Date: 2006-04-09
Name(s): Anna Szakaly, Csima, Adel
Description: Adel Csima was the daughter of a merchant in her native town of Budapest, Hungary. She recalls the difficult times leading up to the 1956 Revolution, including seeing her aunt's car being expropriated, and University students being made to parrot propaganda. She talks about spies at university, and how her husband got into trouble. Ms. Csima recalls how the student protest turned into a massive protest, and the mood in the streets was a mixture of good will, elation, cooperation. She heard…
Date: 1978-03-03
Name(s): Gabor, Agota, Zalan, Magda, 1936-
Description: Agota Gabor begins by explaining why and when she left Hungary as a young woman, during the Revolution of 1956. She knew very little about Canada before arriving. She recalls her first impressions and also her first working experiences in Canada, as a waitress. Mrs. Gabor had an interest in theatre, and soon got a job on stage as a dancer. She then moved from Montreal to Toronto, where she got a job modeling. In the early 1960s, she became involved in journalism in Toronto and did a show for…
Date: 1977-07-21
Name(s): Kaman, Alfred, Pandy, Piri, Pandy, Rev.
Description: Alfred Kaman was born in Hungary, and as an adult there worked there as an agronomist. The Communist government, which took over the country following World War II, forced Mr. Kaman to lie about his work. He left Hungary after the 1956 Revolution, arriving in Canada in 1957. Mr. Kaman gives a detailed account of his first impressions of Canada. In Canada, Mr. Kaman entered the tobacco share growing industry, along with many other Hungarian immigrants, in south-western Ontario. He talks about…
Date: 1977-07-11
Name(s): Hertel, Andrew, Pandy, Piri
Description: Andrew Hertel discusses the founding of Hungarian Hall in Toronto and in Delhi, Ontario. He talks about losing money in oil speculation in Alberta, giving credit to refugees, and never getting it back. He also provides information about early social life in the Hungarian-Canadian community, and the reaction against communism.
Date: 1977-07-11
Name(s): David Judd, More, Andrew
Description: Andrew More discusses his personal background, including the story of his father's emigration from Hungary to Canada. His father became a tobacco farmer in south-western Ontario, and was also involved in the fertilizer business. Mr. More talks about the history of early Hungarian settlers in the area, as well as his own family's history. He describes the situation of ethnic minorities in Ontario in the post-WWII period, and also the failure of the 1956 Hungarian refugees to adjust to farming.…
Date: 1977-07-27
Name(s): Balasz, Andy, Susan Galos
Description: Andy Balasz talks about his family and early life in the region of Transylvania (present-day Romania). He provides information about his father's occupation, and the decision to immigrate to Canada. Mr. Balasz describes how they came to Canada and their arrival. His family settled in south-western Ontario, and he describes what life was like for them in that area. He provides information on his business connections and enterprises. Mr. Balasz then offers his view on Canadian 'ethnic culture.'…
Date: 2005-12-18
Name(s): Stadler, Urmos, Antal
Description: Antal Urmos was born in 1925 in Temerin, Yugoslavia. He talks about his role in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. He was helping the revolutionaries transport the flyers on his motor bike, providing them also with typewriters. He had a very good position at the university, but realized he had to join the students because they are fighting for the right reasons. Interesting escape story, across the land with his motor bike. He was blocked by roads several times. Wife and son followed him and met…
Date: 1977-08-01
Name(s): Galos, Charles, Galos, Eva, Susan Galos
Description: Charles and Eva Galos describe what their lives were like in Hungary prior to immigrating to Canada. Mr. Galos had been a lab technician and buyer for Standard Oil, until he got into trouble with the Communist government because of his outspokenness. At that time, Mrs. Galos had just started working as a teacher. They decided to emigrate and left Hungary for Austria. Mr. and Mrs. Galos describe and encounter they had while trying to cross the border. When they finally arrived in Canada, Mrs.…
Date: 1984-07-11
Name(s): Ficzere, Charles, Lipowski, Michael
Description: Charles Ficzere was born in a village in Hungary. He left his native country in 1929, and travelled for sixteen days across the ocean to St. John's, Newfoundland. From there he went to Montreal and on to Woodstock, Ontario. He offers his first impressions of Canada. In south-western Ontario, Mr. Ficzere became a tobacco farmer, growing his first crop in 1932. He shares his thoughts on the community of Delhi, Ontario.
Date: 1978-03-28
Name(s): Papp-Zubrits, Susan, Patrias, Carmela, Steinmetz, Charles
Description: Rev. Charles Steinmetz talks about the discrimination and hatred that some immigrants faced living in Toronto during the 1930s. He describes the foundation of Hungarian House and Church activities. Rev. Steinmetz also talks about Communist activities during that time, and a Hungarian community newspaper that was started as well. He also talks about the Hungarian who served in Canadian Armed Forces during World War II. Rev. Steinmetz describes some of the activities undertaken by the Church…
Date: 1985-07-25
Name(s): Feth, Clare, Schooley, Anne
Description: Clara Feth was born in Hungary and immigrated to Canada. Her family settled in the area around Delhi, Ontario, and farmed tobacco along with many other Hungarian immigrants at that time.
Date: 1978-06-15
Name(s): Kish, Columba, Papp-Zubrits, Susan
Description: Sister Columba Kish talks about her parents and the hardships that they faced living in Hungary. They decided to immigrate to Canada, and Sister Kish provides information about the trip. The family initially settled Saskatchewan, in a Hungarian farming community. She talks about the Hungarian churches in Saskatchewan, as well as her early education and career goals. Sister Kish entered the community of Sisters of Social Service. She then went to nursing school in Montreal before moving to…
Date: 2006-07-19
Name(s): Kadar, Dezso, Stadler/Szakaly
Description: Dr. Deszo Kadar was born in Transylvania in 1933. He was a pharmacology student in 1956 in Szeged, Hungary. He talks about his life in Transylvania, and in Hungary after the family moved to Hungary from Romania in 1944. Events in Szeged before the revolution. Talks about the pharmacology students organizing MEFEZ, which was the organization asking for more freedom of press and freedom of speech in Szeged. Dr. Kadar believes that the students at Szeged were the ones who laid the foundation for…
Date: 1979-05-15
Name(s): Papp-Zubrits, Susan, de Fay, Edmund
Description: Edmund de Fay talks about his childhood in Hungary, and the occupation of Transylvania by the Romanians following the First World War. During the interwar years, Mr. de Fay attended school and trained for a career as an Air Force Officer. He became a specialist in aerial photography during the Second World War, and served as a General staff officer. Following the war, he immigrated to Austria, near Innsbruck, and then to Germany, near Munich. He worked at a truck repair shop, and also as a…
Date: 1978-03-07
Name(s): Gabori, Eve, Zalan, Magda, 1936-
Description: Eve Gabori is originally from Budapest, Hungary. She and her husband left in 1956 because of the Hungarian Revolution. She describes their escape from Hungary to Austria as 'adventurous.' From Austria they were able to emigrate to Canada, with the assistance of the Viennese Consulate. After arriving in Halifax, Mrs. Gabori and her husband took the train to Toronto. She describes her first impressions of the city, how she found her first job in Canada, and their first home. Mrs. Gabori was…
