American Hungarian Educators’ Association

30th Anniversary Conference

LOOKING FORWARD – LOOKING BACK

THE AHEA AT THIRTY

June 2 – 5, 2005

Budapest, Hungary

Hosted by:

Central European University, Budapest

Ministry of Education for the Republic of Hungary

Location:

Central European University [CEU]

1051 Budapest, Nádor utca 9.

SUBMITTED ABSTRACTS

[As of May 1, 2005]

[List appears in alphabetical order by author]

Zoltán Abádi-Nagy, Vice Rector, University of Debrecen, Hungary () “Reinventing the University in Hungary”

The change processes that Hungarian higher education had both to accept and effect for a decade and a half now have been taking place continuously and, almost always, simultaneously, in several realms and on several levels of our social/cultural/higher educational life. All those realms and levels were interlaced and interactive, in often confusing, even bewildering ways. In such a world there were no mechanical, ready-made rules to navigate by. The presentation will trace these developments from the tremendous social caesura of 1989 through the reintegration story of dissevered universities to today’s main concern, the so-called “Bologna process.”

Marguerite Allen ()"The Wartime Activities of the National Bank of Hungary, 1941–1945: A Reexamination"

The personal diary of a CIC Special Agent casts doubt on the "official" wartime history of the National Bank of Hungary. The former Hungarian fled the country on May 4, 1939, (the day the Second Racial Law took effect) and returned to Europe five years later, an American citizen with U.S. Army military intelligence. On May 7, 1945, the Bank came under American and Allied control. Until the negotiations between the Bank and the U.S. Military Government on May 13, the Bank's fate was uncertain. The agent's account of events tells a story omitted from the "official" account as well as from the account of a former bank director. Both of these accounts were published after the agent's death. I propose to use the diary and original documents available at the National Archives and Records (NARA) in College Park, Md., and the Budapest Archives to reexamine the Bank's history. This period in the histories of Hungary and the United States illuminates important and still unresolved issues underlying that great conflict and the future of Hungary.

This paper was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Ragdale Foundation.

Ruth Biro () “Remembering Raoul Wallenberg in the USA: Looking Back to the Holocaust in Hungary Sixty Years Ago and Looking Forward to the Lessons of Moral Courage from His Humanitarian Mission".

This presentation will focus on the ways in which Raoul Wallenberg is commemorated in the United States. The Swedish diplomat was sent to Hungary under the auspices of the United States War Refugee Board in July 1944 to save the Jews of Budapest, the only remaining concentration on the continent of Europe. His humanitarian mission continued until January 17, 1945, when he disappeared into the Soviet Union and never again was seen in the west. Sixty years later the precise details of his fate are in dispute, but his legacy is clear. He is credited with saving approximately 100,000 Hungarian Jewish lives. Wallenberg was made an honorary citizen of Budapest in 2003.

Wallenberg was made an honorary citizen of the United States in 1981. Other commemorations to Wallenberg in the USA include statues, monuments, parks, streets, plays, a stamp. a K-12 curriculum, and other forms of remembrance. Many books, articles, and leadership materials have been published for education purposes and are utilized at elementary, secondary, and university levels. These commemorations and resources acquaint American audiences with information about the Holocaust in Hungary, a topic little known to students in the United States.

In the year of 2005 we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II and the Holocaust. It is appropriate that we recognize the lessons of moral courage that Raoul Wallenberg has left to humanity and the world. As the most celebrated Righteous Gentile, he has been widely honored in Hungary, Sweden, Israel, and the United States.

This presentation will highlight Wallenberg’s connection to Hungary and the United States and how the past, the present, and the future of the two countries are preserved in the monument “Hope” outside the United Nations compound in New York City. In a millennium yearning for peace, it is relevant to remember that Wallenberg was nominated several times over several decades for the Nobel Peace Prize because of his exemplary humanitarian actions during six months in Budapest from July 9, 1944 to January 17, 1945.

Peter Bergmann (U. of Florida) () "Defeat and de-Germanization in Hungary after 1945"
The Hungarian defeat of 1945 formally ended the German/Habsburg connection (e.g. Regency), continued the wartime policy of ethnic cleansing aimed now at the German minority, prompted Magyarization of both German and Jews, and purged the official culture of German philosophical and literary currents (e.g., Lukács’ Destruction of Reason).

Andrew Burton (Indiana U.) () “Roma and the Ethnopolitics of Democratic Transition in Hungary: Political Efforts to Overcome Legacies and Secure Equality”

The Roma, Eastern Europe’s largest ethnic minority, often lie on the margins of society having, throughout recorded history, suffered under both state and societal prejudices. The history of the Hungarian Roma population gives insight in to the current status and the potential future of the Roma people in Eastern Europe. The treatment of the Roma in Hungary has varied to some degree, although they have remained a marginal group under each government. The rise and fall of state socialism, international pressure, state and local policies, and human prejudices have all had various impacts on the assimilation and acceptance of the Romany community into the dominant society.

Theoretically, following the transition from autocratic and semi-fascist governments, state socialism benefited ethnic minorities by codifying minority rights and establishing welfare programs to ensure social equality amongst all groups. However, the realization of such benefits did not always materialize in the case of the Roma. The primary goal of most socialist governments in relation to the Roma was assimilation rather than integration. Nevertheless, the Roma did enjoy greater protection under the Hungarian Socialist Government than under either pre- or post-communist governments. The immediate impact of the transition to democracy was devastating to most Roma who relied on the social safety net provided by communism and subsequently suffered from increased racism with the resurgence of Hungarian nationalism. However, the post-communist state has made efforts to ensure equality and protection of its minorities, including the Roma. In order to address the issue of Roma in transitional Hungary, I will first examine the point from which the transition occurred. The communist era provided certain benefits for the Roma, but also created additional problems. In this light, I first examine some social legacies of the politics of communism, including education, housing, health, and employment.

The legacies of state socialism for Hungarian Roma: social dependency for employment and sustenance, segregated education, substandard housing, and poor medical care; further complicated the Roma’s plight. The communist policies and practices left the Hungarian Roma in a vulnerable position, in a sense weakening the social fabric of the Roma community. Unskilled and poorly educated, they suffered disproportionately from rising unemployment. The lack of housing and medical benefits meant a further decline in the community’s health. Many expected the new regime to fulfill the same role as a universal provider, only to find that the new market system and economic pressures had stripped the social benefits structure.

On the other hand, democracy provided Roma rights activists with the freedom of expression. Unfortunately, this new found freedom was accompanied by a resurgence of nationalism. Discrimination increased, as did racially motivated violence against Roma.

Treatment of the Roma issue by Hungary’s transitional democracy must be viewed on three levels: 1) international influence, 2) national policies and institutions, and 3) local authorities and communities, and their effect on the implementation of increasingly constructive state polices and their effectiveness in countering communist legacies and nationalist tendencies. My hypothesis is that international bodies exert substantial influence on Hungary’s national government, which in turn has increased efforts to improve Roma rights. The greatest obstacle is the unwillingness of local authorities and communities to implement national reforms and recognize Roma rights. In addition to my analysis, I make some suggestions for expediting this process of overcoming historical legacies of prejudice and inequality.

Wayne Brinda / Artistic Director, Prime Stage Theatre ()

“Hungarian youth in Holocaust literature as role models: Using literature to help adolescents look back to find inspiration as they look forward to their challenges today.”

This presentation brings to life the stories of three Holocaust survivors who were adolescents in the camps, yet survived chaos, hatred, and fear. Using literature by the survivors, three questions reflect issues youth face today. How did they overcome challenges? What makes them similar to youth today? How did they not only survive, but become noted writers, scholars, and educators?

Judith Magyar Isaacson from Kaposvar, who became dean of students at Bates College, shares her story in Seed of Sarah: Memoirs of a Survivor. Imre Kertesz from Budapest, awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize, writes in Fateless about a young boy who "skipped school. . . . My teacher wanted to know the reasons. I told him my father was being conscripted into the labor service"

(p. 3). Aranka Siegal, from Beregszasz, hosted a radio show where she recounted her experiences, was a substitute teacher, and lecturer in schools and colleges. Her story, Upon the Head of a Goat, captured the emotions of a young Jewish girl caught in events designed to destroy her world. By using relevant, authentic, from a world of the past to personal events in the world of today, and accessible literature, adolescents can find personal connections

Sylvia D. Clark (St. John’s U.) and Mary M. Long (Pace U.) ,”MARKET ORIENTATION IN HUNGARIAN FIRMS:

A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS”

One of the major research streams in strategic marketing to develop in recent years has been that of market orientation (Guo, 2002). Narver and Slater (1990, p.21) define market orientation as an organizational culture that effectively and efficiently creates the necessary behaviors for the creation of superior values for buyers, resulting in continuous superior performance for the business.

Springer and Czinkota (1999) argue that the development of a market orientation is required for a successful transformation to a market economy in Central and Eastern European countries. The purpose of this research is to measure to what extent market orientation has been adopted by companies in Hungary, and to examine the relationship of market orientation to measures of success such as profitability, market share, and customer satisfaction.

In the years since Hungary’s move to a market economy, the country has generally been viewed as a strong candidate for market growth (Clark, 2001). Hungary has presented solid opportunities for the formation of joint ventures (Osborne, 1994) and has outpaced many other countries in the region in the level of foreign direct investment (Hooley and Beracs, 1997).

Data were collected via the Internet from a sample of more than 400 firms with headquarters in Hungary. Market orientation is evaluated using Narver and Slater’s (1990) original scale, with linkages to various characteristics of the firms also examined.

Kathy DeRose - Duquesne University () “Henrietta Szold: A role model whose roots began in Nemiskert, Hungary; whose legacy Lives today”

This presentation will illuminate the leadership and entrepreneurial spirit of American-born Henrietta Szold. The oldest of eight daughters born to Hungarian Rabbi Benjamin Szold and Sophie Schaar Szold, Henrietta was a product of her own moment in time. But her drive and determination made Henrietta—educator, scholar, Zionist and founder of Hadassah in 1912—a woman ahead of her time.

Henrietta Szold was one of the first Americans to work actively for a return of the Jewish homeland in Palestine. She defined a new identity for American Jewish women as communal leaders, and as the providers of health care and social services in the land of Israel. Her vision grew out of her own struggles with her identity as a modern Jewish American woman, and the restrictions and opportunities presented to a woman in that era. Through her accomplishments, Szold achieved international prominence as an educator, social reformer and Zionist.

In 1933, at the age of 73, just as she was thinking of retiring from twenty-three years of social work in Jewish Palestine, Szold was beckoned to perhaps the biggest challenge of her life—that of saving Jewish adolescents from Nazi massacres. During the last twelve years of her life, Henrietta Szold saved approximately thirteen thousand.

To this day, Henrietta Szold is regarded as one of the genuine heroic figures of American-Jewish history. She was one of the few women to play a foundational role in creating meaningful American Jewish culture. Szold, however, was constrained by the limited opportunities that the Jewish world of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries could offer a woman of her brilliance, organizational abilities and vision…all of which will be highlighted in this presentation.

Katalin Fabian, Lafayette Coll. () “Public Nuisances: The Welfare-Related Activism of Hungarian Women 1989–2004”

Despite obstacles facing group formation and maintenance, Hungarian women’s groups demonstrate interest and eagerness toward effecting political change. Through their efforts, many women’s groups directly and outspokenly demand more chance to participate in public life. These groups most often turn to welfare-related issues to enter the political arena. This paper points out how women’s welfare activism serves as the preeminent means for women to move toward and into politics, with the eventual results of women changing the political agenda and altering the definition of politics. What has changed in the domestic and the international environment that allowed this change? My research shows that contemporary domestic actors (especially women’s NGOs) increasingly relied on their international contacts and used UN and European Union norms and treaties to pressure the Hungarian government to action.

Andrew Felkay () "The Making of the 'Best Barracks': Kadar's Role in the Implementation of the NEM."
My paper will concentrate on Janos Kadar's political maneuvering in promulgating the Soviet bloc's first, socialist market-type economy. Although a "true believer" of the superiority of the socialist system, Janos Kadar did realize the ruinous effects of the heavy-handed implementation of Stalinist economic policies in Hungary. With the encouragement of Khrushchev, he initiated studies to reform the economy. The results of the studies pointed toward a market-type economic system in contradiction with Marxist doctrine. Having earned Khrushchev's trust Kadar was allowed to proceed with the introduction of the reform, but Khrushchev was ousted in 1964. Brezhnev had to be convinced about the Kadar's loyalty to the Soviet Union and at the same time secure the Kremlin's approval for the reforms.