Week 1: Rezsnak Miki and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956

Prelude: I was born in Budapest on the 15th June 1955. On November 28th 1956, my father Robert, my mother Olga and me left Hungary during the last few weeks of the Hungarian revolution. There are many stories on the net about this and I'll make my contribution here. Although there is much more to this history, I'll write only the relevant details in specific regard to Rezsnak Miki here.

Miki is a Marafko relative who was very close to my father. His mother was a Marafko and the family lived close to the Austrian border. Once my Budapesti parents made the decision to flee as refugees, they planned their escape knowing that many others were turned back by the AVO , often with the help of Hungarian pro-Soviet sympathisers. So the route that they chose was either unknown by the AVO and Soviet forces or at least, not patrolled regularly. To put this in perspective, it was almost impossible to cross the border that late in the revolution and a week later, all borders were forcibly closed.

My Mother - Olga Martyn - Marafko Olga ne Jeges Olga in August 1956 tutoring Miki in maths.

About 10 Hungarians including my family assembled together and with the help of Miki who was about 15 at the time, were led to Agfalva, a small village near the border. There, he knew of a trusted man who led at least 6 of these 10 to a place where they were able to safely cross. This party included Holmik Imre, wife Marika and son Gabor - family friends then and for many years afterwards.

Now, in 2013 I met with Miki and his wonderful wife Teri.

Feri Rezsnak Miklos and Me (still at 82kg) looking over some old photos in the 'Pavilon' - a common outdoor structure in Hungary.

Teri with my grandmother's table cloth. It was offered to me - but I decided not to accept it.

Miki is a wonderful host, Teri an amazing cook - a Chicken Paprikas for lunch. Old memories returned with the help of many of Feri's photos and new connections made, especially between Feri and Miki.
Miki is better known as a radio star and had spent all of his life in cultural work during Soviet times in theatre, radio and television. He can be found here on YouTube although more can be found on different search engines.
I met him a week later when he came to visit my cousin Marafko Gabor - my primary relative and significant one at that.