AHF Headlines [Go to all news]
 June 3 Deadline! AHF ACTION ALERT! CONTACT CONGRESS! Dear Friends of Religious Liberty and Human Rights! The Romanian government has failed to restore a large number of religious and communal properties it illegally confiscated from the Hungarian and Jewish communities after the Second World War. Representatives Andy Harris (R-MD), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and David Royce (R-OH) have prepared a letter to Secretary of State Kerry regarding this untenable situation. They have invited their colleagues to co-sign their letter. You can help! [learn how]
 5/20/2013 - AHF welcomes the unveiling of statues of Count Janos Esterhazy, hero of the Holocaust, in Budapest and Kassa (now Kosice after annexation). AHF has long called for Esterhazy's exoneration, despite strong opposition from Slovak nationalists, and recently published key documents from Simon Wiesenthal, Yad Veshem, and historians Dr. Magda Ádám, Amb. Géza Jeszenszky, and Dr. István Deák that attest to his principled stand and actions to save Jews during World War II and protect the Hungarian minority in Slovakia. Heti Valasz article and videos are also shown of the ceremonies held in Budapest and Slovakia and the nationalist disruptions there. [read more]
 5/10/2013 - AHF publishes documents supporting the exoneration of Count János Esterházy (the only member of the Slovak Parliament in 1942 who voted against expelling the Jews, he was convicted on trumped up charges and died in a communist prison). The documents attest to his principled stand and actions to save Jews during World War II and protect the Hungarian minority in Slovakia, and includes letters from Simon Wiesenthal, Yad Veshem, and historians Dr. Magda Ádám, Amb. Géza Jeszenszky and Dr. István Deák, Professor Emeritus from Columbia University.
![[Download] the letter of Simon Wiesenthal to Dr. Peter Samko regarding the case of Janos Esterhazy (original German)](http://www.americanhungarianfederation.org/images/simonwiesenthal_esterhazy_redacted.png)
Letter of Simon Wiesenthal to Dr. Peter Samko regarding the case of Janos Esterhazy (original German)
[read more]
Featured Books & Articles
AHF presents articles written by distinguished AHF members. AHF encourages all members to submit scholarly essays, books, and other materials which will be featured on our Publications page. 1956 Revolution-related materials are featured on www.hungary1956.com
 T. Zane Reeves: "Shoes Along the Danube." Based on a true story, this amazing book follows the lives of two extended Hungarian families, the Rézlers and the Földes, one gentile and the other Jewish, through three decades. The story begins in pre-World War II Budapest, as increasing fascism and anti-Semitism lead Hungary to become an ally of Germany. In 1944, Germany invades Hungary to exterminate Europe’s last remaining group of Jews at the infamous Auschwitz death camp. The story builds through the siege of Budapest, the Russian occupation of Hungary, and separation by exile. It includes the story of Col. Ferenc Koszorus and the battle against Nazi forces. Buy [his books] and other products on the AHF Amazon Store 
[read more] about Zane and "Shoes Along the Danube"
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 Through an American Lens, Hungary, 1938: Photographs of Margaret Bourke-White. AHFs' Freedom Circle Member, Dr. Katalin Kadar Lynn, recently discovered a treasure trove of mostly unpublished photographs taken during a month-long trip to Hungary in 1938 by Life Magazine's most renowned photojournalist, Margaret Bourke-White. The photographs not only furnish us with a look at pre-WWII Hungary and its people, but because Bourke-White took unsentimental portraits of the major political figures in Hungary, from the far right to the far left, Communists, Fascists, Socialists, Social Democrats, Smallholders, as well as the primary government officials, it provides us with an insight into these individuals and history provides us with the consequences of their actions. Purchase this book on [read more]
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 Hungary in World War II: Caught in the Cauldron by Deborah Cornelius, Fordham University Press, New York, 2011. Csaba Zoltani writes: "Deborah Cornelius’ Hungary in World War II: Caught in the Cauldron (Fordham University Press, New York 2011) gives an excellent overview of the events leading up to and the horrendous events of World War II in Hungary. The effect of the Treaty of Trianon, that without plebiscites, truncated Hungary and deprived it of its natural resources and forced a sizeable portion of its population to live under alien jurisdiction, set the political and sociological climate in Hungary from the 1920's on. Cornelius gives an excellent overview of the readjustment that expressed itself in the politics and led to the belief that revision of the treaty was only possible through German intervention." [read more] Buy it now on AHF's Amazon Store!
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 New Zsuzsa Hanto, book published: "Kitiltott Családok" (Banished families. Communist repression of "class enemies" in Hungary) Hantó Zsuzsa az elszenvedok és visszaemlékezok emlékeit is magában foglaló könyv történész szerzoje nem kevesebbre vállalkozik, mint az 1950-ben és 1951-ben vidékrol és Budapestrol a kommunista rezsin által kitelepített, kitiltott családok szenvedéseit, megpróbáltatásait, nem egyszer pusztulását mutatja be. [tovább]
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 Tokaji Wine: Fame, Fate, Tradition: A Journey into Tokaji Wine History - By AHF's Miles Lambert-Gocs. This is a book that Wine Spectator called "the most comprehensive reference book on Tokaji available in the English language."
How did a wine from a remote corner of Europe gain unparalleled fame worldwide? This is the central question answered on virtually every page of Tokaji Wine: Fame, Fate, Tradition, a new book that promises to be a touchstone for all future writing on Tokaji. The world's first botrytis wine, Hungary's Tokaji won an enviable reputation centuries ago. But never before have the development of its winetypes and the story of its ups and downs in fame and prestige been presented so fully in English. [read more] or Buy his books now on the AHF Amazon Store
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 Scarlett Antaloczy's "FREEDOM ’56: True Stories of the Hungarian Revolution"... is a timely compilation of true accounts of the Hungarian freedom fight of 1956. What started out as a personal family tribute to Scarlett’s parents blossomed into a worldwide journey leading to a host of discoveries and the posing of serious questions about civilization, global domination and political agendas. FREEDOM ’56 is derived from a wealth of interviews and submissions of first-hand information from survivors and friends of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 against the Soviet occupation and the Hungarian Communist party. These are the personal experiences and reflections of individual contributors, from all walks of life and from all over the world, who looked back across more than fifty years of history to share their still-vivid memories of the Revolution with readers of FREEDOM ’56. [read more] and Buy her book now on the AHF Amazon Store
 Simon, Paul M: "The Old lady and the Fawn," the first bilingual edition of "Öreg néne ozikéje" (Hungarian)
 Rebecca McEldowney's "Soul of Flesh: A Novel of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution" [ read more]
 Dr. Katalin Kadar Lynn's "Tibor Eckhardt in His Own Words: An Autobiography" [ read more]
[ >> GO to the AHF News Archive]
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Events and Cultural News
Washington, DC:
INVITATION / MEGHÍVÓ
In Concert: THE DIPLOMATS!
We are happy to invite you to the concert of
THE DIPLOMATS, featuring AHF's own Andras Lincoln on keyboard and Bryan Dawson on lead vocals!
Saturday, June 1st, 2013, 8:00 pm
The concert will be followed by a dance party presented by
DJ TOTO
Entrance fee: $10 USD/person (free drinks at open bar!)
RSVP!
Email: rsvp.was@mfa.gov.hu
Phone: (202) 362-6730/201
[read more] about The Diplomats
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Washington, DC:
INVITATION / MEGHÍVÓ
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2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival!
June 26–June 30 & July 3–July 7
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival Program features "Hungarian Heritage: Roots to Revival" The Smithsonian Institution has been presenting a Folklife Festival since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Festival is an annual event, celebrating cultural traditions from around the world. This is the largest and most important event of this kind in the world, reaching approximately 40 million people in the U.S.
 The 2013 Festival's theme will be "Hungarian Heritage - Roots to Revival" and will feature a wide spectrum of activities from Hungarian folk crafts to dance and music. The Festival takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. from June 26 to July 7. This is a tremendous opportunity to showcase our heritage and presence in the Carpathian Basin. The site of the Hungary Program on the Mall was approved (the area on the side closest to the Capitol with a nice open view to the Capitol building) and construction plans are tremendous and expensive! We need your financial support! Learn how to help make this amazing event a resounding success! [Read a message] from George Szapary, Ambassador of Hungary to the United States. [read more and help!]
Looking Back: AHF History
 1990: Kossuth in the US Capitol:
"The spirit of our age is Democracy. All for the people and all by the people. Nothing about the people, without the people. That is Democracy, and that is the ruling tendency of the spirit of our age." - Louis Kossuth, spoken before the Ohio State Legislature, February 16, 1852, more than a decade before Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Speaking to half the population of the United States at the time and witnessed by heroic welcomes across the country, Louis Kossuth's impact on the United States was nothing short of historic. Kossuth was the first foreign statesman since the Marquis de Lafayette to address a joint session of Congress.
To celebrate and commemorate the friendship and shared values between the people of the United States and those of Hungarian descent, The American Hungarian Federation commissioned a bronze bust of Lajos Kossuth and offered it to U.S. Congress. House Concurrent Resolution 251 (Introduced by Congressman Tom Lantos, cosponsored by Congressman William Broomfield and a Senate support motion by Sen. Pell) called for placement of the statue in the US Capitol. It was adopted on Feb 27, 1990 (House) and March 1 (Senate).
[read more]
AHF Members' Corner
Featured Members
Featured members are selected at random. AHF members come from all walks of life and from different religious and political backgrounds. They join AHF because they believe in working together for common causes and on issues that unite, not divide. This section provides the public a small glimpse at the broad cross section of the community AHF represents. AHF is an all-volunteer, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit educational and charitable organziation serving the community since 1906! Join and Support Us!
 Paul Sohar made his way as a young student refugee from Hungary to the US where he abandoned his formal education with a BA degree in philosophy with chemistry as his minor. The latter subject turned out to be the basis of his daytime job with a drug company while he hoped to pursue his literary interests. He would go on to not only publish his own poetry, but to translate into English the works of great Hungarian and Transylvanian poets. January 2013 saw the publication of a collection of Faludy poems in his translation: "Silver Pirouettes" by The Write Deal publisher as an e-book. [read more].
[see all Featured Members]
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AHF Member
Book Highlights & Reviews
AHF presents films and books and articles written by distinguished AHF members. AHF encourages all members to submit scholarly essays, books, and other materials which will be featured on our Publications page. 1956 Revolution-related materials are also featured on www.hungary1956.com
 SILVER PIROUETTES by Paul Sohar: Selected and translated poems of György Faludy. WriteDeal writies: "The poetry of Hungarian writer György (George) Faludy is not only powerful and memorable, it is also exciting! Faludy (1910-2006) lived through the nightmares of both World War II and communism (he left Hungary after the tragic failure of the 1956 uprising) and he brings to everything he writes a certain intimacy with life and death that luckier people will never know.
His decades-long translator and AHF member, Paul Sohar, has evidently made this book a labor of love, for he has translated Faludy’s Hungarian rhymes and rhythms into English rhymes and rhythms. Today, rhymed peotry too often sounds like an affectation or an anachronism. But Sohar writes in clear, straightforward lines—the rhymes are unforced, the rhythm is varied. He’s set the bar higher for all future translators of world poetry." [read more]
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 The DVD now available online! Order your copy of Freedom Dance!
"Freedom Dance" re-tells the inspiring story of a Hungarian-born artist named Edward Hilbert who (with his newly wedded wife, Judy) made a dangerous escape from occupied Hungary in 1956 during the violent Hungarian Revolution, taking refuge in the land of Edward's dreams: America! This remarkable story of faith and courage, uniquely animated, can be yours for only $20.
[Read more] about this unique film by AHF member and Grammy-nominated filmmaker Steven Fischer or [Click here] to place your order with your credit card or PayPal account. If you would like to pay by check, [email] the producer for details. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.
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 AHF Book Review: Rememberance (Pamiec): Polish Refugees in Hungary 1939-1946 (Emlékezés - Lengyel Menekültek Magyarorszagon 1939-1946) by Grzegorz and Krystyna Lubczyk. Throughout its history, Hungary offered refuge to a wide variety of ethnicities trying to escape persecution in their homelands. At the beginning and throughout the Second World War, Poles, including considerable number of its military, sought and received refuge from Nazi and Stalinist persecution. Eventually most of the soldiers went on and joined the Allied war effort and played an important part in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
A new two volume work by the former Polish ambassador to Hungary, Grzegorz Lubczyk and his wife Krystyna under the patronage of the Polish president, document the story of the Polish refugees in Hungary in Emlékezés (Pamiec or Rememberance) Polish Refugees in Hungary 1939-1946. The first volume gives an overview of what transpired and the second volume gives personal stories of many of the nearly 120,000 Polish refugees who were granted redoubt at nearly 200 locations scattered throughout Hungary. [Read the AHF Book Review] by Csaba Zoltani.
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Miles Lambert-Gocs: "Tokaji Wine: Fame, Fate, Tradition: A Journey into Tokaji Wine History." Wine Spectator called it "the most comprehensive reference book on Tokaji available in the English language." [
"The Porcelain Figurine" (A Porcelánbaba) by Eva Mecs.[
