Romulus 2018

Travelling from the West to
Hungary
Hungary did not have foreign currency
income from goods, since it was forbidden to
sell anything to the capitalist West. However,
tourism from West Germany and Austria
formed a large part of the economy. Many
German families came to Hungary to reunite
for a holiday after their countries were torn
into a West and East side. For example, Angela
Merkel, the current German chancellor, who
grew up in East Germany came to Hungary
many times to reunite with her relatives from
West Germany. When tourists from the West
came to Hungary for more than thirty days,
they had to announce their stay at the local
police station.
Both of my parents had relatives in
Western countries - from my father’s side, in
England, and from my mother’s side, in Canada.
My Canadian relative emigrated in 1956, so
she could not visit her family in Hungary until
the mid-1980s. She sent many presents to my
mum’s family, but duty control intercepted and
stole everything that looked valuable. After the
repeated stealing of goods, she put the clothes
into muddy water so that the duty control
would not confiscate them. Her family could
later clean them and sell them at the market for
extra cash.
Travelling from the East to
Hungary
Due to the “relaxed” atmosphere, the many
thermal baths, and because of Balaton, the
largest warm water lake of Central Europe,
Hungary was an attractive destination for
tourists from other communist countries.
Hungary had a special position during the
communist era and was called, “the happiest
barrack”. Socialism was much more relaxed
and “westernised” in Hungary than in any
other communist country. János Kádár, the
communist Hungarian leader, fought for these
rights and special treatment in Hungary, and
so the relationship with the other communist
leaders was tense. Hungarians could travel, and
some small businesses could exist, which was
unimaginable in other communist countries.
People from other countries could not travel to
the West at all or with much larger restrictions:
only researchers and athletes could travel with
special permits, even in the 1970s and 1980s.
Bulgaria, Romania, and East Germany must
have been the hardest to live in as they were the
most restricted, and experienced the harshest
communism. When East Germans came to
Hungary to meet their families they even risked
not being able to get back to their country.
In Conclusion
My parents left me in shock when
describing the way of life and the restrictions on
the freedom of movement they grew up with. It
is easy to forget how convenient travel is for us
millennials, especially in the European Union.
Borders in Schengen countries do not exist:
you don’t need to stop or have ID when driving
from today’s Hungary to another Schengen
country, which was unimaginable in my parents’
youth. After they noticed how sorry I felt for
them and their past experiences they said it
was the norm for them, and that they did not
experience it that badly since they were young.
Even if they had been allowed to travel more
than once every three years to the West, they
needed those three years to collect the money
needed for a long family holiday in France or
Italy. They grew up with dual consciousness;
they were told completely different things in
school and at university than at home. They had
to listen to the ideological nonsense imparted
by institutions but forget it right away. Not
even the teachers believed what they said or
taught, but they were told what they had to say.
Although both of my parents are from a welleducated
background, they believe even the
worker-peasants would have not believed the
communists.
Lorenzo Petralia, ‘See you on the other side’
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