When I was a child, I lived with my Great Grandmother. She was very strict and liked everything to be in order. It was not until I was older that I was able to understand why this was. Great Grandma Edith was born in Hungary in 1919, and faced the wrath of the Nazi forces in World War II. Although she never told me the stories of her escape to America, I was always curious. One day I asked her son, my Grandfather who was born in Hungary in 1946, about their immigration to the United States, and he painted a picture for me that I would never be able to forget. She was pregnant with him when the war began, and Hungary was in ruins. To protect herself and her unborn child from Nazi forces, my Grandmother spent six months with countless others …show more content…
Between the pillaged countryside, and the loss of industry, the Hungarian government had the daunting task of rebuilding the Soviet controlled nation; “the cost of the physical damage done has been put at 40 per cent of annual national income, calculated at 1938 prices” (The Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution). The direct effect to the infrastructure, such as communications and transportation systems, had indirect effects on the nations economic, social, and political recovery. On top of the efforts needed to return the country to some type of normalcy, Hungary had to make good of the provisions outlined in the armistice with the USSR of 1945. Article 12 of the agreement states,
… the parties [(Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia)] agree that compensation for the indicated losses [(referring to military operation expenses)] will be made by Hungary not in full but only in part; namely, to the amount of 300 million American dollars payable over six years in commodities … the sum to be paid to the Soviet Union to amount to 200 million American dollars and the sum to be paid to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia to amount to 100 million American dollars. (Assistant Legal Advisor Department of
Article 232 of the treaty states “the (Allies)...require, and Germany undertakes, that she will make compensation for all the damage done to civilian population of the Allied and Associated Power and to their property during the period of the belligerency...”(Document C). The payments were to begin May 1, 1921 and they should be finished by May 1, 1951. The reduced amount Germany was required to pay was 112 billion gold marks which is equivalent to 341 billion U.S. dollars. The original reparation was 132 billion gold marks. In the 1920’s, the Germans were angry and didn’t pay any. in 1929, they paid only 2 billion marks, Then finally in 1933 the payments stopped when Hitler took power (Document
My mother was one of the four children that were able to come to the Unites States for a chance at a new life. My mother’s story of her journey to the United States really shows her courage she had to accomplish her dream. My mother and her older sister crossed together thru Tijuana in 1985. At the age of 15 my mother was terrified, but had a lot of determination to face any obstacle in the way. She remembers crossing the border late at night, and she will never forget the growling noises that she heard in the dark. She made it to Salinas the very next day in the evening, and was reunited with her sibling’s and
agreed to help each other - and the Soviet Union - in the event of
Every sense I was a little girl my grandfather would tell me about his experiences during WWII as, Elie Wiesel did in his essay “A God Who Remembers”.My grandfather would tell everyone his story his grandchildren,friends, family and our neighbors(even if they didn’t understand him). I remember one day my grandfather asked me to sit down with him, he wanted to tell me his story. Even though I 've listen to his story many of times, I had this feeling that I should stay and listen to him. While everyone else was downstairs and playing I sat with my grandfather and listened diligently. This was the last conversation I remember having with my grandfather before he wasn 't able to speak anymore, because of his sickness. He told me about how he had to hide, so that the Germans would not find him.
By raising the standard of living in these nations, citizens did not look elsewhere to relieve their economic struggles (Hogan). Following the fall of Czechoslovakia to communism in 1948, no other European Nation fell to communism (Constitutional). There is propaganda from this time period, such as the propaganda located in the appendix, that suggests the Marshall Plan did achieve success in stopping communism from spreading into Western European economies (Clare). One German Politian praised the Marshall saying, "The Marshall Plan contributed directly to Europe’s economic recovery, to restoring morale, and to the containment of communism” (Wallace).
I was born in Chicago and lived with my parents for a while. When I was six years old my parents got divorced, I never saw my father after that. After that, we moved to Arkansas. Soon after that my mother got deported to Mexico. we had to move to Mexico now. It was tough because I only spoke English at the time. Me and sister of only four years of age were separated from our mom for over a year because they would not let my mom out of the immigration facility. That was the most painful year of my life. This made me very sad and. I still remember the day I saw my mom for the very first time after all that time. She looked so different than I had remembered her. I would live in Mexico for the next six years. When I entered middle school, I was
United states during WWII you could have had to face this struggle. Your grandparents or great
Before my Grandfather petitioned my family and I to come to the U.S, I had so many assumptions about what America is all about. I illustrated that my family and I would have better lives once we relocate. What we didn 't know is
The removal of Janos Kadar as Secretary General of the Communist Party causes the beginning of major reforms within the country. Hungary was suffering from an economic crisis, and need to find a way to save itself from collapsing. Parliament removed its Stalinist principles with Western influenced laws. A large group of reforms called “democracy package” included freedom of the press, a new constitution, and allowed multiple parties, which allowed for more choice for the people. Hungary also opened up the 150 mile border along Austria. This however caused an immigration of thousands of East Germans going to West
During the years between World War I and World War II, Eastern Europe looked to the West for a suc...
The grandmother is very old and has lived a very tough life in Vietnam. She “‘lost four of [her] children… twelve of [her] grandchildren and countless relatives to wars and famines’” (Meyer, 74) while in Vietnam. During her life she had very little time to enjoy herself, instead she had to focus on not only surviving, but also holding a family together and getting them through the hardships as well. On top of the Vietnam War, which killed an estimated 500,000-600,000 Vietnamese citizens alone (Weisner), she had to live through 2 additional wars and several famines. The implicated stress and hardships are almost unimaginable. This is evident in her stories and fairy tales she tells her granddaughters, which always have dark twist or no happy ending, or as the granddaughters say “The husband comes too late” (Meyer, 77) to stop the bad guy or save the
When my grandmother was 17 she met my grandfather an American man who was in the US Air Force. Shortly after their meeting, they found out they were having a baby and were married soon after. My grandmother then moved to the States and they began their life together. Eventually the Rains family had two more children, my mother and my Uncle Les. Unfortunately, this was never a fairytale life for any member of the family. My grandfather was an alcoholic, due to the stress in his job and be...
It was about two years ago when I arrived in United States of America, and I still remember the day when I left my native country, Honduras. As I recall, one day previous to my departure, I visited my relatives who live in San Pedro Sula. They were all very happy for me to see me except my grandmother Isabel. She looked sad; even though she tried to smile at all times when I was talking to her, I knew that deep inside of her, her heart was broken because of my departure the next morning. I remember that I even told her, “Grandma, do not worry about me, I’ll be fine. I promise that I will write you letters and send you pictures as much as possible.” Here reply was, “I know sweetie I know you will.” Suddenly after she said that I started to cry. For som...
Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. "Slovakia." Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 2358-2359. World History in Context. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
My parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1999. My mother came to this country first in January of that year, along with her parents and her siblings. She left behind her husband and her two daughters in search of a better life for all of us. Being away from your child even for a minute is the hardest thing to do as a mother. Not a day went by during our separation that she didn't think of us, did not long to hold us in her arms and to sing us to sleep with sweet lullabies. She fought back tears and endured heartache every day, but she knew that in the long run, this would all be worth it.