Diaspora

Remembering Éva Balogh (1936 – 2021)

Remembering Éva Balogh (1936 – 2021)

Éva S. Balogh, the singularly dedicated editor and main contributor of Hungarian Spectrum died on November 30th of cardiac arrest. For over a decade, she dedicated her life to reporting on and analysing politics, culture and society in Hungary for English-speaking readers, diplomats and civil servants throughout Europe and North America, and for many democratically-minded Hungarians too, especially in the […]

by · December 1, 2021 · Diaspora
Kossuth at Niagara University

Kossuth at Niagara University

Last November a new Kossuth statue arrived to Boston.  It weighed about half a ton and Honorary Consul Gábor Garai asked local Hungarian Americans to store it in their garage. The statue, a generous present of the Orbán government to the City of Boston and planned to be installed at Faneuil Hall, where Lajos Kossuth gave a speech in 1852 […]

by · September 29, 2021 · Diaspora
Mayor Breed, please don’t invite diplomats of the Orbán Government

Mayor Breed, please don’t invite diplomats of the Orbán Government

I was shocked to learn that Consul András Doncsev of the far-right Hungarian Government was present at San Francisco City Hall’s August 20th event.  The photo of the one-time speech-writer of authoritarian PM Viktor Orbán was taken at City Hall and triumphantly distributed at the San Francisco Honorary Consulate’s Facebook site. Mr. Doncsev represents a government which promotes racist, homophobic […]

by · September 14, 2021 · Diaspora
An invitation to participate in a research project on Hungarian refugees to Canada

An invitation to participate in a research project on Hungarian refugees to Canada

The Hungarian Free Press received the email below from researchers at the University of Toronto who are conducting a project on Hungarian refugees to Canada. Participants are paid an honorarium. We invite you to consider the invitation below if you arrived in Canada as a refugee. Dear Christopher Adam, We are recruiting individuals aged 50 and older, who are Hungarian […]

by · July 21, 2021 · Diaspora
Valér Palkovits

“Homophobia has been central to Viktor Orban’s fascist ideology” — Jerrad Peters vs. Valér Palkovits

In recent years Hungary’s Orbán government has targeted the Roma community, Hungary’s Jews and now the LGBTQ community.   Racism, anti-Semitism and Holocaust falsification are institutionalized in Budapest and now homophobia has been legislated in this EU-member country.  Hungary’s new “pedophilia law” connects the country’s LGBTQ community to pedophilia. Pro-Hitler Hungarian dictator of the last century, Miklós Horthy is profusely praised […]

by · July 6, 2021 · Diaspora
Lilly Toth (1925-2021)

Remembering Holocaust survivor Lilly Toth

Richard Schnurbach, president of the Montreal Holocaust Museum and Daniel Amar, the organization’s executive director, co-authored a moving piece remembering Lilly Toth (née Gluck), a survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary, who died in Montreal on May 22, 2021.  We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Lilly Toth, Holocaust survivor and Museum volunteer. Lilly was passionate about […]

by · May 31, 2021 · Diaspora
The romance of the 56-er Hungarian refugee and Prince William of Gloucester

The romance of the 56-er Hungarian refugee and Prince William of Gloucester

The improbable romance of flamboyant Prince William of Gloucester and Zsuzsi Starkloff made headlines fifty years ago.  Starkloff was a 56-er, an ambitious, capable Hungarian refugee who loved glamour.  A recent documentary brought this romantic tabloid story into the spotlight again. The dashing Prince William of Gloucester was Queen Elisabeth’s first cousin and the page boy at her wedding in […]

by · May 17, 2021 · Diaspora
Why is the Hungarian Reformed Church in America mum about the death of Pastor Debreczeni in Phoenix, Arizona?

Why is the Hungarian Reformed Church in America mum about the death of Pastor Debreczeni in Phoenix, Arizona?

One of the most charismatic pastors of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America has died. In the past we wrote that lawsuits and chaos paralyze the Church in America.  One of the most vicious court battles involved Pastor Debreczeni.  Church officials openly called Debreczeni immoral, a liar and cheater who illegally taped conversations.  Zsolt Demeter, Presbiter and Bishop Zoltán Lizik […]

by · April 18, 2021 · Diaspora
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Békevár-Kipling, a piece of history from the Canadian Prairies

In the 19th century this area of Canada was called Assiniboia, named after local first nations people who lived here for hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years as they claim. At this time the province belonged to the Northwest Territories. In 1905 the province joined to the Confederation of Canada and became known by the name of Saskatchewan. Early […]

by · March 24, 2021 · Diaspora
Sándor Sík – the Catholic (and Jewish) icon of Hungarian American Scouts

Sándor Sík – the Catholic (and Jewish) icon of Hungarian American Scouts

The 106-acre Sándor Sík Hungarian Scout Park is in upstate New York, close to Fillmore, in Allegany County.  It was founded as a campground and training center in 1964 by the Hungarian Scout Association in Exteris. “With its gently hilly slopes and meadows, firs and a variety of other trees, it is an ideal location for camping,” says the official […]

by · March 8, 2021 · Diaspora