Lukacs John Varda

By the age of six, John was a refugee. As an infant, his home and community was destroyed in a fire. Afterwards, his family was relocated by the government to a home in modern day Serbia. During WWII, John and his family were again forced from their homes and undertook a seven month journey on foot. They landed in communist Hungary under the authority of Russian troops. As an adult, after participating in an unsuccessful revolution, he was forced to flee Hungary. Eventually, John landed in Australia, where he still lives to this day.

This was an amazing tail of survival amidst harsh and unforgiving circumstances. I wanted to read more about what happened to John's family after he fled Hungary. The book sorely needs an epilogue! Despite this criticism, 4 out of 5 stars.… (plus d'informations)

This book by Lukacs John Varda is short, but packs in a lot of experience in life. Varda came from a Szekely family, a Hungarian subgroup living in Romania. He recounts the history of his family, which had to move several times due to the redrawing of boundaries in Eastern Europe before World War I, after that war, and during and after World War II. They lost their homes and possessions many times and had to deal with hardships from the wars. It is a personal tale which puts a human face on the stories we hear about refugees and migrants moving from land to land. For me personally, it is interesting, as my grandfather was Hungarian, and my father lived in Czechoslovakia, whose borders were changed repeatedly, similar to what Varda describes in the book. (Luckily my father was able to get out of Europe and come to America during the war, thus avoiding the grave deprivations that Varda experienced.)… (plus d'informations)

This short book is an account of Varda's experiences as a member of a cultural group (the Szekely) that has had to move from its homeland several times over the hundreds of years yet for a long time was able to stay together. They became more fragmented after WWII, and Varda's family ended up in Yugoslavia/Serbia. Starting from scratch, they began to eke out a living when they were moved back to Hungary, where others who had been given their homes now have to move out. But even though they are back in their homeland, they are now under Communist rule. When Vardas inadvertantly is present during a protest against the government, he flees the country.
This book is not so much an account of the emotional impact on an individual as it is a lesson on the disruption to the civilian populace when high government redraws borders. One group of humans ends up having to leave their homes to make room for an incoming group.
He describes watching the planes strafe the roads nearby, the capture of a downed pilot, mass departure of German soldiers past their village followed by incoming tanks of Russian victors, farmers having their production confiscated, conditions in a refugee camp.
Some of his memories were amusingly different from anything I've heard: e.g. believing tales of magic told by an old man & attempting to cast the spell following his description--which ended with him sitting on his handmade 3 legged chair in the middle of a snowstorm.… (plus d'informations)