Interviews:

Bowie,
Robert

Khrushchev,
Sergei

Kiraly,
Bela

Lowis,
Flora

Pongracz,
Gergely

Vajda,
Anika

Wheeler,
Charles



     
   


INTERVIEW WITH ANIKA VAJDA

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INT: What did you feel when you finally decided you had to leave Hungary and the revolution had been crushed, what did you feel in you heart.

AV: It was bad, cause you know that was my homeland. And I says if we have to leave, what gonna happen, but then, couple of us, they says we have to have our choice, you gonna be killed, because the Russian and the army are gonna catch us kill us, or, we have choice to try to escape. So we was, over fifty, sixty of us, in that, that particular area at that time, and we said well, let's go. So then I was, limping because of my, foot I mean my leg hurt, and what they says don't worry about it what ever, and so we left with the first. We went couple of buildings under ground and we wait till get dark, then we went corn field anything was we trying to you know escape, and it was very close, Copperwire, that's that place, we crossed, I crossed Hungary we went to Austria, we was very close there, then there was a Russian troop we went right, in to them, and we was scared to death, say what gonna happen now, what gonna happen now, so then one of the Russian with the machine gun he had, and that they call gay pistol, they have a round, thing where they had little bullets in, and we tried to learn that too hard, put it in the little bullets, I couldn't do it so always the guys do that. And my husband was, he told the Russian we had to go to work, and he says, how come we don't go with like a pick up truck or something some kind of paper, so the guy who was speak to them, he says this is emergency we have to go, and he says where are we going so, you don't even know right away the name of the village or the town was, he just, say something and, so the Russian he don't know you know left or right this is, Budapest or this is not Budapest whatever. So then, he was looking at us staring at us hold the gun on us, for a good twenty minutes, and after, he read these sayings let's go, so then we left, and we are close to the border, then to small village, and one old man, farmer, and he says he gonna take us to the border exactly we had to cross some corn field, he says that's his property, and the border line is Austria right there, so even then he help us all the way there and there was a little river, we had to, Austria was the other side of the river, so the guys don't want my leg get wet, because I gotthe bandages everything, they was carrying me in the hand, so I was (unintelligible) because I'm a short person they was helping me and keeping an eye on me like, you know little sisters. So then, then we crossed the water, there was people there with tractors and stuff, and they says come on now, so that we sit in the tractors they took us to the little village and they feed us and wash us because some of us a little dirty you know for dust and everything. So that was very sad because if you're looking back, we was close to the border kept looking with this is our, beautiful country and it's a shame we have to, leave we can't leave freely like other countries do. So then, that was it.

INT: You heard during the fighting, during the revolution the, broadcasts on Radio Free Europe and other radio stations, what were they trying to, encourage you to do, what were they saying on the...

AV: Radio Free Europe and they were saying, hang on to, three weeks, three more weeks, we coming, we help you, we have paratroopers what they called, oh just hang on, just hang on, so the times went by you know day after week after, nobody, nobody came, then they say oh just another day, oh they'll be right there just hang on and hang on so we, fight for the last bullet the last drop of blood we was holding on to, and what happened was they was lying to us, nobody came.

INT: Did you feel very disappointed.

AV: Very, very disappointed because we was, told, oh if they can help us, nothing could stop us because I said God was in our side, and if God with us nobody can against us, and what happened was they don't come they just, make us, you know believing, believing they were big liar, nobody came. One of the airport if I remember correctly, there was a plane from Poland, they was bringing guns, ammunition and, medicines, that's only thing what, like Radio Free Europe nothing, nothing at all.

 

INT: I want to take you back to before the revolution. What was it like to live in communist Hungary, what was it like.

AV: It wasn't pleasant let me tell you that, cause my father worked, he was (unintelligible)like a tool, (unintelligible) tool maker, and, I was working in the brick factory, we had to get up two o'clock in the morning, go from up the grocery store for one kilo of bread, stay in a line, and sometime, it's a it was a long, long line, in the morning six or seven o'clock the store opened, sometime we don't get even a half a kilo, and for family, you know half a kilo of bread is, nothing. And then if you wanna piece of meat it was same thing you had to stay in long line, and then it was, a time they had tickets, they got sugar tickets, milk, bread, flour, they give one kilo, half a kilo and a quarter kilo, (unintelligible) kilo they call quarter kilo, and if a family says what we gonna do, we got quarter kilo sugar, if you have little children what you gonna do, give a children a little sugar water because there no milk most of the time, if they had milk they had no money, cause the government paid every two weeks they had pay day but, the men and women they work very hard and they don't make enough money. If you wanna buy one pair of shoes you don't eat for a whole month because you have to save your money for one pair of shoes. See it wasn't pleasant at all it was very, very hard time. And, praying God, you know I don't wanna remember too much of the bad thing but it was very, very rough.

 

INT: What did people think of the, the Hungarian communist party.

AV: Nobody like them, specially in my generation, but, some people they had to say it but, not in the heart, in the heart they felt much difference because they hate them, but for the job I mean for work they had to work they have to you know couple for them to buy a little bread, so they had to say, that they like it, and they tried to brainwash small factory, big factory, offices, schools, every if you go to school like I went you have to learn, you know like read or write or arithmetic but two hours every day they, brainwash us with the communist how brave, how good we're gonna have, it's like paradise, and that's the truth whatever we have before, that wasn't true that was all put on and all lies, they're the one the real people. So the Hungarian people hated every minute of them and you know they brainwash, children, grownups, then my father work, every, (unintelligible) we had to go to, a big place, where they had meetings, and they had to clap that's true when the one of the communist was saying how brave and good they are they had to clap, otherwise next (unintelligible) they don't have no chance, it was terrible.