M ORE TH AN JUST A SW ORD FIGH T

How I Becam E A Catholic Jew

The snow crumbles beneath his feet

Every step encased in the concern of his own death Every sound, even the ever so gentle ones, are amplified beyond reality. Landmines lurk under the very feet that keep him running, ticking and tocking, ready to explode at any given moment His brain twists and turns, yet remains focused on one thing; his survival

A rumble comes from the snow He thinks about his mother for what might be his last second alive. A loud and forceful blast ruptures from the snow in front of his eyes, even though they are tightly shut His heart punches him in the chest, beating him up. His veins bulge through his shaking body with great despair His skin drips with anxious sweat

Darkness

His eyes creep open. Shocked that he was still breathing, he sees a rabbit through his blurry vision. How could this be?Was it just a little bunny?The deadly bomb that he?d been anticipating, the one that he, for a split second, believed just went off, was a bunny?Indeed, it was His journey was not over He waits for his nervous system to settle down and his brain to neutralize. He quickly becomes aware that he was not going to calm down anytime soon, so he heads for the river anyways Having to swim across a river did not seem like the most relaxing activity to do at this time, but he had no choice He wanted to live Now, in fact, he was determined to live. With lungs still filled with fear and pain, his arms swung viciously to keep him from drowning At last, he touches land

Sixty years later, he sits at a long wooden table with his family to celebrate his birthday Through his thick accent, he tells his first and oldest granddaughter about the time he escaped Hungary through Austria to reunite with his sister, Lídia. He said he dodged landmines and swam across a river He tells her he is scared of bunnies Her curious and innocent mind ponders how such a tall and sophisticated man could be afraid of such a small and dainty animal He tells her just why he is so scared of bunnies and that he even has nightmares about that specific moment in time She thinks about his story a lot, asking him to tell her more and more each time she sees him. As the years go on, his granddaughter starts to develop into an intelligent young woman who looks up to the strength, resilience, and fearlessness that her grandfather has displayed throughout his life in becoming a successful American Perhaps it is obvious, but his granddaughter is me

My grandfather, a courageous and triumphant man, fled Hungary during the chaos of the Hungarian Revolution and not long after the catastrophe of World War II He did this with the help of his fencing visa which allowed him to attend Stanford University. He has dodged bullets to get to where he is today, and that is not a metaphor My role models and relatives, George and Lídia Dömölky, both, have empowering stories of great substance, starting from escaping their home land and attending some of the most respected institutions in America, to going on to win Sabre National Championships and Olympic Gold Medals Their stories remind me that we, as humans, are constantly faced with new challenges As large as they may seem at the time, there is not a single obstacle that can stand in the way of a true dreamer who's dedicated to achieving transcendence The most amazing part is that after all that they have done, they are both still here today, fully capable of sharing their wisdom and experiences with their ever-so-intrigued grandchildren. This is the compelling and soulful journey of my Hungarian family that I have grown up asking and learning about. I will make sure that the immense amount of history they made in both Hungary and America lives on forever

Now it sounds all good and great. Doesn? t it?Though, it is not all good and great I cannot avoid the seriousness and true terror that I have touched upon in the beginning One might ask, why did they want to escape?What was the last straw or the final push?Years prior to my Grandpa escaping, Europe was faced with the worlds largest, most gruesome genocide in all of history; The Holocaust The mass killing of people who were Jewish or had Jewish blood mostly occurred in the years 1941-1945, thus being while my Grandpa was still just a young boy As one might think it was only Germany involved with Hitler and his authoritarian anti-seminism, it was not; It was much more Hungary joined Germany in the invasion of Yugoslavia while the Jewish population in Greater Hungary had reached 725,007, not including about 100,000 Jews who had converted to Christianity, but were still racially considered to be ?Jews?. My grandfather and his family were part of the 100,000 Jews who converted as anti-semitism was rising in Hungary and across Europe. Approximately half of Hungary's Jewish population lived in Budapest, where most of them were very acculturated and a part of the middle class The extremely sad, but true, history of the world is remembered in the reflection of times like May 15 to July 9, 1944, where Hungarian officials, under the guidance of German SS officials, deported around 440,000 Jews from Hungary

This specific deportation of Jews was before my Grandfather escaped, though he was not deported He made it onto a selective list of Jews who were eligibale to receive "fake papers", comparable to Shindlers List This allowed him to hide from Nazis by attending Catholic school Though he was considered safe and hidden from the monstrosities there, at times he was forced into a convent where he witnessed several nuns getting raped by Natzi offcials His father and uncles were put to work in Yugoslavian copper mines with inhumane conditions Most other Jews were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where upon arrival and after selection, SS functionaries killed the majority of them in gas chambers. By the end of July 1944, the only Jewish community left in Hungary was that of Budapest, the capital, where my grandfather lived and where most of my Hungarian relatives still live today. Though this was a terrifying and morbid part of Hungary's history, it was not directly what drove my grandfather and great aunt out of their home country

As years passed, more trouble hit the land of Hungary. After World War II, the Soviet military occupied Hungary and gradually erased the elected government that they had once obtained. They instead, created the Hungarian

Communist Party This radical and fierce nationalization sculpted by the Soviets, produced economic stagnation, lower standards of living and a nationwide depression Hungary became a communist state under the strongly authoritarian leadership of Mátyás Rákos and began a series of destructional purges in which thousands of Hungarians were arrested, beat, tortured, and put in concentration camps to be executed

Russian culture and language study, as well as Communist political instruction, were made mandatory in the Hungarian education curriculum Under Rákosi, Hungary's government was among the most repressive in Europe

The first to voice their concerns about this type of leadership were writers and journalists, which then sparked the interests of Hungary's most active intellectuals to revolt against it What is now known as The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, was a spontaneous revolt against the Communist government of Hungary and its Soviet imposed policies From about October 23 until November 10, 1956, university students initiated thousands of Hungarians to march through central Budapest and to the

Parliament building As they were demanding their rights outside, shots were fired by the State Security Police from within the building The news spread quickly causing much disorder and violence to erupt throughout the capital, instantaneously.

Like many wars do, this internal battle within Hungary was displayed right in front of everyone's eyes at the Olympic Games At the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, the Soviet control of the Hungarians led to a boycott by Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland. At the Olympic Village, the Hungarian delegation tore down the Communist Hungarian flag and raised the flag of ?Free Hungary?in its place, a flag with a hole cut out in the middle where the Communist Party was represented

State Security Police and Soviet troops These troops would imprison or execute Pro-Soviet communists, and while doing so, release former Hungarian prisoners They fought hard to detach themselves from the control that the communist party had on them and demanded political changes After weeks of combat, the new government formally pledged to re-establish free elections. By the end of October, fighting had almost stopped, bringing a sense of normalcy back to Hungary

The Hungarians also insisted that the banned "God, Bless the Hungarians" (Himnusz) be used as the national anthem during medal ceremonies A confrontation between Soviet and Hungarian teams occurred in the semi-final match of the water polo tournament This match was outrageously violent, and was stopped in the final minute to settle fighting between spectators. This match, now known as the "Blood in the Water Match," became the story line of a 2005 documentary film called Freedom'sFury The Hungarian team won 4-0 and later went on to win the gold medal The revolt spread like rapid fire across Hungary, and the government went to shambles Organized militias were forming, battling against the

Not so fast, though The Revolution was not quite over. On November 4, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest, killing thousands of civilians and, once again, mass arrests began An estimated 200,000 Hungarians fled as refugees during the chaos in 1956, my grandfather included By January 1957, the new Soviet-installed government had suppressed all public opposition. These Soviet actions strengthened their control over Central Europe, cultivating the perception that communism was both irreversible and monolithic. This was a failed Revolution, perhaps

While Hungary was battling with these internal struggles, George trained diligently as a fencer with the Hungarian National Team until 1956, which was the year of the Olympic Games. As Craig Harkins states, ?Sword fighting as a sport has existed since ancient Egypt ?The winning points are made from contact with the opponent using one's sword, but it is not as simple as it sounds. It is a martial art of classical Europe which uses traditional skills of swordsmanship. In the sport of modern fencing, there are three forms that a fencer can compete in, those being foil, épée, and sabre, all utilizing a different weapon. In most cases, though, a competitive fencer will choose to specialize in just one weapon For example, my grandfather focused primarily on Sabre Fencing, where he used a long sword to defend himself

Fencers are trained to use specific discipline and follow the exact combat rules to do so In Hungary, fencing is the most popular and glorified sport of all, becoming particularly popular in the XIXor 19th century Paul D Bowket explains, ?Each point is over in a matter of seconds as the two combatants lunge at each other with swords honed in on making a hit tracked by an electronic system Footwork on the competition strip is quick And lunges are often accompanied by loud shouts in both men?s and women?s competitions ?George and Lídia, living in Budapest at the time, picked up the brilliant sport of fencing as many other Hungarians did Though many Hungarians fenced and were fascinated by its nature, not all of them turned out to be as legendary

Due to the discussed political unrest of that time period, George left the University of Budapest, where he was studying, and fled to America in hopes of reuniting with his siter, Lídia. Just a year after his arrival, he ended up celebrating a victory at the 1957 USNational Sabre Team Championship alongside his teammates Dan Magay and Tom Orley. He was also a finalist in Sabre Individuals, and placed fourth in the 1959 USNationals Sabre Individuals. My grandpa writes in the Stanford Fencing Blog about how warm and welcoming the coach of his fencing team was He says it was people like him that he remembers and appreciates most during his abrupt arrival to a foreign country while facing such hardships The team did well and became very respected, as they were not previously before My grandpa says that he does not look at fencing as just a sport, but an art and strategy that has enhanced his life dramatically. He became such an honorary athlete in the fencing world that while back in Hungary as a young man, he was chosen to be the model for a statue and ceramic figure made by the Herend Company (seen on the first page of this article) A smaller version of the figure is placed proudly in my living room (seen on the last page of this article) giving us all faith that we can overcome any battle that we are faced with and push to achieve what we have always wanted.

Now that we have discussed my grandfather, let me now introduce my Great Aunt Lídia, George's sister This is the one he dodged landmines and swam across a river to reunite with in America Lidia is also a fencer, and a phenomenal one at that

She is a confident powerhouse whose divine femininity seeps from within. Love is certainly what motivates and carries her heart places that she would have never gone otherwise Her love for fencing and great talent led her to travel the world, earning herself a Gold and Silver Olympic Medal Love also changed her life when she fell for fellow fencer, Jozsef Sakovic As a young dreamer, Lidia was only 19 years old when she obtained her first World Champion Title. After they both defected to the USin 1956 while on a fencing tour, they couldn? t find a sustainable way of living in this foreign country and decided to go back to Hungary to be with the rest of their family Lidia won Gold in the Tokyo Olympic Games and Silver in the Rome Olympic Games for

Hungary, her home land Joe, her love, became the coach of the Hungarian Men?s National Team and led them to victory, obtaining four gold medals in Tokyo. With great sadness of his family and close friends, Jozsef died in 2009 at age 81 My incredibly brilliant and loyal Great Aunt Lídia still lives in the same apartment centered in Budapest that she and Jozsef had shared for 52 years She is my complete and utter inspiration I strive to take on her raw tenacity for hard work as not only a fencer, but as a unique and enlightened person Her beautiful aura and selfless nature led me to believe that she was not just carrying Gold around her neck, but in her heart as well

After all was said and done, the fall of the communist regime finally came around, but even so, it was much later than it should have been Taking longer than anyone could imagine, the Republic of Hungary was declared on October 23, 1989, the 33rd anniversary of the Revolution It took until 1989 for Hungary to be free, only about 10 years after I was born Like many other places, Hungarians are still not nearly as ?free?as Americans are today. October 23rd is a Hungarian national holiday, and for good reason To know that my family was faced with this type of oppression and obstacle gives me the strength and motivation to avoid becoming malaised by minor setbacks Coming from the ground up is what makes us feel liberated. We are fighters, not quitters, and that is how I was raised to be

In honor of my family's resilience, my resilience, and my Hungarian heritage, I cherish the Hungarian word ?rugalmasság?, translating to ?resilience?or ?flexibility?in English This word captures what kind of durability it takes to pull ourselves out of the fierce ocean storm with just our bare hands and have our own backs while doing so This word reminds me that I will always carry myself in a resilient manner, not quitting because of fear or any challenge at all, for that matter To be resilient, I will focus on moving efficiently, effectively, and to the best of my ability while utilizing the resources around me George and Lídia Dömölky have brought out the fighter in me, the need to accomplish greatness, and I will one day make them proud with all that I am able to achieve

After obtaining several National Titles and years of fencing in The States, my grandpa retired from fencing in the 1960?s to focus on his career as a businessman In the Stanford Fencing Blog, he shares how he is 80 years old and working full-time managing mutual funds at Fidelity Investments, recently retiring at 90 He says his life motto is ?just keep running ?We know that as the snow crumbled beneath his feet, he just kept running Every step he took was encased in the concern of his own death, but he just kept running. Every sound, even the ever so gentle ones, were amplified beyond reality He just kept running Landmines lurked under the very feet that kept him running, ticking and tocking, they ready to explode at any given moment His brain twisted and turned, yet remained focused on one thing; his survival. So I will do just that; just

Keep Running