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NUMBER SEVEN:
Eastern European Studies
Faced with the Nazi invasion of Hungary during World War II,
the Soviet occupation following the Allied victory, and finally
with the opportunity to escape the oppressive regime during
the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Csaba TegIas responded with
ingenuity and hope. In Budapest Exit: A Memoir of Fascism,
Communism, and Freedom he tells the story of his twenty-year
quest for freedom.
During the war, the dramatic changes that had taken place
in his country intensified with the invasion of the Nazis.
After the terrifying siege of Budapest the Nazis' defeat should
have led to freedom, but for Hungary it meant the rural occupation
by the Soviets. Life in Budapest was difficult, but Teglas
rose to meet the challenges presented to him. He worked hard
to help support his family, and he successfully earned a degree
at the Technical University of Budapest despite constant interference
in the university by the communists.
During the years under the Stalinist dictatorship, Teglas
and his family and friends lived in constant fear, some were
even subjected to the communist jails and torture chambers.
But rather Ě than standing idly by, Teglas protested, sometimes
quietly, sometimes more vocally, against the Soviet and communist
presence in Hungary.
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During
the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Teglas became more involved
in the opposition to the communists. When it became dear that
the revolutionaries were not going to succeed, he knew he
had to leave. Teglas recounts his dramatic escape through
the heavily guarded Iron Curtain and his subsequent journey
to North America, where life as an immigrant presented new
challenges.
Teglas compares the genocide and brutality of Nazi order and
communist rule to recent international events and ethnic cleansing
in Central and Eastern Europe, including the former Yugoslavia.
Even more, though, this memoir is Csaba Teglas's personal
story of his youth, told from the point of view of a man with
sons of his own. He found in America the freedom for which
he had been searching, but he has raised his American sons
to remain proud of their Hungarian heritage.
CSABA
TEGLAS, a native of Hungary, is a semi-retired city-planning
consultant. He has lived in White Plains, New York, with his
Scottish-born wife, Rowena, since 1967.
Published by:
TEXAS A&M
UNIVERSITY PRESS
College Station
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Universe Publishing Company