During the regime change following the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Hungarian National Bank gradually sold almost all of the country’s gold reserve, which by 1992 fell to around three tonnes, with the proceeds from the sale of gold invested in foreign government bonds deemed safe and high-yielding. However, the promised returns were not realized.
On 23 October 1956, István Üsztöke participated in the production of the famous sixteen points demanding democracy as a printer, for which he had to flee from Hungary. He emigrated to the US, where he worked as a printer until his retirement, then as a real estate agent, a candy man, and finally as a TV producer, for which he was personally honoured by former Hungarian President János Áder.
The exhibition titled What Does the Cziffra File Conceal? — The Emigrant Pianist: György Cziffra and State Security, open until 14 September at the Historical Archives of the State Security Services building, utilizes numerous previously unpublished documents and sources, primarily archival records and photographs, to illustrate various periods of György Cziffra’s life and art, as well as the workings of state security.
Gabriella Vajtay, an active member of the Hungarian community in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is the director of Reconnect Hungary. The interview with her revolves around the Reconnect Hungary Birthright Trip, a programme of the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation (HHRF), which enables North American young adults of Hungarian descent to visit Hungary.
Among other programmes, between 20 and 23 February the museum’s historians will hold presentations for secondary school students interested in history. During these sessions, students will be able to learn about the Sovietization in the Hungarian countryside after 1945, Communist propaganda posters, and the terror of the ÁVO (the State Protection Authority) between 1945 and 1956.
The exhibition, which features Pál Kepenyes’s small sculptures, life-size statues, and large-format photographs of his works, will be open until 9 March at the Aba-Novák Agora Cultural Center.
At an online conference titled Cooperation under the Palm Trees held on 9 February the invited panellists represented various Florida-based Hungarian organizations. Participants from eight countries all over the world were able to gain insight into the exemplary cooperation of Hungarians in Florida.
An interview with Hungarian American political scientist András Ludányi on his family background, scouting, his teaching career, his political preferences, and the representation of Hungarian interests in the US.
Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó was the guest speaker at the latest event of the International Speaker Series organized by the New York Young Republican Club on 7 February. After addressing the challenges Europe has been facing lately regarding the war, migration, and shrinking competitiveness, the minister answered several questions from the audience.
At a recent Rubicon Institute conference in Budapest, historians and Middle East experts attempted to shed light on the complexities of the Arab–Israeli conflict and its regional and international contexts.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.