AHF Headlines
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| The Hungarian Millecentenarium Monument in Verecke (Veretsky / Transcarpathia) has been repeatedly vandalized. |
3/27/2014 - Paprika Politik publishes article by AHF President entitled, "Strengthen Ukraine by Strengthening Minority Rights:" As Russia completes the annexation of Crimea, creating a fait accompli probably impossible to reverse, the situation in Ukraine proper remains fraught with uncertainty. For the Hungarian minority in Ukraine the situation is especially precarious, particularlyin light of a proposed ban on minority languages currently being pushed by nationalists in the Ukrainian parliament. [read more]
 3/19/2014 - Hungarian Review publishes AHF statement regarding the occupation of Hungary by Hitler on March 19, 1944 and its horrific consequences, entitled "Reflections on March 19, 1944 and Its Aftermath: A Perfect Storm of Tragedy and Folly." "We are concerned that a political agenda has replaced a debate based on historical facts relating to the Hungarian Holocaust and Nazi Germany's invasion and occupation of Hungary," said Frank Koszorus, Jr., the Federation's president. "We condemn not only whitewashing but the blackening of this historical record as well. Both forms of revisionism do a great disservice to the memory of the victims of evil and those who opposed it at a treacherous time in Hungary's history. These considerations prompted us to issue our statement," he added. [read more]
 3/20/2014 - Az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség üdvözölte a holokauszt-emlékév megrendezését:  Nyilatkozatban üdvözölte a magyarországi holokauszt-emlékév megrendezését Koszorús Ferenc, az Amerikai Magyar Szövetség (AMSZ) elnöke, rámutatva, hogy az eseménysorozat hozzájárul a korabeli Magyarország jobb megértéséhez. [tovább]
 3/15/2014 - AHF commemorates Hungarian National Day and the 1848 War of Independence. The 1848 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight sought to throw off the Austrian Yoke. It was quelled under the combined forces of Imperial Austria and Russia, but its impact is felt even today. This year's keynote address was delivered by Tamas Fellegi former Hungarian Minister of National Development and President of the Hungarian Initiatives Foundation.
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| The [AHF Website] includes access to video of the 1848 Commemoration! |
Remarks also given by Hungarian Ambassador Gyorgy Szapary with a special message to Hungarians across the border from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The program also included special piano performances by our next generation, Xitlalli and Vajk Dawson and Members of the The 4th Bátori József Hungarian Scouts Troop of Washington, D.C. which included a stirring rendition of Sandor Petofi's famous patriotic poem, "Nemzeti Dal," by the talented Eszter Csenteri. [read more]
 3/10/2014 - Ukraine: AHF Releases another Statement on the Plight of the Hungarian Minority in Transcarpathia. "Minority rights is a dimension to the complexity of Ukraine and the region that perhaps is laden with less immediate strategic significance but one that calls out for immediate attention to dispel the fear of perpetual conflict and to promote a democratic Ukraine. What is too often overlooked relates to the treatment of national minorities generally and specifically to Ukraine’s close to 200,000 ethnic Hungarians who live in western Sub-Carpathia, an area which was part of Hungary." [read more]
 3/9/2014 - UDMR (RMDSZ) Joins Coalition Government in Rumania, AHF issues statement calling for quick resolution to pressing problems...Prime Minister Victor Ponta of Rumania’s Social Democratic Party (USD) announced that the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) would be joining the governing coalition. In the agreement, USD promised to help solve the problem of minority cultural rights. The UMDR will hold the Culture and Environment ministries, a vice-president seat, and 14 state secretary positions. [read more]
 2/28/2014 - AHF Releases Statement in Connection with Recent Events in Ukraine calling attention to the plight of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia Ukraine. AHF urges the transitional government in Ukraine to fulfill the spirit of democracy as government for the people, by the people, and respect pluralism, the rule of law, and the rights of the Hungarian minority, including their democratically asserted right to autonomy. [read more]
Related News: Ukraine's Hungarian Minority Nervous as Crisis Rages [more]
 Congressmen Frank R.Wolf (R-VA) and James P. McGovern (D-MA), Co-Chairmen of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States Congress, echo AHF's call, and send a letter to Traian Basescu, President of Romania, in connection with Bishop Tokes and the threatened revocation of the Order of the Star of Romania. [read more]
 Amerikai képviselők tiltakoznak Tőkés László miatt.
 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"
 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]
 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!
 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]
AHF Store on
Help AHF by purchasing all your products using the AHF Amazon Store! You pay nothing more and AHF earns a small percentage! Start your search [here]!
More member books on AHF's Amazon Store:
 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." [read more] and Buy his books now on the AHF Amazon Store
 "The Porcelain Figurine" (A Porcelánbaba) by Eva Mecs.[read more] and Buy her book now on the AHF Amazon Store
 Kitty Gogins: "My flag Grew Stars" by [Read more] about the book or purchase the book on
 Lapossy, Susanna (Zsuzsanna):
Life Behind the Iron Curtain. [Read more] about thebook or purchase the book on
 Simon, Paul M: "The Old lady and the Fawn," the first bilingual edition of "Öreg néne ozikéje" (Hungarian).
Order now at Simpa Books
 Professor Peter Hargitai's Daughter of the Revolution: A Novel (2006 - A story of a brave freedom fighter - a 14 year-old girl) [read more]
 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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As tax-time rolls around again, please join and consider a tax-deductible donation to AHF! The Federation has been serving the community for over a century. Please join and support your AHF, an all-volunteer, non-partisan, non-profit 501(C)(3), charitable and educational organization. Your support is tax deductible!
Events and Cultural News
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Washington, DC:
INVITATION / MEGHÍVÓ
Save the Date! May 9, 2014!
Magyar Jótékonysági Bál
The
9th Annual Hungarian Charity Ball!  At the Sheraton Premier Grand Ballroom at Tyson's Corner. 6 pm reception, program begins at 7. Music by the New York Continental Band. Black Tie! Great food, dance, friends, and great causes!
[learn more]
 April 5, Washington, DC: Second Annual Hungarian Festival
Join the DC-area Hungarian-Americans for a fun day at the Hungarian Festival! Hungarian food: Sausage, Liverwurst, Fried Bread “Lángos”, Homemade Desserts. Live music all day by excellent musicians. Hungarian folk dance show at 3:00 p.m. A traditional mustache competition & mom-daughter beauty contest! Crafts & fun activities for kids; led by the Hungarian Scouts of Washington, DC.
[download the flyer]
April 5th, 2014
11:00 a.m. till 7:00 p.m.
15100 New Hampshire Ave.,
Silver Spring, MD 20905
Adults: $15 Children 3-12: $5 Under 3: free
PERFORMERS:
Alfonz „TALFI” Barta a multi-diamond, multi-platinum and multi-gold record winner musician / Csűrdöngölő one of America’s leading ethnic dance ensembles / Rózsafa the only children’s Hungarian Folk Dance Group in Washington D.C. area / Életfa Band the best known Hungarian folk music band in the U.S. accompanied by László Orbán.
 April 4: Boston, MA: The Laszlo Gardony Quartet at the Amazing Things Arts Center (in Framingham) on Friday, April 4 at 8:00 p.m. Laszlo Gardony (piano/composer); Stan Strickland (reeds, vocals); Yoron Israel (drums); John Lockwood (bass). Tickets are: $15 - $18
[Tickets and more info]
[Read more about Laszlo]
Sochi Olympic Update
 Ted Ligety becomes first American to win two Gold Medals in Olympic Alpine Skiing and the first to win Gold in the Giant Slalom. Hungarian Women's Speed Skaters reach finals, finish 6th. [Read more] about Ted Ligety and the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games!
 Hockey Goalkeeping Phenom, Shannon Szabados, repeats amazing performance from 2010 to win her 2nd Gold Medal for Canada, stunning rivals the United States. [Read more] about Shannon and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games!
Looking Back: AHF History
Szelmenc:
The Divided Village in Transcarpathia
(Sub-Carpathian Ukraine)
AHF's 100 YEARS
CONGRESSIONAL DISPLAY |
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| The Divided Village of Szelmenc |
A Most Painful Division... Although brother and sister have lived in the same village all their lives, Maria Ivan and her brother, Arpad, have been able to hug each other only twice in the past 53 years. As a result of a post-World War II treaty, a barbed wire fence marking borders has divided them.
Szelmenc (called Solontsi in Ukrainian and Velke Slemence in Slovak) is found near where the Ukrainian, Slovak, and Hungarian borders meet. After WWII, the Soviets took this part along with half of the village for themselves. The other half was given to Czechslovakia. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Soviet part became part of Ukraine. The Soviets constructed the border at the end of World War II. To prevent people from seeing each other, authorities then built a 20-foot high wood plank fence through the village, a little "Berlin Wall" to prevent contacts and further separating families.
AHF worked with its members to illuminate this injustice in US Congress and to the world. In 2005, the border was opened at last. However, problems continue.
[read more]
On This Day in Hungarian History: March
March 23, Hungarian-Polish Friendship Day! The historic friendship between the Polish and Hungarian peoples is reflected in a popular bilingual proverb from the 1700's: "Polak, Węgier, dwa bratanki / I do szabli, i do szklanki / Oba zuchy, oba żwawi / Niech im Pan Bóg błogosławi." ("Lengyel-magyar két jó barát / Együtt harcol s issza borát / Vitéz s bátor mindkettője / Áldás szálljon mindkettőre.")
 The Szechenyi Society in New York City celebrated the special day. Seen here are dancers from the Polish and Hungarian communities. [Read more] about Hungarian-Polish brotherhood and history on Wikipedia or [see more] "On this Day" entries.
March 19, 1944
Nazi Germany Invades Hungary: Hungarian Review publishes AHF statement regarding the occupation of Hungary by Hitler on March 19, 1944 and its horrific consequences, entitled "Reflections on March 19, 1944 and Its Aftermath: A Perfect Storm of Tragedy and Folly."
March 15: Hungarian Memorial Day (Nemzeti ünnep) and Commemoration of the 1848 War of Independence.  Kossuth
Lajos (Louis) (b. 1802, d. 1894, pronounced co-shoot luh-yôsh) was Governor of Hungary during the fight for independence and democracy which
was eventually defeated by the union of the royalist Austrian Habsburg
and Russian Czarist Armies (1848 - 1849). Kossuth envisioned a federation
in the Kingdom of Hungary in which all nationalties participated in a
vibrant democratic system based on fundamental democratic principles such
as equality and parliamentary representation. The bloody conflict eventually
led to a great compromise known as the "Austro-Hungarian Empire,"
in which Hungary gained some autonomy, although Kossuth would have no
part in it and demanded full indepependence until his death. It also set the seeds for her dismemberment after WWI. [read more] about Louis Kossuth and this historic struggle.
 March 10: Székely Independence Day! AHF congratulates the Székely people on their independence day and echoes their call for autonomy. A
thousand years of nation building successfully delineated groups
based on culture, religion, geography, and other attributes to create
the countries with which we are so familiar. While some Western European
nations would continue power struggles and princely battles and civil
wars, Hungary, founded in 896, was a peaceful multi-ethnic state for over a
1000 years and her borders were virtually unchanged.... Until 1920. [Read more] about issues in Rumania.
AHF Members' Corner:
Featured Member
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!
 AHF Freedom Circle Member Balint Kacsoh, MD, PhD, is a professor of anatomy, histology and cell biology, and physiology at Mercer Univiersity's Medical School in Macon, GA where he joined the faculty in 1992. He attended Budapest's Semmelweis University of Medicine and graduated with an M.D. in 1984. He earned a Ph.D. at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1997 in Basic Medical Sciences - Physiology / Endocrinology. He and his wife, a pediatrician in private practice in Macon who is also from Hungary, came to the US in 1986 and hold dual citizenship. They have three children, the oldest already in university.
 He is the author of the medical book, "Endocrine Physiology" and most recently translated the first English translation of "The Frontier Garrison" or "Az előretolt helyőrség" by the Hungarian novelist Jenő Rejtő (1905-1943), originally published in 1939 under the pen name of “P. Howard.” He also annotated the edition. Rejto is perhaps the most popular and widely read fiction novelist in Hungary, entrenched in Hungarian popular culture. [Read more] about Dr. Kacsoh or buy buy his books on the AHF Amazon Store! 
[see all Featured Members]
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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.
[>> See all Publications]
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