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Hungarian interview - Maria Sauerwald
Description
Marika Sauerwald begins by sharing her memories of the events in Budapest, Hungary during the 1956 Revolution. She describes the entire three weeks of the revolt with exceptional chronological accuracy. Ms. Sauerwald came to Canada on an army plane. She loved Montreal, Quebec. She worked in hard physical labor her whole life. Ms. Sauerwald has no regrets about leaving Hungary, as the communists destroyed everything. She talks about the social-political climate in Budapest during the 1956 uprising. Ms. Sauerwald then talks about her early life, she was born Kajcsányi Mária. Her entire family had been black-listed as 'kulak.' She talks about 'the terror,' and how they lived amongst many communist families. Ms. Sauerwald had four siblings, two parents, and the mass suffering during World War II. She describes her experiences of WWII in great detail. Ms. Sauerwald was not allowed to study what she wanted to at school, and was forced into another stream. At this time they lived in fear of Russians. She describes the moments leading to revolt in September and October of 1956. Ms. Sauerwald talks about Budapest radio, the situation with the banks, Pest, Buda, ammunition, strategies, social, political, and economic facts. She also talks about Geró Ernó's speech, movement throughout the city during the night, ammunition Molotov cocktails, the Suez Canal, and other topics. During the Revolution there was a crisis within the hospitals because they could not get any international supplies. Ms. describes the events of November 4th with great accuracy- the bombs, bloodshed, AVO murder, stealing, theft, terror. She and her husband escape Hungary and go to Austria where they end up in a refugee camp. They looked at a map and decided that they wanted to go Montreal so that her husband could continue his education. She talks about crossing the border, and the camp in Austria. Ms. Sauerwald talks about their arrival in Montreal, Quebec, and they learned English and French, and found work in factories. Her husband was unable to get into university in Canada. With the October Crisis in Quebec in 1970, the family moved to Hamilton, Ontario. Marika began teaching Hungarian, raised a daughter, and became active in Scouting, language studies, poetry reading, and folk dancing.