Teško ide edan vojak

by Steve Geosits

Ferencz Teklits (1895-1918?) served in the Hungarian military during World War I and died during one of the battles against the Russian forces. After his death, Petroviščan school principal János Németh wrote this Hrvatski song in remembrance of him and his "divojka", Anna Harangozó. This song became popular in the village and was sung for many years after the war. Eventually, the origins of the song were forgotten and it simply became a tribute for all Petroviščan who died in the war.


Ferencz Teklits (1895-1918?) je služil u vugarskoj vojski u parvon boju i umadl je kad se bojeval suprot Rusov. Po njegovoj smrt János Németh, ravnatelj petroviske škole je napisal ovu hrvatsku pjesmu na spominak za njega i njegove divojke, Ane Harangozó. Ova pjesma je postala popularna u selu i su ju jačili lita dugo po boju. Konačno su zabili podrijetlo ove pjesme i jednostavno  je postala priznanje za sve Petroviščane koji su upali u boju. 

§ § § 

Teško ide edan vojak iz Pinčene drage,

S teškim srcem je ostavil edno malo stanje.

Mislil si je da če lafko projt u zatu hižu,

Va obloki tako lipi muškatljini cvatu.

It's tough going for one soldier from the Pinka Valley.

With a broken heart he leaves behind one small house.

He thought it would be easy for him to go past that house

Where on the window, beautiful geraniums bloomed.

Nek sad vidi kakoj teška ova misal njemu,

Da ju mora ostaviti ter mu suze curu.

Suze curu, vruče suze, ču li te več vidit?

Ar znan nigdar moje noge ov put ne te mirit.

But now he sees how hard it is for him to think about it,

That he must leave, and his tears flow.

His tears flow, hot tears. Will I see you again, 

Or will my feet never measure this street again?

Ide vojak na granicu domovinu branit,

Iskrena očima veli „Dobit ali umrit!”

Garmi, šumi sve se trese naranjene nosu.

Rusi viču „Dobili smo!” na sve kraje viču.

The soldier goes to the border and watches over his homeland,

With sincere eyes he says, “Win or die!”

Thunder rumbling, everything is shaking, wounded are carried.

Russians cry out, “We win!” from all over they shout.

Kopa se diboka jama med trimi jelvami,

Da bih vase prijela tijela ka se vanju nosu.

Nosu ednoga vojaka Bože odakle je?

Gledaju ga, tužno velu „iz Pinčene drage.”

They dig a deep ditch between three pine trees

That would take the body they were carrying.

They carry one soldier and wonder from where he comes.

They look at him and sadly say, "from the Pinka Valley."

Dal si žitak za svoj orsag edan Petroviščan,

Mirno leži ednom lušku, če li bit poiskan?

Garmi, šumi sve se trese štuki dalje marnju,

Samo vtrič je potišal da mu sanj ne tlači.

He gave his life for his country, one Petroviščan,

Quietly lying in a wooded area. Will he be searched for?

Thunder rumbling, everything is shaking, machine guns still groan.

Only  the wind slowed down so his dream wouldn't be disturbed.

Edna divojka se plače u Pinčenoj dragi,

Pismo je dobila dar pred trimi dani.

Vinac splete s lipi rožic onomu vojaku,

Kogaj srce do zadnjega vik tucalo za nju.

One girl cries in the Pinka Valley.

She received a letter three days before.

She makes a wreath of beautiful roses for one soldier,

Whose heart to the end always beat for her. 

 -- napisal János Németh

§ § § 

 
Thanks to Klotilda (Jurasits) Geosits for the lyrics and melody of this old composition, Viktória Merőtei for assistance with translations, and István Henits for the church photograph.


An audio recording of the poem sung by Klotilda Jurasits can be found at this link:

http://www.szentpeterfa.org/showmedia.php?mediaID=5114

Zahfalim Klotildi (Jurasits) Geosits za tekst i melodiju ovoga staroga sastava, Viktoriji Merőtei da je pomogla s prijepisom i prijevodom, i  Istvánu Henits za fotografiju.

Audio snimanje ove pjesme u prezentaciji Klotilde Jurasits more se najt na ovom linku:

http://www.szentpeterfa.org/showmedia.php?mediaID=5114

Tesko ide edan vojak by Steve Geosits is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Mudpies ~ Cow Herding

by Linda (Skrapits) Mircik

Growing up on 92nd Street and First Avenue in New York City had provided lots of unusual sights and sounds all my life, but, nothing prepared me for the first day of our trip to Szentpeterfa, Hungary in the summer of 1965.

When I awoke, my mother [i] told me to hurry outside Aunt Agnes house [ii], and bring the camera. I heard yelling in the distance, and the sound of heaviness in the air, along with the mooing of lots and lots of cows, accompanied by the sound of a loud bell. As I looked down the street, coming toward us from the intersection of the little church, St. Stephen Chapel  in the middle of town was an endless parade of cows, with my Uncle Steve[iii] heading up the front calling out to everyone to open their gates. The lead cow was moving with a great rhythm so that the bell around its neck clanged and clanged melodiously.

In those years, the village cows "collectively" formed a parade in the morning from one end of the town, up to and past the "big" St. Peter and Paul church on the hill, and they were taken out to the pasture for grazing. As the parade of cows continued past each house, villagers on both sides of the street would open their gates and the cows just walked out without any hesitancy, and fell into place behind the line of cows that preceded them. It was like a ballet, and the music they made was the sound of their hooves stepping over the dirt road as they headed up the hill.

Cows on parade - Standing in the background are two Vamušev girls,
one is the daughter of István Skrapits and the other is the daughter of Mate Skrapits

Sometimes the ducks and geese would follow along inspecting the path the cows had taken. Once all the cows had passed, someone from each house would come out to the street and either pick up or brush away any "mudpies" the cows had left in their path. It was an endearing site for this city girl, to see all those beautiful and earthy village cows. In New York I was only used to cars and trucks depositing dirt and grime and exhaust on First Avenue (the street that ran in front of our store), making me cough and sneeze.

The cows went out of the town in the early morning and this scene repeated itself in the evening in reverse. The cows returned home from the pasture while each house gate was left opened to let the cows return to each of their homes to be milked that evening. In the two months that I was there, I never heard anyone say that the wrong cow went into the wrong yard, or that someone took a neighbor's cow. The ducks and geese that followed them back through the town also went to their respective yards, and the process of sweeping the street clean again was repeated.

That first night, my Aunt Agnes's husband, Janos, gave me my first taste of fresh, warm milk from their cow. It was nothing like I had ever tasted coming out of New York milk containers. I never had a stomach problem after drinking it, and slept very well.

If I close my eyes, that parade of cows comes back to me right now, with good feelings and memories, but, thank goodness, no mudpies!

---

[i] Matilda Gerencser (Gerenčirova)

[ii] Agnes (Milisits) Jurasits (Gerenčirova)

[iii] István Skrapits (Vamuševi dolnje)

Photo of the cows on parade, courtesy of Linda (Skrapits) Mircik.

Editor: Steve Geosits

Mudpies by Linda (Skrapits) Mircik is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Szentpéterfa Heroes 1914-1918

“Allow Our Heroes to Rest Peacefully,

That They May Meet Each Other in the Hereafter,

Until Resurrection in Our Dear Home,

Procure This, From Our Divine God,

O Patron of Hungary.”

–Szentpéterfa Heroes’ Memorial inscription

“Hőseinknek boldog nyugvást

Más világon viszontlátást

Szép hazánknak feltámadást

Eszközöld, hogy Isten adja

Magzarország Nagyasszonya”

–A szentpéterfai Hősök emlékművének felirata

The First World War, also known as “The Great War,” began in Europe in the summer of 1914 and lasted until November 1918. Over 100 countries from Africa, America, Asia, Australia and Europe were part of the conflict. The result of this war was massive destruction and tremendous loss of life. Some estimates show that there were 60 million civilians and 25 million military deaths.

Az első világháború, melyet “A nagy háború” néven is emlegetnek, 1914 nyarán kezdődött Európában és 1918 novemberéig tartott. Több mint 100 ország, Afrika, Amerika, Ázsia, Ausztrália és Európa is része volt a konfliktusnak. A háború tömeges pusztítást okozott és hatalmas mennyiségű emberéletet követelt. Egyes becslések szerint 60 millió civilt és 25 millió katonát öltek meg.

In the past, war memorials were erected to commemorate great victories, but in modern times the main intent of war memorials is not to glorify war, but simply to honor those who have died. And so as a result of the tragedy of the First World War, most cities in the countries involved in the conflict erected memorials, and the memorials in smaller villages and towns often listed the names of each soldier who had been killed. The same was true of Szentpéterfa, where 34 Petroviščan soldiers lost their lives. The names of these soldiers are all listed below, and for those whose families are known to us we have included their year of birth (*) and their house name (~). 

A múltban azért emeltek háborús emlékműveket, hogy megemlékezzenek a nagy győzelmekről, de manapság a háborús emléművek fő célja nem a háború dicsőítése, hanem egyszerűen tisztelgés azok előtt, akik meghaltak. Az első világháború tragikus kimenetele miatt a konfliktusban érintett országok legtöbb városában emlékműveket emeltek. A kisebb falvak és városok emlékművein gyakran fel van tüntetve minden katona neve, akiket megöltek. Ugyanígy Szentpéterfán is, ahol 34 falubeli katona vesztette életét. A katonák nevei lentebb listázva vannak, és azok esetében akiknek családja ismert, a születési évük és háznevük is jelezve van. 

Szentpéterfa Heroes 1914-1918 ~ Szentpéterfa Hősei 1914-1918

     Geosits Antal (*1884 ~Harvatov)                                Paukovits Nándor (*1876 ~Jivin)

     Geosits György (unknown-ismeretlen)                       Rumpl József (*1881~ Rumpljinov)

     Geosits Ferenc  (unknown-ismeretlen)                      Sákovits István (*1873 ~ Jandrin)

     Geosits Ferenc  (unknown-ismeretlen)                      Skrapits Ferenc (unknown-ismeretlen) 

     Gerencsér Ferenc (unknown-ismeretlen)                  Skrapits Mátyás (*1897 ~Vamušev) 

     Hajszán József (*1875 ~Hajsanov)                            Stubits Ferencz (unknown-ismeretlen)

     Hajszán József (*1884 ~Hajsanov)                            Subits Ferencz (unknown-ismeretlen)

     Henits István (*1889 ~Kramarov)                               Szoldatits István (*1893 ~Starnov)

     Horváth György (*1891 ~Ninčev)                                Szoldatits János (*1885 ~Starnov)

     Jurasits Ferenc (unknown-ismeretlen)                       Teklits Ferenc (*1895~Šandorovi)

     Jurasits Ferenc (unknown-ismeretlen)                       Teklits Ferenc (unknown-ismeretlen)

     Krammer Ferenc (*1875 ~ Kramarov)                       Temmel József (*1881 ~Palkin)

     Kurcz István (unknown-ismeretlen)                              Ujvári János (*1896 ~ Ujvarijov)

     Németh József (*1874)                                                 Varga János (unknown-ismeretlen)

     Oszwald Alajos (*1854 ~Mlinarov)                              Völfer Antal (*1876 ~Vargićin)

     Paukovits Ferenc (unknown-ismeretlen)                    Zimits István (*1888 ~Mikulaščev)

     Paukovits Ignác (*1895)                                               Zinner György (School teacher-Tanár)

On Tuesday afternoon on June 29th, 1926, the entire village of Petrovo Selo came out to the front of St. Stephen’s Chapel where the newly placed Heroes Memorial stood. A white veil covered the memorial for the dedication. My grandmother Rozália Jurasits was 29 years old and among those who took part in the event. She was especially happy because the veil covering the memorial was actually a tablecloth she brought to Petrovo Selo from America the previous year. She was asked by the those who organized the ceremony if they could borrow it and use it as a veil for the statue, as there was nothing quite as large or as suitable in the village.

1926. június 29-én, kedden délután Szentpéterfa egész lakossága kijött a Szent István kápolna elé, ahol az újonnan elhelyezett Hősök Emlékműve állt. Egy fehér lepel fedte az emlékművet a felszentelésen. Az akkor 29 éves nagymamám, Jurasits Rozália azok között volt, akik részt vettek az eseményen. Különösen boldog volt, mert a fehér leplet, mely az emlékművet fedte és tulajdonképpen egy asztalterítő volt, ő hozta előző évben Amerikából Szentpéterfára. Az ünnepség szervezői megkérték, hogy kölcsönvehetik-e, és használhatják-e lepelként a szoborra, mivel nem volt más, megfelelő nagyságú a faluban. 

Rózalia Jurasits with her daughters Anna and Klotilda in Petrovo Selo (1926)

Jurasits Rozália a lányaival, Annával és Klotildával Szentpéterfán (1926)

During the dedication, 24-year-old Ferenc Geosits (Plehjlov) spoke to the gathering about those who devoted their lives for their country, and then the long cloth was released revealing the statue. Since 1925 this tradition of the memorial day ceremony of the Heroes takes place on the last Sunday of May, when they are commemorated with songs, poems and speeches. Between 1925 and 1944 this memorial day was a national holiday, but during the decades of Communism it was forbidden to celebrate this day. The holiday was reinstated in 1989.

In 1937, Rozália’s 11-year-old daughter Klotilda (my mother) was asked by the school principal, János Németh, if she would recite “Magyar Katonák”, a poem he wrote to honor the Heroes of the First World War. Klotilda wore a traditional Hungarian dress that day to commemorate the event. What follows is the same poem that she recited at the 1937 memorial, 74 years ago.


A felszentelés alatt a 24 éves Geosits Ferenc (Plehljov) beszédet mondott az összegyűlteknek azok emlékére, akik életüket áldozták a hazájukért. Majd a hosszú leplet lehúzták felfedve a szobrot. 1925 óta május utolsó vasárnapján kerül sor a Hősök emléknapi ünnepségére, melynek keretében énekekkel, versekkel és beszédekkel emlékeznek meg róluk. 1925 és 1944 között ez a nap nemzeti ünnep volt, azonban a kommunizmus évtizedei alatt tilos volt ünnepelni. Az ünnepet 1989-ben állították vissza.

1937-ben Rozália 11 éves lányát, Klotildát (az édesanyámat) kérte meg Németh János iskolaigazgató, hogy szavalja el az első világháborús hősök tiszteletére írt Magyar Katonák című versét. Klotilda tradicionális magyar népviseletben volt azon a napon az esemény emlékére. Az alábbiakban következik a vers, amit 74 évvel ezelőtt szavalt az 1937. évi megemlékezésen.

Klotilda Jurasits in the Hungarian dress she wore for the memorial ceremony (1937)

Jurasits Klotilda magyar népviseletben, amit az ünnepségen viselt (1937)

Hungarian Soldiers

Whose deep dream is to defend the precious homeland

Even from the unmarked grave

Our dead heroes, you Hungarian soldiers

Now, the proud mourning of a nation is celebrating.

A forest of flags bows to you

The living generation salutes you

Every flower blooms for you

On you the sky sheds its light.

Sacred ancestors have left a legacy of

proud swords and verdant laurel

So that it can be a sacred entitlement and a sweet sacrifice

To give your blood and die for your homeland.

You, who looked into the icy eye of death

With a lordly primal defiance

And just as easily as if they were flowers

You sacrificed your beautiful young lives.

Our dead heroes, you Hungarian soldiers

Now the flag and the sword are honoring you

O accept this tribute

And even from the depths of the grave defend the Hungarians.

Magyar Katonák

Kiknek mély álma még a jeltelen sír mélyén is

A drága hont vigyázza

Holt hőseink ti magyar katonák

Most ünnepel egy nemzet büszke gyásza.

Felétek hódol zászlók erdeje

Néktek tiszteleg az élő nemzedék

Tinéktek nyílik mindegyik virág

Tirátok szórja fényét most az ég.

Nektek szent ősök hagyták örökül

A büszke kardot s a zöldellő babért

Hogy szent juss, édes áldozat legyen

Vérrel áldozni és halni a honért.

Kik a halálnak jég szemébe is

Kevély ősdaccal dalolva néztetek

S oly könnyen mintha virág volna

Csak áldoztátok fel szép ifjú éltetek.

  Holt hőseink ti magyar katonák

Tinéktek hódol most zászló és a kard

Ó fogadjátok el e hódolást

S a sír mélyén is védjétek a magyart.

János Németh the school principal

Németh János iskolaigazgató

An audio recording of the poem recited by Klotilda Jurasits can be found at this link: A versről készült hangfelvétel, melyen Jurasits Klotilda szaval megtalálható ezen a linken:

www.szentpeterfa.org/showmedia.php?mediaID=4969

§ § § § §

A request: If you know who any of these unknown war soldiers are, or if you have any photos of them to share for our village archives www.szentpeterfa.org, please contact us at szentpeterfa@gmail.com. Thank you.

Kérés: Ha ismeri bármelyik “ismeretlenként” feltüntetett háborús katonát, vagy van bármilyen fotója róluk amit megosztana a falusi archívumunkkal www.szentpeterfa.org, kérem kontaktoljon minket a szentpeterfa@gmail.com e-mail címen. Köszönöm!

Acknowledgements:

1. Heroes Memorial photo courtesy of Stefán Geosits, Klimpuh.

2. Rozalia (Németh) Jurasits family photo (courtesy of Magdaléna (Nemeth) Fazekas).

3. Klotilda Jurasits at age 11 (courtesy of Klotilda (Jurasits) Geosits).

4. János Németh school teacher who wrote Magyar Katonák (courtesy of Nicolaus Szabara).

Special thanks to Viktória Merőtei for her Hungarian - English translation of the article and poem.

© Copyright Steve Geosits. Photos may not be reproduced without permission. 

Szentpéterfa Heroes 1914-1918 by Steve Geosits is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.