An extraordinary life blessed with unshakeable faith, dedicated to selflessly serving the community: meet Dr. István Horváth, a pillar of the New Brunswick Hungarian American community, and his family.

‘I know that if I ask God for something, I will eventually get it. But that doesn’t mean my prayers are only for asking. There are some who feel that being Catholic is only about asking and they are disappointed when they don’t receive what they prayed for. But it doesn’t work that way. I say a long prayer every night to give thanks for all that I have,’ says István Horváth in a profound and moving conversation with our Diaspora correspondent.

An in-depth interview with Dr. Judit Tamás, who arrived in America thirty years ago as a kindergarten teacher, and after moving to North Carolina, founded the Carolinas Hungarian Group, organized camps for Hungarians for twenty years, and later launched the popular Online Hungarian School, which she has been running for fifteen years. Nowadays they have 250–300 students from 50 countries.

‘When I heard the saying, “Survivors carry the credentials of the forever silenced”, it really touched me. Due to the values instilled in me by the Hungarian scouts and the Piarists, as well as the American attitude of giving back, it slowly emerged as a conviction that I had a responsibility to help others who were less fortunate.’

‘Knowledge is yours, but if you keep it to yourself, that’s the end of it. On the other hand, if you pass it on to others, you’ll not have less, while others will have more,’ says Judit Kerekes, professor of mathematics and founder of the first Hungarian summer university in the United States.

An in-depth interview with Lél Somogyi, son of c-founder of the Hungarian Association, outstanding scholar and Horthy era government official Ferenc Somogyi, about his father’s legacy, his professional career, his family, and his contributions to the Hungarian American community, not the least as the Secretary-General of the Árpád Academy.

Zsolt Jakabffy answered God’s calling twice: first, when he became a pastor, and then when he moved to California from Transylvania, with the mission of helping the local Hungarian community preserve both their Christian faith and their Hungarian identity. An interview with the reverend who is also the principal of the Hungarian Sunday school,

‘It’s very interesting to see to what extent we can acknowledge the fact that diaspora life automatically implies linguistic and cultural assimilation. There’s a growing geographical dispersion; mobility is very characteristic in North America…In 2018 we finally started to talk…about how we see the community, what our strengths and weaknesses are, what we can learn and what challenges we face.’

An in-depth interview with German teacher Gergely Tóth, who went to the University of Berkeley, California 26 years ago for a doctoral program, then soon became immersed in local Hungarian community life. Since then, his voluntary work has extended from making oral history interviews to photographing objects and markers on four continents and collecting archival material of the Hungarian diaspora.

‘We’ve been approached much more often by local American organizations to present Hungarian culture to various schools or other groups as part of a larger, multicultural performance. These collaborations have been so invigorating for our whole team that we’ve come to the conclusion that this could be the path for us. This was one of our missions in the first place: to open up to others.’

In October 1951, Zoltán Vasvári, a.k.a. ‘Zolibá’, a former Hungarian military officer, gathered the sons of many Hungarian families in his New York apartment to introduce them to Hungarian scouting. Viktor Fischer joined the first patrol in the spring of 1952, and, as he puts it, ‘the scout bug has remained’ in him ever since. A conversation about a long and fruitful life, dedicated to teaching and to the Hungarian American community of the New York area.

Vadrózsa Dance Ensemble is the most prominent non-professional folk dance ensemble in Hungary. With 40 dancers and five musicians, the main mission of their American tour, which included five stops (New York, Washington, DC, Cleveland, Boston, and New Brunswick) was to showcase the diversity and virtuosity of the Carpathian Basin’s folklore through a fresh, youthful approach.

An in-depth interview with Katalin Petreczky, originally a German teacher, who, after moving to the United States, first led an international playgroup and preschool, then through her children became involved in the life of the Hungarian community by becoming the principal of the Arany János Hungarian School and by co-founding and leading the American Hungarian Schools’ Association.

The online conference presenting the varied and numerous activities of the organizations of the Hungarian American community in North California was held on 25 October, following up on the first part of the event that took place on 27 September.

Esteban Vajda Széchenyi, born in 1923 as István Vajda in Nagykőrös, Hungary, was a prominent member of the Villa Rica community in the Central Jungle of Peru. Although he found a new home in the South American country, he preserved his Hungarian heritage throughout his life, and passed it on to his children and grandchildren as well.

An in-depth interview with Zsolt Molnár, who emigrated from Transylvania, Romania to the United States, where he ran a successful business until a tragic accident happened. He fell from a roof and broke his spine, after which he had to find a new occupation: he ended up taking over the Bocskai Radio in Cleveland, Ohio, which he turned into a radio station for the local Hungarian community.

‘The diaspora mentality finds the meaning of Hungarian identity in the traditional folk values ​​and advocates these throughout the world. It doesn’t isolate itself either from the world or from present-day Hungary but nurtures contacts with both; builds and maintains relationships everywhere. The idea of ​​a “borderless homeland” means “Wherever there is a Hungarian, there is Hungary.”’

‘Family, school, church, scouting. The combination of these four elements is the only way the Hungarian diaspora can survive in North America. Despite the lack of a perceivable enemy today, we give up ourselves,’ 1956er Gyula Varga, former principal of the Széchenyi Hungarian School and Kindergarten in New Brunswick and an active scout, said in an in-depth interview.

An in-depth interview with Zoltán Vass, son of a Transylvanian minister, who emigrated from Transylvania, Romania to America, initially to New York, then Hollywood, ultimately settling in Toronto 29 years ago as the minister of the First Hungarian Reformed Church. He also serves on the Board of the Hungarian Diaspora Council.

An in-depth interview with Franciscan Friar Barnabás G. Kiss, Pastor of the Hungarian Parish in Detroit, who has been serving in the U.S. for 40 years. While trying to keep various church communities alive in the Great Lakes region, he also strives to keep the Hungarian priests in the North American diaspora together and advocate their cause.

‘Being Hungarian is a spiritual quality. If someone is Hungarian, they are Hungarian first and foremost, and they start to argue only after that—of course, in Hungarian. If we do not have a common value or a common means of communication, what are we talking about at all?’

Father Imre serves a congregation that has many elderly Hungarian parishioners who look to him not only for their spiritual but also logistical needs. He also helps the local Hungarian institutions by baking and cooking meals as well as with the coordination of events of the Hungarian community. Father Imre also caters to a Hispanic community, so he celebrates Mass in three languages.

In 1989 scouting became again legally permitted in Hungary. Consequently, the émigré Hungarian Scout Association changed its name to the current one: Hungarian Scout Association in Exteris. Nowadays it comprises more than 70 troops on four continents, in 14 countries, organized into five districts (Western Europe, South America, USA, Australia and Canada), with a total of 2,950 members.

An in-depth interview with Zsuzsa Csajkás, co-founder of both the South Florida Hungarian Kids Club and the Hungarian Chamber of Business and Commerce in Florida. Born in Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc, Transylvania), she moved to the States for better opportunities and later to pursue a business career, only to then become deeply involved in the life of the Hungarian American community after the birth of her son.

An in-depth interview with Anna (Panni) De Cheke Qualls, co-founder of the Hungarian Folklife Association, who moved to the States as a child with her family in the 1980s, then became actively involved in Hungarian folk dancing after her son, Leó became passionate about it. Now mother and son dance together in the Tisza Ensemble and Bátori Folk Dance Ensemble, where Panni also volunteers.

On 27 September an online conference organized jointly by the Diaspora Project Network of the University of Pécs and Kerko Media Ltd. featured Hungarian communities in San Francisco and its vicinity. The livestreamed discussion, followed in more than ten countries, was an impressive presentation of the diverse voluntary activities and exemplary cooperation of Hungarian organizations.

Both Emese and her husband, László Kerkay have been cultivators of the rich Hungarian historical and cultural heritage and overall active contributors to the life of the Hungarian community of Passaic, New Jersey, having served at the Hungarian school for over 30 years: Emese as teacher and principal, László as treasurer. Emese has also been an active scout since the age of six and was a founding member and for 25 years curator of the American Hungarian Museum of Passaic.

Éva Voisin is an accomplished lawyer, founder of the Hungarian American Chamber of Commerce and the Honorary Consul of Hungary for Northern California since 1993. She was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary in 2013, and is also the 2003 recipient of the Pro Auxilio Civium Hungarorum prize and numerous other awards for her pro-bono legal and civic activities.

An in-depth interview with Enkő Gorondi, founder and headmaster of the Aprókfalva Montessori Preschool and learning pod, a unique Hungarian daily educational institution in Piscataway, New Jersey; and her daughter, who, as a teacher, scout leader and folk dance teacher is also an active member of the local Hungarian community.

An in-depth interview with Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Programme scholars Ágnes and István Vámosi, who undertook the responsibility of teaching Hungarian folk dance in Los Angeles for two years with their little son, Pityke in tow.