July Book Signing w/Judith Petres Balogh

You are invited to the Hungarian Museum in the Galleria on

TUESDAY, July 14th, at 6:30 p.m. for a book signing by Judith Petres Balogh

Author, will introduce her book:   SCHOOL OF A DIFFERENT KIND

Autographed books will be available for purchase after the program for $15.  

 

Suggested donation: $5 for adults and $2 for students. $3 parking is available in the Galleria parking garage. Snacks and refreshments will be served at the end of program.

A letter from the author:

Dear Friends,

I would like to call your attention to the book we wrote (Nora Hegedűs Sztáray and Judith Petres Balogh); it was just published. If you give me a minute I shall explain the importance of the book, SCHOOL OF A DIFFERENT KIND and also why I have taken upon myself the task of  promoting it.

When in 1945 the last shot was fired and the last bomb was dropped in Europe, a deep sigh of common global gratitude went  up to heaven because a truly horrendous era finally closed.  People, especially on the safer side of the globe, sighed in relief and thought that business will be back as usual, let’s have a picnic.

Unfortunately this was not the case in Europe. The infrastructure was totally ruined, as well as most dwellings  in cities large and small, there were millions of  displaced persons milling around not knowing what the morrow will bring, black market flourished, money had no worth and nerves were frayed. Hunger was the style of life and the living conditions would have frightened a wandering nomad.

In this chaotic background and the daily worries about survival another issue, not imminently tragic, but in the long run just as catastrophic, surfaced: what will happen to the young people, who have no possibility to attend any sort of a school?

Dedicated people then pooled their resources, which were really not more than ideas and dreams, and made the impossible happen: a school was established for at least some of the Hungarian refugee children. The school operated without the elementary basics, but was of such outstanding quality  and standard that it was truly  a miracle in the history of education.

At this point you may say this is great, but  in what way does it have any interest in my life? Do I care, or should I care?

We hope that you do.

The book is not only an entertaining narrative, rich with documents, including photos, interviews  and eyewitness accounts, but it shows a segment of postwar life, which is relatively little known even  to history buffs.  In addition it shows the indomitable spirit of youngsters, who can laugh and have a good time  even when the rug and the roof were both pulled from them.  It is uplifting, interesting and gives a glimpse into another world, which despite its horrors also offered values. The former students were able to transfer these  into their future and  could enrich countless lives.

While the book was written for the general  reading public, it would be of special interest to those, who ever visited Europe, to members of the military (and their families) who were at one time stationed in Europe,  to all who like a narrative which nevertheless is well documented and the information is reliable, to Hungarians  and all former Displaced Persons of any nation, who can identify with the content, to all who are interested in scouting, to educators, to those who are searching for historical facts of the time, and to those historians who like to view history not as a series of dates and events, but as a general human experience  which like a complicated  tree reaches with its branches and roots into the past as well as into the future. All these readers will find plenty to satisfy their interest.

Thank you for  reading my note, best regards,

Judith Petres Balogh

 

To those who cannot attend this lecture:   The book is available at www.amazon.com. Search by author or by book title. Price $15.

 

 

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