At
AHF's April 2nd, 2005 meeting
held in Washington, D.C., AHF's chair of the Executive Committee, Dr. Paul
J. Szilagyi introduced a new project code-named "Fulgur"
or "lightning" in Latin. Fulgur was the
title of a children's book about Hungary and its historic borders. Like
its namesake, the Fulgur project aims to develop programs to support the
survival of Hungarian communities in former Hungarian territories.
Why so many Hungarians in across the borders?
The
reluctant player in WWI was punished heavily, paying a price no other
modern nation had ever before been subjected to. The French, despite American
protests and calls for plebiscites, with troops in Northern Hungary in
violation of the peace, pushed through the Treaty
of Versailles (Trianon) which cost Hungary 2/3 of it territory, 1/3
of its Hungarian population, and up to 90% of its resources, railroads,
and industry. Although Rumania, herself created only in 1862, switched
to the French side almost at the very end of the war, she gained all of
Transylvania and majority of the Banat. The Czechs got all of Northern
Hungary to create Czechoslovakia, the Serbs got Southern Hungary (Vojvodina)
and Croatia, and most amazingly, the Austrians who were responsible for
getting Hungary into the war in the first place, got Western Hungary (Burgenland).
AHF was instrumental in organizing the American Hungarian Community in
efforts to influence US policy in order to illuminate the unjust dismemberment
of Hungary at Trianon
and seek re-unification. Anti-Hungarian measures such as the infamous
Benes Decrees, which expropriated
Hungarian lands and landowners in the newly formed Czechoslovakia
added to the Hungarian tragedy as hundreds of thousands of Hungarians
were forced off their ancestral lands.
Today, the story isn't much better. Hungarian population in her former
territories continues to fall as Hungarians leave their ancient homelands
seeking better education, better jobs, and a better standard of living.
Violence, ethnic cleansing, and discrimination against Hungarians is also
another major factor in the population decline. A good recent example
of this is in the Vajdasag (Vojvodina),
a formerly autonomous region in the former Yugoslavia, now controlled
by Serbia. In Rumania, too, violence; confiscated churches, synogogues
and other property; lack of higher education in the mother tongue; further
excacerbate the problem. Sadly, the same patterns can be found in Hungarian
settlements throughout the Carpathian Basin. AHF is proud to have had
a role in opening the border in Szelmenc,
a forgotten cold war tragedy.
What can we do
to ensure Hungarian culture survives in the Carpathian Basin?
Adding to Dr. Szilagyi's comments, AHF Vice President Bryan Dawson-Szilagyi
promoted the idea of supporting ethnic Hungarian organizations through
sponsorship of technology and other innovations that can contribute to
effective communication and coordination in former Hungarian territories.
He commented there is a lack of centralized information and community
outreach and that AHF can help provide that. Many organizations are doing
great work, but lack the resources, infrastructure, and technology know-how
to fully reach their potential. Rev. Imre Bertalan Jr. added that Fulgur
can also target ethnic Hungarians in the United States through educational
opportunities and information dissemination. Dawson-Szilagyi added that
the lack of full-time elementary education as well as a strong national
presence in Washington that could offer internship and other government
related educational opportunities are a major concern. Those interested
in participating, are invited to join us!
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Andy
Grove
(b 1936, Budapest)
President/CEO, Chairman, and Co-Founder of
Intel Corporation:
Time's Man of the Year for 1998. The second Hungarian awarded the honor.
The first was the
Hungarian Freedom Fighter in 1957!
See more Famous Hungarians on
The Hungary Page
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