Ági cikkei és egyebek/ Articles and Other Reflections by Ági

Jegyzeteim Fenyő Lili: Pillanatfelvételek a külföldön élő magyar diákság életébő l c. nagyon humoros és egyben szentimentális riport-kisregényéből (vagy nem tudom pontosan milyen műfajba soroljam): A szerző Fleischmann Líviaként orvostanhallgató volt Firenzében. p. 5.    Padova, 10 perc kiszállni! Bologna! Kiszállni kérem! Átszállás Milánó felé! Firenze! Mindenütt leszáll kettő-három, mind tétován, gépiesen viszi a bőröndjét. Kiszállni? Miért? Méri éppen itt? És mért nem mind? Igen, ki kell szállni, mert eddig szól a jegy….”   „Padovába megy az egyik, mert ott elő a hírneves orvosprofesszor. Firenzébe a másik, mert ha már külföldre megy, Firenzét választja, a művészetek városát. A harmadik az örök várost, Rómát. Cataniát a negyedik, mert az olcsóbb. Kockát vet az ötödik a térkép fölött. Hová esik? Oda megy. Hiszen mindegy. Egyiket sem várja ott senki, egyiknek sem éppen az a város a végcélja – akárhová mehet – ahol egyetem van, ahol tanulhat.”    Senki...

Dora Klein " Vivere e sopravvivere " című könyve a legjobb memoár, amit valaha is olvastam. Azért kezdtem el olvasni, mert ő egy lengyel zsidó  orvostanhallgató volt a bolognai egyetemen a 30-as években, úgyhogy reméltem, hogy rettentő sok mindent meg fogok tudni a külföldi zsidó diákok olaszországi életéről (ami a szakdolgozatom és talán a leendő PhD-m miatt fontos nekem). Pont erről nem sok minden derült ki a könyvből, viszont rengeteg még fontosabb dolog igen. Két dolgot is jól elkerül ez az írás, amiket én a memoárok nagy buktatójának tartok. Egyrészt gyakran tiszta utólagos spekulációk a memoárok, rosszabb esetben még megrendelés szagúak is, vagy egyszerűen túl erőltetetten adnak át amúgy értékes üzenetet. Dora Klein egy csomó eredeti levelet belefoglalt az emlékezésébe, amiket az olasz szerelme (B.) küldött neki a 30-as és a 40-es évek során. Ezeket kommentálja, gondosan megkülönböztetve, hogy mit gondolt akkor, és mit gondol utólag, évtizedekkel öregebben. Persze, n...

    While numerous new statues of Governor Miklós Horthy have been recently inaugurated, the statue of Miklós Radnóti – a Hungarian Roman Catholic poet of Jewish origin who was a victim of the Holocaust –was destroyed and his books burnt.   The man who drove his car into Radnóti’s statue in Győr states that it was an accident due to his drunkenness. It is somewhat difficult to believe that his driving while being drunk exactly in the vicinity of Radnóti’s martyrdom particularly during these days was a mere coincidence. However, the presumption of innocence is due unto him. Regarding the burning of Radnóti’s books, a Nazi group explicitly takes the responsibility.   Heinrich Heine postulated in the 19 th century that "where they burn books, so too will they in the end burn human beings" (" Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen "). Indeed, historical experience shows that the act of book-burning (biblioclasm or libricide) is rather...

2013 is a year of many noble causes, among others the year of the “Hungarian-Italian Cultural Season” dedicated to the friendship between the two countries first of all in cultural terms. Such seasons and years claimed as “special” - involving special financial involvement of governmental institutions - lead us to ask “ W ell, and what about culture/friendship among nations/whatever is the noble cause, in all the other years? ” . At the same time they really make sponsors more willing to finance projects and remind public opinion of important issues from time to time.  Photo of Giorgio Perlasca: www.deliberatelyconsidered.com One very important result of the “Hungarian-Italian Cultural Season” 2013 is the launching of a new educational projects titled “Budapest, Itinerary of Memory-On the Tracks of Giorgio Perlasca” ( “Budapest, Itinerario della Memoria - sulle orme di Giorgio Perlasca") aiming to familiarize Italian students both with a hero, a Righteous among the...

This article was originally published in the 38th issue of The CEU Weekly on October 30, 2013.  You may be wondering what the Polish half of the title means; it is the beginning of a popular poem, known by many locals in its Hungarian equivalent. The message of both versions focuses on the fact that Poles and Hungarians are good friends (the Hungarian version literally says “good friends”, whereas the Polish version also implies family ties, by using the word “nephew”.) Whenever I mentioned this poem in Krakow on my recent visit, and whenever people realized that I was speaking Hungarian, they were excited to try to converse - even if they know only one Hungarian word! Thus , the Hungarian receptivity towards Poles seemed to be mutual based on the couple of beautiful days I recently spent in Krakow. On the local level, positive memories connected to Hungarians go all the way back to the 14 th century, when Poland and Hungary were united in a personal union under Hungaria...

This interview was originally published in The CEU Weekly's 35th issue on September 18, 2013. Online edition . The CEU Weekly interviewed  Kati Marton, Hungarian-born American journalist, author and scholar, and member of CEU’s board of trustees. Kati Marton has combined a career as a reporter and writer with human rights advocacy. She has worked as part of the leadership of renowned human rights organizations, including the International Women’s Health Coalition, Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, and International Rescue Committee. As a reporter she has contributed – among others – to ABC News, The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Washington Post, and Newsweek. She is also an author of eight books. TCW:  Among your many activities, you are a member of the board of trustees of CEU. What is your idea of the future development of CEU, and the community? KM:   I think CEU is a treasure, I think that it has an enormous role to play in Hungary’s...