Magyarorszag 1938

Bonnyapuszta – Somogy Megye

You are enjoying a peaceful moment overlooking your property:  You see a dry meadow with native shrubs and flowers. Just beyond a wet meadow, there are small ponds plentiful with water beetles, frogs and water-bugs. There are colourful birds flying about feasting on the insects. Next you look on to the banks of the deep water creek – its water always flowing to an unknown destination. Beyond a slope there is grazing land complete with shepherds herding dogs that urge the sheep and goats into formation as they move towards the lush meadows. The slope beyond rises steeply up to the vineyards where you can see the caves with doors, ours is locked - the best looking cave on the slope.

In the distance beautiful Lake Balaton, known for its clear water and sandy beaches, attracts tourists. Further north are the rich oil fields, coal mines and Magyarorszag‘s world class steel making. Our capital Budapest, a linking of the City of Buda and the City of Pest joined over the Danube by the famous chain-bridge, is beyond.

And it is yours Imre Jusztusz – Be proud and take care!

896AD  A mysterious nomadic group called the Magyars arrived from Central Asia and took over the Carpathian Basin (present day Hungary).   After roaming the region for a time they settled down, converted to Christianity and founded the twin cities of Buda and Pest. In the 16^th Century, the Ottomans (of Turkish origin) invaded and occupied the region for nearly a century and a half. The Habsburg (monarchs from neighbouring Austria) finally forced them out. They rebuilt both cities in the Austrian style.

1867 Hungary was given an equal share of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which ruled most of Eastern Europe. They ruled from the newly created capital established with the merging of Buda and Pest. It was Hungary’s golden age. In 1896 they held a great celebration and building boom to celebrate 1000 years as a civilization. 

1914  Austria-Hungary was one of the great powers of Europe, with an area of 676,443 km² and a population of 52 million.

November 1918 World War I resulted in a devastating loss for the Great Empire.  The Treaty of Versailles reduced Hungary to two-thirds of its territory and more than half of its population. Germany also suffered losses and incurred severe restrictions imposed by the Treaty.

March, 1935 Adolf Hitler, the Austrian born leader of Germany, announces re-armament of the German army in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles signed after WWI.

March, 1938 The Region is caught up in the momentum of Hitler and his First Reich.

Young Elizabeth is restless. She is carrying her first child. Her father-in-law Imre is there, in the small traditional house, reading a newspaper. The news is full of stories hinting of impending war. The feeling in the home is that the ‘Dictator’ is doing whatever he wants- with no interference from outside countries.  They fear war.

The home is central to a working farm which supplies the needs of the family and any surplus is easily sold. There is a full length porch, a low roof and primarily wire walls. There is a wood burning stove in the middle and the floors are clay. The farm is also home to fattening sows, chickens, ducks, rabbits, and milking cows. Water is supplied by a well. The surrounding fields are sown with wheat, oats and corn. There is a vegetable garden and a pond. There are two well cared for horses.

Juszusz Family and Neighbours

Bonnyapuszta was a tiny peaceful village in Southwest Hungary. It was populated with a mix of ‘Magyar’ native Hungarians and ‘Deutsch” Austrian families, as was much of Hungary, and was primarily German speaking.

Elizabeth Raab came to Bonnyapuszta from the neighbouring community of Raksi. She was very young on November 23, 1937 when she married Imre Jusztusz, a family friend.  

November 23, 1937

She came to live in the small village with her husband and his widowed father. Their child was born on September 18th, 1938 and he was given the traditional name of “Imre”. He is the third male in the household with the same name.

September 30, 1938   Germany invades takes over the Sunderland area of Czechoslovakia.

September 1, 1939 Hitler invades Poland.  World War II begins.

November 20, 1940 Hungary reluctantly joins with Nazi Germany. They tried to avoid involvement in Hitler’s aggressive plan but they were dependent on Germany economically after the Great Depression. They will participate in the invasion of Yugoslavia and the advancement into the Soviet Union. 

Henirich Jusztus

Young Imre’s father, on January 3, 1942 at the age of 28, is called to serve in the Hungarian Army alongside the Germans. He is listed as ‘Heinrich’ in his documentation – the German translation of his name ‘Imre’. Elizabeth remains on the farm with her three year old son and her father-in-law.

March 30^th, 1941 Germany declares war on the United States. While addressing his Generals, Hitler calls for the annihilation of the Soviet Union. 

In June, German forces heading towards Russia, are seen passing thru Bonnyapuszta with heavy mobile equipment, guns on trailers and tanks. The earth literally trembled under them. 

The sympathetic villagers in the German-speaking Bonnyapuszta, were eager to regain Germany’s prominence prior to WW1 and were supportive of Hitler’s plan of dominance.  Women held tea parties to celebrate the efforts of their ‘Fuhrer’ and planned welcoming ceremonies for the troops. Elizabeth was also of German descent, but she was a proud Hungarian nationalist without passion for war. She was not embraced in the village.  Her husband’s family - the Jusztusz- were Hungarian of direct Magyar descent. The woman of the village brought bushels of fine food for the passing German troops but Elizabeth, with her son by her side, gave only a small basket of onions. In the fall of 1942 Henry remembers the ‘Levego’. The skies were filled for days with German planes.

August 1942  The  Germans pushed forward deep into the Russia countryside to gain control of the City. The Battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle of WW11 with heavy losses on both sides.  Hitler demanded that his forces remain in position.  They were isolated and spent the cold winter with few supplies. The Hungarian troops fighting with the Germans ignored the order and returned home.  After six months, the Soviets gained the offensive position and the Germans retreated.

Heinrich in Hungarian Army

By early spring the skies were again filled with planes- this time Russian.  German soldiers appeared on the paths of Bonnyapuszta, out of formation and still wearing their threadbare uniforms, they were fleeing back to Germany. The sight of the men retreating scared the villagers, including Elizabeth. They knew that Russian dominance over Hungary meant a worse fate.  Soon after the victorious Red Army  moved into the region stealing whatever they wanted including women who they pulled into their jeeps as families helplessly watched.

March  1944 Germany becomes frustrated with Hungary’s lack of willingness to fight the advancing Soviets  so they turn on their former ally and invade.  Hungary had lost over 200,000 lives to the war effort and now loses its political freedom and ability to govern its own people. The Eastern front was held through the summer.

Throughout the war young Imre continued to attend school in the village and walking to a little store that smelled like candy. He would go to the bridge to see the fish and to the bus station to get the mail. He visited his maternal grandparents in Raksi. He and a young friend played around the Raksi church and were disciplined by the Priest for playfully ringing the bell.  On the farm he remembers his mother doing chores especially milking cows - squirting fresh milk into her son’s glass. Imre rode a stick horse around the grounds, working up the dust, and chanting ‘Magyar I am and Magyar I will always be’… 

October 1944 The Soviets gain ground moving west and begin the 100 days of battle at Budapest. Hitler refused to surrender the ‘fortress’ and continued the urban combat.   It caused the casualties to be high and the damage to be thorough.  Heaviest losses were of Budapest citizens and the Hungarian military. In January Hitler deserted the City of Pest, burning the famous chain bridge behind him, and retreated to Buda.

February 1945   Budapest was surrendered. The Germans retreated. The Soviets had taken control of Hungary.  The Red Army entered the city and again continued their random assault on civilians by stealing, raping and heartlessly killing.   They pushed on into Germany.

April 30, 1945  Hitler commits suicide after the loss of Berlin to avoid capture by the advancing Red Army.

May 8, 1945  Victory in Europe is declared by the American, British and Soviet Forces who were allied against Germany.

Summer of 1945  The Potsdam Conference gave the Soviets and their communist government permanent control of Hungary.

December 22, 1945  The expulsion of German-Speaking Hungarians is ordered.   After the end of World War II, the German-speaking community in Hungary is scape-goated by the Communists. The weakened Hungarian government tries to object without success.   The expulsion order affected anyone who claimed German nationality or German as a mother language in the 1941 Hungarian census, anyone who was a member of a German ethnic organization, and anyone who changed their Hungarian surnames back to their German equivalents.  The expulsion is haphazard, as some villagers were expelled, whereas others were left untouched.  Most Germans removed in this round of expulsions moved to refugee camps in the Soviet-controlled German province of Saxony.

Elizabeth Jusztusz

Young Imre and his mother Elizabeth were at the farm alone when they were told they had to leave their home. They gathered up all they were allowed to take – only what they could carry. Elizabeth had a bundle of clothes. Imre had a flower pot and two live pigeons. They set out walking and arrived upon a small bridge.  The six year old complained about his writhing handful. Elizabeth told him to throw them overboard – he released the pigeons. She had meant the flower pots. A meal flew away. At the edge of their property they faced the people who were being given their home. They were assumed to be Slavic. Mother and son fled to the home of family friends, the John Ssvath Family. Imre’s grandfather was already there and his father ‘appeared’ a few days later, returning from the army.  

The proud Jusztusz family was stripped of their citizenship and were declared ‘stateless’. They were sent to a displaced persons camp in occupied East Germany. Transportation was provided by a small freight train car with wooden slats for walls and padlocked doors. The train would stop at rest areas guarded by soldiers with pointed rifles. They slept standing in the car. The journey took three days but felt much longer for the young boy. Henry believes they were taken to the East German province of Saxony. The camp facilities were crowded. Each family was assigned a ‘room’ with curtains for walls. The bedding, toiletries, food and water were of poor quality. The bathing and toilet facilities were not private.  Fortunately the family’s stay at the camp was short as Imre and Elizabeth found employment and a small apartment. Young Imre remembers being enrolled in a public school. The young boy and his grandfather gathered firewood, grain and potatoes from the fields left after the harvest.  There were plenty of potatoes and Henry remembers a pile to the ceiling in the basement provided with the apartment. Eventually the Jusztusz family saved enough money to enable them to approach a border scout to help them secure safe passage to West Germany.

Henry describes the border crossing as a ‘Hollywood-like adventure’: The Scout led them to a creek bed and they laid waiting on the steep bank. He pointed to a gate in a fence and told them to go to it - crawl if they could. The night was lit by a full moon. The scout disappeared into the darkness. They made their way to the gate and freedom. A Russian patrol officer’s rifle stopped them. They were directed towards the border office.  Grandfather Jusztusz, overtired and distraught, said he wasn’t going any further. “Shoot me right here”.  

Imre Jusztusz Senior

The rest of the family begged him to go with them on to the office.  Inside the four young Russian officers spoke German perfectly. The family was questioned and asked where they were going. They said they missed their homeland and wanted to return. One officer asked why they would travel to Hungary via West Germany-not a direct route. The family answered that they had always wanted to see Switzerland. With this the officer motioned to the patrol solider to lead them back to the border.  The officer smiled as he opened the gate letting them pass. Henry still wonders if the Scout and the Guards had a financial ‘arrangement”. They soon heard their train and rushed to get aboard. Young Imre stopped and looked to the sky. The full moon was glistening on the snow peaked Alps. Aboard the train his mother laid him to sleep.

When the boy awoke the train had stopped and his father was already lining up a place for his family to live and work. It was harvest time and a kind West German farmer was very pleased to have them. The farm was lush with grain crops and cattle and they had good lodgings. Shy Imre occasionally played with the farmer’s two daughters and was able to attend a year of school in Steinen.

November, 1946 Canadian government announced that emergency procedures would begin to help with the settlement of refugees and Displaced Persons.  Churches joined the initiative. Recruitment campaigns were started in European camps. Soon the Canadian Christian Council for the Resettlement of Refugees (CCCRR) was established through the coalition of six Canadian religious and ethnic organizations. Immigrants who agreed to work in specific industries or were sponsored by family were welcomed to Canada. They could apply for citizenship after two years. The CCCRR commissioned the MV Beaverbrae,  owned by the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. It completed 52 voyages carrying a total of 33,259 passengers from Bremen, Germany, Rotterdam, Holland and Antwerp, Belgium to Halifax, St John or Quebec City. It was originally designed to sail with 32 passengers but was refitted to carry 500 to 700 immigrants.  

Henry’s Aunt and Uncle Betz had immigrated to Western Canada sometime in the 1920s and had settled in Hamilton Ontario. They arranged safe passage for the family on the Beaverbrae and sponsored their entry to Canada. The Jusztusz family sailed from Bremen, Germany on December 2, 1949. Young Imre loved the passage. He spent his days on deck, rain or shine, while his sea sick mother kept to her berth. He loved the movement of the waves and the spray on his face. The journey instilled in him a life-long love of boats and the open water. They landed in Canada at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Pier 21 on January 2, 1950.

Imre Justus - Passport 1949

The remainder of their trip was by train to Ontario arriving at Hamilton’s Hunter Street station in the drizzling rain. They were met by their Betz Aunt and Uncle who took them to stay at their East Avenue home. The Justus family was soon joined in Canada by the Lehr Family. Henry’s Aunt had a parallel journey from Hungary to Hamilton but the two families only saw each other once briefly at the camp in East Germany.

Imre’s hard working and resourceful parents soon found jobs as night cleaners at Kresge’s. Imre went on to find employment at Stelco and Elizabeth in the kitchen at St. Joseph’s Hospital. The family moved to an apartment near the west end of Barton and soon after purchased their own home at 220 Forest and later on Hamilton Mountain at 102 Terrace Drive. Any new family or friends arriving from Europe to make a new life in Canada were welcomed and found their first shelter at the home of the Jusztusz family.

Very soon after the family had arrived in Hamilton, it was suggested to them that they anglicize their name to help them better fit in to their new country.

Young Imre became ‘Henry Justus’. He was eleven years old.