Attila Szász is an exceptionally talented Hungarian film director. A couple of years ago I saw his film Demimonde (Félvilág) at the Tiburon Fim Festival and I found it intriguing. His latest film Eternal Winter (Örök tél) takes place at the end of World War II when many ethnic Germans were rounded up in Hungary and sent to labor camps […]
On March 15th Hungarians commemorate the Revolution and War of Independence against Habsburg rule in 1848-49. We remember the legendary military leader, General Joseph Bem. Bem was born in Poland in 1794 probably in a Catholic family. As a trained military engineer, an expert with guns, especially with gun powder, he was one of the leaders of the Polish insurrections […]
On February 1, 1930 The Harvard Crimson reported: Count Michael Károlyi, first President of Hungary, who is to speak at the Ford Hall Forum tomorrow evening, at 7 o’clock, on “Fascismo–The Menace to World Peace” has, after a four-year period of exclusion, at last been given permission to enter America as an ordinary European visitor with a six months’ visa. […]
Hungarian Americans in Los Angeles won’t celebrate together this March 15th. Hungary’s most important National Holiday commemorates the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 that grew into a war for independence from the Catholic Habsburg rule. Instead there will be two commemorations at different locations on the same day, at almost the same time. The “official” event is sponsored by the Hungarian […]
Andrew Brunson, a 50-year old American pastor who lived in Turkey since the mid-1990s was jailed by local authorities for his alleged participation in a coup against Turkish strongman Tayyip Erdogan. Brunson and his wife, Norine were arrested in October 2016 along with other Americans. Norine was released after two weeks but her husband was held for two years, facing […]
The Czech comedian, Vlasta Burian was born in 1891 in Reichenberg, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (today Liberec, Czech Republic) as Josef Vlastimil Burian. He was funny as a child, a born entertainer, and later became a popular comedian in the newly formed Czechoslovakia. In 1925 he opened his theatre in Prague and started to make movies. The Undertaker and The Inspector General […]
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán frequently talks about having zero-tolerance for racism and antisemitism, yet his government recently honored Cécile Tormay, a prominent anti-Semite. Cécile Tormay was born in 1877 and died prematurely in 1937 at the age of 60 in the picturesque village of Mátraháza where she shared a house with Countess Ambrózy-Migazzi. The Hungarian writer was an admirer […]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently invited representatives from 79 countries to an all-day meeting on defeating Islamic State and other enemies of the US-led coalition in the Middle East. President Trump and State Secretary Pompeo spoke to the guests. Pompeo called the withdrawal of US troops from Syria as a “tactical change” that does not change the US […]
A couple of days ago Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hinted that preparations were underway for a visit to Budapest by US Secretary State Mike Pompeo. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjartó was more specific; he told the media that Pompeo’s visit will take place in mid-February. Newspaper headlines appeared praising the “excellent relations” between the two countries and celebrating the after eight […]
Ralph Spencer was born in 1859 in Connecticut and became a businessman with interests in retail and oil. He is known as the chief developer of a small town in the State of Georgia called Tallapoosa. Most of Spencer’s businesses failed and his creditors often questioned his honesty. Some even considered him a swindler but he was never successfully prosecuted. […]
