Index
Ch.1 Childhood and Adolescence Ch. 1
Ch. 2 Work and Poetry Ch.2
Ch. 3 Traveling Ch. 3
Ch. 4 Anita and Christopher Ch. 4
Ch. 5 Susanne and Family Ch.5
Ch. 6 Work and Travel Ch.6
Ch. 7 Searching Ch. 7
Ch. 8 Trudi Ch. 8
Ch. 9 Projects Ch.9
© 2010 Andrew Vecsey. All rights reserved.
ISBN : 978-1-365-08465-2
People, places, and cycles in my life.
If there is a gene or some divine intervention ever found to predispose people to move around, I have it. My ancestors were nomads from Mongolia. My father`s ancestors were freedom fighters who rose to nobility. My mother was forced to move from Poland to Hungary and then after having settled down, she was again forced to flee with me to Canada. When old enough, I went to wherever the breeze blew me. It blew me west and then south down to South America where I wanted to finally settle down. I was forced to flee back to Canada with my son, and eventually landed in Switzerland, where I landed I job requiring traveling all over the world and meeting many wonderful people.
This forced moving seemed a curse, but considering all the wonderful people I met and all the wonderful experiences I experienced along the way, I now take it as a blessing. This cycle has been so often repeated in my life that it has become a cycle, just like day and night, summer and winter, reaping and harvesting and losing and finding.
My life has cycles of places, situations, goals, challenges, people, and phases that repeat every 9 years. Each of my 9 year cycles start a new phase in my life. It all starts at my birth and 9 years later I start my adolescence. 9 years later I start my adulthood. 9 years after that I discover the joys of travel only to find myself 9 years later in a family. Unfortunately, it only lasted 9 years before I found myself traveling the world again for 9 years, when I suddenly lost my job and found myself totally lost. It took me 9 years to find myself in the loving heart of Trudi to start a phase that I hope will last 9 years.
I consider the start points every 9 years as “low” points in my life that eventually grow to reach “high” points – events where I have been rewarded by getting jobs and meeting people.
Below is a table to illustrate this.
Some events in my life are very funny and some are very sad. Some places are very beautiful, and others are just the opposite.
Below are my deepest roots I was able to dig up.
The origin of the family goes back to the times of the settlements of the Hungarian tribes and the Aba clan. The first mention is about a nobleman Wéyche from Aba clan, who is the ancestor of the family and gave his name to his properties. He was rich and powerful, had 11 cities in the country called Vécse.
The Aba clan settled in North-East Hungary. This region is the center of nobleman Wéyche. He and his probable brother Méra owned significant property. There are still many cities in Hungary with the ending name vécse, and méra. (Cities like: Hernádvécse, Vécs, Tarnaméra, etc)
One of the most significant ancestors of the family is László who served as an crusader and advisor to Endre who reigned 1205-1235. He became the member of the forming aristocracy. Chepan de Wéyche, the son or grandson of Laszló got some cities from King V. István for his excellence. However the sons of Chepan de Wéyche, Omodé and Andràs were sued by other noblemen because of wrongly possessing properties referring to the grant of King II Andràs and King IV. Béla. These Kings grated the sued property to another noble family. The affair was closed by a deal and the Wéyche family could keep the third of the sued property.
From this on there is no relevant data about the family until 1470 when Wéchei Zewlewsi Balás was born. He had properties in Ugocsa, Abauj, Zemplén and other shires. He also was the upper nobleman, advisor, crusader and baron of King Szapolyai.
Balás had 5 children. One of his sons István I was a baron and one of the excellent defenders of the King. Before the King’s Szapolyai eyes he pushed off the the attackers by his own hand and highly contributed that the attackers gave up the siege. For his heroism he got a lot of land.
The “Hajnácskő” arm started with Sándor I. His grandson Sándor II increased the family wealth with his marriage and lived among the rich higher aristocracy. His son, Sándor III got a baron rank in 1692 for his service fighting the Turkish and the Transylvanians. He also obtained huge properties. He was the owner and general of the castles of Hajnácskő, Sirok and Ásvány. His descendants were Lieutenants, generals and highly ranked soldiers of the Habsburgs whose nationalism sometimes overcame them to fight for the Hungarians.
Istvan II’s brother Sandor I from the “Hajnácskő” arm started the line that has as his great.....great grand son Ágost Earl Vécsey (1776-1857), captain of the Guards of the Habsburg Court in Vienna. His wife was Amália Earl Colson and their son was Count Karoly Vécsey the 13th martyr of 1848. He became one of the leaders of the war of independence in 1848-49. He was disinherited by his father.
1514: Revolt in Hungary. The uprising against the Hungarian nobility.
In 1470 Wéchei Zewlewsi Balás was born. He is the father of the great grandfather (ggf) of the ggf of the ggf of my great grandfather. He had properties around Satu Mare. In 1507 and in 1516 he got grants from King II Làjos, King of Hungary. According to the granting certificate, these territories were owned by the king's ancestors and thus gave them a nobility title.
In 1514, peasants occupied and burgled several manors, murdered many landowners and raped noble women. The peasants were defeated by the combined forces of the nobility led by count Zapolya, who later became king. As punishment, they had to work one day of each week for their landlord without remuneration and their right to free movement became abolished. Wéchei Zewlewsi Balás’s son, Istvan I was an upper nobleman, adviser, crusader and baron of King Zapolya.
In 1526, the army from Turkey inflicted a decisive defeat on the Hungarian forces. At that time Zápolya was elected king of Hungary, but Ferdinand from the House of Habsburg in Austria claimed the throne. In the ensuing struggle Zapolya received the support of the Turkish Sultan who after his death in 1540 occupied Hungary in 1541 under the pretext of protecting Zápolya's son. The Hapsburgs sent an army to Hungary, which were defeated in part because of baron Istvan I Vécsey who helped defeat Ferdinand.
In 1555, István II and János, grandsons of Wéchei Zewlewsi Balás were decapitated because of their behaviour against the Habsburgs. Their properties were taken over by their brother Sándor, who favored the Hapsburgs. Sándor hounded out the sons of martyr István II who fled to the village of Csécs. Here the tribe of Balás is divided into two parts:
The son of the executed István II went to the army from Csécs, and received nobility in 1618. Later he joined the rebellion against the Habsburgs. His grandson András II was in the court of Rákóczi the leader of the uprising against the Habsburgs. When Rákóczi camped on his property with his army András II was richly awarded for his service and valor. With his children the “Abaúj" arm is divided into two parts:
All Péderi and Makranci Vécseys played their role in the war of independence in 1848, and they lost almost all of their properties.
1703: Freedom Revolt in Hungary. The uprising against the Hapsburgs.
Between 1703-1711 there was a large-scale uprising led by Ràkozi who after the dethronement of the Habsburgs in 1707 took power provisionally as the Ruling Prince of Hungary for the wartime period. He refused the hungarian Crown and the title "King". The uprisings lasted for years. After 8 years of war the hungarian army lost the last main battle in 1708.
Istvan II Vécsey’s grandson András II, grandfather of the great grandfather of my great grandfather was in the court of Rákóczi, the leader of the uprising against the Habsburgs. Rákóczi camped on his property with his army and granted him the sword of Zrínyi Miklós, a famous Hungarian prince.
1848: Freedom Revolt in Hungary. The uprising against the Hapsburgs.
Tremendous inequalities existed between the ruling class and the serfs. Hungary was one of the most productive parts of Europe, and the primary provider of Western Europe's need of wheat and other grain products to feed its people. Nonetheless, the serfs could barely survive. The Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrians Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians, Croats, Italians, and Serbs, all of whom attempted in the course of the revolution to either achieve autonomy, independence, or even hegemony over other nationalities.
The Revolution in Hungary started with bloodless events in Budapest. Mass demonstrations many from students called for change. Insurrections throughout the kingdom enabled Hungarian reformists to declare Hungary's new government which approved a sweeping reform package giving the people freedom they had not seen before. A revolution broke out in the streets of Budapest against the oppression of the Austrians. The revolt soon spread throughout the country. Austria had the largest army in Europe, if not in the whole world, and the Hungarian army, hastily gathered mainly from citizens and peasants, small in number and poorly equipped with weapons, battled for a year and a half and defeated the overpowering enemy, defeated it because the citizens united in the same goal – freedom -- which is a rare event in the history of Hungary.
The Hungarian freedom fighters had scored many notable victories. They captured Vienna. After it was re-captured by the Austrian forces, The Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph was forced to ask Russia for help by intervening. They incited the ethnic groups living within the borders to rise up against the Hungarians. The poorly armed, small Hungarian army, exhausted from fighting, was unable to hold off the overpoweringly large Russian force and surrendered.
Thirteen generals of the Hungarian Army were executed by firing squad in Arad. The only one who was hung was from Arad, General Károly Vécsey. He and his soldiers were buried in Solt, Hungary.
Count Károly Vécsey was born 1807 in Pest. His father, a general in the Guards of the Nobility became a viceroy to the Emperor in Vienna in charge of education. Karoly became a General in the Emperor's army, which was Austrian. When the Hungarians started to fight for their freedom in 1848, he renegade and fought for the people instead of against them. He was a division commander in the middle Tisza region and he took Arad but was unable to take Temesvár. When it was suggested that his lower Danube division should surrender, he wrote : "I'll hang up my Austrian sword, I am Hungarian and will stay with my country". When defeated and imprisoned, his father was publicly ashamed of him and disowned him, and called for his execution. His last words before being hung were: “God gave me my heart and my soul and they burn to serve my homeland.”
1956: Freedom Revolt in Hungary. The uprising against the Soviets.
Following the fall of Nazi Germany, Soviet troops occupied all of the country and Hungary gradually became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union. Tremendous inequalities existed between the ruling Russians and the Hungarians. 600,000 Hungarians were deported to Soviet labor camps after Second World War and the remaining were forced to pay compensation for the war. The living standards fell drastically. The people were so extremely exploited that in 1956 the Russians were threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character that inspired more popular uprisings in Europe a few years later.
The Revolution in Hungary started with mass demonstrations mostly from students demanding change. The Hungarian freedom fighters had scored many notable victories. They captured Budapest. Spontaneous revolutionary militias fought against the Soviet Army and the fearful communist secret police in Budapest. The roughly 3,000-strong Hungarian resistance including children as young as 8 fought Soviet tanks by either placing plates on streets to make the tanks slow to a stop thinking they were landmines and the older ones throwing Molotov cocktails onto the tanks. The Soviets suffered heavy losses and most had withdrawn from Budapest to garrisons in the Hungarian countryside only to retaliate massively sending in over 150,000 troops and 2,500 tanks. An estimated 20,000 people were killed, nearly all during the Soviet intervention. Nearly a quarter of a million people fled the country as refugees. The poorly armed, small Hungarian army, exhausted from fighting, were unable to hold off the overpoweringly large Russian force and surrendered.
ZSIGMOND VECSEY
(Zrenjanin, Yugoslavia 1865 - Budapest, 1913)
Zsigmond’s father, my great grandfather Istvan Vécsey, belonged to an old noble family in Torontái, presently in northern Serbia. Istvan was 30 years old when a cousin of his, Count Karoly Véscey was executed for treason. Because of the sudden ruin of the Vecsey name, Istvan and other Vécseys lost all their property and their reputation. Istvan moved to Nagykanizsa with his family of 8 children. Zsigmond my gradfather was one of his children. He was born in 1865 in Nagybecskerek presently in Yugoslavia and presently called Zrenjanin. In 1893, he was offered the city police chief position in Nagykanizsa. When he was 28 years old he was invited to become police chief of Nagykanizsa. He soon won the hearts of the people and was elected Mayor of the city. He was re-elected many times and served for 18 years. He was remembered for his beautifying the city, building parks, schools and theaters. He was recognized to have developed Nagykanizsa, building hospitals, and schools as well as libraries, parks and theaters. He enriched and beautified the city and he pleased both the rich and the poor and was loved by all. He unexpectedly died of appendix complications when he was 48 years old.
He constructed barracks for the troops of Franz-Jozseph I and built streets leading to the construction. He built schools and many roads. He paid special attention to beauty, showed a sense of justice, a tone of elegance, characterized by respect for traditions.
Vecsey Zsigmond belonged to an old noble family in Torontái, and was a relative of Kàroly Vecsey, the general who became the martyr from Arad. Born in Nagybecskerek in 1865, he was 28 years old when in 1893 he was invited to become police chief of Nagykanizsa. Three years later in 1896 – he won a huge majority and was elected mayor. In 1902 he was re-elected by a majority of 159 votes out of 177. He died on July 14, 1913 in Budapest.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QSwa_n8KEhvXNXZIN6sb3-KC68VUC1gK0TmCgxq4POo/edit?hl=en&pli=1#
My father Barnabás Vécsey (1897-1957) was the youngest of 3 children born to Zsigmond Vécsey (1866- 1913 ) who was a very respected mayor in Nagykanisza from 1896 till his sudden death from an infection of his appendix. His youngest son Barnabàs, my father, was 16 years old.
Barnabas finished secondary school there and when he graduated at the age of 18, he enlisted in the army. In 1916 he served in the front-line for 30 months at Russian and Italian battlefields fighting for the Germans, Bulgarians and Turks. . He conducted himself valiantly on the battlefields and was highly and repeatedly decorated. He retired as lieutenant gunner in 1918. At the same time he earned a diploma in architecture. He married Magaly Denise, a noble French lady and was appointed as chief city engineer in Nagykanizsa. Barnabas became a high ranking architect in the civil service and a highly decorated Nazi officer who fought in both W.W.I and in W.W.II.
In 1925 he became technical officer and worked as an expert for the Ministry of Defence. In 1929 at his own request he was chosen by Nagykanizsa to be a city engineer. In this capacity as city planner, he participated at that time in projects of great investment. In 1935 he became technical director and chief technical officer of the city. He built many churches in Nagykanizsa and Szombathely as well as hospitals, gymnasiums and statues.
My Mother Janina Winjarska came from less noble settings. When the war broke out, it was hard times for my mother. The family lived on the outskirts of Gdynia, a Polish port city now called Danzig. There they had a mill and were making quite a good living. Her father traveled a lot as an archaeologist. He often went to South America. When both her parents died, her 4 older brothers and sisters ended up inheriting the farm. They were very spoiled and told their 4 younger siblings who were too young to inherit anything that they could stay only as long as they were ready to work like servants and do the cooking and the cleaning. My mother's little brother was shot by the Germans and he died. My mother and her 2 sisters, Barbara and Lena decided to just leave and they walked to Hungary. Lena got pregnant along the way and they ended up in a convent in Hungary.
When my father, who was 25 years older saw my mother, he fell in love with her. She had the looks of a movie star and the voice of a super star and she memorized my father and his jealous circle of high society friends. He proposed marriage and my mother agreed on the condition that he promise to look after her sisters Lena and Barbara. He agreed. They lived in Barnabàs`s home in Nagykaniszsa, Barbara eventually went to France where she met her husband Stan, an engineer. They both ended up in Canada and had a son Tom.
Ch. 3 Traveling Ch. 3
Ch. 4 Anita and Christopher Ch. 4
Ch. 5 Susanne and Family Ch.5
Ch. 6 Work and Travel Ch.6
Ch. 7 Searching Ch. 7
Ch. 8 Trudi Ch. 8
Ch. 9 Projects Ch.9
© 2010 Andrew Vecsey. All rights reserved.
ISBN : 978-1-365-08465-2
People, places, and cycles in my life.
If there is a gene or some divine intervention ever found to predispose people to move around, I have it. My ancestors were nomads from Mongolia. My father`s ancestors were freedom fighters who rose to nobility. My mother was forced to move from Poland to Hungary and then after having settled down, she was again forced to flee with me to Canada. When old enough, I went to wherever the breeze blew me. It blew me west and then south down to South America where I wanted to finally settle down. I was forced to flee back to Canada with my son, and eventually landed in Switzerland, where I landed I job requiring traveling all over the world and meeting many wonderful people.
This forced moving seemed a curse, but considering all the wonderful people I met and all the wonderful experiences I experienced along the way, I now take it as a blessing. This cycle has been so often repeated in my life that it has become a cycle, just like day and night, summer and winter, reaping and harvesting and losing and finding.
My life has cycles of places, situations, goals, challenges, people, and phases that repeat every 9 years. Each of my 9 year cycles start a new phase in my life. It all starts at my birth and 9 years later I start my adolescence. 9 years later I start my adulthood. 9 years after that I discover the joys of travel only to find myself 9 years later in a family. Unfortunately, it only lasted 9 years before I found myself traveling the world again for 9 years, when I suddenly lost my job and found myself totally lost. It took me 9 years to find myself in the loving heart of Trudi to start a phase that I hope will last 9 years.
I consider the start points every 9 years as “low” points in my life that eventually grow to reach “high” points – events where I have been rewarded by getting jobs and meeting people.
Below is a table to illustrate this.
Some events in my life are very funny and some are very sad. Some places are very beautiful, and others are just the opposite.
Below are my deepest roots I was able to dig up.
The origin of the family goes back to the times of the settlements of the Hungarian tribes and the Aba clan. The first mention is about a nobleman Wéyche from Aba clan, who is the ancestor of the family and gave his name to his properties. He was rich and powerful, had 11 cities in the country called Vécse.
The Aba clan settled in North-East Hungary. This region is the center of nobleman Wéyche. He and his probable brother Méra owned significant property. There are still many cities in Hungary with the ending name vécse, and méra. (Cities like: Hernádvécse, Vécs, Tarnaméra, etc)
One of the most significant ancestors of the family is László who served as an crusader and advisor to Endre who reigned 1205-1235. He became the member of the forming aristocracy. Chepan de Wéyche, the son or grandson of Laszló got some cities from King V. István for his excellence. However the sons of Chepan de Wéyche, Omodé and Andràs were sued by other noblemen because of wrongly possessing properties referring to the grant of King II Andràs and King IV. Béla. These Kings grated the sued property to another noble family. The affair was closed by a deal and the Wéyche family could keep the third of the sued property.
From this on there is no relevant data about the family until 1470 when Wéchei Zewlewsi Balás was born. He had properties in Ugocsa, Abauj, Zemplén and other shires. He also was the upper nobleman, advisor, crusader and baron of King Szapolyai.
Balás had 5 children. One of his sons István I was a baron and one of the excellent defenders of the King. Before the King’s Szapolyai eyes he pushed off the the attackers by his own hand and highly contributed that the attackers gave up the siege. For his heroism he got a lot of land.
The “Hajnácskő” arm started with Sándor I. His grandson Sándor II increased the family wealth with his marriage and lived among the rich higher aristocracy. His son, Sándor III got a baron rank in 1692 for his service fighting the Turkish and the Transylvanians. He also obtained huge properties. He was the owner and general of the castles of Hajnácskő, Sirok and Ásvány. His descendants were Lieutenants, generals and highly ranked soldiers of the Habsburgs whose nationalism sometimes overcame them to fight for the Hungarians.
Istvan II’s brother Sandor I from the “Hajnácskő” arm started the line that has as his great.....great grand son Ágost Earl Vécsey (1776-1857), captain of the Guards of the Habsburg Court in Vienna. His wife was Amália Earl Colson and their son was Count Karoly Vécsey the 13th martyr of 1848. He became one of the leaders of the war of independence in 1848-49. He was disinherited by his father.
1514: Revolt in Hungary. The uprising against the Hungarian nobility.
In 1470 Wéchei Zewlewsi Balás was born. He is the father of the great grandfather (ggf) of the ggf of the ggf of my great grandfather. He had properties around Satu Mare. In 1507 and in 1516 he got grants from King II Làjos, King of Hungary. According to the granting certificate, these territories were owned by the king's ancestors and thus gave them a nobility title.
In 1514, peasants occupied and burgled several manors, murdered many landowners and raped noble women. The peasants were defeated by the combined forces of the nobility led by count Zapolya, who later became king. As punishment, they had to work one day of each week for their landlord without remuneration and their right to free movement became abolished. Wéchei Zewlewsi Balás’s son, Istvan I was an upper nobleman, adviser, crusader and baron of King Zapolya.
In 1526, the army from Turkey inflicted a decisive defeat on the Hungarian forces. At that time Zápolya was elected king of Hungary, but Ferdinand from the House of Habsburg in Austria claimed the throne. In the ensuing struggle Zapolya received the support of the Turkish Sultan who after his death in 1540 occupied Hungary in 1541 under the pretext of protecting Zápolya's son. The Hapsburgs sent an army to Hungary, which were defeated in part because of baron Istvan I Vécsey who helped defeat Ferdinand.
In 1555, István II and János, grandsons of Wéchei Zewlewsi Balás were decapitated because of their behaviour against the Habsburgs. Their properties were taken over by their brother Sándor, who favored the Hapsburgs. Sándor hounded out the sons of martyr István II who fled to the village of Csécs. Here the tribe of Balás is divided into two parts:
- the Hapsburg friendly “Hajnácskő” arm of Sándor.
- the nationalistic Abaúj arm of his brother Istvan II.
The son of the executed István II went to the army from Csécs, and received nobility in 1618. Later he joined the rebellion against the Habsburgs. His grandson András II was in the court of Rákóczi the leader of the uprising against the Habsburgs. When Rákóczi camped on his property with his army András II was richly awarded for his service and valor. With his children the “Abaúj" arm is divided into two parts:
- the “First Abaúj or Makranci arm”, and
- the "Second Abaúj, or Péderi arm”.
All Péderi and Makranci Vécseys played their role in the war of independence in 1848, and they lost almost all of their properties.
1703: Freedom Revolt in Hungary. The uprising against the Hapsburgs.
Between 1703-1711 there was a large-scale uprising led by Ràkozi who after the dethronement of the Habsburgs in 1707 took power provisionally as the Ruling Prince of Hungary for the wartime period. He refused the hungarian Crown and the title "King". The uprisings lasted for years. After 8 years of war the hungarian army lost the last main battle in 1708.
Istvan II Vécsey’s grandson András II, grandfather of the great grandfather of my great grandfather was in the court of Rákóczi, the leader of the uprising against the Habsburgs. Rákóczi camped on his property with his army and granted him the sword of Zrínyi Miklós, a famous Hungarian prince.
1848: Freedom Revolt in Hungary. The uprising against the Hapsburgs.
Tremendous inequalities existed between the ruling class and the serfs. Hungary was one of the most productive parts of Europe, and the primary provider of Western Europe's need of wheat and other grain products to feed its people. Nonetheless, the serfs could barely survive. The Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrians Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians, Croats, Italians, and Serbs, all of whom attempted in the course of the revolution to either achieve autonomy, independence, or even hegemony over other nationalities.
The Revolution in Hungary started with bloodless events in Budapest. Mass demonstrations many from students called for change. Insurrections throughout the kingdom enabled Hungarian reformists to declare Hungary's new government which approved a sweeping reform package giving the people freedom they had not seen before. A revolution broke out in the streets of Budapest against the oppression of the Austrians. The revolt soon spread throughout the country. Austria had the largest army in Europe, if not in the whole world, and the Hungarian army, hastily gathered mainly from citizens and peasants, small in number and poorly equipped with weapons, battled for a year and a half and defeated the overpowering enemy, defeated it because the citizens united in the same goal – freedom -- which is a rare event in the history of Hungary.
The Hungarian freedom fighters had scored many notable victories. They captured Vienna. After it was re-captured by the Austrian forces, The Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph was forced to ask Russia for help by intervening. They incited the ethnic groups living within the borders to rise up against the Hungarians. The poorly armed, small Hungarian army, exhausted from fighting, was unable to hold off the overpoweringly large Russian force and surrendered.
Thirteen generals of the Hungarian Army were executed by firing squad in Arad. The only one who was hung was from Arad, General Károly Vécsey. He and his soldiers were buried in Solt, Hungary.
Count Károly Vécsey was born 1807 in Pest. His father, a general in the Guards of the Nobility became a viceroy to the Emperor in Vienna in charge of education. Karoly became a General in the Emperor's army, which was Austrian. When the Hungarians started to fight for their freedom in 1848, he renegade and fought for the people instead of against them. He was a division commander in the middle Tisza region and he took Arad but was unable to take Temesvár. When it was suggested that his lower Danube division should surrender, he wrote : "I'll hang up my Austrian sword, I am Hungarian and will stay with my country". When defeated and imprisoned, his father was publicly ashamed of him and disowned him, and called for his execution. His last words before being hung were: “God gave me my heart and my soul and they burn to serve my homeland.”
1956: Freedom Revolt in Hungary. The uprising against the Soviets.
Following the fall of Nazi Germany, Soviet troops occupied all of the country and Hungary gradually became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union. Tremendous inequalities existed between the ruling Russians and the Hungarians. 600,000 Hungarians were deported to Soviet labor camps after Second World War and the remaining were forced to pay compensation for the war. The living standards fell drastically. The people were so extremely exploited that in 1956 the Russians were threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character that inspired more popular uprisings in Europe a few years later.
The Revolution in Hungary started with mass demonstrations mostly from students demanding change. The Hungarian freedom fighters had scored many notable victories. They captured Budapest. Spontaneous revolutionary militias fought against the Soviet Army and the fearful communist secret police in Budapest. The roughly 3,000-strong Hungarian resistance including children as young as 8 fought Soviet tanks by either placing plates on streets to make the tanks slow to a stop thinking they were landmines and the older ones throwing Molotov cocktails onto the tanks. The Soviets suffered heavy losses and most had withdrawn from Budapest to garrisons in the Hungarian countryside only to retaliate massively sending in over 150,000 troops and 2,500 tanks. An estimated 20,000 people were killed, nearly all during the Soviet intervention. Nearly a quarter of a million people fled the country as refugees. The poorly armed, small Hungarian army, exhausted from fighting, were unable to hold off the overpoweringly large Russian force and surrendered.
ZSIGMOND VECSEY
(Zrenjanin, Yugoslavia 1865 - Budapest, 1913)
Zsigmond’s father, my great grandfather Istvan Vécsey, belonged to an old noble family in Torontái, presently in northern Serbia. Istvan was 30 years old when a cousin of his, Count Karoly Véscey was executed for treason. Because of the sudden ruin of the Vecsey name, Istvan and other Vécseys lost all their property and their reputation. Istvan moved to Nagykanizsa with his family of 8 children. Zsigmond my gradfather was one of his children. He was born in 1865 in Nagybecskerek presently in Yugoslavia and presently called Zrenjanin. In 1893, he was offered the city police chief position in Nagykanizsa. When he was 28 years old he was invited to become police chief of Nagykanizsa. He soon won the hearts of the people and was elected Mayor of the city. He was re-elected many times and served for 18 years. He was remembered for his beautifying the city, building parks, schools and theaters. He was recognized to have developed Nagykanizsa, building hospitals, and schools as well as libraries, parks and theaters. He enriched and beautified the city and he pleased both the rich and the poor and was loved by all. He unexpectedly died of appendix complications when he was 48 years old.
He constructed barracks for the troops of Franz-Jozseph I and built streets leading to the construction. He built schools and many roads. He paid special attention to beauty, showed a sense of justice, a tone of elegance, characterized by respect for traditions.
Vecsey Zsigmond belonged to an old noble family in Torontái, and was a relative of Kàroly Vecsey, the general who became the martyr from Arad. Born in Nagybecskerek in 1865, he was 28 years old when in 1893 he was invited to become police chief of Nagykanizsa. Three years later in 1896 – he won a huge majority and was elected mayor. In 1902 he was re-elected by a majority of 159 votes out of 177. He died on July 14, 1913 in Budapest.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QSwa_n8KEhvXNXZIN6sb3-KC68VUC1gK0TmCgxq4POo/edit?hl=en&pli=1#
My father Barnabás Vécsey (1897-1957) was the youngest of 3 children born to Zsigmond Vécsey (1866- 1913 ) who was a very respected mayor in Nagykanisza from 1896 till his sudden death from an infection of his appendix. His youngest son Barnabàs, my father, was 16 years old.
Barnabas finished secondary school there and when he graduated at the age of 18, he enlisted in the army. In 1916 he served in the front-line for 30 months at Russian and Italian battlefields fighting for the Germans, Bulgarians and Turks. . He conducted himself valiantly on the battlefields and was highly and repeatedly decorated. He retired as lieutenant gunner in 1918. At the same time he earned a diploma in architecture. He married Magaly Denise, a noble French lady and was appointed as chief city engineer in Nagykanizsa. Barnabas became a high ranking architect in the civil service and a highly decorated Nazi officer who fought in both W.W.I and in W.W.II.
In 1925 he became technical officer and worked as an expert for the Ministry of Defence. In 1929 at his own request he was chosen by Nagykanizsa to be a city engineer. In this capacity as city planner, he participated at that time in projects of great investment. In 1935 he became technical director and chief technical officer of the city. He built many churches in Nagykanizsa and Szombathely as well as hospitals, gymnasiums and statues.
My Mother Janina Winjarska came from less noble settings. When the war broke out, it was hard times for my mother. The family lived on the outskirts of Gdynia, a Polish port city now called Danzig. There they had a mill and were making quite a good living. Her father traveled a lot as an archaeologist. He often went to South America. When both her parents died, her 4 older brothers and sisters ended up inheriting the farm. They were very spoiled and told their 4 younger siblings who were too young to inherit anything that they could stay only as long as they were ready to work like servants and do the cooking and the cleaning. My mother's little brother was shot by the Germans and he died. My mother and her 2 sisters, Barbara and Lena decided to just leave and they walked to Hungary. Lena got pregnant along the way and they ended up in a convent in Hungary.
When my father, who was 25 years older saw my mother, he fell in love with her. She had the looks of a movie star and the voice of a super star and she memorized my father and his jealous circle of high society friends. He proposed marriage and my mother agreed on the condition that he promise to look after her sisters Lena and Barbara. He agreed. They lived in Barnabàs`s home in Nagykaniszsa, Barbara eventually went to France where she met her husband Stan, an engineer. They both ended up in Canada and had a son Tom.
NEXT: Childhood
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