Abstracts of Submitted Papers 2015

The Changing Perception of the History of Holocaust in Hungary

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The perception of the history of the Holocaust in Hungary is changing by discovery of new data and facts within and outside the country. As more and more Holocaust survivors are leaving us, new publications, as well as new types of media make the subject more widely accessible. This also leads to a wider acceptance of Holocaust research and puts the Holocaust in its proper place in Hungarian history.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Julia Bock received her MS Library degree at Eötvös Lóránd University in Budapest, MLS at Columbia University, and Ph.D. in History, from Eötvös Lóránd University. Dr. Bock is an Acquisitions librarian and Associate Professor at the Brooklyn Campus Library of Long Island University, since 2005, where she is teaching historical methodology. Previously she worked at New York University Law School Library, Columbia University Archives; she was the chief librarian at the Leo Baeck Institute, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Her research is related to Hungarian Jewish history, as well as subjects on library related areas. Julia Bock is past president of the American Hungarian Educators Association. She was awarded a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Yad Vashem International Institute in 2013-2014.

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'A Pot is Not a Person' and other Adages from the Ground Up

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
For nearly one hundred years, Hungary’s exploration of ancient nomadism has been energized by the discovery of a pair of singular gold stags from two disturbed and isolated Carpathian sites. However, given the compromised circumstances of the discoveries at Tapioszentmarton and Zoldhalompuszta and the continued paucity of reconstructive data, efforts by twentieth century Hungarian archeologists and historians to contextualize and integrate with similar Iron Age material associated with Black Sea Scythians remain stymied. This paper pits old methodologies and approaches against new investigative theories that can circumvent forced assumptions and nationalistic presumptions that compromise assessment of Hungary’s own Scythian era finds.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Art historian Mrea Csorba received all three of her advanced degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. She has taught art history at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University as adjunct Assistant Professor since 1993. Her MA thesis (1987) investigated horse-reliant cultures associated with Iron Age Scythian steppe culture. Her Ph.D. (1997) expanded research of pastoral groups to non-Chinese populations documented in northern China. Current research continues the theme documenting diagnostic artifacts of Iron Age cultures in the lateral reaches of the Eurasian steppes in east China and the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe. She discussed Hungarian material with parallel artifacts recently excavated in northeast China at the International Symposium hosted by the 1st Emperor’s Institute of Archaeology in Xian, China, August, 2013, and further developed the topic at the AHEA 2014 University of Florida at Gainesville conference.

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Refugee Registration Process: From Cards to Camp Kilmer Refugee Research Database

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
“We feel a solemn and responsible pride that in your time of need you have come to our shore” – These are some of the words from a letter by President Eisenhower, greeting Hungarian refugees at Camp Kilmer, NJ. The bilingual sign “Isten hozta Amerikában – Welcome to America” at the gate of the Reception Center symbolized the border between their old and new identities for these refugees. Between November 1956 and June 1957, when Camp Kilmer – a former World War II military base - was reactivated as a Reception Center under the name Operation Mercy, 32,000 refugees were processed, interviewed, supported, and resettled by government and other sponsoring agencies, volunteer organizations and individuals in the United States. The whole process resulted in 3 x 5” registration cards, located these days in 37 filing boxes at the Library of the American Hungarian Foundation. A project to catalog and digitize the cards will be presented, describing its advantages and disadvantages, the possibilities and obstacles along the way, options considered and solutions found, both in terms of technical and privacy issues.
The database will eventually include the digitized copies of the cards, connected to a list of the refugees’ information on the cards, with a search capability for all individual data fields. CKRRD – hosted by Rutgers University repository – will complement the digital records of the President’s Committee for Hungarian Relief that are already in RUcore, in addition to be beneficial for genealogists and biographical researchers.
Audio-visual requirements: projector


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Nóra Deák is pursuing PhD studies in American Studies at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. Her research topic is the reception of the 1956 Hungarian refugees in the United States.
She graduated in English and Russian languages and literatures in 1990 in Debrecen, then received a LIS MA in 1997 in Budapest. She has been working as Head of the Library at the School of English and American Studies Library, ELTE, in Budapest, since 1995. She is currently a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar for the second time at the American Hungarian Foundation.

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Personal Letters as Historical Data Sources

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Twenty eight letters written by Renee to her younger sister Edith, who left home prior to the deportation, were discovered in 1999 following Edith’s death. The letters were written between 1941 and 1947 and reflect pre-deportation, Holocaust, and post-Holocaust years. They were written in and sent from Hungary, Sweden and Romania to Palestine. While the letters are personal and intimate in nature, their analysis reveals a valuable and rich documentation of personal accounts, perceptions, and perspective of an individual caught in the midst of overwhelming historical forces and a measure of personal coping and persevering against seemingly insurmountable challenges. The letters open a window to how people who lived through the turbulence of the deportation, the Holocaust, the infliction of Communism, and the tyranny of the British Mandate in Palestine, coped with the challenge of living beyond surviving. The letters reveal a wide gamut of attributes such as determination, integrity, dignity, aspiration, and above all, a desire to live “on calmer waters.” The letters comprise a historical document that serves as a valuable source to understand processes and outcomes of experiences for which living personal accounts become a rarity.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Robert Friedmann is Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice and Director, Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia.

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Hungarian Minorities in Borlderlands: Transylvania and Ukraine

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
The author wishes to investigate the situation of Hungarian minorities outside of the borders of Hungary, especially in Transylvania and Ukraine. The relations to the Hungarian Government after the collapse of the Cold War will be considered, including the status law and dual citizenship. Through important examples, the author investigates the life and happiness of minorities in borderlands, both under the socialist governments and the EU membership.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Kumiko Haba is a Professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, and the next Vice President of International Studies Association (ISA, USA) (2016-17), the largest Association in North America of International Relations. Her Specialty is International Relations, EU and Asian Regional Integration; nationalism, minority questions, especially in the Hungarian border areas. Dr. Haba is the author of 53 books, including co-editing and co-writing, and more than 160 academic and general articles.

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Kárpát-medence vs. Történelmi Magyarország a határon túl élő magyarság identitás-viszonyulásában

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
A határon túl élő magyarság identitásáben 1918-ig egyértelműen a "létező ország" jelent meg viszonyulási, identitás-képzőként. A két világháború között a volt Történelmi Magyarország vált meghatározó érzésképzővé, de megjelent a Kárpát-medence is. Az államszocialista korszakban a nyílvánosság szintjén, amennyiben egyáltalán megjelent, akkor a szocialista Magyarországhoz való viszonyulásról lehetett csak szó. (Nem a nyilvánosság szintjén élt a Történelmi Magyarország tudata.) 1989-1990 után a Kárpát-medence vált fokozatosan "térközösség-képzővé" a nyilvános kommunikációban, de lényegében szinte mindenki a történelmi Magyarországot értette és érti alatta. Az utódállamokban élő magyarság számára a magyar állampolgárság megszerzése a "közjogi és politikai nemzethez való tartozás tudatát és gyakorlatát" erősítette meg.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Hajdú Zoltán tanulmányait a debreceni Kossuth Lajos Tudomány- egyetemen fejezte be 1976-ban. 1977-től a Magyar Tudomanyos Akademián dolgozott. 2002 óta az MTA doktora.Jelenleg tanar a Debreceni KLTE történelem-földrajz szakán. Kutatási területe a magyar politikai tér (állami, közigazgatási) hosszú távú átalakulási folyamatai.

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Role of the St. Ladislaus Church in New Brunswick's Hungarian Community

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
There were four larger waves of Hungarian immigration from 1880 to 1990 to New Brunswick. Before the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, after the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, after the end of the World War II, after the 1956 revolution of Hungary.
By the first years of the 1900’s the Roman Catholic members of the community became strong enough to establish an independent Hungarian parish. In the winter 1903, a voting ceremony took place at Columbia Hall (St. Peter’s Parish) led by McKeesport priest Kalman Kovacs, where the members decided the founding of the Hungarian parish. They got the license in the summer of 1904 from the Bishop of Trenton. The members called upon Fr. John Szeneczey of McAdoo, PA to lead their community, which was accepted. The father occupied his new service place in September 1904. The church record’s began with a baptism on October 2nd 1904. The establishment of the parish was in 25th October 1904, when the Saint Ladislaus Roman Catholic Church registered as a legal person. The masses were held at St. Peter’s halls for several months. The parishioners intended an important role for teaching their childer as well. To serve those need they started to build a school in 1914, which was already dedicated September 6th in the same year. We can say that the Hungarian education began 100 years ago in New Brunswick.
The number of weekend's Hungarian school (operated by St. Ladislaus Church and Magyar Reformed Church) around 170, however, the clock effects of assimilation is very strong. The St. Ladislaus Church still regarded as the center of local Hungarian community organization.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
István Hegedűs (MA in History, Eszterházy Károly College, Eger; MA in Library Science, Eszterházy Károly College, Eger; Msc in agricultural engineer specialized to rural development, Károly Róbert College) working as research assistant at the Institute for Minority Studies Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is working on his doctoral thesis in History (about the estates and possessions of the Andrássy family during 19th-20th century). He is also interested in the preservation and development of Hungarica collections of the US. He spent half a year in New Brunswick, NJ with the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor scholarship.

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The Cold War Intelligence Activites of Hungarian Émigrés in the West

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
In 1953 at the height of the "hot" phase of the Cold War, when liberation was still a keystone of US policy, an American intelligence operative commented that "every Hungarian of any value to intelligence is connected by now with one or another Western intelligence agency."

It certainly is very close to the truth, as Hungarian emigres were utilized in various intelligence or intelligence related capacities during WWII, a practice which was continued and greatly expanded with the onset of the Cold War and the newly arrived flood of Hungarian refugees in the west.

This paper will focus on the early years of the Cold War ( 1947-1956) and seek to introduce the various ways in which Hungarians were involved with and supported the activities of intelligence agencies of the United States and Great Britain in their efforts not only to spy upon but to destabilize the Soviet grip on their homelands. It will touch upon the organizations, individuals and networks that were in place and political orientation that the emigres themselves represented and supported.

The paper will also reveal more fully Tibor Eckhardt's history with American intelligence,the knowledge of which has greatly expanded as a result of recently declassified materials being made available.





Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Katalin Kádár Lynn is a historian based in Budapest and California whose principal area of scholarship is World War II and the Cold War with an emphasis on Central and East European émigré political activities and organizations. She is the founder and Editor in Chief of Helena History Press, LLC a publishing house specializing in scholarship about and from Central and East Europe in English. She most recently edited and contributed to The Inauguration of Organized Political Warfare: Cold War Organizations sponsored by the National Committee for a Free Europe/ Free Europe Committee (Helena History Press, 2013). She is the biographer of the Hungarian political figure Tibor Eckhardt titled Tibor Eckhardt: His American Years 1941-192 published in English and Hungarian (East European Monographs, L’Harmattan Press). She edited and published Eckhardt’s memoir, Tibor Eckhardt: In His Own Words. She co-authored along with historians Károly Szerencsés and Péter Strausz, Through an American Lens, Hungary 1938: Photographs by Margaret Bourke-White (East European Monographs, 2010). Kádár Lynn is currently researching and writing an expanded biography of Tibor Eckhardt, which will encompass his Hungarian years and his wartime and Cold War intelligence activities. Her upcoming publications include a biography of Béla Varga and a history of the Hungarian National Council and a survey of Hungarian immigration history from 1938 – 1972. She serves on the Editorial Board of the journal Comenius, the International Advisory Board of the AHEA e-journal Hungarian Cultural Studies, the board of the American Hungarian Library and Historical Society of New York and the American Hungarian Federation. In 2011 she was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary.

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From the History of the First Hungarian Barber-Chirurg-Guild: The Chirurgs in Cluj-Napoca

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The history of Cluj-Napoca in the middle- and early modern age compared with other Hungarian cities is one of the most particularly revealing research-field. Specifically, the history of the handcraft, of the guilds as their advocacy system, their multi-layered tasks (taking part in the city-administration, in the social network) became well-known in the last decades.
Among the crafts the guild of the chirurgs, surgeons (barbers), is of special interest, as it is today difficult to imagine how healthcare could work as a union of craftsmen. Surgery meant, over centuries, the medical attendance to injuries; it meant only accident surgery.
Moreover, the chirurg-guild in Cluj-Napoca founded in 1568 was the first barber-guild of Hungary. Its constitution from 1648 we can get a glimpse of how the craftsmen in the guild worked. By now we know that about 80% of the barbers in Cluj Napoca were of Hungarian desendence; they came from Cluj-Napoca, from the town of Cibiu, Bihar county and from the villages in Kolos county. Furthermore, we know that in addition to three doctors in 1790 in the city, there were still six chirurgs.
Researching the Hungarian guild-database we managed to compile last year the protocols of the barber-guild in Cluj Napoca in the 17th and 18th centuries. Based on these protocols containing the names of every guild-members, we developed new ideas about the guild-system, the influence of the craftsmen in the city, and about their numbers. The number of the barbers in Cluj Napoca is unique even in European context: we can examine masters, fellows, servants in the documents.
Above all we have to ask: why were there so many healer persons in Cluj Napoca? Might we witness an unprecedented phenomenon, a „healer college” in the frame of a guild?


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Katalin Mária Kincses is managing editor of the journal Quarterly of Military History in Hungary, Institute and Museum of Military History. She received her PhD from ELTE in medieval and early modern Hungarian history in 2001. Her research interests include medieval and early modern Hungarian history, Environmental history, Hungarian historiography, history of 16-18th century mentality.

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Történelem és nemzettudat

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Minden nemzet számon tartja azokat a kiválóságokat, akikre büszkén hivatkozik, legyenek azok tudósok, feltalálók, sportolók, történelmi hősök, kiemelkedő államférfiak. Fontos, hogy bárki legyen is az érdemének, helyének, jelentőségének megfelelően értékeljük. Minden vele kapcsolatos tényt, adatot tárgyilagosan korrekt módon ítéljünk meg.
Ezt a szempontot szem előtt tartva előadásomban a jelenleg érvényesülő történelem szemléltet szeretném röviden – néhány példán keresztül – bemutatni. Azt a „kulcsra kész történelmet”, amivel oktatásunk saját képére kívánja formálni nemzettudatunkat.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Kissné dr. Novák Éva egyetemi docens a Szegedi Tudományetem Filozófia Tanszékén. Kutatási témái: értékelmélet, család és életmód, Böhm Károly filozófiája.

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The Perspectives and Features of Second Generation American Hungarian Veterans’ Readjustment to their Home Society Returning from WWII; New Brunswick, NJ 1946-1960

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
The paper attempts to contribute with original information to the history of second generation American Hungarians in the post war period: how was their readjustment returning from WWII. How did they recover, how did they start or restart their life? How did the identity of this generation develop? Could they utilize America’s effort made for this generation, the G.I. Bill or any other veteran benefits: health care, studies, housing, etc.? Was there any influence of the US post war prosperity recognizable in their life? Did all those changes have any local or American Hungarian character?
For comparison the New Brunswick situation with the general post war American scene, the research findings of American Studies were utilized. The analysis of the New Brunswick case is based on a survey and post war Hungarian American contemporary sources. At the time of the research in 2013 hardly any members of the WWII veteran generation were accessible already. However their siblings and contemporary witnesses gave interesting interviews with important information. Although this survey brought valuable information, further research is necessary to make the picture complete. Despite the lack of detailed information regarding the second generation American Hungarians in the 40s and 50s especially from the view of the WWII veteran generation, we believe the details presented here can help to make the picture complete and be important for future research as well.



Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Ilona Kovács is librarian and retired department head of the National Széchényi Library, Budapest.
She gained her diplomas at the Budapest University (ELTE, 1961) and at Kent State University, Ohio (MLS, 1975), and her doctoral degree at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA 1993). Her research area is Hungarians abroad focusing on American Hungarians. As head of the Hungarica Documentation she was director of grants for collecting information and documentation and build up Hungarica databases and also conducting surveys to publish a series of publications on Hungarica material of libraries in Europe, Australia and Canada. She attended several international conferences in Europe, USA, Canada and Hungary and published over 100 articles, studies and books. She was a Fulbright scholar at the American Hungarian Foundation in the AYs 1995 and 2001/03.

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Hamvas Endre vívódásai

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Hamvas Endre (1890-1970) kalocsai érsek, a magyar püspöki kar elnöke, a kommunista diktatúra legkeményebb éveiben közvetített az államhatalom és a katolikus egyház között. Hamvas tiltakozott a zsidók deportálása, a Benes dekrétumok, valamint a németek háború utáni kitelepítése ellen, és felháborodásának nyilvánosan is hangot adott. A bebörtönzött Mindszenty József mellett is végig kiállt, azonban 1956 után –legalábbis látszatra– együttműködött a kommunista kormánnyal. Ennek az együttműködésnek a keretében Hamvas képviselte Magyarországot a második vatikáni zsinaton, valamint a Béke Világtanács moszkvai ülésén is. Az elmúlt években sorra jelentek meg olyan kiadványok, melyek a Hamvassal kapcsolatos államvédelmi és állambiztonsági iratokat tartalmazzák, természetesen válogatva. Bár a tudományos feldolgozás még várat magára, ezeknek a kiadványoknak köszönhetően bepillantást nyerhetünk e korszak közéleti szereplőinek személyes vivódásaiba, félelmeibe.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Helga Lénárt-Cheng studied French and German at JATE and ELTE in Hungary, and she received her PhD in Comparative Literature from Harvard University. Since 2008 she has been on the faculty of the Department of Modern Languages at Saint Mary's College of California. Her research interests include the philosophical tradition of phenomenological hermeneutics, philosophies of subjectivity, various genres of life-writing (autobiographies, memoirs, diaries, blogs, etc.) and theories of utopia. She has just completed a monograph on Alexander Lenard, and she is working on her book about the politics of sharing life stories.

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Hungarian-Romanian Political Relations in Northern Transylvania Between 1940 and 1944 from the Perspective of the Transylvanian Party

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
The lecture deals with the problem of changing of the ethnic composition after the Second Vienna Award in Northern Transylvania. It tries to present the relationship between the Hungarians becoming the majority and Romanians the minority in the region, offering an overview of the problem from the political perspective. The activity of the Transylvanian Party (Erdélyi Párt), the most important political formation of the Transylvanians in that time, is analized. The discourse concentrates on the analysis of the party program with special focus on the basic conception of the party regarding ethnic problems in Transylvania. The source material of the lecture consists of special books, studies, essays, memoirs, published recollections, as well as data and articles published in the contemporary press.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
MURÁDIN, János Kristóf (1980–) – Historian. Studies in Cluj/Kolozsvár (Babeş-Bolyai University, 1999–2003). PhD degree in contemporary history (Babeş–Bolyai University, 2010). Assistant professor at Sapientia University Cluj/Kolozsvár (2008–). Member of the Transylvanian Museum Society (2005–), the „Bolyai” Society (2006–) and the External Public Body of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2011-). Subject interests: Hungarian–Romanian relations in the period of the Second World War, activity and role of the Transylvanian Party in the Hungarian political life between 1940 and 1944, deportation of Hungarian civilians from Cluj to the Soviet Union in October 1944 and history of their captivity in Soviet labour- and concentration camps, development of Hungarian minority culture in Romania and the transformations inside the cultural institutions of the Hungarians living in Transylvania between 1944 and 1948.

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Why Did They Leap? Crossing Borders after the 1956 Revolution

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
Nearly 200,000 people crossed the borders of Hungary during and after the Revolution of 1956. What were their motives: escape from punishment for their role in the revolution, taking advantage of loosened borders to infiltrate the West as spies, an opportunity to see the world, or in many cases a complex combination of motives? Crossing into Austria, the immigrants faced a further decision about their second leap, whether to move on to a third country, settle in Austria itself, or return to Hungary. The screening interviews of immigration authorities and intelligence services, the impressions of journalists, the contemporary interview project at Columbia University that is now available online through the Open Society Archive, later oral histories, and life stories all offer sources for an analysis of motivation. Between the first leap and the second, the further course of “the Hungarian crisis” and the policies of the host countries would influence the options and the ultimate decision of the immigrant.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
My doctoral dissertation focused on 19th century Transylvania: Battling Bishops: Religion and Politics in Transylvania on the Eve of the Ausgleich (Indiana, 1989). I’ve written many articles on aspects of Transylanian history, but after becoming a librarian in 1994 turned to the history of libraries and archives. My current book project concerns the Hungarian 56ers’ processing at Camp Kilmer.

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Francis Bowen, "War of Races in Hungary," and a Lost Harvard Professorship

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
In February 1851 the Board of Overseers of Harvard University voted against confirming Francis Bowen as McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History. Bowen, the editor of the prestigious literary journal North American Review, the year before had written and published two articles highly critical of Hungary’s revolution and war of independence of 1848-49, resulting in a war of words, attacks and counterattacks, that carried over onto the pages of a few Boston newspapers, the Christian Examiner, and even the New York Tribune. In his articles, Bowen ignored the reforms that took place beginning in March 1848 and considered the Hungarian declaration of independence the following year nothing more than an attempt of the nobility to continue its subjugation of the non-Hungarian population without Austrian interference. Bowen was accused not only of besmirching the motives of the Hungarian patriots, but also of shoddy scholarship and plagiarism. His main adversary was Mary Lowell Putnam, a polymath who was one of the few Americans at that time who knew Hungarian. Putnam was joined by Robert Carter, an editor and lifelong friend of Putnam’s brother, the poet James Russell Lowell. There were political implications here as well; Bowen was a conservative Whig at a time when the coalition of the Democratic and Free Soil parties was temporarily ascendant in Massachusetts politics. As it turned out, Bowen was not out of favor for long; in 1853 Harvard confirmed him as Alford professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy and Civil Polity, a position he held for the next thirty-six years.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Kenneth Nyirady is Reference Specialist for Hungary in the European Division, Library of Congress, a position he has held since 1990. From 1983 to 1990 he was a research analyst in the Library's Federal Research Division. He received an M.A. in history from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1976, and an M. Phil. in Uralic Studies from Columbia University in 1979.

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A Debreceni Nyári Egyetem helye és szerepe a változó világban

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Az 1927-ben alapított Debreceni Nyári Egyetem alapvető küldetése régen és ma egyaránt a magyar nyelv és kultúra terjesztése bárki számára, aki érdeklődik Magyarország és a magyar kultúra bármely területe iránt. Bár ez a küldetés világos és egyértelmű, könnyen belátható, hogy az elmúlt csaknem kilenc évtizedben ezt a feladatot nem lehetett ugyanúgy és ugyanolyan eszközökkel végrehajtani. Az előadás különösen az elmúlt 2-3 évtizedre koncentrálva igyekszik bemutatni, hogy a nagy presztízsű intézménynek milyen kihívásokkal kellett szembenéznie.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
1978-ban szerzett angol-orosz szakos diplomát az egykori KLTE-n, ahonnan habilitált egyetemi docensként ment nyugdíjba 2013-ban.
Egyetemi oktatóként fő érdeklődési területe a színház és a dráma kapcsolata és fejlődése, főleg a kanadai és néhány más angol nyelvű posztkoloniális kultúrában, de kutatási területébe beletartozik a magyar-angolszász kapcsolatok számos találkozási pontja. Az angol nyelvű Színház specializáció és a magyar és külföldi egyetemi hallgatók számára 1999 óta évente megrendezésre kerülő Angol Nyelvű Dráma Fesztivál megalapítója és főszervezője. Oktatói és kutatói munkája mellett számos hazai és nemzetközi konferenciát szervezett, és egyik alapító tagja a HUSSE néven közismertté vált Magyar Anglisztikai Társaságnak, amelynek 1993 és 2010 között ügyvezető titkára volt. Jelentős szerepet vállalt a nagyváradi Partiumi Keresztény Egyetem Angol Tanszékének létrehozásában, amelynek 2001 óta oktatója és 2008-ig megbízott vezetője volt. A Debreceni Egyetem Bölcsészettudományi Karán működő tolmácsvizsga-központ vezetője, műfordító.
2009. június 1. óta a Debreceni Nyári Egyetem ügyvezető igazgatója.
2010 óta a Debreceni Egyetem utazó nagykövete.

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Declining Hungarian Birth Rate seen in Hungarian Literature

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Falling birth rates had already been recorded as early as the late-eighteenth century in south-western Hungary, in the Ormánság. Low birth rate, population loss remained one of the main topics focused on by writers and sociologists in the twentieth century. The issue of decreasing Hungarian population was highlighted among the social ills in the interwar period and this was one of several subjects, which divided intellectuals into ‘populists’ and ‘urbanites’. Following the impact of the low birth rate figures in the 1960s, the populist’s views of the 1930s reappeared in the public debates in the 1960s and 1970s, till the present day. The concern of the increasing trend of the one-child families in rural settlements as well as in urban areas appeared in the various works of Hungarian writers, publicist throughout the last century. The current paper intends to focus on the intellectual background to the public debate on the population issue, outlining the accounts of the interwar ‘village explorers’ briefly, and the way they are related to the pre-Second World War populist movement. Finally the reappearance of the populists and non-populists debates of the 1970s are discussed, a debate that is still continuing.
Keywords: low birth rates, one-child families, populist, non-populists.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Ildiko Szanto received her M.A. degree in History from Macquarie University, N.S.W. She has taught interdisciplinary courses focusing on the ideological movements of the twentieth century in East-Central Europe at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, Pázmány Péter Catholic University and the Budapest Business School.

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The Peregrination and Migration of the Guild-Fellows in the Carpathian Basin in the 18th Century

Type of Abstract (select):

Abstract (max. 250 words):
About the turn of the 17th–18th century, after the Ottoman wars Hungary’s territory became reunified. The rare populousness of the middle region and the undeveloped industry offered great opportunities to the migrants.
In the middle of the 18th century the fellows, who did not get a place in the local guilds, migrated to the middle regions of the country in order to find a job and living. We can follow based on several examples of migration from the Northern parts to the Southern regions and a running from the Western to the Eastern settlements at the same time. So we can define some main routes: fellows march from Buda in the direction to Szeged and Pécs, meanwhile they come to Buda and Pest from Pozsony. Altough the migration from Austria, especially from Vienna with its over 60 000 craftsmen to Pozsony and the counties Vas and Moson is less important, but considerable.
The migration in the Northern part of Hungary shows very interesting directions, whereas the fellows moved earlier to Krakow and Lemberg they run now south- and westwards. Compared with the catchment area of Buda we can set out, that the migration through Pest-Buda to the Southern regions ran its course without any inhibitions, while Kassa that held almost every Northern guilds under its influence aimed to put off the migration or it tried to keep the migration in its own catchment area.
We need to the analysis of the migration processes because of the special capabilities of the guild-resources (quantity, quality and type of the documents, variegation of the document keeping institutions etc.) particular methods. To this end a new guild-database is presented which can be a brilliant help beyond its other useful functions also to the migration-examinations because of its international compatibility even in international projects. The examples mentioned in the presentation are already the results of the research carried out with the help of this data-base.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Csilla Tuza is Archivist at the National Archives of Hungary. She received her Diploma in education in History and German at the Eötvös Lorand University in 1993. She attended the Doctoral School of History, Early Modern Hungarian History Program 2001-2006. Her fields of research include the history of the Hungarian guilds, historiography, and history of the economy in the 18th century in Hungary.

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Hungarian Gymnasiums in Postwar Germany

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Following the end of World War II, between ten to fifteen million refugees found themselves in Postwar Germany. Although scattered all over in the remnants of Hitler’s empire, most of them congregated in southern Germany. The majority of these refugees consisted of Germans, who either fled from the invading Soviet hordes, or were expelled from their homelands by the new settlers. These refugees consisting of about twenty different nationalities, among them Hungarians, who constituted about 10-12 % of the total.

The situation changed in the fall of 1945 when about 90% of the Hungarians repatriated, and their numbers in Germany declined to 122,000. At the same time elections were held in Hungary, which was won by the ant-communist Smallholders Party. It collected 57% of the votes, versus the Communist Party that received only 17%. As Hungary was under Soviet occupation, the communists did not take their defeat easily. They started a campaign against all rival political parties, whose leaders were accused of being American spies. This lead to their arrest, conviction, and deportation to the Gulag. This also produced a new wave of refugees from Hungary.

Those Hungarians who remained in Germany were put into refugee camps, where they had to survive for years. They established various political and cultural institutions to make their lives tolerable. Most important among these were their Gymnasiums (eight–year preparatory schools) that were to perpetuate their original way of life. The first and most important among these camp schools was the Hungarian/Gymnasium of Passau/Waldwerke. Founded by Prof. Béla Csejtei as a coeducational school, it functioned from the fall of 1945 trough the fall of 1951, while after 1951 it absorbed virtually all of the smaller schools. By 1958 almost all of the remaining schools had been merged into the Passau/Waldwerke Gymnasium. The school was transferred to a permanent location in the fortress of Burg Kastl in the vicinity of Munich. There it remained until its dissolution in 2006.




Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Steven Béla Várdy is a McAnulty Distinguished Professor of European History at Duquesne University, longtime Director of the University's History Forum, and former Chairman of the Department of History. He is the author, co-author, or editor of two dozen scholarly books, well over one-hundred scholarly articles, and nearly one-hundred encyclopedia articles and book reviews.

Prof. Ágnes Huszár Várdy, Ph.D., is a former professor of English and Communications at Robert Morris University, is now Adjunct Professor of Comparative Literature at Duquesne University. She is the author, co-author, or editor of nearly a dozen books, and close to a hundred articles, essays and reviews. Prof. Ágnes Huszár Várdy is also the author of two historical-social novels, Mimi and My Italian Summer.

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Irish Images of Hungarian National Identity in the Interwar Years

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
Late 1918 saw the complete transformation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from a Dual Monarchy into a number of independent, self-declared “nation-states”. Drawing on contemporary Irish newspapers, journals and diplomatic accounts, this paper aims to investigate the formulation of national identity in interwar Hungary, as perceived by the newly independent Irish Free State, since both small states shared border-related challenges after gaining independence following the end of the Great War. Tracing what factors defined the Irish image of independent Hungary, in contrast to Hungarian self-image, is of primary importance, in addition to determining the impact of Hungary’s historical past on Irish opinion. This paper concentrates on the changing identities in Central Europe from a transnational perspective, with special attention to Hungary, arguing that investigating Irish perceptions of Hungary may provide insights into not only the transformation of Habsburg Central Europe, but also into the development of Irish national identity. Altogether, the paper aims to add to our current understanding of Hungarian identity in the interwar era, providing an additional dimension to the Hungarian self-image built around resenting the “truncated” nature of the independent small state, in contrast with the perceptions of the small Irish state in the early 1920s.


Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Lili Zách received her Masters Degrees in English (Irish Studies specialisation) and History at the University of Szeged, Hungary, in 2006. She completed a Diploma in Irish in 2010 at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and is currently undertaking a PhD in History. Her research interest lies in the field of Irish foreign policy and intellectual history, focusing on Irish links with Central Europe before 1945. At present she is investigating the role of small nations in Irish political discourse from a transnational perspective, with special reference to the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1914-1945.

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