mhbk logo.jpg

Current Events

Home

Mission & History

Historical Summary

WWI & WWII

Current Events

Achievements

Culture

Links

Contact Us

ARTICLES FROM "HADAK UTJAN"(WARRIORS' WAY)

 

500TH EDITION OF “WAY OF THE WARRIORS”  NEWS-LETTER

 

As we open the pages of this 500th Edition of the “HADAK UTJAN” (Way of the Warriors” news-letter, we are celebrating a kind of editorial Jubilee.  Our paper has made its 500th appearance, giving witness to the fact that our organization, the World Federation of Hungarian Veterans is still in existence.

 

Its origins harkens back to the late months of 1947, after the terrible end of World War II in Europe; since then a new generation had arisen.  Many of our younger members is interested in our news-letter; they want to know who we are, where did we originate from and how did we manage to maintain our existence for over half a century – far away from our Homeland.

 

At the end of WW II many countries in East-Central Europe, including Hungary, were the victims of Soviet-Russian occupation.  This occasioned hundreds of thousands of refugees, who found themselves stateless among the ruined cities of West Germany.  Among them there were thousands of  Hungarian military along with their families.  Soon, these ex-officers, NCOs and enlisted personnel sought out each other and – remembering their sworn duties of yesteryears – organized themselves into what later came to be known as the World Federation of Hungarian Veterans.   Years later, when many countries of the Free World opened their gates to immigration, thousands of these ex-soldiers of Hungary along with their families left the refugee life in West Germany and Austria and created new immigrant groupings in virtually all parts of the globe.  Soon after overcoming their initial difficulties as newly arrived foreigners, these military men recognized that it was still their duty to keep honoring their heritage.  The Federation came into existence in the various countries of the west and Australia; diligent ladies – wives, daughters and sisters – from their careful savings, bought the wherewithal with which to sew  and embroider the unit flags for their local chapters of this organization.   These Flags, and the memory of their prior service to their Homeland kept their soul pure and their hopes alive that one day, who knew when, their Homeland, Hungary, would become free again.

 

Sharing their experiences; discussing their daily problems in their new surroundings; organizing themselves for that hoped-for day, when – maybe – the West would realize that the East-European lands were as deserving as freedoms as the rest of the world, kept them together.  It also gave them another goal: to help their host-nations, through their own behaviors and their written and spoken words to know that Hungarians were specially deserving of measures that would change the enslavement into which their Homeland had been cast.

 

And then came the first edition of the “Way of the Warriors;” it was – at the beginning – printed on the cheapest paper; written on a typewriter, multiplicated with messy stencils and then mailed out to all the chapters that already existed all over the world.  On the eighth page of this and the following editions the final phrase said: “Our Country no longer exists, but there are still Hungarians!”

In one of the early editions it was noted: “We substitute an insignia for our erstwhile uniforms, its public wearing is a testimony to an honorable past, pure presence and a future for which we are willing sacrifice all.”  After the twelfth edition, in May 1950, in the French Zone of Occupation of West Germany, we succeeded in printing the next editions on regular printing machines.   Major General Andrew vitez Zako, the President of the organization, wrote this in his editorial:

 

     “Now, when our members’ financial sacrifices allowed it, we are able to publish

our “HADAK UTJAN” (“Way of the Warriors)  in a professional way, with this

name.  Let all of us remember, that this name is witness to all, that Hungarians are true to their Homeland, no matter where they live; and they will continue to live in and for that historical role that Hungarian fate has decreed for all of us.  Every word of our publication will always serve only the common, free  Hungarian aims and will safeguard the Hungarian soldier ethos; and it will remember those heroes who had sacrificed their lives in the pursuance of guarding freedom.  Let their memory forever be blessed.”

 

At the end of 1951, the printing was transferred to a publishing entity in Munich….. In 1957, the 100th edition appeared, celebrating ten years of the existence of our organization.  Finally, as of September 1988, the printing process has been continued in Toronto, Canada.

 

Many of our editions contained scholarly, military history articles, some in series, that discussed, factually, some of the major battles in WW II in which Hungary’s military forces took part.  (“Final Battles In Hungary.” “Our Soldiers in Foreign Lands.”)

 

During these decades the Federation worked hard to make their host nations learn the truth about our Homeland.  Letters, speeches during National Holidays, served as means for spreading the REAL story of Hungary, its constant willingness through many centuries to stand for – and when necessary die for – the values of liberty that our host countries hold so dear.

 

We hope that many more editions of our newsletter will be published in the coming years; and that those of us, who are still alive among us, will carry the banner of our sacred duty onward – to the day, when our Homeland will receive the justice that it so richly deserves.

                                                            ***

(Source: HADAK UTJAN (WARRIORS’ WAY), LVII/500th edition, May-June 2005.

Pages 9-10; part summary of article by K. Borbas, editor; translated by L.B.G. Simonyi )

 

EDITORIALS FROM OTHER HUNGARIAN SOURCES

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES

MHBK/WFHV ACTIVITIES (GLOBAL)

 

Copyright © 2005 Headquarters of World Federation of Hungarian Veterans. All rights reserved.
The Collegiate Society of Hungarian Veterans: How It All Began At the end of WWII, the majority of the Hungarian forces that had fought to the very end surrendered in Austria and Germany to the British and American Forces, although a large number ended as U.S. prisoners of war in France. Many of these, however, were transported back to Hungary. The highest ranking officer among those that settled in the West was Colonel General Ferenc Farkas. It is he who suggested gathering the Hungarian soldiers into a fraternal organization, which later became the Collegiate Society of Hungarian Veterans. In this endeavor, he asked for and received the help of Colonel on the General Staff, Bela Almay. At this time, they both resided in Germany and Bavaria respectively. As a first step they gathered data on all Hungarian soldiers who lived abroad in the West, including graduates of the Military Academy and all reserve officers. In this endeavor, they were helped by junior officers in the various countries—especially in Germany and Austria. Since the Regent, Miklos Horthy, had given his word of honor to the Victorious Allies that he would eschew all political involvement, it became the main thrust of Ferenc Farkas to establish a truly free Hungarian government abroad in opposition to the puppet government in power at that time. This plan was in response to the wishes of those representatives of the upper and lower Houses of Parliament that had been elected in 1939 and who also had escaped abroad. Unfortunately, these plans for an opposition government did not come to fruition, because the American Occupation Forces in Germany would not allow it. The veterans’ organization, however, was founded and, in 1948, Major General Andras Zako was named President of the fledgling organization. At the start of 1948, Farkas and Almay asked Lorant Ferenczy to clandestinely return to Hungary to gather credible information on the situation at home. It had to be done clandestinely because at that time it was very difficult, or almost impossible, for refugees/displaced persons to cross the borders from one country into another, or even one Occupation Zone into another, except for extremely serious reasons. Thus Ferenczy was to travel to Weissenstein, into Austria’s British Zone, where Lieutenant Tompa would give him travel instructions. On April 15, 1948, Ferenczy began his tortuous journey, with ID cards from Germany and further documents from the Vatican Mission in Bavaria. After arriving in Salzburg, in Austria’s American Zone, he bought tickets to Weissenstein, but upon arrival there, he was told by British officers that his ID’s were unacceptable. When asked where he had come from, he inventively told the officer “Weissenstein”, whereupon he was put on a train to “return” to his supposed place of departure. Here he was taken under the wings of colleagues who prepared fake documents with which he would continue his journey. His travels started by train to a small town, from whence he continued on foot, going from one Occupation Zone to another, one town or village to another. At each one, men awaited him with further directions for the next stage of his journey. The last stage before crossing the Hungarian border was a village in Austria, where he stayed with a Hungarian doctor who would give him final instructions on how to cross the border Here he received an unpleasant surprise: the doctor informed him that the Hungarian priest, the individual that helped people across the border, was arrested by the Hungarian border police, and therefore Ferenczy would have to cross the border at night on his own. Should he be stopped, he should explain that he was going to attend a baptism. Of course, those at the baptism were primed to tell the same story. After enjoying the doctor’s hospitality, Ferenczy resumed his journey. After a two-day trip, he arrived in Hungary, where he remained until May 12, mostly in Gyor and Budapest. The return trip was also fraught with adventures and difficulties. At one point, he was chased by border patrol dogs and was arrested by the border patrol, but eventually made it back to Germany.. The following is his report based upon his stay in Hungary: Hungary is almost entirely anti-Communist. The country cannot liberate itself or achieve its freedom while under Soviet bayonets. Sabotaging the government would only cause a further lowering of the already incredibly low living standards. Hungary can gain its freedom only with the help of the Western Powers; thus, it behooves the displaced Hungarians abroad to wage propaganda campaigns for the liberation of Hungary in as many countries as possible. Emigration overseas does not adversely affect the chances for the liberation of Hungary; rather it offers more widespread opportunities for presenting the true state of affairs in Hungary and thus the opportunity to influence worldwide opinion to embrace our cause: the liberation of Hungary from the Soviet and Communist yoke.