Under the leadership of Regent Horthy and his Government led by count István Bethlen, the first ten years are marked by relatively rapid growth of prosperity an
tinues somewhat abated because of the Great Depression that arrived in Hungary in 1932, for a other 8 years , to 1938 – the beginning of wartime activities, under Bethlen’s successors. A strong middle class is starting to emerge
tween the rich and the poor was not attended to as vigorously as it should have been. Land reform was talked about, but it remained just talk. Some social reforms were enacted, but they too we ited by the county’s available resources. The nation was not able, or willing to risk instability, to a dress drastic reforms. A question may well be raised, whether dividing the great landholdings of the state, the church, and the aristocracy among
lem? Or other economic factors, such as the great depression of the thirties, that radiated out from the USA to the whole western world, had a much greater impact. (Many nations, including the world’s richest nation, the United States of America, has not been able to solve this problem even in our days.) At any rate, the poor and distraught segment of society who did not participate in this re ative economic prosperity became the hotbed of discontent, found
promises of the Workers Paradise, promoted by the Marxist/Leninist/Stalinist/Communist ideol gy.
91
tion. In addition the newly dismembered nation was forced to pay immense amounts of war reparations to the victors, and was s verely restricted in the size of the armed forces the country was allowed to maintain.
This Treaty did not live up to its expectations of preventing future wars and upheavals in Europe. Rather it sowed the seeds of hatred and di content between winners and losers, it set the stage for the second major conflagration, WWII. During that in the early 40’s, both Czechosl and Yugoslavia broke up into separate Czech (occupied by Germany) and Slovak, Serb (occ
and Croat states. This was the time when these new sovereign states, Slovakia and Croatia were er they lasted but a few years. After the war under Communist leade
reassembled again to their Trianon created entities, then broke up again in the 90’s, after the fall of Communism in Europe, this time by self determination, respectively into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and into Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Ma
Serbia. (Let us not forget the struggles and the bloody conflict in Croatia, Bosnia Kosovo during the nineties, still a legacy of Trianon) .
First 10 yrs begins definite trend to prosperity, 30’s world depression.
Under the leadership of Regent Horthy and his Government led by count István Bethlen, the first ten years are marked by relatively rapid growth of prosperity and social stability. This co tinues somewhat abated because of the Great Depression that arrived in Hungary in 1932, for a
the beginning of wartime activities, under Bethlen’s successors. A strong middle class is starting to emerge. However, the country’s biggest social problem, the inequity b tween the rich and the poor was not attended to as vigorously as it should have been. Land reform was talked about, but it remained just talk. Some social reforms were enacted, but they too we ited by the county’s available resources. The nation was not able, or willing to risk instability, to a dress drastic reforms. A question may well be raised, whether dividing the great landholdings of the state, the church, and the aristocracy among the poor would have significantly reduced this pro lem? Or other economic factors, such as the great depression of the thirties, that radiated out from the USA to the whole western world, had a much greater impact. (Many nations, including the est nation, the United States of America, has not been able to solve this problem even in our days.) At any rate, the poor and distraught segment of society who did not participate in this re ative economic prosperity became the hotbed of discontent, found their salvation in the perceived promises of the Workers Paradise, promoted by the Marxist/Leninist/Stalinist/Communist ideol tion. In addition the newly dismembered nation was forced to pay immense amounts of
war-reparations to the victors, and was se-verely restricted in the size of the armed forces the country was allowed This Treaty did not live up to its expectations of preventing future wars and upheavals in Europe. Rather it sowed the seeds of hatred and dis-content between winners and losers, it set the stage for the second major conflagration, WWII. During that war in the early 40’s, both Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia broke up into separate Czech (occupied by Germany) and Slovak, Serb (occupied by Germany) and Croat states. This was the time when these new sovereign states, Slovakia and Croatia were er they lasted but a few years. After the war under Communist leadership, they were reassembled again to their Trianon created entities, then broke up again in the 90’s, after the fall of nto the Czech Republic and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Serbia. (Let us not forget the struggles and the bloody conflict in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and
First 10 yrs begins definite trend to prosperity, 30’s world depression.
Under the leadership of Regent Horthy and his Government led by count István Bethlen, d social stability. This con-tinues somewhat abated because of the Great Depression that arrived in Hungary in 1932, for an-the beginning of wartime activities, under Bethlen’s successors. A strong . However, the country’s biggest social problem, the inequity be-tween the rich and the poor was not attended to as vigorously as it should have been. Land reform was talked about, but it remained just talk. Some social reforms were enacted, but they too were lim-ited by the county’s available resources. The nation was not able, or willing to risk instability, to ad-dress drastic reforms. A question may well be raised, whether dividing the great landholdings of the the poor would have significantly reduced this prob-lem? Or other economic factors, such as the great depression of the thirties, that radiated out from the USA to the whole western world, had a much greater impact. (Many nations, including the est nation, the United States of America, has not been able to solve this problem even in our days.) At any rate, the poor and distraught segment of society who did not participate in this rel-their salvation in the perceived promises of the Workers Paradise, promoted by the Marxist/Leninist/Stalinist/Communist
ideolo-92
Territorial revisions.
The sense of gross injustice and a burn-ing desire for revision of the Trianon dictates drives the leaders and citizens of the nation during the thirties. When Germany comes a courting, bearing promises of territorial revi-sions, the nation cannot possibly refuse the chance of redressing past wrongs, and commits herself to an alliance, whose consequences are at first fruitful, but eventually will prove to be disastrous.
In Nov. 1938 the 1st Vienna Accords returns the Hungarian populated part of the Uplands (Felvidék), from Czechoslovakia.
In March 1939, as the new Slovakia is formed, Hungarian forces occupy, with the tac-it agreement of the Germans, all of Trans-Carpathia (Kárpátalja). This action restores the Hungarian border to its original place, on the ridge of the Carpathian mountains, and establishes a common border with traditionally friendly Poland.
In Aug 1940 the 2nd Vienna Accords awards the northern part of Transylvania (Erdély) to Hungary, returning from Romania. Hungary’s eastern border on the ridge of the Carpathians is now fully restored.
In April 1941, as the German army invades Yugoslavia, and that country disintegrates, spin-ning off a new state of Croatia, Hungarian forces march in and retake the southern territories, called Voivodina (Délvidék - Bácska).
In total 34% of once lost territory, and 39% of once lost inhabitants are returned to Hungary making its territory 171,300 km2, with 13.5 million inhabitants. Unfortunately this is but transient glory. The world is by now fully embroiled in a great war. Hungary finds herself drawn more and more inextricably into the whirlpool of final demise.
I was born in this period of our history, into an upper middle class family. TheSzappanos an-cestors came toKecskemétin the early 18thcentury, as the descendants of oneSzappanos Mihály, a cap-tain in the army ofThököly Imre, the “kuruc”leader in the struggle against the Habsburg oppressors.
Mihály excelled in his profession, and for an especially brave and heroic action, he was bequeathed the title of nobility (in 1674) by the then reigning Chieftain of Transylvania (Erdélyi Fejedelem),Apaffy Mihály. As part of this title of nobility, the family crest granted him depicts a peace dove carrying an olive branch. This heroic action was one in which, with a swift and stealthy attack he succeeded in freeing a whole bunch of Protestant preachers who were destined to be shipped away as galley slaves by the forces of the Catholic Church. (Yes, there was a dark period in European history, where the Catholic Church succumbed to rather harsh measures in its backlash to the rapidly expanding “here-tic” Protestant Church, a movement started by Martin Luther.)
Mihálybelonged to the Hungarian Reformed Church, and he passed this noble title and the adherence to this faith on to his descendants. At the time of my birth, theSzappanosfamily was high-ly respected, and represented in Kecskemét by many well to do members, most of them landowners, with city residences, but also in other professions, such as lawyers, judges, pastors, and public serv-ants. Although never professional soldiers, whenever the country needed them, they would serve
Outline of the borders in 1942 after territorial revisions
93
with honor and valor, some even giving their life in the two world wars. Along with others of their peers throughout the country, they were viscerally patriotic. This patriotism was rooted in the deep connection with the ancestral land they owned, a land through which they were inexorably tied to that bigger land, their homeland, their “patria”.
No wonder that those, who at the end of WWII decided to flee their homeland - having been disowned by the new ruling class in their own country - have had to undergo an excruciating psychological trauma. Why did this have to happen? We shall see later. For now, let’s return to the past.
My father started out as a career huszárofficer in the Hungarian Royal Army (Magyar Királyi Honvédség), graduating from the Military Academy (Ludovika Akadémia) in 1918, just at the end of WWI. His military service was short and turbulent, living through the Bolshevik reign of terror, then serving in the resurgent and victorious national army led by Horthy Miklós, who later became the country’s Regent. The draconian sanctions and restrictions forced on the country by the Trianon treaty forced the young second lieutenant into reserve status in 1921. As fate would have it, this was a fortuitous course of events, because his father became ill with cancer at a very early age, and died three years later, in 1924, leaving all the family’s ancestral land holdings which he was managing -to his son, my father. Even though my father had a younger brother and sister, Hungarian tradition, custom, and even common law gave the first born son the right to inherit all ancestral property, that is property that was inherited by his father. As a 25 year old young man, he took over the reins of the 640 acre arable farmland in Városföld and Páka, and the 882 acres of grazing and forestland in Bócsa, and ran them with great success, with the help of his trusted manager and overseer, Lőricz István. He became a successful gentleman farmer, even though in his heart he always remained a huszárofficer. With his father passing away he also inherited the large townhouse in the center of the city ofKecskemét, where his widowed mother, my grandmother lived. My father was a down-to-earth, no-nonsense man, who had the native gift of being comfortable conversing with all classes of peo-ple. His forthrightness and direct honesty was respected by all, which was a great asset, as he was in-volved with all kinds of civic activities, from farm and dairy associations, to church and city affairs, and was a member of the very important Gentleman’s Club (Úri Kaszinó) where all the daily business and entertainment of that society was conducted.
My mother also came from a family of nobility, thefélegyházi Endre family. The ancestors of this family stemmed from the Jász-Kun clan of ancient Hungary, and settled in the heart of the re-gion ofKiskunság, in the city ofKiskunfélegyházain the 18thcentury. The origin of the family’s title of nobility has been lost to the nebulous past, but if we look what the family crest depicts - a soldier holding the cut-off head of a Turk by his hair - one may conclude that this title originates from the days of Turkish conquest and occupation of Hungary during the 16thand 17th centuries. Members of the Endre family have held positions mostly in civil service, in the legal and administrative profes-sions, many of them owning sizable land property. An exception was the brother of my grandfather, who was a physician and a general in the Hungarian Royal Army. My grandfather, Endre Zsigmond I.
was the youngest male of 14 children, of whom 9 reached adulthood. He received his law degree from theJogakadémia of Kecskemét, after which he began his lifelong career as a public servant. He was first elected to a post of district commissioner inKiskunfélegyháza, from where was later elected to be a member of the House of Representatives in the Hungarian Parliament (országgyűlési képviselő), and finally to the Upper Chambers of the Parliament (felsőházi tag).Besides being a public servant, he was also the embodiment of the traditional Hungarian landowner (magyar földesúr). His ancestral landhold-ings were in the hundreds of acres (I have not found any records giving exact amount) inSzentkút, about 15 kilometers south of Kiskunfélegyháza. This place was later renamedPálos-Szentkút, after the Pauline Order (Pálos Rend) established themselves at the place of pilgrimage, the site of the holy well
(szent kút) where - tradition has it - several miraculous healings have been bestowed on believers.
My mother was the youngest of 6 siblings.
bácsi, Marika néni, wife of Újhelyi Tibor
married because of her physical shortcomings due to childhood polio Laci bácsi, were a very closely knit family, that in ti
childhood years, but especially during the turbulent years after the war, I was very close to many of them, and their influence on my, and our lives have been significant. It was Laci
upon himself to shepherd this family through the very difficult times of the coming upheaval. He was a highly placed official with numerous strong contacts with the German officialdom, that en bled him to navigate through the turbulent events of our flight, an
These landholdings were operated out of a small cluster of houses, called manor and the land surrounding it, owned by a n
pending of the size of their landholdings, and type of farming, this
ing houses, farm buildings, barns and stables, and grain storage, etc. This is where well to do lan owners have built their country manor houses,
their size and richness depending on the affl ence of the owner.
Both, my father’s place in Városföld my grandfather’s in Szentkút were one of these manors, with one of those modest but comfort ble country manor houses, suitable for a family, with a guest room and servant quarters. Not one of those baronial mansions pictured in travel brochures. Electricity and telephones, in those days were not one of the luxuries that even the very rich could afford. Rural electrification fell
victim to the grave economic climate between the two world wars, and became reality only after the Second World War. So running water was pr
to be pumped up from the well by the hand of serv
large wood-fired kitchen stove, for bathing there was a separate wood would be fired up once a week.
Living in the country also meant a certain degree of distance and separation from the city, where much of life’s necessities resided. To get there, we had several means. One, reserved for sp cial occasions or emergencies was the hors
the hintó, that was a comfortable spring suspended coach with a retractable roof. Special occasions,
Manor house at Városföld
94
several miraculous healings have been bestowed on believers.
My mother was the youngest of 6 siblings.Anyuka’s sisters, Ilonkanéni, wife of Geréby Imre , wife of Újhelyi Tiborbácsi, Etus néni, wife of Várday Pistabácsi, Szidi
married because of her physical shortcomings due to childhood polio - and finally the oldest of them , were a very closely knit family, that in time grew into a large extended family. During my childhood years, but especially during the turbulent years after the war, I was very close to many of them, and their influence on my, and our lives have been significant. It was Laci bácsiwho has taken himself to shepherd this family through the very difficult times of the coming upheaval. He was a highly placed official with numerous strong contacts with the German officialdom, that en bled him to navigate through the turbulent events of our flight, and enabled him to provide some
open doors for us to find a place to live once we a rived at our final destination in Germany. His name will come up very often in this story.
Szentkút,as well ofVárosföld,is in the middle of the Great Plains (Nagyalföld) between the ri Danube and Tisza, in the center of the country.
Although there are a few larger cities in this area, such asKecskemétandKiskunfélegyháza, and some vi lages, most of the area consists of open land, called puszta, much like a flat prairieland, with patches of forest, and grazing land, but also orchards, vin yards, and where the soil is good, arable farmland.
These landholdings were operated out of a small cluster of houses, called manor (Webster: a house and the land surrounding it, owned by a noble), in Hungarian called the tanyaorgazdasági major pending of the size of their landholdings, and type of farming, thistanyaconsisted of people’s dwel
d stables, and grain storage, etc. This is where well to do lan owners have built their country manor houses,
their size and richness depending on the afflu-Városföld, and were one of these manors, with one of those modest but comforta-ble country manor houses, suitacomforta-ble for a family, with a guest room and servant quarters. Not one
their size and richness depending on the afflu-Városföld, and were one of these manors, with one of those modest but comforta-ble country manor houses, suitacomforta-ble for a family, with a guest room and servant quarters. Not one