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History 398, Spring 1998 Sonja Luehrmann Oral History Interview: Tape Summary Summary of an interview with Helen Szablya at Bellevue, W A, on March 20, 1998 Interview with Helen Szablya (b. 1934 in Hungary) by Sonja Luehrmann. Also present were Helen's husband, John, and Sonja's friend, Polina Degen. Tape I, Side A 003-025 025-036 036-056 056-077 077-135 135-183 183-205 Coming to Canada from Hungary during the 1956 revolution with her husband, John, and their three children. John taught at UBC from 1957 to 1963. In 1963, the family moves to Pullman, Washington, John starts teaching electrical engineering at WSU. The 7 children "like the United Nations". Language skills: Helen learned English since she was 10, in private lessons, like French and German, since the schools taught only Russian. Account ofhow John and Helen met at a party when Helen was 14 and John24. The political situation in Hungary in the early 50s: deportations, forced labor, nationalization ofHelen's family's store. Measures to protect themselves from deportation: Helen got married to John, an engineer, in 1951, her two sisters were adopted, her mother 205-219 219-385 385-end SideB 000-014 014-059 059-068 068-125 125-137 137-169 169-218 218-224 pretended she had moved to the country, in reality they all shared two rooms in Budapest. Birth of second child, bought right to sublease an apartment of their own. Account of the October 23, 1956 revolution, the withdrawal and return (Nov 4) of the Soviets. The returning soldiers were Mongolians who were told they were going to fight the Americans at the Suez Canal Soviet soldiers fought on both sides; there was no help from the West. Birth of their third child, Louis, during the fighting in Budapest. 8 days later, decision to leave the country. Attempt to escape in a truck that had to go to the border. Arrested for the first time, sent back to Budapest. Attempt to reach the border by bus, arrested when they tried to spend the night in a Red Cross building that turned out to be occupied by the police. Brought from Red Cross building to police headquarters in Budapest, where they tried to keep the men and send the women home. Helen got their release through a friend who was organizing international support against kidnappings. New plan: with false papers from the university, they traveled to Sopron near the border, supposedly because John had to replace a professor there. Helen explains her differentiation between "Soviets" and "Russians" (for the benefit of Polina, who is Russian). 2 224-242 242-287 287-end Luckily, they were checked by a Hungarian soldier on the train, because a Soviet soldier wouldn't even have read the papers. Arrival in Sopron: They were directed to a friend's house by a man with a donkey cart- significant because they had prayed to the Holy Family, who escaped on a donkey. Escape across the border at night on December 8: John carried the baby in the basket and Janos in his knapsack, the daughter, Helen, walked with other people. The border guards were accomplices of the guides and had told them where the changing of the guard was going to be at 6a.m., so they could cross at the point farthest from there. Tape II, side A 000-008 008-017 017-038 038-051 051-091 091-133 The moment of crossing the border, their happiness. John explains once again the agreement the guides had with the guards. Enthusiastic reception in the Austrian village near the border. Through John's cousin in Vienna, they heard about the Sopron University that was going to Canada and were invited to come along as interpreters. Life in Pullman: Besides raising 7 children, Helen got a degree in Foreign Languages from WSU, with straight 'A's except for one 'B' for a Marxist interpretation of "King Lear". Question: Were Americans interested in hearing about her experiences in Hungary? Answer: At first they couldn't understand, it was "so out of their experience", they were also reluctant to believe that Stalin, their ally, had been "as bad as Hitler, if not worse". But Helen found that it was 3 133-178 178-202 202-310 310-336 336-346 346-370 370-end SideB 000-007 effective if she told about what happened to her personally, and she and her husband gave many talks over the years. Question: What gave her the strength to tell the story again and again? Responsibility because she was among the few whose English was good enough, desire to help Hungary, interest from the American audience. Pullman in the 60s and 70s was a good place to raise children, people were very nice. The children were very involved with the Summer Palace. After the eldest daughter got married, the family spent a year (1973/74) in Braunschweig, Germany, and traveled through Europe for the first time since leaving. The next time was only in 1990, when Helen returned to Hungary. In 1980/81, the family spent a year in Trinidad, where Helen started writing a column for the Trinidad Catholic News. It took Helen 6 years to do the one year's coursework she needed to get a degree from WSU. Back from Trinidad, John accepted a job with a company in Bellevue, Washington, where Helen joined the Washington Press Association and became budget director because of an executive MBA from UBC. She got that degree in Vancouver in a night course for people who had their own business, and she at that time operated a store with Hungarian imports. Every year, only one woman (and 60 men) was accepted into the course. 4 007-039 039-072 072-144 144-158 158-234 234-245 245-280 280-396 396-end John tells the "male chauvinist pig story" of how an exam was changed because Helen had taken it ahead of time and done so well that the professor thought it was too easy if a woman could do that well. Graduation from that program, Helen's good looks. In 1986, Helen wrote an oral history drama on the Hungarian Revolution together with her daughter-in-law, and organized a series of talks across Washington State to commemorate the 30th anniversary. First return to Hungary in 1990: joy to be back, but sad to see the country "down in the dumps". Helen and John started doing trade consulting and putting out a newsletter for American business people who might want to invest in Hungary, to translate ways of thinking between the two countries. In recognition of this work, Helen was appointed Honorary Consul of Hungary. Attitude of Hungarians toward them: They are careful not to seem arrogant and not to behave like Americans in Hungary, so they are accepted. Americans also accept them as Hungarian-Americans, their children as Americans. They try to "blend in" everywhere, were well-accepted in Germany and Trinidad. They think they could not live in Hungary any more, because their attitudes are American. Helen was born in 1934, John in 1924. 5
Object Description
Rating | |
Title | Szablya, Helen Oral History Interview, 1998 |
Interviewer | Luehrmann, Sonja |
Date | 1998-05-05 |
Description | 125 minute oral history with Sonja Luehrmann, conducted for a Women in the West (HIST 398 course at Washington State University). She talks about her early childhood, enduring both the German and Soviet occupations, her father's escape to Canada, and the political and social issues of Hungary. She describes the various ways she and her family avoided deportation and her experiences during the Hungarian Revolution. She, her husband, and three children escaped to Austria, and then to Canada, where she received her business degree at the University of British Columbia. Helen, her husband, and five children moved to Pullman, Washington when her husband received job at Washington State University. She spends her time educating Americans about struggles of communism and owned a financial consulting company with her husband. |
Subject | Refugees; Communism; Economic & social conditions; Teachers; Education |
Coverage | Europe--Hungary--Budapest; North and Central America--Canada--British Columbia--Vancouver; North and Central America--United States--Washington (State)--Whitman County--Pullman |
Type | Sound |
Genre | Interviews |
Publisher | Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries: https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc |
Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
Rights Notes | In copyright. Item is in copyright until 95 years after 2011 publication date. |
Identifier | ua262b03f25 |
Source | Is found in Archives 262, Women in the West Oral Histories https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc/finders/ua262.htm at Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc |
Holding Institution | Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries |
Contributors | Digitization and description funded through a National Endowment for the Humanities We the People grant for Washington Womens History to the Washington Womens History Consortium, a part of the Washington State Historical Society. |
Language | English |
Digitization | Original audio cassettes were converted to wav files using Audacity and a USBPre interface. Mp3 files were then created from the wav files for online access. Film clips were created as mpeg-4 files using Adobe Premiere Elements 9 to add selected images to the wav audio files. Print documents were scanned to pdf format using a Xerox Workcentre 5030 copier/scanner. |
Description
Title | ua262b03f25_Abstract |
Full Text | History 398, Spring 1998 Sonja Luehrmann Oral History Interview: Tape Summary Summary of an interview with Helen Szablya at Bellevue, W A, on March 20, 1998 Interview with Helen Szablya (b. 1934 in Hungary) by Sonja Luehrmann. Also present were Helen's husband, John, and Sonja's friend, Polina Degen. Tape I, Side A 003-025 025-036 036-056 056-077 077-135 135-183 183-205 Coming to Canada from Hungary during the 1956 revolution with her husband, John, and their three children. John taught at UBC from 1957 to 1963. In 1963, the family moves to Pullman, Washington, John starts teaching electrical engineering at WSU. The 7 children "like the United Nations". Language skills: Helen learned English since she was 10, in private lessons, like French and German, since the schools taught only Russian. Account ofhow John and Helen met at a party when Helen was 14 and John24. The political situation in Hungary in the early 50s: deportations, forced labor, nationalization ofHelen's family's store. Measures to protect themselves from deportation: Helen got married to John, an engineer, in 1951, her two sisters were adopted, her mother 205-219 219-385 385-end SideB 000-014 014-059 059-068 068-125 125-137 137-169 169-218 218-224 pretended she had moved to the country, in reality they all shared two rooms in Budapest. Birth of second child, bought right to sublease an apartment of their own. Account of the October 23, 1956 revolution, the withdrawal and return (Nov 4) of the Soviets. The returning soldiers were Mongolians who were told they were going to fight the Americans at the Suez Canal Soviet soldiers fought on both sides; there was no help from the West. Birth of their third child, Louis, during the fighting in Budapest. 8 days later, decision to leave the country. Attempt to escape in a truck that had to go to the border. Arrested for the first time, sent back to Budapest. Attempt to reach the border by bus, arrested when they tried to spend the night in a Red Cross building that turned out to be occupied by the police. Brought from Red Cross building to police headquarters in Budapest, where they tried to keep the men and send the women home. Helen got their release through a friend who was organizing international support against kidnappings. New plan: with false papers from the university, they traveled to Sopron near the border, supposedly because John had to replace a professor there. Helen explains her differentiation between "Soviets" and "Russians" (for the benefit of Polina, who is Russian). 2 224-242 242-287 287-end Luckily, they were checked by a Hungarian soldier on the train, because a Soviet soldier wouldn't even have read the papers. Arrival in Sopron: They were directed to a friend's house by a man with a donkey cart- significant because they had prayed to the Holy Family, who escaped on a donkey. Escape across the border at night on December 8: John carried the baby in the basket and Janos in his knapsack, the daughter, Helen, walked with other people. The border guards were accomplices of the guides and had told them where the changing of the guard was going to be at 6a.m., so they could cross at the point farthest from there. Tape II, side A 000-008 008-017 017-038 038-051 051-091 091-133 The moment of crossing the border, their happiness. John explains once again the agreement the guides had with the guards. Enthusiastic reception in the Austrian village near the border. Through John's cousin in Vienna, they heard about the Sopron University that was going to Canada and were invited to come along as interpreters. Life in Pullman: Besides raising 7 children, Helen got a degree in Foreign Languages from WSU, with straight 'A's except for one 'B' for a Marxist interpretation of "King Lear". Question: Were Americans interested in hearing about her experiences in Hungary? Answer: At first they couldn't understand, it was "so out of their experience", they were also reluctant to believe that Stalin, their ally, had been "as bad as Hitler, if not worse". But Helen found that it was 3 133-178 178-202 202-310 310-336 336-346 346-370 370-end SideB 000-007 effective if she told about what happened to her personally, and she and her husband gave many talks over the years. Question: What gave her the strength to tell the story again and again? Responsibility because she was among the few whose English was good enough, desire to help Hungary, interest from the American audience. Pullman in the 60s and 70s was a good place to raise children, people were very nice. The children were very involved with the Summer Palace. After the eldest daughter got married, the family spent a year (1973/74) in Braunschweig, Germany, and traveled through Europe for the first time since leaving. The next time was only in 1990, when Helen returned to Hungary. In 1980/81, the family spent a year in Trinidad, where Helen started writing a column for the Trinidad Catholic News. It took Helen 6 years to do the one year's coursework she needed to get a degree from WSU. Back from Trinidad, John accepted a job with a company in Bellevue, Washington, where Helen joined the Washington Press Association and became budget director because of an executive MBA from UBC. She got that degree in Vancouver in a night course for people who had their own business, and she at that time operated a store with Hungarian imports. Every year, only one woman (and 60 men) was accepted into the course. 4 007-039 039-072 072-144 144-158 158-234 234-245 245-280 280-396 396-end John tells the "male chauvinist pig story" of how an exam was changed because Helen had taken it ahead of time and done so well that the professor thought it was too easy if a woman could do that well. Graduation from that program, Helen's good looks. In 1986, Helen wrote an oral history drama on the Hungarian Revolution together with her daughter-in-law, and organized a series of talks across Washington State to commemorate the 30th anniversary. First return to Hungary in 1990: joy to be back, but sad to see the country "down in the dumps". Helen and John started doing trade consulting and putting out a newsletter for American business people who might want to invest in Hungary, to translate ways of thinking between the two countries. In recognition of this work, Helen was appointed Honorary Consul of Hungary. Attitude of Hungarians toward them: They are careful not to seem arrogant and not to behave like Americans in Hungary, so they are accepted. Americans also accept them as Hungarian-Americans, their children as Americans. They try to "blend in" everywhere, were well-accepted in Germany and Trinidad. They think they could not live in Hungary any more, because their attitudes are American. Helen was born in 1934, John in 1924. 5 |
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