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The "Aftermath" of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution... Dec 09, 2006
"YUKON, Land of the Midnight Sun" is a welcome new book that arrived on the horizon.
A Hungarian Freedom Fighter -- Alexander in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight -- escaped with his family from the Communist tyranny and its retributions after the Russians, with the support of thousands of tanks re-occupied Hungary on one of Hungarian history's saddest days, starting November 4, 1956.
The Erdélyi family wanted to get as far away from that dark hole of Communism as they could. They waited in Vienna, and due to limited admissions to the United States at the time, they decided to emigrate to Canada.
The book is a fast-paced account of taking a foothold in Canada, the hardships they endured in the Yukon Territory. It was no dreamland, it was not a land of honey and butter where you just had to reach down to the sidewalk and pick up the nuggets of gold. While they grew up in the harsh weather conditions in Hungary, nothing could have prepared them for the 'Land of the Midnight Sun', its arctic conditions most of the year.
Having been fortunate enough to land in California, I can only shudder at the thought of what they had to endure. Reading the book, I was shivering. His description of life there was almost a live personal experience for me.
He accounts for the hardest first ten years in Canada. Throughout the book, you can feel however, he loves his adopted new Homeland.
I live in the United States, and have not heard or read much of the experiences Hungarian refugees had in Canada.
This book is definitely a "must read" for all of those, who care about social conditions, history and freedom.
This is Alexander Erdélyi's second book, after "Peace, War and the Aftermath". While his first book is about his coming of age, the second book reflects a far more mature person's outlook on the world in the 'Aftermath'.
I feel, I must mention two items in the book.
One is a typing error, on page 153, the first sentence in the second paragraph: 'By January, 1956,' should read: 'By January, 1966,'.
The second item is a little more difficult to explain. It is a question, of historical facts, which without further explanation may be misunderstood.
While the Erdélyi family was waiting in Vienna, in January 1957, rumor was that the US will not allow entry above the open annual quota. Unaware of the later changes, Alexander draws the mistaken conclusion, that this remained so, and refers to 20% of Hungarian refugees accepted by Canada, 2% by the United States, and the rest, almost 80% by the rest of the world. The reality however, is different. The US allowed approximately 5,000 refugees with a permanent residency status, that is 'Green Card', and an additional at least 30,000 refugees, myself among them, with a temporary status, a 'White Card'. Thereafter, approximately during 1959 the US Congress passed new legislation to allow political refugees into the US as permanent residents regardless of any quotas. This "political refugee law" is still the basis of political asylum being granted by the US. So in fact, the total number of Hungarian refugees who settled in the United States is quite close to those settled in Canada.
Too bad, he did not make this clarification in the book. To be sure, until I read this book, I had no idea, how many Hungarians emigrated to Canada.
In an overall rating on a scale of 1 to 10, based on the presentation, readability and content, I would judge this book as a "must read" ten.
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