Czechoslovak–Hungarian Photographic Relations between the Two World Wars
The epoch between the two world wars was of key importance from the point of view of the history of photography. This was the period when depart from photographic picturesqueness took place worldwide. Even more changes can be registered in historical terms, as peace treaties closing the First World War re-mapped Central and Eastern Europe. This study examines the consequences of these two transformations in the field of Czechoslovak–Hungarian photographic relations. There is no precedent for such a review yet—fine arts research is, in this regard, further ahead. Although historical/political conditions at the time carried a lot of tension, and, on occasion, they overshadowed professional relationships too, it can be concluded that in the field of photography the issue of quality had been given greater emphasis on both sides than politics. This paper attempts to illuminate how the prevailing perceptions of photography had evolved at that time in the two countries compared to the international changes of the photographic language, and how this had reflected in the relationships. We probably do not possess all the knowledge on this yet, so further mutual reflections would be desirable in order to deepen understanding of the topic.
The Escape of Arnošt Rosin and Czesław Mordowicz from the Auschwitz–Birkenau Concentration Camp to Slovakia in 1944. An attempt for Prevention of the Jews Deportation from Hungary in 1944
There were two couples of Jewish people who managed to escape from the Auschwitz–Birkenau concentration camp, all the four had successfully managed to get to Slovakia in 1944. The story of Alfréd Wetzler and Rudof Vrba is well known. But, on the contrary, the escape of Rosin and Mordowicz is for the wide audience, in essence, unknown. The fleeing of the Slovak Arnošt Rosin and the Polish Czesław Mordowicz together was not only an attempt to change their fate, but they also wanted to let the world know how the killer Auschwitz–Birkenau concentration camp operates. They believed that the information they shared could terminate the deportation of Jews from Hungary in 1944. But their reports could not halt the tragedy.
Strategies Aimed at Resolving the Roma Question between 1945 and 1969
In this paper, I deal with how the state policy on the Roma developed after the Second World War, between 1945 and 1969 in the former Czechoslovakia and in what is now Slovakia. In this connection, I try to point out the discriminatory measures and negative political mechanisms against the Roma that characterized the policies of the state authorities under the totalitarian regime, during the period indicated. By way of analysis and comparison of government measures and statistics taken during the investigation period, misperceptions on domestic Roma can easily be rebutted. Recalling the facts from the immediate postwar years, the attitudes and views of the political actors, and the measures taken against the Roma, we can avoid all simplistic conclusions aiming at exempting the Czech and Slovak governmental authorities from liability. In this period, government policy, and the attitudes of the elites played an extremely important role especially in the case of the Roma, and it can be assumed that this influenced their social situation and development
István Csernicskó—Miklós Kontra: Recognition of the Contact Varieties of Hungarian as Legitimate
Although millions of Hungarians had been living as minorities in Hungary’s neighboring countries since 1920, it was only after the collapse of communism in 1990 that Hungarian linguists on both sides of the state borders began to seriously study the contact varieties of the language and their similarities to and differences from Hungary-Hungarian. The first large-scale research project was conducted in 1995‒97 in Hungary and in all the neighboring countries (see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265453574_The_Sociolinguistics_of_Hungarian_Outside_Hungary).
To date, five volumes of the book series The Hungarian Language in the Carpathian Basin at the End of the 20th Century have been published. The fierce debate between purist Hungarian language cultivators and sociolinguists has resulted in the general recognition of Hungarian as a pluricentric language. Since 2001, electronic corpora and a few print dictionaries have been created “to bridge the gaps” (Hungarian: határtalanítás) between Hungary-Hungarian, Slovakia-Hungarian, Ukraine-Hungarian, Romania-Hungarian etc.
Csilla Varga: Identity Problems of National Minorities. The Situation of the Hungarian Minority in Slovakia
The situation of national minorities has been analysed on wider basis by many international and also Hungarian experts, scholars, mainly from legal, political and sociological aspects. A number of special proposals have been put forward in order to make minority rights more enforceable, and applicable on a larger scale. Reality shows, however, that the practical implementation of these proposals has several obstacles. Therefore, rather efforts for keeping the topic on the agenda and maintaining a dialogue about the problems of national minorities could possibly lead to a more favourable outcome. This study deals with the identity formation of national minorities, also covering difficulties connected with practicing these rights. The author pays particular attention to the Hungarian minority living in Slovakia, and also focuses on the attitude of the government towards their problems. She also examines which regulations should be adopted in order to enable national minorities to exercise their rights in practice as well.
Hana Dvořáková: Superstitious Manifestations and Watershed Moments in the History of the 20th Century
This study is based on records of superstition noted by German ethnographer Alfred Karasek (1902–1970) in 1945 and in subsequent years among Germans deported from the territory of the then Czechoslovak Republic and the former Yugoslavia. Karasek was among the first to give attention to this material. His collections fall within the scope of demonological legends and fully correspond to the usual characteristics of the genre.
Placement of cemetery soil in human dwellings served as a means for applying damaging practices. Due to the contact with the dead, graveyard dirt was believed to gain extraordinary strength, which was thus able to intensify the intended harmful effect. Through its use the boundaries between the two worlds were crossed and punishment followed for the addressee in the form of misfortune, disease, death, ghosts/hauntings.
