drop me a letter in care of the William Penn Association, 709 Brighton Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15233. WILLIAM PENN LIFE 0 October 2016 0 7
