Romania J?zsef Attila-Poet

[Gordon Craig]

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL

Reference-Wikipedia; Budapest Bulletin-the Newsleter of the American Embassy in Budapest and my own collection;

J?zsef Attila (April 11, 1905 - December 3, 1937) was one of the most outstanding Hungarian poets in the 20th century. He was the son of J?zsef ?ron, a half Romanian soap factory worker and a Hungarian peasant girl Pőcze Borb?la. He was born in Ferencv?ros, a poor district of Budapest. His father deserted the family, he had two older sisters, when he was three. They lived in extreme poverty and his mother could not afford to feed the children so they were cared for by the National Child Protection League and foster parents in the town of ?cs?d, where he worked on a farm. Conditions were so bad there that he escaped back to his mother who died in 1919. After her death, he went to live with his brother-in-law who was wealthy enough that he could pay for Attila to attend a good secondary school. Later, in 1924, he entered the University of Szged and schools in Austria (1925) and Paris (1926-1927). He was expelled from the University of Szeged for his revolutionary poem ?Tiszta szivvel?. While in Paris studying at the Sorbonne, he read Hegel and Karl Marx whose call to revolution appealed to him. In 1931 he joined the illegal Hungarian Communist Party . Publication of his essay ?Irodolom ?s Szocializmus? (Literature and Socialism) led to an indictment. However, not long afterward, he left the Communist Party. His later works advocated humane socialism and alliance with all democratic forces. He died on December 3, 1937 at age 32 at Balatonsz?rsz?. He lay down across a railway line and a passing train killed him. The most widely accepted view is that he committed suicide, but some experts say that his death was an accident. Because of his socialist ideas he was hailed during the 1950s as Hungary?s greatest ?proletarian poet?. In 1962 the University of Szeged was renamed after him. It was renamed the University of Szeged in 1999. More recently his work has been reevaluated with the 100th anniversary of his birth. April the 11th, his birth day, is now celebrated in Hungary as ?Poetry Day?. The day is devoted to a celebration of the appreciation of poetry in general and not just his works.

The Communist Party in Hungary, in concert with their youth leagues, produced at least two series of badges bearing J?zsef Attila?s name. The first set of badges illustrated below, the larger ones, bear the flag of DISZ, the Hungarian Communist Youth Organization from 1948 to 1956 and are the gold and silver versions. The bronze version is missing from my collection. The second, and smaller set of badges, bears the flag of KISZ, the Hungarian Communist Youth Organization from 1949 until 1989, and shows the gold and bronze versions of this set. From the wording on the badges, they would appear to be associated with some sort of reading association but I have not been able to locate any reference material on this organization yet.

Regards,

Gordon

Edited May 6, 2008 by Gordon Craig

[Guest Rick Research]

Here's one that Kev saw at his local show yesterday:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=265645

and the following post with the reverse.

[Kev in Deva]

Here's one that Kev saw at his local show yesterday:

<a href="http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=265645" target="_blank">http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=265645</a>

and the following post with the reverse.

Hi Gents, Ricky would not have known, when he posted,

that it is actualy one of the items I obtained at yesterdays show

as I had not added the info at that time. Do they rate any value?

Details:-

Silver Version of KISZ badge.

Width: Approx' 24mm left to right white pages.

Height: Approx' 20mm Top of head to bottom of flag.

Kevin in Deva.

Edited May 18, 2008 by Kev in Deva

[Gordon Craig]

Kevin,

Sorry but these do not have any real value. At least for the present. If I can ever confirm some of the stories I 've heard about them they may be worth something!

Regards,

Gordon

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Gordon

thanks for your response, the value I was trying to ascertain

so as not to pay to much for the other types if I run across them,

I found this one in a shoe box full of pins ranging from

Football club insignia to miners pins and Tamron pins.

Well worth getting the fingers bloodied sorting through it.

I recently saw one of these but did not attempt to buy it

as I was not sure what it was at the time:

As is often the case "wiser after the fact" probably it will turn up again.

Kevin in Deva.

[hunyadi]

Period Wear photo - hard to say if this individual is Infantry or Border Guard - if he was wearing his cap I could tell you!

[Gordon Craig]

Kevin,

The second KISZ pin you posted is one of a set of five. Seems to me we have had a thread on them in the recent past.

Charles,

The photo is great. I have never seen a picture of a Jozsef Atilla pin in wear before. Very interesting now to see a DISZ type pin that it is on a soldiers uniform. As you know, the age of KISZ members was up to 30 and soldiers participated as members of KISZ. I have an award document to a military school instructor thanking him for being a KISZ leader for a length of time. I suspect that DISZ had the same age range. Also interesting that he is wearing a Flood Medal, probably a 1954 issue, so that should help us date the photo. Probably between 54 and 56? How long would it have taken him to reach the rank of Tizedes (corporal)?

Regards,

Gordon

Edited May 19, 2008 by Gordon Craig

[hunyadi]

DISZ did have enrolement up to the age of thirty, but one published source did mention that some were even 36 years old, primarily the older ones were the group leaders and such. DISZ took a huge boost in numbers when SZIT and the other trade youth groups became absorbed in June of 1950. Many of these organiztaions were not so stringent on members bening younger than 30.

The young corporal in the photo was more than likely a conscript as the inscription on the back is "Remembering [time of service], Laci 1955" so he probably entered in 1954, participated in the flood of 1954 then mustered out after his 1 year term. Almost every conscript reached the rank of corporal. If you made it to NCO - then that meant that the Honved could hold you for an additional 12 months. So most "played dumb" - so they would not get promoted before their time was up. Made a huge problem for combat effectivness.

[Gordon Craig]

Charles,

Thanks for the info.

Regards,

Gordon

[Kev in Deva]

My recent pick-up on Saturday at the Collectors Fair in Brasov,

on Saturday 12th September 2009.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Kev in Deva]

Pin has been repaired.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Kev in Deva]

Items collected so far:-

Kevin in Deva. :beer: