Submitted Papers 2010

Crossing the Border: From ‘Autochthonous Hungarian’ to ‘Migrant Hungarian’

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
In my talk I shall explore the ideological underpinnings of the meaning production of the categories of autochthonous and migrant Hungarians in various media representations at the time of the 2005 referendum on citizenship in Hungary against my ethnographic findings based on semi-structured interviews carried out with Hungarian migrants who came to live in Szeged from Serbia or Romania in the past twenty years. My major theoretical concern is to explore and demonstrate the equally exclusionary logic of apparently oppositional stereotypical (prejudiced thinking) of liberal and nationalistic positions. It is the ‘same’ ideological assumption they share, though attributed only to their opponents to discredit each other and thereby eventually keeping each other at bay – and in power in the eyes of their followers. This ideological meaning of “Hungarian migrants’/autochthonous Hungarian” distinction draws upon the conflation of linguistic and cultural dimensions of identity formation (Blommaert and Verschueren, 2007). The former, liberal position, falsely, ends up depoliticizing the negotiation over conditions and meanings of belonging and foreignness, as a result of a discourse strategy of multiculturalism that is “too-ready to accept that culture matters [in a way that] helps to nourish cultural stereotypes” (Anne Phillips 2007:21). The latter, the conservative discourse of nationalism ends up treating language as an origin of cultural “being”, paradoxically, leading to situations where those immigrating to Hungary, speaking the officially (and linguistically) non-acknowledged regional dialect of their country of citizenship (Romania or Serbia) comes to be inflected with the meaning of ‘foreign’ and will inevitably bring about new, cultural and economic kind of difficulties to negotiate. This is an equally oppressive move, one that pushes the migrants in the direction of “integration” on the terms of the “locals”, the ‘more original’ Hungarians.


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A Hungarian in the Shadow of High Politics: Emery Reves and the Modern World Press Propaganda

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
This paper proposes to survey Emery Reves (Révész Imre)’s political, personal and business career from the early 1920’s until his last active decade (1960’s). Révész Imre was a Hungarian-born (1904-Bácsföldvár-1981-Montreux) journalist, businessman and literary agent and later on he became famous as literary agent of W.S. Churchill. Reves and his company (Cooperation Press Service) was the main European and overseas distributor of Churchill’s articles on current world events until the death of the great British statesman. From 1941 Reves worked in the USA where he successfully managed to publish the war memoirs of Churchill. After WWII he appeared as one of the most important business and personal intimate of the former British premier. So began their profitable business relationship that grew over time into personal friendship.
The career, activity and works of Reves are almost unknown in Hungary, although we have some personal letters and other sources published in English (Winston Churchill and Emery Reves. Correspondence.1937-1964.Ed. by Martin Gilbert University of Texas Press, Austin, 1997., The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection. Ed. By Robert V. Rozelle. Dallas Museum of Art, 1985.). In this sense my paper (partially based on my own archival and historical research in England and Hungary) focusing on the personal career, ideas, works and business activities of Reves, and I try to put these aspects in the framework of international contacts. Reves wrote two books on a would-be new world order and these works became credo of world federalists (A Democratic Manifesto /1942/, The Anatomy of Peace/1945/). Reves could manage to place about two dozens Churchill articles in Hungarian daily newspapers (Az Újság, Pester Lloyd, Pesti Hírlap) in 1938-39 and distributed articles of pro-western Hungarian intellectuals and politicians (Kánya Kálmán, Hantos Elemér, etc.) in European newspapers.
So, my presentation emphasizes how a world citizen of Hungarian origin (Reves) has tried to build a bridge between world politics and Hungarian issues during his own activity and on his efforts to place Churchill’s pro-democracy articles in newspapers around the world.



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The 2010 American Kossuth Legacies – five villages, two townships, and one Kossuth County

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
In December 1851, an American ship took Kossuth to the USA for an eight month triumphant tour. Young America was in its infancy & had only 23 million people. Kossuth addressed Congress in English & traveled to 16 states speaking to enthusiastic crowds. Over 150 years later, the legacy of Kossuth's visit includes streets, statues, at least five remaining Kossuth villages in NY, PA, OH, IN, & MS, two Kossuth townships in ME & WS, and one Kossuth County in Iowa.


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American Reception of Displaced Persons, 1949-1955

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
The paper will look at the immediate postwar emigration to America. It will follow the process of displacement with replacement, that is, Americanizing the DP. The paper will discuss the American interest in the DP in the early 50s. This will include authors like Kurt Vonnegut and Flannery O’Connor, and television programs like “This is Your Life.” It will place Hungarian DPs in a broader DP population.


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Admiral Miklόs Horthy and the White Terror: Paramilitary and State Violence in Hungary, 1919-1921

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
This presentation examines the special relationship between Admiral Miklos Horthy, the Minister of War and later the Regent of Hungary, and the paramilitary groups responsible for the White Terror: a series of pogroms and atrocities committed against poor peasants and workers after the collapse of the Communist regime in Hungary in the summer of 1919. The lecture addresses such important historical questions as the failure of democracy in Central Europe and the emergence of fascism after the First World War. Beside such important historical questions, the presentation deals with, and is meant to provoke a debate on, highly relevant political questions, such as the nature of political decision-making in modern states, war crimes and the political and military leaders' responsibility for the atrocities committed by their subordinates.


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Hungarian Efforts at Autonomy in Romania

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Lingering issues of language and culture for ethnic Hungarians remain stumbling blocks for stability, security and long-lasting democracy in Romania and the region. I discuss Hungarian measures calling for territorial and cultural autonomy in Romania (particularly Transylvania). Autonomy's historical place in the region and its complementary nature in EU doctrine are established, and examples of successful modern autonomy in Europe are compared to the current proposals. I deem autonomy feasible (though no panacea). A carefully-implemented measure of freedom for Hungarians in Romania will help create solid institutions and local regulations, originated by the very people who will live with them and encourage the unique culture of the region to survive and prosper in modern Europe.


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Tourism and Libraries in the Reannexed Terrotories, 1939-1944

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Hungarian cultural policy after Trianon sought to foster national culture where it existed, and as a result of the Vienna Awards of 1939 and 1940, these policies were extended to re-annexed territories in southern Slovakia, the Banat, and Transylvania. Policies promoting tourism, on the one hand, and reestablishing teacher education programs and libraries, on the other, were two manifestations of rebuilding bridges between Hungarians within and outside of these territories. Relying on recent work by Ablonczy (on tourism) and Sipos (on teacher education and libraries), I will outline these policies, examine points where they intersect, discuss their progress, and review the effect and fate of these policies after 1944.


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The Vasváry Collection: a Hungarian--American Resource Center in Szeged

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Az amerikai magyar múlt emlékei –
Válogatás a Vasváry-gy?jtemény könyveib?l és dokumentumaiból

Kiállítással egybekötött gy?jtemény-bemutató az AHEA–konferencia résztvev?i számára

2010. június 3. (csütörtök) 17.00-18.00 és június 4. (péntek) 17.30-18.30

Helyszín: Somogyi-könyvtár, Vasváry-gy?jtemény
Kurátor: Kórász Mária
6720 Szeged, Dóm tér 1-4. (3. emelet)

Tel.: (06-62) 425-525


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Building Bridges between Hungarian Archival Resources and Modern Technology with Fulbright Support

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
1. Kovács Ilona. Közös történelmünk forrása, a Bethlen gy?jtemény korszer?, modell érték? feldolgozása az Amerikai Magyar Alapítvány könyvtárában A Bethlen gy?jtemény az amerikai magyarság, s egyben a magyarországi történeti kutatás egyik legjelent?sebb forrása. Feltárása és hozzáférhet?vé tétele önismeretünk és múltunk kölcsönös megértésének nélkülözhetetlen eszköze. A közös történeti források széleskör? hozzáférésének biztosítása érdekében a magyar Fulbright Bizottság az Amerikai Magyar Alapítvány anyagi, az Országos Széchényi Könyvtár szakmai támogatásával 1997-ben ösztöndíjat alapított. Az ösztöndíjas id?szak számos területen rendkívüli lehet?ség a két ország szakmai és kulturális kapcsolatainak építésében, új kutatási eredmények felmutatásában és a résztvev?k szakmai és emberi fejl?désében. Az el?adás a gy?jtemény kutatási jelent?ségének, tartalmi értékeinek és szerkezeti felépítésének bemutatása mellett ismerteti a Society of American Archivist által javasolt, a digitális technikát el?készít? és az amerikai könyvtárak körében széles körben használt feldolgozási módszer (EAD, DTD) alkalmazását a Bethlen Gy?jtemény feldolgozására. Ez a példa modell érték? módszerré válhat mind az amerikai magyar, mind a magyarországi archivális gy?jtemények feldolgozása számára.

2. Deák Nóra: A kontinenseket összeköt? digitális technológia alkalmazása a Bethlen gy?jtemény internet hozzáférésében 2007/2008-ban a Fulbright Bizottság által támogatott projekt segítségével egy közel tízéves folyamat fontos állomása valósulhatott meg: a gy?jtemény fizikai elhelyezése és a fondjegyzék elkészítése után számítógépes adatbázis létrehozása. Erre a célra az Alapítvány rendelkezésére álló és már bevezetett nyílt forráskódú Archivists’ Toolkit információarchiváló szoftver szolgált. Ennek segítségével megtörtént az amerikai magyarság történetére és kultúrájára vonatkozó jelent?s els?dleges források feldolgozása és hozzáférhet?vé tétele.



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Hungarian Identity Between War and Cold War

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Hungary was a transit point-for people fleeing the East and Communism; for goods crossing the Russian-held borders of Hungary and Austria. Hungarians too were in limbo, with its soldiers often in POW camps in the Soviet Union, and survivors returning from Nazi camps. Hungary was also politically facile-with a coalition government that presumed a hopeful reconstruction. The paper will be based on archival and secondary sources. The archival sources include materials recently microfilmed for the US Holocaust Museum and border patrol records at the Hungarian National Archives. I would arrive in advance of the conference to use the Szeged archives, which hopefully would add a local element to the paper.


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The Representation of Native Americans in 19th–century Hungarian Travel Writing

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Although Hungarians followed with great interest the “discovery” and mapping of the Americas, travel writing on North America (especially the US) began in earnest only during the 19th century. The three major concerns for Hungarian travelers of the age included American democracy, progress, and the Native Americans. In my paper I will explain how three of the most important Hungarian travelers (János Xántus, Pál Rosti, and József Szabó) represented (or misrepresented) the Native Americans in their travel writing and scholary articles. I will also illustrate how their accounts reflect 19th century American attempts to explain the origins, customs, and inferiority of American Indians.


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The Making of a Conservative: Tibor Eckhardt’s Formative Years

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Any Hungarian who experienced World War I, the dismemberment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the trauma of the Trianon peace treaty was deeply affected by these seminal events. Hungarian politics during the subsequent inter-war period was dominated by politicians who lived through these turbulent and unsettling times, which had a profound and lasting influence on them as individuals and on their political views.

In Tibor Eckhardt, one of the co-founders of the Smallholders Party and the head of the opposition in Hungarian parliament during the interwar period, we have just such a politician. Born in 1888, he came of age and was educated in Hungary and abroad during the fin de siècle period when the Hungarian economy and culture were in flower under the Dual Monarchy. This paper will explore how his background in a family rooted in the Hungarian gentry and the events of World War I and its immediate aftermath shaped his political views and influenced his actions during the interwar period and throughout his life.



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Was Ágoston Haraszthy the "Father of Viticulture in California"? His Activities in Light of the Latest Literature.

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Ágoston Haraszthy played a very important role in Hungarian-American relations in the middle of the 19th century. He published the second travelogue about the United States in Hungary, and his activities in Wisconsin and California contributed to a great extent to the early development of these states. Despite his active role, and despite the fact that several works has been published about his life, some aspects of his career are still unclear and the object of heated scholarly discussion. Haraszthy was a charismatic, flamboyant person who was also the master of self-propaganda. All this and the unclear particularities of his life contributed to the development of some myths and legends regarding his career. Some authors simply accepted some of these myths and mythologies inherited from Haraszthy, his family members or earlier writers, and they did not make real efforts to clarify them. There are several websites for example, on which we can still find as facts false or unproven information (e.g. he was the member or the royal body guard in Hungary, he was the member of the Hungarian Diet and the friend of Lajos Kossuth, he was a count and colonel etc.) about his career and life. But definitely the most influential, popular and widspread legend about Haraszthy is that he was the "founder of viticulture in California", or the "father of California wine industry". No doubt that he largely contributed to the development of vine growing and wine making in California, but according to the latest "revisionist" literature on the topic his role has been exaggerated to a great extent by some former writers. After the strict investigation of archival sources in Hungary and California, such authors as Thomas Pinney, Brian McGinty, and Charles Lewis Sullivan came to the conclusion that
- he was definitely not the first person who started to grow and make wine in California;
- he was not the first person who started to grow vine on a large scale in California;
- his importation of European grape varieties did not play such an important role in the devlopment of Californian wine industry as it was argued by his son and by some former authors;
- he was not the person who first imported the famous zinfandel grape into North America and California.
The aim of the author is not to destroy or to deny the role of Haraszthy as an important pioneer of wine making in California. He simply wants to contribute to the establishment of a balanced view about the career of this very important figure of Hungarian-American relations based on the results of the latest American literature on his activities in California..



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British and American Participation in the Summer School Of Debrecen University Before the Second World War

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
British and American participation in the Summer School between 1927 and 1943 - the last event organized during the war years - seems to have been quantitatively negligible (15 Britons and 19 Americans for the whole period), especially as compared to the figures representing Germans (382) and Italians (561). The reasons for this are obvious and the explanation is to be found in the official line of Hungarian foreign policy of the time. Still, British and American presence "could be sensed in the climate" of the Summer School throughout. Examining the history of the Summer School of Debrecen in general and the British-American presence in particular, the researcher has to: 1/ identify as many persons having visited the Summer School from the UK and the US as possible; 2/ trace the role and weight of the British/American oriented part of the programme of studies; 3/ document how the (management) of the Summer School advertized itself in the English-speaking countries; 4/ present and possibly evaluate any statements - from cursory hints to direct remarks - made on British/American-Hungarian relations by local or national government representatives, university and Summer School officials and foreign visitors.
Three facts are mentioned here to corroborate the foregoing points: 1/ A government official's speech at the closing ceremony in 1937, which speculated what might have occurred in Trianon, had a young American history teacher, a certain Woodrow Wilson turned up at one of the summer courses in Debrecen;
2/ The world-famous British historian C.A. Macartney's talk in English on the nationality problem in Central Europe in the programme of the 1939 Summer School; 3/ The 1942 lecture by professor Sándor Fest, founder and then head of the English Department in Debrecen, on English-Hungarian spiritual contacts.



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American and Hungarian Perspectives on the Fate of Hungarian Minorities

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Often there is a complete disconnect between American (U.S.) and Hungarian perspectives on the fate of Hungarian minority communities throughout East-Central Europe. What is the reason, or what are the reasons, for this disconnect? At least three will be discussed in this brief analysis. The first is the different historical perspective on how minorities become minorities. The second is the philosophical difference between the concept of group rights and individual rights, while the third relates to the difference between state-nation and multi-ethnic state perspectives of citizenship and nationality rights. Why, in other words, can U.S. social scientists relate to Roma rights but not to Hungarian nationality rights? The answer to this question is not purely academic, but central to such practical concerns as lobbying success in Washington, DC for Human and Minority Rights.


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Popular Revisionist Expectations Toward the United States in Post-Trianon Hungary

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
The dismemberment of the Kingdom of Hungary after the First World War and the subsequent Treaty of Trianon came as a shock for the Hungarians. The treaty, which the Allies dictated and not negotiated with Hungary, was considered unjust and its revision became a number-one concern for interwar Hungarian society, regardless of class and status of individuals.
Mainly defined by a set of traditional images of America as the land of freedom, democracy and fair play and the image of the United States as arbiter mundi, and at the same time based on significant political, historical and ideological tenets (i.e. the question of dismemberment, Wilson and the Fourteen Points, US boundary proposals for Hungary at the Paris Peace conference, American refusal to sign the Treaty of Trianon) Hungarians fed high expectations toward the United States relative to the revision of the Treaty of Trianon.
Beyond semi-official campaigns directed toward the United States, there were many examples of popular (or private) contributions to the revisionist cause. In the abundant Trianon literature one can find many pamphlets, open letters, brochures, newspaper articles and even book-length accounts by members of the Hungarian or the Hungarian-American intelligentsia, with most tenuous connections to Hungarian governmental circles or influential political groups. These popular utterances addressed either the American people in general, or one particular segment of the American public and political life in particular, such as, for example, American educators, the US Congress and its members, or even the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The proposed paper intends to analyze these forms of popular revisionism toward the US and illuminate the desperation of contemporary Hungary to win any and all support for the revision of the Treaty of Trianon.



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Kossuth in Washington: a Closer Look

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Lajos Kossuth came to the United States in December 1851 aiming to enlist the support of the United States government in continuing the struggle against the Habsburg Empire, which had, with the help of Russia, defeated the Hungarians in August 1849. His tumultuous reception in New York City, where hundreds of thousands came out to see him along the procession route, and thousands came to hear him speak at various venues, undoubtedly led him to believe that official support for Hungary was forthcoming. And the scene in New York was repeated—albeit on a smaller scale—in Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Washington DC was another story altogether. Although popular literature emphasizes that while in Washington Kossuth received the high honors of meeting the President and receiving an official introduction to Congress (an honor no foreigner had received up to that point, save the Marquis de Lafayette), his stay in the capital turned out to be string of disappointments. The United States government had no intention of abandoning its traditional foreign policy of neutrality and risking a war with Austria and Russia. Kossuth’s opponents in Congress dragged out the debate for over a month over whether to officially greet him, and then how to greet him. At his meeting with President Millard Fillmore, Kossuth was told rather curtly that, personal sympathies notwithstanding, no official aid to Hungary would be forthcoming. Even Kossuth’s much anticipated meeting with Henry Clay, the most revered and influential voice in the Senate, was disappointing as Clay lectured Kossuth on how quixotic it would be for the United States to become involved in a European war. In summary, Kossuth found much sympathy in Washington but no official aid. Consequently, he devoted the remainder of his time in the United States raising money for the cause from private donations.



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End of the Line? The Changing Geography of Railways between the Alföld and Carpathians

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
This paper traces the history of the railway between Debrecen and K?rösmez? in the Máramaros region of the northeastern Carpathians, demonstrating how such a railway served to link the people and natural resources of northeastern Hungary to the markets of the Alföld and Budapest. Originally constructed between Debrecen and Máramarossziget in the period 1868–1872, the Hungarian Northeastern Railway (Magyar Északkeleti Vasút) made it possible for the salt and timber of Máramaros and the fruit products of Szatmár and the Érmellék to be transported quickly and cheaply to markets in Debrecen and Budapest, and in exchange allowed manufactured and consumer goods to reach the people of northeastern Hungary. Nationalized in 1890 and made part of the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV), the line was extended north to the Hungarian-Austro-Galician frontier at K?rösmez?. Passenger traffic along the route facilitated seamless travel between Budapest and the northeastern Carpathians.
World War I and the resultant dismemberment of Hungary dealt a crippling blow to the unity of this railway line. The paper continues by recounting the fate of the line in the interwar period, now split between three countries; changes brought about by the First and Second Vienna Awards, including reincorporation into the MÁV network; and the post-World War II situation. The paper concludes with an outline of today’s circumstances. In its way, this paper sketches how a railway can build links between Hungarians and how these links can be torn asunder but re-established over time.



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The Cities and Towns of Medieval Hungary as Economic and Cultural Centers and Places of Coexistence

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The independent Hungarian Kingdom (1000 -1526) was a multi-ethnic state. Part of the foreign ethnic groups living in Hungary were “native” inhabitants of the Carpathian Basin, that gave a geographical frame to this medieval state, while others arrived together with the conquering, mostly Finno-Ugrian Hungarians in the late ninth century. The most important component of foreign ethnic groups, however, arrived after the foundation of the state. The population density of the realm was low in the Middle Ages, and frequently the storms of history (e.g. the Mongol invasion), decimated the inhabitants of the country. Therefore the Hungarian kings invited foreign settlers to their realm in large numbers and provided them with numerous privileges. Before 1241/2 immigrants came to Hungary both from the Eastern (e.g. Jews, Ismaelithes, Patzinaks, Cumans) and the Western part of Europe (Walloons, Italians, Germans), but after the withdrawal of the Mongols only the influx of the Germans remained important. The overwhelming majority of the German hospites (guests) became urban burghers and played a decisive role in the process of medieval Hungarian urban development. The wealthiest towns of the realm were populated predominantly by Germans who were called in Transylvania and in the north-eastern part of the country, in the Spiš (Zips) region Saxons. The paper focuses first on the general features of medieval Hungarian urban development, then discusses the development of individual towns: Szeged, Pécs, Temesvár. The case of Pécs is particularly interesting, since it has a famous Roman heritage and it was one of the earliest and wealthiest of the episcopal seats of Hungary, and it is the European capital of culture in 2010.


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The Pitfalls of Translation—Gábor Vincze’s A Historical Chronology of the Hungarian Minority in Romania 1944-1989 (2009)

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
My presentation serves a double purpose. Firstly, I would like to present a volume that truly meets a long-felt need, providing data to both Hungarians from Transylvania and to those from the mother-country and other parts of the world about the decades of communism in Romania and the Hungarian minority’s destiny and the atrocities committed against them in this era of horrors. As a Hungarian from Transylvania—living and working there—Vincze’s volume represents for me a veritable and reliable source of information and knowledge that allows me a clearer view through a deeper understanding of our past, our present condition and future aspirations. At the same time, I firmly believe that this chronological history offers a comprehensive perspective to all Hungarians upon the fate of those of us who—by a “whim” of history—were separated from the mother-country; it contributes to getting to know each other better, and thus fosters understanding and builds bridges.
Secondly, I would also like to talk about the pitfalls that lurk in the attempt of transposing such a historical work into another language. I had the honor and the opportunity to translate Vincze’s Chronology into English, a process that often proved to be a struggle but was always edifying and intellectually highly engaging. I also argue that it constituted the building of a further symbolical bridge: during my travels I have often encountered people who seemed baffled by my emphasizing the fact that I am a Hungarian who comes from Romania. I even met indignation when I refused to identify myself by my citizenship. I do hope that this book will contribute to building those bridges of understanding and acceptance.



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Central Europe’s Future as Planned by Kálmán Kánya

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
As a result of the peace treaties that followed WWI, Interwar Europe and Central Europe can be characterized by political isolation and confrontation. Apart from this, however, the need for regional and international cooperation was also detectable regarding economics. This cooperation was observable both within informal and formal frameworks.
The study aims at presenting the Hungarian proposals for Central European cooperation between the two world wars. It also targets to contextualize relevant ideas of Kálmán Kánya, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Kánya-folder has recently appeared from a Berlin archive through the Hungarian historian, Imre Tóth, and it content has not been made publicly available yet.



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Twenty Years After: Shifting Regional Voting Patterns In Hungary 1990-2010

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Similar to most parliamentary democracies Hungary shows significant differences in regional voting preferences. There emerged a traditional voting pattern between 1990 and 2008, when a tectonic change occurred. The south-west/north-east axis reflected primarily the conservative forces south of the axis while the left parties dominated the areas mostly north of the divide. The analysis suggests that the old electoral map became largely overshadowed on the 2008 referenda and 2009 EP election but still survived as a subterranean phenomenon playing some role on the 2010 elections. The outcome of this landmark shift may open up the spectre of substantive changes in the political/constitutional system and may also trigger sensitive reactions in the larger East European area.


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Twenty Years After: Shifting Regional Voting Patterns In Hungary 1990-2010

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Similar to most parliamentary democracies Hungary shows significant differences in regional voting preferences. There emerged a traditional voting pattern between 1990 and 2008 when a tectonic change occurred. The south-west/north-east axis reflected primarily the conservative forces south of the axis while the left parties dominated the areas mostly north of the divide. The analysis suggests that the old electoral map became largely overshadowed on the 2008 referenda and 2009 EP election but still survived as a subterranean phenomenon playing some role on the 2010 elections too. The outcome of this landmark shift may open up the spectre of substantive changes in the political/constitutional system and may also trigger sensitive reactions in the larger East European area.


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Prime Minister Pál Teleki's Plans for the Reform of the Hungarian Economic and Social Order

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Teleki’s predecessors (Gömbös, Imrédy) wanted to create a corporate social and economical system such as that which existed in Italy. Teleki (influenced by the idea of 'professional orders/estates' mentioned in encyclical letter of the Pope Pius XI), however, intended to oppose the Arrow Cross and wanted to create a society and economic system inspired by the Roman Catholic Church. The plans were prepared (I found them) but the war prevented them from being realized.


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The Changing Relations between Hungarian-Americans and the Mother Country since the Late 19th Century

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
This paper will discuss how the relations between Hungary and Hungarian Americans changed, depending on the makeup of the political regime in Hungary, as well as of the political orientation of the specific groups of Hungarian Americans.
The lowest point of this relationship was during the period of Soviet Occupation and communist rule, when the huge majority of the emigrés wanted to have nothing to do with Hungary. They campaigned actively for the overthrow of the communist system, and also condemned any of their fellow
Hungarian-Americans who established any kind of contact with Hungary and with the Hungarian regime.



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Additional Data About the Crimes of Communism - Adalékok a kommunizmus b?neihez (Alcim: A Miskolc környéki civilek szovjet fogságba hurcolása)

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
One of the consequences of the Soviet domination after World War II. was the reappearance of the institution of slavery. It came in the form of the Soviet forced labor camps, to which hundreds of thousands of Hungarians were deported. A unique form of this modern-day slavery was the malenky robot [“little work”], under the guise of which tens of thousands of Hungarian civilians were collected and then dispersed in various Soviet slave labor camps. The Soviet conquerors and their unscrupulous Hungarian collaborators were not very selective. They took everyone who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. They deported young and old, irrespective of gender. They even collected and sent to the Gulag fifteen- to sixteen-year old girls, as well as expectant mothers. It is nearly impossible to describe the misery and exploitation that awaited these unfortunate Hungarians in the slave labor camps of the Soviet Gulag. If they were lucky enough to survive and return home, their misery and exploitation did not cease. Communist Hungarian authorities, who were anxious to please their Soviet masters, continued to view these repatriates as war criminals and treated them accordingly. Most of them died in poverty, misery, and much before their time. The Soviet Gulag consumed the lives of millions for many decades, and reached Hungary in the winter of 1944-1945.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
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