My F-I-L Turns 90

[imcarthur]

My father-in-law: 90 years old tomorrow. Born in in a small village in Hungary. His mother died when he was an infant & he was raised by his sisters. He hit the fields young as a farm worker but WW2 rolled over them & he was ‘recruited’ into the Hungarian Army in 1941. Their version of recruiting meant: get into the truck or get shot. Shipped to the Ukraine to fight the advancing Soviet armies, his brother was killed by a mortar in a battle south of Kiev. In 1945, the army collapsed & he was rounded up by the Soviets south of Vienna (another get in the truck or be shot time). He spent 2 long years starving in a work camp southwest of Kiev. For 3 months of that, he was in a coma from eating a spoiled cabbage (his buddy who ate more of it died). On release he returned to his village & married my wife’s mother in 1949. They both worked for a commune – he in the fields & she stuffed geese so the Communist elite could have their paté (Hungarian paté is as good - if not better - than the French version). Their window for escape opened briefly during the revolution in 1956 & at her insistence they went over the Austrian border in a hay cart with 2 small children - no money but with some slaughtered geese for food - leaving their extended families behind. After a few months – with one child hospitalized for 2 weeks in Linz – they boarded a refugee ship for transport to Halifax, Canada.

In Nova Scotia, they were assigned to work for a year for a farmer who treated them as slave labor. Luckily the immigration agent realized the situation & transferred them to another farm. They saved their pennies & bought a rocky farm on the coast in Cape Breton for $700. With the accent out there, my wife thought that they were in Scotland at first. Speaking of her, she learned English quickly in school & at 7 she was the family translator. By growing turnips – a vegetable that was quite foreign to them btw - they got by for several years. Tragedy struck again when the farm burned down (my f-i-l risking his life to go into the flames to rescue his newborn son).

With no house, clothes etc they moved to Toronto. A family of 5. Working 2 jobs, he raised his family & they finally bought a house in the late 70s. He has been retired since 1988. Both he & his wife (she’s 83) live with my wife’s sister in a small town in central Ontario.

He is the most humble person you could ever meet. If any of you knocked on his door, you would get a heartfelt welcome – and a healthy shot of whiskey – he IS Hungarian after all. And she would feed you – even though she is stricken with arthritis. He is proud & a very well read but getting a bit forgetful now. He still dotes on his wife (even though she would drive a saint crazy).

I am proud to call him my father-in-law.

Ian

PS We had a party for him last night with all of the kids & grandkids. Here is a picture from last night:

[BRPORSCHE]

I love reading that Ian.

If you would replace Halifax with New Jersey it's almost exactly how I came to be. Sadly I was never able to meet my Hungarian grandpa, but my grandma made sure I ate and ate and ate.

This line was perfect...
"They both worked for a commune – he in the fields & she stuffed geese so the Communist elite could have their paté (Hungarian paté is as good - if not better - than the French version). Their window for escape opened briefly during the revolution in 1956 & at her insistence they went over the Austrian border in a hay cart with 2 small children - no money but with some slaughtered geese for food - leaving their extended families behind."

Exact same, but only one kid.

I wish your FIL a happy birthday and will toast some tokaji in his name.

[imcarthur]

I am sure that he would love to share it with you.

Ian

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Sounds like a great guy - sorry life has been so hard on him but glad it all paid off and he found a decent life for himself... People in the US don't realize how lucky we've been until you talk with folks who have been in other parts of the world and dealt with REAL problems (poverty, war, etc)...

Great writing - you do him credit.

[livi]

Great story!

[KFC911]

Thanks for sharing his "story" with us Ian...that's a great picture!

[imcarthur]

I am glad you all enjoyed his story. At 90 he still drinks, eats Euro deli fried grease balls, loves smoked bacon . . . well you get the picture.

And speaking of pictures here's one I love. 1957: 2 immigrant kids on the ship. My wife with her little sister in her lap at a party in the middle of the Atlantic.



Ian

[BRPORSCHE]

Ian,

Does your FIL still have his immigration papers? I am fairly certain I have my grandpas passport. It's really neat to look at. If I can find it I'll scan it and send it to you.

[imcarthur]

I have never seen them. They were probably lost in the fire. I will PM you my email.

Ian

[wreckersteve]

People today should be ashamed at spoiled we are. Even compared to most of our parents. And this is why. What he did to make it through the tough times. I am sure a man of that character didn tgo looking for a hand out, and if he ever did take one, I am sure he really appericiated it. Now people go looking for the expected hand out.

[BRPORSCHE]

Ian,

I have been hanging out with my grandma the past couple of days in jersey and finally got around to showing her this story.

We decided to open this up:

[imcarthur]

I don't know Hungarian except for: ege-shegadra (say it phonetically)

Ian

[nostatic]

Great story. Here's hoping for another bunch of great years for him and his wife.