William Penn Life, 2017 (52. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2017-10-01 / 10. szám
Tibor's Take As Éva wandered about District VI of Budapest, she was invited to stay at a kávéház (coffee house) by a student who worked there. For a few days, she helped, washing dishes and serving coffee. There, she heard patrons' tales of living in fear and degradation. On the day the revolution began, many of the coffee house patrons asked Éva if she would like to come along and demonstrate. With nothing to lose, she tagged along. Within hours, she was making Molotov Cocktails and shooting at the Russians. When the Communists left the city, Éva felt for the very first time that her life was turning around. While Éva was filling a bottle with gasoline, a Russian tank fired a shell that brought down the roof of the building she was in. A fire created by the exploding shell caused her makeshift bomb to explode. Éva suffered burns over much of her upper torso and face. She survived only a few hours in the rubble. ✓ Árpád was a third-generation pastry chef-in-training at Gerbeaud at Vörösmarty Tér, eager to follow in the occupational footsteps of his father and grandfather. Over the years, the family had acquired two shops. The first was a few blocks away from the famous New York Cafe and the other on Régi Posta just a short stroll from Váci Utca. They enjoyed a reputation throughout the Pest side of the city for baking high quality pastries. In 1949, the Communists closed the first shop and confiscated the contents, telling Árpád's father that rich cakes and rétes were excesses not to be tolerated. Within a year, the Régi Posta shop faced the same demise. Árpád's grandfather died while being interrogated after the first store was shuttered. Árpád's father was sent each day by bus to a cooperative dairy farm near Fót, where he was told: "Now you can see where the cream comes from to make your cakes." Árpád Sr. worked at that farm for four years. When the revolt began, he and his wife immediately fled Hungary with little more than the clothes they wore. Meanwhile, young Árpád had been forced to attend a facility where he was trained to be a certified mechanic. He was given housing by the government and worked at the Nyugati Railway Station. The modest apartment on Síp Utca where his family had lived had been confiscated by the government. The family met only on holidays and agreed that if the opportunity to flee Hungary ever arose, they would reunite in a new and free country. Árpád saw that window of opportunity open a few days into the revolution. But before departing west, he realized there was a quick way to wreck havoc on the retreating communist troops. He knew that the trains they would use for their escape would need to stop for refueling about 20 miles outside of Budapest. So, he hung burlap bags filled with sand hidden high up inside the fuel compartment of the locomotives. Once in Austria, Árpád was soon sent to Germany. There, he requested the authorities to search the refugees' register to see if his parents had made it out of Hungary as well. Early in the summer of 1957, the family was reunited. Árpád and his family were among the approximately 80,000 Hungarians who made it to Ämerica. Eventually, Árpád's family reestablished the family tradition of making and selling exquisite Hungarian pastries. Géza and András were brothers a year apart in age. They were raised in the area of Pécs and were destined to work in the mines outside of town. After their parents and sister were killed by bombs dropped from planes, their grandfather became their legal guardian until his passing in 1953. The boys worked at the laundry of the mine, cleaning equipment and scrubbing work clothes by hand. In 1954, with no family member to take care of them, the brothers decided to attend a new industrial school that was about to open in Vác. From day one, the boys were treated harshly. For two years, teachers continuously indoctrinated them with anti-religion and pro-communist theories. As the grandsons of a Hussar in the Austrian- Hungarian army and the nephews of a priest, Géza and András were taught to respect others, be virtuous and practice their religion. Many of their fellow students came from similar, wholesome family backgrounds. They all quickly developed a disdain for communist authority. When the revolt began on Oct. 23, the school was immediately shut down. Although there was no school, the majority of the boys had to stay at the education complex because the dormitories were located on site. Students were allowed to travel into town as long as they returned by nightfall. Each dormitory room housed about 100. The town of Vác is relatively close to Budapest, so news about the insurrection reached them quickly. When they heard it, the brothers and several hundred of their school mates decided to become Freedom Fighters. Many of the students were either killed or injured. Géza and András became snipers because they knew how to shoot and handle firearms, a skill taught to them by their grandfather. András was one of the first to toss a grenade into the AVO office. When the Russians retreated, the boys decided to leave Hungary because they had violated the curfew rules of the school and knew they would be expelled. Both boys traveled about Europe for a few years. András joined the French Foreign Legion because doing so automatically made him a French citizen. Géza wanted to visit America and learned that if he joined the U.S. Army in Germany they would transport him to America for boot camp. Upon passing that requirement, special citizenship classes would be available for new soldiers. Eventually, Géza fought in Algeria, and András was an infantryman in the Vietnam War. Both passed away in 2004. The stories of the real orphan heroes of '56 need to be added to the chronicles of history, before it is too late. / Éljen a Amerikai-Magyar, Tibor If you have any questions or comments, please email me at: silverkingl937@gmail.com. WILLIAM PENN LIFE 0 October 2017 0 7
