Transylvania’s Coat of Arms:
Sun & Moon representing the Székely Hungarians, the Eagle representing the Magyars,
and the Bastions, the Saxons – the major historical peoples of Transylvania
prior to Rumanian immigration & annexation
Many dictators have deliberately changed history and have found
scapegoats to ferment nationalism as a means to gain and maintain power.
Hitler, Ceaucescu, and Milosevic are great examples of this. This
poses continued stress to Rumanian/Serbian-Hungarian relations. Rumanians
are taught that they are the direct descendants of the Romans and since
parts of Transylvania were part of the Roman Empire called Dacia,
Transylvania is rightly theirs, hence the changing of the country’s
spelling from Roumania to Rumania to ROMANia. This is all despite the fact
that it was settled by various Hungarian tribes since the 5th century and
the Magyars in the 9th. Despite the fact that for centuries the Vlachs
(Rumanians) were nomadic and did not appear in any numbers in Transylvania
until they were escaping the Ottoman Turks’ onslaught in the 15th &
16th centuries. Rumanians are taught that Hungarians moved into
Transylvania and displaced them, not the other way around. They believe
that famed Hungarian Janos Hunyadi is actually Hunedoara, a great
“Rumanian” hero. Today, in the few areas where there is still a
Hungarian majority, the Rumanian government is settling Rumanians.
Many of these happen to be Police and Orthodox church officials. In
Transylvania, Hungarian language schools and centuries-old universities
have been closed, churches and synagogues burned and/or confiscated, and
people beaten for demonstrating for democracy and basic human rights, or
simply for speaking Hungarian – (See the Helsinki
Watch Report “Destroying Ethnic Identity, the Hungarians of
Romania,” for more information.) In the
documents below and on my History Page, I hope
you can make up your own mind.
Go to Hungarian
Images and Historical Background and see the
Coronation Jewels, an extensive collection of Maps and Coats of Arms, the Hand Relic of
St. Stephen, National Costumes and more.
Music
Visit my new Hungarian Music & Radio on the Internet for a
collection of some of my favorite works as well as links to more sites with Hungarian
music resources. Also, access Hungarian radio stations and listen live to their
broadcasts!
The National Anthem of the Székelys, are a Hungarian ethnic
group, and one of the earliest permanent settlers of Transylvania.
This Anthem was composed in 1918, when Rumania occupied Transylvania
and 200,000 Hungarians fled to Hungary, among them was 50,000 Székelys.
Their cares, despairs, hope in a miracle is chanted in this slowly
moving, sad, very touching melody. Strating with a question “Who
knows where destiny is leading us?”, the song tells about the
suffering the Székelys endured from the Tartars, Turks, Habsburgs,
and it is in fact, a prayer to God to save their land, Transylvania. See background, sheet music, and an English Translation of Transylvania’s Székely National Anthem. Special thanks to László Szelecki for his help on this project.
See Hungarian
Musical Opera for RealAudio clips of Hungarian musical masterpieces and folksongs,
including the National Anthem, Székely Himnusz, and Berlioz, Brahms, and Beethoven.
Transylvanian Resources:
The renowned author and eloquent voice on Transylvanian autonomy,
Count Albert Wass de Czege, supervised an excellent work, entitled Documented
Facts and Figures on Transylvania. This work gives excellent
detail on the TRUE origins of Transylvania and how Rumanians gained
their foothold. See also his letter to Congress regarding the Cultural
Genocide of Hungarians.
TransylvaniaNet –
“not the legend, but the real story…” – is
an interesting educational site on Transylvania with an objective
source of information, detailed maps, history, current news and
issues, discussion group, and links to other resources. This includes
a link to ProTransylvania -a multiethnic political group seeking
Autonomy for Transylvania.
