AHF establishes Disaster Relief Fund to assist victims of severe flooding in Szekler regions of Transylvania

9/1/2005 - AHF establishes Disaster Relief Fund to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina. Hungarian communities have been part of the Gulf Region for a century. HELP member organizations like the Louisiana Hungarians headed by Dr. Stephen Gargatz and Julia Bika (thankfully, both are safe). 100% of proceeds go to victims and programs supporting the rebuilding and relief effort. - DONATE NOW!

1/4/2005 - Hungarians have until September 2005 to formally request return of confiscated properties in Slovakia under the Benes Decrees. The 1945 Benes Decrees claimed collective World War II responsibility of Germans and Hungarians living in Czechoslovakia, and deprived them of their rights, their property and expelled many of them from the country. The Decrees, formally, are still in force. According to the Decrees, 2.5 million ethnic Germans (Sudetendeutsch) and approximately 40,000 Hungarians were lost their Czechoslovakian citizenship, their land was expropriated and they were exiled. This transition was carried out over 1945-46, and was in many cases badly administered and brutal. Many people lost their lives. Ethnic Czechs were moved in to fill the empty towns.

The "Szabad Ujsag" weekly has published a list of those lands, which were taken away during the Benes programs. The original owners or its children, grandchildren etc may recover these expropriated lands and properties, if they can prove their ownership and relationships to the original owner. The validated documents have to be shown to the proper athorities. One catch is that it has to be proven before September 1 of 2005. [more] [see all AHF news]

AHF Prepares for the 50th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. AHF is calling on all local organizations to coordinate efforts to ensure that this important event receives national and worldwide attention.

Member organizations receive publicity on the AHF Website and eNewsletters. Importantly, AHF can serve as a central information resource for all. All are invited to help both local organizations and AHF in its own efforts at commemorating 1956 in the Nation's Capital!

AHF needs volunteers and funds to make our bold and far-reaching goals a reality... Please click to Contribute or join online!

(You do not need to become a member to donate. The American Hungarian Federation is a tax-exempt 501c(3) organization.)

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