The whole city was buzzing with stories of peoples friends, family members, neighbors about their successful crossings of the border to the Free World. Budapest is right in the geographic center of Hungary, but
everybody knew a few different ways to reach the Austrian border and then crossing with the help of local guides. By the early days of December the Red Army troups moved to the border and the "Iron Curtain" started to close again. The hastily gathered Hungarian Army was ordered to the border too, supervised by the unsparing and newly powerful AVO. To cross the border became more and more difficult, but those people who had no choice were still going in big numbers.
Andy had to leave, his arrest was just hours or days away. His mind was made up, he would leave, without a doubt taking Gabe with him, with or without me! I had to gather all my strength and decide to leave with them or stay with my parents. These agonizing days of indecision, sadness, fear were one of the worst experiences of my life. I had to be strong and selfish and take the big chance to leave my beloved parents, my home, my whole life behind and try to escape to the Promised Land...We kept saying, this big move is not only for a safer life, but also for a much more promising future for our 10 year old son.
To find the best way to go was Andy's task. I started to pack in two small suitcases, hardly more than a change of clothes, picking outfits to wear in the cold and snowy winter and gathering all my, - and most of my mother's - good jewellery to take as our currency. I had to find fool-proof ways to hide all our treasures, since we had no idea where our fate will take us. Another important reason was, that if the russians or the AVO catches us, they confiscate everything they can find in suitcases but they do not look in shoulderpads, cuffs, hats, etc. - or so we heard from people who were turned back from the border. The situation was still too chaotic to follow up on these people, so they let them go, some tried several times to cross the border with or without success.
We lived near a railroad station and Andy was looking for a connection to take us near the border by train and contact one of the many guides, who will lead us on foot from the end of the line across the border to Austria. The involved railroad conductors and the guides made a huge amount of money these days. Everything had a price - and a big price, since they took great risks, some paid with his life later to help the flow of refugees. The deal was made, half of the money was given as down- payment, the rest to be paid at the border. This was for the train ride only. The guide will be paid when he picks us up and we start walking with him.
I felt that this is some kind of a story I am reading, it is not happening to us, it is like an out of body experience. I was doing what I had to do - automatically - I was in a state of shock....
On Friday, the 18th of December, 1956 - we walked thru our home the last time. I touched every piece of furniture, looked at all the paintings on the wall, straightened a few doilies on tables, it was so hard to say good-bye to the the home where we lived since we were married. It was much-much more difficult to hug and kiss my parents the last time but we had to say a quick good-bye to my Mother, my Father and my aunt Elizabeth, we gave them the keys to our home and without looking back, we started to walk to the tramway which took us to the railroad station. Andy carried a large suitcase, I had a smaller one and Gabe had his backpack with only one toy, his favorite bear peeking from the pocket... it was truly a sad, sad sight...We were honest with our son, telling him the painful truth, that he may never see his beloved grandparents, or at best, it will be a long-long time to hug his grandmother again. He fully understood that his grandfather is very ill and this the final good-bye. We also told him our plan and he knew, just as we knew it ourselves, that we face danger, adventure, hardship and sadness...
We were waiting for the train to come. Our best friend, Charlie Garam,(a fellow engineer from Andy's factory) and a young woman, Irene Horvath joined us at the station. We were not alone, quite a large group of people looked like us, suitcases in hand, layers and layers of clothes on them, babies, children, young and old adults, all of them ready to take a huge risk! The train finally came, we boarded and tried to behave like regular passengers going somewhere for a visit. This all happened in the late afternoon and by the time we reached the city of Gyor only the ones who wanted to cross the border were left on the train. We were approaching the last stop, Hegyeshalom. The conductor who organized the escape took us all to the front of the train into the engine-room.
The reason was that the AVO started to search the train for "deserters" and the engine-room was a fairly safe place. It was an electrical engine, modern, clean but had very little room for the 35-40 people who tried to hide in it. We were standing like sardines, no room for any movement, parents protecting their children from being squashed. We had to be totally quiet, not a sound, not a whisper. All of a sudden a baby started to cry! Everybody thought, that this is the end, we will be discovered! And the baby just kept crying, louder and louder. Andy lost his nerve, took out his handgun and shouted to the mother: Do something to quiet that baby or else... we were terrified! I knew that it is only a threat but those tense minutes felt like years. It was an eery silence for the rest of the journey.We reached the end-station, the train stopped and after a long wait, the conductor showed up again and let us out. To be able to move again, felt wonderful. The freezing December air was a welcome change, at least we were breathing freely again.
The conductor walked us away from the train, to a long ditch, where we had to be quiet and invisible again for a good hour. It was cold, windy, deep snow on the ground and we all knew that the worst part is still ahead of us. We were happy to see our guide showing up. He was a middle aged husky farmer, a local man, who wanted to help people to cross the border. But he also made good money by taking adventage of the situation. First things first, - everybody had the money ready for him. At last, we could come out of the ditch and followed him to an open field. It was well passed Midnite. We walked and walked for hours in the snow, the knee deep mud, the freezing cold . We had to hit the ground when the Red Army Patrol searchlight swept the field every ten minutes. Gunshots came from every direction but we were marching in silence in a good pace, exhausted but determined to reach our goal.
Gabe was a little hero! We held his hands all the way and he, carrying his backpack, walked with us without any complain, kept up with the pace, confident that we will protect him as long as we are together. After many hours I could not carry my suitcase anymore and just put it down without hesitation and left it behind. We had no idea, how far we have to go or how long will it take to reach the border. All of a sudden, our guide stopped and gathered the whole group around him. We were at the edge of the "No man's land". He told us to try to run as fast as we can, showed us the direction and watched us disappear in the dark. We gathered our last drop of energy and ran about a mile as fast as we could. We saw a shadow in the distance and there it was: a small bus with the Red Cross sign on it. We were in Austria, the bus was waiting - as we learned - every night to pick up the refugees. We were taken to a huge hall, where they gave us warm coffee and a big breakfast. We settled down around the tables and the official "Check-in" took many hours.
An interesting little episode happened while we were waiting to be "processed". The loudspeaker announced that somebody found a suitcase on the field and looking for the owner. I could not believe it, but a man carried my suitcase for many-many miles and gave it back to me - how can we thank such a deed - we gave him whatever he could use from the suitcase, but it was still a great help to have it back. It just shows how people looked out for each other during these difficult, trying hours.
Our friend, Charlie had an aunt living in the suburbs of Vienna. He contacted her long before we left to make sure, we will have a place to go. We were the exception, most people had no connections and had to go to the crowded refugee camps. We were able to to leave on our own and arrived to "Aunt Anna" in Liesing the very same day we crossed the border. She was very happy to see Charlie and welcomed all of us with a big hug and hospitality. She had a small but very well kept house, recently widowed, she cooked up a storm for us for days. We all slept on the floor for a few days, but it was heaven after what we went thru.
Telephone connection was fine between Vienna and Budapest, so we called my Parents and told them about our successful crossing. They were relieved to hear the good news and we talked almost every day, easing the pain of separation. They had to know about every move we made to feel that they are still with us - if not in person - in spirit.
We spent the first week in Vienna in Aunt Anna's house, but we were looking for a better accomodation in the neighborhood. We found a small vacant house near hers and rented it for a nominal fee - the Viennese people were happy to help the Hungarian refugees in any shape and form. The five of us, Charlie, Irene and us, lived there until we left Vienna. Liesing, one of the many little suburban towns of Vienna was connected to the City by tramway and buses. This was an easy, fast, cheap and convenient way to commute to Downtown Vienna. We were in this beautiful gem of a City for 7 weeks...
We had two tasks at hand: Visiting all the consulates to see, who would take us on a permanent basis - and acting like tourists to discover all of Vienna. In a short time, we had the American Visa in our hand, but it will be a long wait, maybe 6-7 months until our turn comes to go to the United States. We were among the very last refugees to come to Austria and thousands of people were ahead of us.
(The Russians hermetically closed the border by Christmas, just a week after we came out, nobody was able to penetrate it, the Iron Curtain was in place again. We also heard the sad news about our guide, the AVO captured and executed him a few days after our escape.)
Andy and Charlie visited the British Consulate too. It was to their surprise, they were considered a british companie's employees, hence Standard Electric ( later nationalized and called Beloianis). On their first visit to the Consulate, they were offered Visa and guaranteed employment at Standard Electric in London. It is hardly any waiting, in a few weeks we all could leave Vienna and settle in London. It was an easy choice, we are going to England!!!
(We also kept the U.S.A. Visa, it was valid for 3 years.)
Since our future was settled within three weeks, we had all the time in the world to enjoy the beautiful Vienna for three more weeks, before we leave. We visited all the famous sites, the huge, rich museums, the churches, palaces, amusement parks, the Zoo, Schoenbrun, the Riesenrad (the first Ferris Wheel in the world), the Lipizaner Horses, the Grintzing with the schrammel-musik. We walked the famous streets, the Ring, the Graben, Kaertner Strasse. We ate the great food, the Wiener Schnitzel (larger than the plate), the Wursts with Sauerkraut, the Sacher Torte, the famous Viennese coffee:half coffee-half warm milk with whipped cream - just to mention a few. We badly needed this break after all the sadness, physical exhaustion and tention we went thru by leaving Hungary and taking a chance on a new life.
An other interesting happening was, that we met my cousin Joe Gorog (Jozsi), who left Budapest a few days before we did.He was also visiting the different Consulates, that is how we ran into each other. He lived in one of the refugee camps and was happy to come and live with us in Liesing. The house was very well furnished, comfortable beds for everybody, big kitchen and plenty of time to cook some good home-cooked meals. It was a welcome change for him. He and Irene stayed in the house in Liesing way after we left for England - until they were ready to leave, Irene to California, Joe to Toronto, Canada.
After six weeks stay in Vienna, at the end of January, 1957 we received our instructions from the British Consulate to prepare to leave Vienna.
We gathered at the Sudbahnhof train station with fellow hungarian refugees. Four of us, Charlie, Andy, Gabe and myself, carrying our suitcases - Gabe his backpack - boarded a train again. It was a long train, big banners on every car saying: Hungarian Freedom-Fighters. It was a special train only for us, about 1000 or so refugees going to England. We had no clue, what a suprise is waiting for us. At every station. where the train stopped, huge crowd gathered, with flags, banners, army bands playing hungarian marches and food, food, people reaching up to the windows to shake our hands and give us their home-made goodies. The celebration, the outpouring sympathy for our cause lasted all day, thru Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France. We had no room for more food and first time in a long time we were happy. The train ride lasted the whole day, from early morning in Vienna to late night to Ostande, France. We had to stay on the train until we were on the Ferry to cross the English Channel. Then we had to leave everything there, they locked the cabins and took us - where else - to have dinner. Another celebration in the restaurant, and more food... We truly felt, that the people of Europe are proud of our accomplishments - first time in the modern times a nation stood up against the oppressor, a small country against the giant communist power.
The Ferry-ride was smooth, nice, we tried to sleep a little and by the morning everybody was up on the deck to see the white cliffs of Dover. We arrived to England! Back to our train, we travelled to an unknown destination. We watched the English countryside go by, very little snow, green pastures, cattle everywhere. They took us to an old army camp, huge barracks, buildings, fields. It was a World War II camp, in Hednesford, Staffordshire.
The camp was clean, organized and pleasant. It was a Hungarian refugee camp, some people were here since November and will be here for a long time yet. Only those, who had some kind of sponsors could leave and most of the hungarians had none. We were happy to sleep in a clean bed, showers, hot food, for a few days that was all we needed. The second day in the camp they picked up Gabe and took him to "school". The only subject was : English. To learn the language was the most important task from now on. We had no doubt that Gabe will learn to speak, read and write quickly. We also hoped that our english will be good enough to get by.
The fact, that Andy and Charlie had jobs waiting for them, put us in a speedy "processing".
Standard Electric acted as our "sponsors". Charlie, being a single man, left within a week. Our case lasted a little longer, maybe 10-12 days, but with all the important papers in hand we were ready to leave Hednesford. We took the train to London. In a few hours we arrived to Victoria Station, walked out with our suitcases in hand, Gabe with his backpack, - the same way as we left home - and checked into a hotel near the train station, where we rented a nice little room for a week - long enough to figure out how we have to start our "Life in London"...
Copyright 2008 - Gabe Dalmath Foundation
