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PREFACE

As it stands on the cover blurb, this book is about the 69
and plus years of a Hungarian man how he lived and survived
seven decades in Hungary during the historical turmoil of the
th
st
20 and 21 centuries that changed the history of his fatherland,
which was dismantled into a small country after more than 1000
years of having been a local empire.
The First World War ended in 1918 and it also meant
the end of the Monarchy of Austria and Hungary. But Hungary
lost two thirds of her territory along with the population as an
outcome of the war. Many think that it was the Second World
War that changed Europe and the world but we know by now it
was only chapter two of the three chapters in the European
history of the twentieth century and it seems today that the
conflict which started in 1914 to rule Europe has not yet ended.
In a war there are winners and losers but that Hungary
has survived and remained is a wonder. After World War I she
tried to get back her lost population and part of her earlier
territories along diplomatic channels and though the English
government showed some inclination in 1933, the same year
brought a dramatic change in the history of Europe and it put an
end to the dream (the Nazis grabbed the power in Germany) and
in 1941 Hungary was tricked into the war on the German side
and lost again. The writer of this book was born at the ending
phase of the Second World War, during the siege of Budapest.
The Russian army occupied the country in 1944-1945 and
remained here until 1991. This period is called communism in
our country. It was terror and oppression of all kinds from the
beginning to the end.
Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis. In English: Times
are changing, and we are changing with them.
By reading the book, the reader's attention may focus on
Hungary, and with the information in the book and the everyday
life events, the Hungary reborn can convince the reader that the

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