Karikázó, 1982. július - 1983. április (8. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

1982-07-01 / 1. szám

OR. Puskás presented the contents of this paper in a lecture on April 17, 1982 at the Symposium on Hungarian Culture at Montclair State College. EMIGRATION PATTERNS OF HUNGARIANS “r-JULI““ BEFORE WORLD WAR II I cannot lecture you in a short time about all of the characteristics of mass emigration, which was a social phenomenon in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, but let me outline a few of them. According to the data of the first census in 1790, the population of the United States was under 4 million. In the period between 1821-1924, 33 million Europeans migrated to the United States. This great movement, the so-called "modern migration of peoples" is one of the most significant social-historical events of our times. The "frenzy of going overseas" manifested itself first in the western parts of Europe. From here it spread over to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. So much so, that after the turn of the century the majority of those emigrating to the United States came from Italy, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the western region of Russia. The mass emigration from Hungary to the United States began in the 1880's. Its high point was in 1905-1907, but the emigration wave remained strong up to the first World War. During those three decades, the United States Immigration Office registered 1.5 million immigrants from Hungary. The majority of them belonged to the national minorities of Hungary. They were Slovaks, Croats, Slovenes, Germans, but the number of the "pure" Magyar can be estimated at about a half million. Most emigrants were in their productive working age, which certainly was a loss for Hungary. But on the other hand, the "old country" was not able to offer a reasonable standard of living for all of its people. The social background of the Magyar immigrant was diversified, but the peasants of the village represented the majority. But already in this period, the proportion of the intelligentsia, the craftsmen, skilled workers, and the middle class was greater among the Magyars than in any of the so-called new immigrants, i.e. the Eastern European groups. The background of Hungarian immigrants changed strongly after World War II. At that time came the so-called "Displaced Persons" and the "refugees" who represented an urban educated and skilled population. An examination of the records of Magyar immigrants in the past one hundred years gives testimony to the fact that the proportion of professionals and skilled workers is outstandingly high among the Magyars. In comparison with immigrants from other Central European peoples, the Magyars are unique in regard to their special social, cultural structure. This helps to explain the fact that despite their community activities, they are surprisingly divided. Befor.e World War I, the most typical feature of emigration from Hungary was that people set out without intending to settle down permanently. The emigrants' hopes and plans for the future centered around an independent existence in Hungary. This was to be realized on return, with the money earned in America. In most cases this dream altered with the times. Amidst the attractions of the new environment and the newly formed ties, the actual plan of a return home gradually grew vague. And its postponement to an ever more distant future rendered it increasingly illusory. Thus, the subjective intention of settling down permanently, and its objective realization were by no means simultaneous, and certainly did not coincide with the fact of emigration. Emigration overseas was very intensive in some parts of Hungary, and almost nonexistent in others. Among the Magyars, the emigration fever was highest in Abaúj, Zemplén, Ung, Szabolcs and Szatma'r counties, and also in the country's western part, Veszprém county. In the "New World" they moved to different places. The pioneers went to the mining districts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. There are some other centers of Hungarians in Ohio, New Jersey and Connecticut. After a few hard vears, about 40X - 50X of them returned to Hungary, sometimes with families and children born in the United States. The children growing up in Hungary came back in the 1930's. They were able to return because they were American citizens. Others had difficulties at that time because the United States had shut its gates to the people of Eastern Europe. The problem of mass emigration to overseas was a hotly debated issue at that time in all European countries concerned. However, as the big wave of migration recessed, interest ceased almost overnight and nobody seemed to care for the social phenomenon, which earlier had caused such excitement. In the United States there was a very strong prejudice against those people who came from Eastern Europe. The main reason being the strong competition in the labor market. The so-called new immigrants work hard, for less money than those who were born in America. So, in contemporary literature we can find, more easily, the expressions of that prejudicial one-sidedness, than in the data of realistic analysis. During the late 19th and early 20th century, as lárge numbers of foreigners immigrated to North America, it was assumed that they would soon lose the cultural identity of their native lands and become fully assimilated into the mainstream of American life. From the sixties on, the so-called "cultural pluralism" came to the forefront in connection with the American population. Attempts to uphold ethnic traditions, values and identification gained the support of the society as against the former practice of total assimilation. From the sixties, the new interest in the history of overseas migration increased in the European countries and in Hungary too. Thus, the scientific examination of the various problems related to the subject - where they settled, how they built up their communities, their social organization - have come into prominence both in the European countries and in the United States. PUSKAS Continued on p.3

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