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taught our friends. More and more people could afford this
sport and lined up at the lift, where the Slovaks were also
standing. In a non-judgmental way - many remembering that
this was once a part of the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary
- comments appeared for and against, and then we heard from
hearsay that there were also fights and vandalism.
I decided not to allow myself to be provoked, and after 1985 we
went to Austria to ski in a tiny, undeveloped, cold shivering
village, St. Lorenzen. There were simple lifts on the
mountainside, but it was cheap, and the skiers were welcomed
by a well-made track and polite service. Since the town of
Murau was close, we said we were going to Murau, but in fact
we skied on Kreisberg and on Rosenkranz, a few kilometres
away. The courses in Muar were not that challenging. After five
years, we were celebrated as honoured and loyal guests, and we
received a certificate from the Bürgermeister and a free dinner.
They obviously appreciated the returning guest. We have taken
at least fifty people there in our company over time. Later, the
place became one of the most popular destinations for
Hungarians, but few knew what Rosenkranz meant.
---
Back in 1979, an epoch-defining event took place: Afghanistan
was occupied at the behest of the aging leaders of the Soviet
Union, and with this - many of us already felt at the time -
sealed its historical role, but we did not dare to believe how the
change would take place. The United States resented this
aggressive move, and the race between the two world orders
gained new momentum. Reagan, the president of the USA,
called the Soviet Union the "evil empire" and started a
merciless program and media war with the British prime
minister, Thatcher. The stigma was eerily similar to the Anglo-
Saxon verdict against our country, the former "prison of the
peoples". It also hit the mark. The West, which has an orders of
magnitude greater financial background, economically and
technically surpassed the narrow framework of communism.

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