Hungary Hungarian Partisan History and Research

[hunyadi]

I have started this thread to inform the community of my personal research with the Hungarian Partisans Association. As more information comes about I will add more to the post and I encourage anyone with any more information that they can add about the association to please post that as well.

To begin with I met with Dr. Agnes Godo one of the authors of "Magyarok az Europai Antifasiszta Ellenallasi Mozgalmakban" I had a short discussion about the purpose and scope of a book I am writing on the Hungarian period of 1945 - 1959 and explined that the history of the organization , the members and the badges and documents were the scope that I wished to know more about.

A little about Dr Godo before I continue - my coleague who helped to translate for me and who holds a degree in history thought that Dr Godo was too young to have actualy participated in partisan activity during WW2 - we were both wrong. Dr Godo came from a family of Hungarian descent who lived in the Slovak region before the First World War - after the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, the former Hungarian family found themselves as Slovaks though they still spoke Hungarian in the home. As a young girl during WW2 she became to loathe the German occupation and the stories of the extermination camps. She loved to ride her bicycle and even when asked today if she liked to ride she became very emotional as it was a passion of her's. She was part of a youing girls bicycle club in Brataslava when in 1944 the Slovak Partisan Uprising began. The partisans recruited the young girs of the bicycle club to act as courriers between the various partisan cells. The Germans hardly checked young girls on their bicycles so she never had any bad encounters. But she felt she was young and it was all an adventure to her at that age. When asked about her membership in the Partisan associaiton she said that it never became a point in her life - but I also sensed that the period and the events perhaps persuaded her not to seek membership. Being 16 in 1944 meant that she would have been a young adult during 1949 when Rakosi began to purge the Hungarian partisans who had collaborated with Tito and the Yugoslavian movement - as she was with the Slovak Paritsans - who could know that this group was not next. In all of her assocaition with the Hungarian Partisan Association, many have known what she did, but she never wanted a badge or a document to remind her of her fight against fashism. She knew what she did. That was enough for her.

One of my first questions to Dr Godo was the 1945 law (5503/IG FTITK-1945) which is referenced to in another law 5821/IG FTITK-1945 where it refers to six points that determine the qualifications of a "partisan". I wanted to know exactly what those requiremetns were - hwever the 5503/IG FTITK-1945 law is missing in both the national library and the military musuem library. Dr. Godo explained that the Federation of International Resistance (F.I.R.) created a lisitng of the six reqiremetns of being classified as a partisan in August of 1951 when it signed its UN charter. She believes that these six points would have been the same as the six points in the 1945 law. But she also later explained that she in her research reuired at least six individuals to confirm the claim of being a partisan before she would ever consider a persons claims to be genuine.

Dr Agnes Godo also gave me a brief hisotry of the organization from a more pracitcal perspective. From 1945 to 1948 she explined that this was the "pure" time of the organization. No one questioned the men and women who laid claim to their partisan activity - it was well documented and they were a close knit group, at the beginning of 1949 all this began to change when political points were given out for those that "seemed" to have fought fasism. She refered it to the thousands of partisans who's claim to the title was "kicking the dead German horse on the side of the road" - 1949 was also the purge of the partisans when Rakosi perseciuted those that had anything previously to do with the Yugoslavian Partisans as they were no longer pure - fear ruled, and those that joined were the "horse kickers" looking for political positions. This was further emphasised when the "new badge" was given out in 1954. I showed her some exampled of the 1954 type and she viewed them with animosity, but when she saw the first type she was mcuh more pleased at the history behind them. When I explained further that the National Museum held a 1954 example with the number "1" and the Natl Museum had claimed that the badge was supposedly given posthumiously to Tibor Szamuely - she scoffed at the idea as he was never a partisan (he he been executed in 1920 for writing about the White Terror of the anti-communist forces after the Kun Bela Hungarian Soviet Republic collapsed in 1919).

She continued that during the 1950's and up to the 1980's the organization became a purely communist "leftist" organization that was only bent on political matters. This attitude continued untill the 1980's when it formed a new purpose - to fight the growing Fashist and Neo-Nazi movements in Europe. According to her in the 1980's the Hungarian Partisan Associaiton began to accept memebrs who had never participated in WW2 - who had never kicked a dead German horse - but those individuals who through literature, education, social work, etc... were directly countering the Neo-Nazi movement in Hungary. When I asked if she knew if these people were awarded badges she agreed that they were - I showed her my one un-numbered example and she agreed that this was probably the type issued to them. So perhaps the un-numbered ones are truly and end product of the HUPR period and therefore display the lower quality. In the early 1990's the Hungarian Partisan Association became MEASZ (Magyar Ellenallasi Antifasiszta Szovetseg) with the purppose of fighting the growing rise of fashism in Europe once again. They do not issue badges anymore to my understanding.

Dr Godo has agreed to meet with me further so that I can get more infomration on the activities and the personalities of the organization - for that I can only be thankful.

Many may still be wanting to know about the member lists and the numbers on the back of the bages - to her knowledge she does not know that the list exists with the organization anymore but suggested that the national archives may have it - or one of her coleagues who has a similar interest in the badges and medals (also an author of an older medals book) Soon I will be meeting with that contact - more to come folks!

[Ulsterman]

Go Charles!! You Rock!

I waited with baited breath all day yesterday -wondering what you were discovering!

I figured the Partisans were ultra-leftists since they were mentioned as a hard line organization (publicly siding with the Soviets in the 1956 Revolution, helping found the modern "Communist" party etc.).

The blank badges are later members then.

I am surprised at the 'fascist" story though. Even in "goulash" Hungary I would suppose the advent of some teen aged skinheads on street corners wouldn't merit this and indeed, I suspect it was a "pretext" story.

They probably wanted to allow loyalists into what was considered an elite party organization.

Still, I'll see what the Anti-Fascist League has on Hungary.

The book you showed below-does that have a membership # in it? Upper right corner?

Great News and great work! I am very excited.

[hunyadi]

The book I was refering to in the lower portion of the text is the book "Kituntetesek" and the author that I will be meeting with who has more knowledge about the partisan badges and the variations is Makai Agnes.

[Gordon Craig]

Charles,

Interesting stuff. Makes me feel better about buying the unnumbered badge last weekend. Makes them much more plausible. Be nice to see a cased set. Looking forward to more info on the badges and the association.

Regards,

Gordon

[hunyadi]

Just for an update, I have contacted the national archives and have been promised a response within a month...after the sping break I will be meeting with Makai Angnes and Dr Godo again. Still working folks...

[Ulsterman]

Go CD Go!!!

[Gordon Craig]

In the interest of pure research I am going to post pictures of two numbered miniature Partizan Bdges that I have. The early one, number 490 is numbered on the bottom. The later one, number 2809, is numbered at the top. Idle curiosity urges me to ask, "Did they stop numbering the badges at the bottom and start numbering them at the top at a certain time and then stay with the numbers at the top or did they get numbered in either location at the whim of the person doing the numbering?".

Regards,

Gordon

Edited April 19, 2007 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

2809

[hunyadi]

"Did they stop numbering the badges at the bottom and start numbering them at the top at a certain time and then stay with the numbers at the top or did they get numbered in either location at the whim of the person doing the numbering?".

Was it a monday, wednesday, or friday afternoon and the pub just opened? My later numbered minni (#6301) is engraved below the pin.

[Gordon Craig]

Charles,

That answers my question. Number location as wished by the person doing the stamping. I knd of thought that would be the answer but you never know until you ask!

Cheers,

Gordon

[Zsolt]

Hi !

The badge of the " Magyar Partiz?n Bajt?rsi Szovets?g" (MPBSZ)- Hungarian Partisan Comrade Association with hand engraved number: 104

[Zsolt]

...and one interesting Partisan badge with very low number: 16 , and with screw back (similar the back to the previous badge )

Edited June 3, 2007 by Zsolt

[hunyadi]

Thanks for showing these!

FYI - I have another meeting with Agnes Godo next week if all timing goes well. Should have a database then for the 'original' partisans then. Will see...

[Zsolt]

Thanks, Charles. I look forward to a results !

[Gordon Craig]

Zsolt,

Thanks for posting these interesting badges. Nice to see one with the parachute still attached.

Regards,

Gordon

[hunyadi]

Well - the meeting with Dr Godo was not very sucessful. As a hisotrian she informed me (basically) that my scope of reasearch was foolishness. She also forgot to bring the list of partisans...the other bad news is that becasue of scheduling I wont be able to meet with her before September...so - till then we see what the national archives can produce...still waiting for an answer from them...

[Ulsterman]

Foolishness?? How dare she?!

That is absurd. This is important stuff. Knowing who had these badges fleshes out the whole partisan association, which was a bulwark of the Hungarian socialist party! Pshaw!

[Gordon Craig]

Charles,

Too bad things didn't turn out better for the interview. I guess we will just have to be patient and wait for the National Museum to answer.

Regards,

Gordon

[hunyadi]

To bring things up to speed - I just got a response from the national archives (the speed at which they work helps me to understand why research on Soviet ODMs takes so long!) - however my reasearch is not very promising. According to their records they have meeting minutes from May of 1945 and 1948 and a list of the original members from 1945 for the Partisan Associaition. However - the list of members is proteced under the 'Protection Act of 1990' and the names can not be released until 2010. On top of that - the names can not be relaesed to any Americans (!) but Canadians can gain acess to the names if they provide proof that an imediate family member is on the list - but still they cant do that until 2010. For Americans to get acess to it would litteraly require an "act of congress" (parliament!) Additionaly the letter from the archves also explained that membership number and additionaly the badge number issued were not within their records.

Still - not going to give up - I will try and do more 'proding' at the current offices of the Partisan Assocaition to see if they may have some 'files stuffed in the back' which may have more information. Also still have more meetings planned with Agnes Godo who apparently has the same list as at the archives from 1945 - stay tuned, not giving up yet!

[Ed_Haynes]

While I, too, am dissapointed by the nature of Godo's response, I am not surprised. As a card-carrying professional historian, I know all too well the challenges of mixing "hobby" and "profession", the problems of making what we do comprehensible and legitimate to real historians. Is is too easy, sometimes, for them to dismiss us as "button collectors" and sometimes our assertions that we are historians help them dismiss us, sounding to professional historians the same way that someone specialising in crystal pyramid "healing" would come across to a brain surgeon.

In part, it is a matter of marketing. Let me help you draft your script, Charles, before you make your next effort. I have some stock phrases that have helped me bridge the worlds.

The problems of privacy laws may he hard to get around. Most countries have introduced recent laws along these lines, mostly well intentioned but usually clumsily drafted pieces of legislation. I suspect that things are even more tricky in situations where there has been a recent major sea-change in ideology and government. The opportunities for revenge make such protections even more important.

[Ulsterman]

Argh!!!!!

Cry of frustration-

Still, fruitful inquiry might be made in financial records-where lists and purchase orders for badges, as well as receipts are sometimes (often, actually) kept as proof of something of value disbursed. Most governments don't give a toss about financial records and I have found it a (boring) but sometimes fruitful back door to information.

[Ed_Haynes]

Argh!!!!!

Cry of frustration-

Still, fruitful inquiry might be made in financial records-where lists and purchase orders for badges, as well as receipts are sometimes (often, actually) kept as proof of something of value disbursed. Most governments don't give a toss about financial records and I have found it a (boring) but sometimes fruitful back door to information.

Very true! Every government keeps records of how it spends money. A very tedious quest, but many interesting things can reside there!

[hunyadi]

Folks - I am all up for ideas! Send some PM's!

[hunyadi]

Nothing new yet - but I will share with you a little gem I got last night at a local auction. A very big thanks goes to Gordon for pointing the listing out in the auction catalogue - there was no photos only the description in the catalogue. Becuase there was a partisan badge and a few other items with low opening bids I made arangments with my family so I could attend.

[hunyadi]

and I am very glad that I did!