We Wish All Our Kind Readers a Very Blessed Christmas!
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We wish all our kind Readers a very blessed Christmas! Áldásos karácsonyi ünnepeket kivánunk minden kedves Ol- vasónknak! This an embroidered wall covering. We particularly thank Szalma Kati of Szalma Csárda és Panzió, Esztergom for pho- tographing this piece from their collection. well as doboska with poppyseeds. There with red apples. We had Christmas wa- Christmas was a strict fast, so everything had been fers too, that Grandma baked in the sum- prepared without lard or butter. mer kitchen. Meanwhile, we sang. There were no presents at all. That year, there Memories “After supper, we children lay down to was no Midnight Mass either.” Childhood memoriesof Christmasac sleep on the straw under the table. When companyusthroughout our lives. These theybegan to ring the bells for Midnight storieswere culled from a church bulletin Mass, we ran down to the brookagain to published bythe Roman Catholic wash. We went to Midnight Mass to- churchesof Torna and Tornaújfalu in gether. In the morning, our parents Varga Terézia of Torna recalled: strewed small change into the water in 2009. The respondentshad been asked the wash basin in which we had about the Christmases of their childhood. washed. We were veryhappyto find the ”The Christmas tree was a very poor af- money. fair. On it were walnuts painted sil- ver. Szaloncukor was cubed sugar “On the afternoon of the first day of wrapped in colored paper. But we loved Fazekas Mária of Torna related Christmas, we went to carol under the Christmas very much. In Somodi it was windows; on the second dayof Christ- the custom that no one could step into the following: the house before singing a Christmas mas, the boys dropped in to the various families with Christmas greetings, for carol under the window. “We were Greek(i.e., Byzantine rite) Catholics. On Christmas Eve, the church which theytoo received money.” ”On Christmas Eve, we went singing bells were rung at 4 o’clockin the after- through the village, until theyrang the noon. We raced to the brook, to wash bells for the second time for Midnight ourselves, and then waited for sup- Mass. per. Dad brought in a bale of straw and strewed it under the kitchen table, while Szilágyi László of Újfalu remem- ”For supper there was onlycabbage telling the storyof Jesus’ birth. After this soup and bobajka (see the December we all knelt down around the table and bered this: started to prayand sing. 2012 issue of Magyar News Online for “For supper, there were seven courses, ”During the war, in 1944, our Christmas this dish). We knelt around the Christ- but we ate onlya little of each tree was merelya pine bough leaning mas tree, we prayed and sang. Only one. There was bean soup, lentil soup, against the wall. We decorated it with after that could we touch the presents.” pea soup, boiled potatoes and prunes, as gilded nuts from the previous year and A Time-Honored Tradition: seems to be rather monotonous work, “In the course of World War II, on 12- one can find joy in it. Especiallythe chil- 16-1944, the Soviet army’s2 nd and the Christmas Wafers dren loved to watch the wafers being Ukrainian army’s3 rd military unitssur- baked. They liked to set the fire and rounded Budapest, after which the Christmaswafersare a Central Euro- stare into the flames. They were happy siege of the Hungarian capital began. pean tradition, popular especially when the wafer stuckto the waffle iron, Close to 200,000 Hungarian and Ger- among Byzantine rite Catholics. They because that was definitelytheirs, warm man soldiersdefended Budapest maybe oblong, round or oval, and and crisp. In most places, it was the job against heavy odds. The defenders carrya religioussymbol on them. Cus of the grandparents to bake the wafers, withdrew to Buda on 1-18-1945, and naturallysurrounded bygrandchildren. tomarilytheyare handed around at the Pest fell to Soviet control. The German beginning of the Christmas Eve meal, unitsblew up the Danube bridges. The Even in their grown-up years theyfondly with each person receiving either a siege continued for 49 days, with fight- whole wafer, or a piece of a large wa- recall these days of baking the wafers. To make the mood even more Christ- ing from street to street, house to fer. house, the defendersrunning out of mas-y, one can also sing those Christ- mas carols, which the grandchildren will ammunition, the inhabitantshard hit by The following description of how they the lackof food supplies, and the total are made isagain taken from the sing when theygo caroling. For those willing to try, here is the recipe lackof publicutility services(this Christmaschurch bulletin of Torna, (will make 55-60 wafers): meant no water, no electricity, to men- dated 2009. tion only the most basicneeds. Trans.) 1 lb white flour From time immemorial, people have ½ qt lukewarm milk “Fifty thousand Hungarian and German been baking wafers for Christmas in Tor- ½ cup lukewarm water soldiersfell, asdid 3,000 csendır naújfalu. In the 20th century, until about ½ packet of vanilla flavored sugar (gendarmes) who fought alongside the 1920, the wafers were baked in onlyone 1 egg white Hungarian troops, and 25,000 civilians place, at the house of the kántortanító , a pinch of baking soda died. the village schoolmaster and cantor. We 1 Tbsp butter, melted don’t know whether this was the job of Stir together all ingredients and let stand ”The siege ended on 2-15-1945. After the schoolmaster in the rural areas, be- for at least 2 hours. If the batter seems cause there does not seem to be any the battles, 138,000 German and Hun- too thin, add 1-2 Tbsp flour. (Before it is garian soldierswere taken pris reference to this. Certainlythe neighbors baked, the batter has to remain luke- oner. Of the close to 40,000 buildings and the more skilled cooks and baking warm, NOT warm, or it will thicken.) in the capital, 27% were totally de- women must have helped, because very many wafers had to be baked even for a stroyed, and 74% suffered damage...” small village like ours. Those are the statistics; thispoem A few days before Christmas, the wafers bringsthe siege down to the personal were carried around the village bythe level: older students in a ” szentelı-kosár”, i.e. a blessing basket. The students would greet the families with a poem they had Rettegés learned at school. In payment, the schoolmaster and cantor received eggs, beans, poppyseeds, walnuts... Malomvizi Magda After the 1920’s, it was no longer the Hat hete tart már. Rabságban élünk. schoolmaster who baked the Christmas 1944: The Christmas That Le a ruhánkat nem merjükvetni. wafers for the village. During Advent, the Nem mernénksoha egyet nevetni. waffle irons (there were two bythen) Wasn’t Éjjel ésnappal remegünk, félünk. were taken from familyto family, and were almost constantly in use until It was70 yearsago that the siege of Dobban a szívünk, zörgésha hallik. Christmas Eve... Budapest began. It seemsfitting that - Itt a katona – suttogjukfázva. we recall those darkest of days, the - Szükség van tán kvartélyra, fára? The batter for wafers was made similar year when Christmaswasnot, when Vagy pláne nıre? – Belénknyilallik. to palacsinta , then poured on the waffle no one yearned more ferventlyfor iron with a smaller ladle. The waffle iron “peace on earth” than the frightened Hogyha bombáznak, ágyúszó dördül, was then closed, and slid in above the inhabitantsof Budapest, huddled in Megrendül a ház, ablakmegzördül: embers. About half a minute later, it had damp cellars. Meg sem rezdül a szemünkpillája. to be turned. Some religious persons said that the wafer baked to the right De kérjükIstent égı ajakkal: consistencyduring the time it tookto say Under the heading “Budapest ostroma” one Hail Mary… – The siege of Budapest – the Ency- Védjen meg. Óvjon éjjel ésnappal. clopaedia Hungarica liststhese cold, Hogy katona ne lépjen a házba. Baking the wafers in the familyconjured starkfacts: up the Christmas spirit. Although it Fright I wasborn at the end of World War II in the eastern part of Hungary which, after the war, became part of western Malomvizi Magda Ukraine (then in the Soviet Union). So I grew up in the Subcarpathian region which wasquite multina- Sixweeksit haslasted already. We live in captivity. tional. The majority of the region ( Kárpátalja ) wasHun- We don’t dare take off our clothes. garian. The largest minority group was Rusyn We wouldn’t dare to have a laugh. (Ruthenian) followed by a large population of Jews, and a Day and night we tremble, we’re afraid. few other much smaller ethnicgroups. It wasa very mul- ticultural region, and we all lived in peace. I was13 years Our heart beats, when there’sa knock. old when my small family could repatriate to Hungary. "The soldiersare here”, we whisper, shivering. "Perhapsthere’sneed for lodgings, firewood? Living in Subcarpathia, we followed our color- Or even women?” – the pain shootsthrough us. ful Hungarian customs, but were no strangersto the cus tomsof the region either. Asa child whose memory goes When they bomb, when the cannon roar, backasfar as3 yearsof age, I remember our Christmas The house shakes, the windowsrattle: celebrationsand how we prepared to meet thisholy We don’t even bat an eye. event. In America, the Christmastree isdecorated well before the coming of Jesus; according to our customs, it But we beg God, with burning lips: did not appear in the house until ChristmasEve. And I May He defend us. Protect usday and night. used the word "appear" intentionally. In our tradition, the Let soldiersnot step into the house. Angelsbrought the Christmastree while we were in church for the ChristmasEve service.