HUNGARIANS REMEMBER

A group of Hungarians of the Lorain County Hungar-ians community gathered at Oakwood Park in South Lorain on Oct. 21 to say a few words and commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The crowd, which included the Rev. Peter Toth of the Lorain Hungarian Reformed Church, 1956 Freedom Fighters and Refugees John Peters and Karoly Molnar raised the Hungarian and American flags at the 1848 and 1956 Hungarian Revolution Memorial to remember the Hungarians who put a crack in Communism against the Russians. The Hungarian uprising began on Oct. 23, 1956, but unfortunately, ended on Nov. 4 when the Russians thundered back into Hungary to quash the uprising.

Following the ceremony, the Rev. Peter Toth of the Lorain Hungarian Reformed Church and Rev. Laszlo Arus of Transylvania, Romania during the ceremony. Reformed Church hosted a commemoration program in which was attended by about 100 people. Ministers, Rev. Laszlo Arus of Transylvania, Romania and Rev. Toth read passages in Hungarian and English. Members of the younger generation (Robert Harasty of Vermilion and Matthew Gergely of Lorain) spoke about how important it was for Hungary to stand up for its freedoms. Zsofia Mate of Elyria played Hungarian music on her violin. Keeping up with tradition, Laszlo Somogyi sang a touching version of ‘56 Hosei” (‘56 Heroes), remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the Revolution. More than 2,500 Hungarians were killed during the Revolution and 200,000 fled as refugees.

“It was a tremendous movement,” Peters, 80, said about being in Hungary during the Revolution. “I was 17 years old and a student at the time. We will always remember the Revolution as a great time in our history and never forget those who sacrificed their lives for the great freedoms we have today.”

SUBMITTED