Trafford Publishing: The Kid From Budapest

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The Kid From Budapest

by J.A. Somori

401 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #01-0442; ISBN 1-55369-040-0; US$30.50, C$34.99, EUR25.00, £17.50

The turbulent life of a kid growing up between the two world wars in Hungary, and his subsequent survival under Fascism and Communism

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about the book      about the author      Introduction      catalogue info

About the Book

The Kid From Budapest is the story of John Somori, a little Hungarian boy born in Yugoslavia, raised in Bosnia and schooled in Hungary. A happy kid, at age fifteen and a member of his school's literary club, he participated in a nation-wide contest to write an essay about writers. He won, taking home the first prize of a Napoleon gold coin. At sixteen, with three other boy scouts he toured Eastern Europe, and a year later he wrote extensively about this trip, eventually having it published and placed in local libraries and schools. Somori's literary club enriched his life, and enhanced his political education. In the spring of 1944 Germany invaded Hungary. Many of Somori's friends -- Jews and gentiles -- ended up in concentration camps. In October of 1944 his fate became theirs. Before transportation to Auschwitz he escaped until the Soviets came and liberated Budapest. After a few days of freedom, he was taken from the street with thousands more to work as forced labor in the Soviet Union, but managed once again to escape.
Somori would later hold jobs as a commercial artist, teacher, and photographer, but eventually became an "Enemy of the State" to the Soviets. On October 23, 1956, the unsuccessful revolt against Soviet occupation started, eventually leading to Somori's having to flee to Austria with his wife and four-year-old son to seek refuge in a camp with thousands more. After almost three years, Somori and his family was allowed to emigrate to the United States to start new lives.

About the Author

Born into a family with moderate wealth promised J.A. Somori limitless possibilities for his future. When World War II erupted in Europe, however, it wiped away all his plans and dreams. The invading German Army brought fear and concentration camps to the nation. Countless thousands perished. When the German war effort failed, the Soviet Army marched behind the retreating Nazis, bringing Communism to the land. The entire nation had to learn the art of survival. A decade passed and on October 23, 1956, the nation revolted. The Soviet Army crushed the uprising with merciless destruction. The author's family escaped to Austria and for years lived in refugee camps. In 1959 the family emigrated to the United States and started a prosperous life. After retirement, the author moved to Maryland and wrote his memoir. His son lives in Delaware and practices medicine.

Introduction

Europe leapt to the twentieth century, bringing with it the memory of abomination between nations and ethnic groups. Underneath the surface, Balkan was boiling.

    In 1908 the Austrian Empire annexed Bosnia-Hercegovina, setting the scene for an explosion.
    In the summer of 1914, the leaders of the most powerful nations hold a conference, with hope, to save the status quo and keep the peace.
    On June 28, 1914, Sunday afternoon in the streets of Sarajevo, a bullet fired from the gun of a Serb terrorist, killed Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of the Austrian monarchy. War was inevitable. Nations took sides, mobilizing their armies. The killing started and spread in Europe, around the globe, and in the final stage, engulfed the United States.
    After four years of killing and destruction, victors and losers reached the end. Europe lay in ruins. World War I became a page in a history book.
    The euphoric winners held a conference in Versailles, France to secure an ever-lasting peace. In June 1920, the Trianon Peace Treaty arbitrarily redrew the map of Eastern Europe. Hungary lost two-thirds of her territory, the wealth of minerals, timber and the best agricultural land. Abundance changed to poverty. From the confiscated territories, the Hungarian nationals flooded to the motherland. The once prosperous nation learned the bitter taste of hunger. The few and scarce jobs have a hundred applicants. Abandoned cattle-cars became homes without electricity and heat. Poverty became part of daily life. Families tried to endure this fate with dignity. The whole nation bled from thousand wounds. No more war, promised the peace treaty, but bred two powerful dictatorships with monsters at the helm, laying the foundation of World War II.
    The Russian soldiers returning from the battlefields found disorder and a new flag, red, with the hammer and sickle. Also banners -- Proletars of the world, unite! Communism swept the land. The Gulag Archipelago became the dumping ground of the unwanted. The Siberian labor camps swallowed millions.
    In two decades, the Soviet Union grew to a military power, with aspirations toward the east and west. The wounds of the past war had no time to heal, when in the impoverished Germany, Hitler, the new Chancellor, gained dictatorial power.
    Under the flag of the Swastika, he pledged world domination, great prosperity and a "Third Reich" for a thousand years. The price -- full obedience to him. Jews and adversaries find themselves in concentration camps, sentenced to hard labor and starvation, learning humiliation, the horror of living and the mercy of dying.
    Hitler's military buildup surpassed all his neighbors. The free world silently watched, when his army overran Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, and Greece and fought in Africa. He invaded Russia, like Napoleon, and found the same fate in the wasteland. The terrifying harsh winter decimated the retreating army.
    On March 19, 1944, Germany invaded Hungary. SS soldiers controlled the streets. This captive nation learned the grip of the Gestapo. Soon the march of the Jews and gentiles started toward the concentration camps under the supervision of Hitler's personal envoy -- Adolf Eichman -- to implement the "final solution". The gas chambers swallowed millions, without discrimination. Finally, Germany came under heavy attack on land, air and sea by the Allied Forces -- the United States, England, and France from the west, the Soviets from the east. The "Third Reich" collapsed. The loss of life and property was overwhelming on both sides.
    On May 8, 1945 World War II ended in Europe.
    After the German occupation, Hungary had a new ruler, the Soviet Union, the nation feared most. The dream of a free and democratic state buried again, facing slavery between womb and tomb.
    Between the two world wars, a new generation grew up, not pampered anymore with limitless possibilities and security as their creators once enjoyed. The bond between the old noble families seemingly disintegrated. The middle class shared a shrewder life with the millions. The elders looked toward the past with nostalgic dreams and with difficulty to adjust and adapt.
    The "Kid from Budapest" came to this world after World War I, when Europe still buried her dead. The christening happened in the old family church, without fanfare. The priest -- an old family friend -- finished the ceremony, gently touching the baby's face, "Start your life in this world with the help of the Almighty. You will need it."
    The family named him Janos.
    This is his story.

Catalogue Information