Emberek

About the Book

Told that she must not have children Julia stubbornly ignores all advice and risks her life to have son, Tommy. The family’s idyllic life changes when circumstances in the following years and decades force both mother and son to draw upon their determination, courage, wit and self-preservation to survive. Tragedy and death, personal and emotional loss, the horrors he witnessed in the war and his experiences as Communism has risen from the ashes of Fascism shape young Tommy’s character. From Budapest in the ‘twenties, to London in the ‘nineties, this is a family saga of three generations ravaged by two wars and other adverse circumstances. Ultimately the story proves that there is always hope, even against seemingly insurmountable obstacles provided one has courage, fortitude, resilience and mental stamina.

About the Author

Shortly before the two-month long siege of Budapest at the turn of 1944-45, circumstances separated the author, at the age of 10, from his parents. He could not help but witness the horrors of the Nazi regime and the actual battle for Budapest.

After that he grew up enduring the tyranny of the so-called 'socialist' system, leading to the totally unplanned Hungarian uprising in 1956. The early part of the book, from 1921 - 1939, is based on the numerous stories and anecdotes his mother Julia told him, the rest are his own actual experiences.

Apart from Emberek being a fascinating family saga through three generations, the author felt compelled to write this story because of its historical content. Until this day the West knows very little of what actually happened before and after 1945 to countries and people who finished up behind the Iron Curtain (apart from the tragedy of the Warsaw ghetto). People in other central European countries who lived through and experienced those events are now very thin on the ground.

The book also portrays in detail the emotional problems a family cannot escape when a disturbed member is causing torment and suffering. Arriving to Great Britain as a refugee in December 1956 the author set about establishing an existence through hard work. His resolution and his stamina rewarded him with managerial positions in industry for over two decades before he retired at the age of 60.

Due to all characters in the book having existed and many still do, names and two locations had been changed.