A PARISI MAGYAR REFORMATUS EGYHAZ PRESBITERIUMA

The Hungarian Reformed Church in Paris 1938

My grandparents, in common with many others, left in Hungary in 1919 at the height of the White Terror. They settled in Paris, where there was a thriving Hungarian Community. This community broke up in the face of French hostility a year or so before the outbreak of WWII - Hungarians (whose countrymen at home had allied themselves with Germany) were called 'La Petite Boche' and spat at in the street. My grandparents went home, what happened to the others?
 
In 1938 a commemorative photo-montage of the elders of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Paris was created (presumably as a souvenier) and, as my grandfather SZEDMAKY Sandor was a member, a copy has been preserved by my family.
 
WARNING: THIS PICTURE TAKES A LITTLE WHILE TO LOAD!
The names that appear (excluding accents which always come out wrong) as far as I can tell are
PAP Jozsef
FABRY Lajos
CUNYI Jozsef
Dr VARGA Zsigmond
n. Dr PENZES Sandor (Gondnok - Trustee)
NAGY Karoly
TAHACS Andras
CSIKOS Jozsef
FELINEK Jozsef
SZEDMAKY Sandor
DOMOKOS Istvan
RACZ Kalman (Gondnok)
SZILASI Bela (Fogondnok - Head Trustee)
KULIFAY Imre (Lelkipasztor - Minister)
JAMBOR Imre (Gondnok)
GALL Lajos
GDEZY Geza
BATHORY Istvan
GULYA Beta
FECKER Henrik
SIMON Janos (Penztaros - Treasurer)
MAGDIKA Gyula
KOVES Lajos
KOVACS Lajos
VARGA Albert
CSULLOG Peter
KOVACS Janos
MESVAROS Sandor
BENCSE Jozsef
SZUCS Janos
 
Does anyone recognise a name? It would be interesting to find out what happened to my grandfather's colleagues and, you never know, somebody who reads this may even be able to tell me where the Church was. I went to Paris in 1996 and was unable to find any trace of it. In return I can provide you with a small photograph of your ancestor or a scan of the whole thing.
 
First reply October 10th 2000 from Henriette J. Szekely (née: Fecker/Fekker): What a wonderful, wonderful surprise !! Thanks a million!!! - I am the only child - a daughter of FECKER HENRIK - later changed to FEKKER = sounding more Hungarian (as you can see on my E-mail address, using my maiden name). I live in Calif. USA since - forever, divorced ages ago and has 2 grown sons (one of them already sent you an E-mail) named (Zsolt) Z. Henry Szekely (after Henrik) and (Szabolcs) S. John Szekely, who grown up in Calif. but lives in Denmark. I received your note with the wonderful pic.from my son, from Denmark - who received it from Calif. (from his father) = ergo came back to Calif. THANK YOU - THANK YOU !!! A thousand times! My father and mother lived in Paris for 14 1/2 years and used to go to Hungary for vacation each fall. The last time they went the WW II. broke out, and "they" did not let them leave Hungary to go back to Paris anymore. Those times the French granted the citizenship, after 15 yrs. residence. They missed out by 6 mo. He owned a shoe factory in Paris, where they made (his patent) the world's first "woven" shoes (the front part was woven fr. stips of leather the back part was solid leather but this in another story: the discovery came from being unemployed in Paris and was messing around with little bits of leftover leather at home - which, by chance became a hugh success at the First World Fair, held in Paris in 1923) My mother had a salon - where she made custom made ballgowns for the Buckingham Palace and others, sewing sequinces on the dresses - the style of their time - sometimes all night. As a result lost her eyesight to one eye by her mid 40s. Not being able to return to Paris, they lost everything. The germans houled away all they owned as "foreign prop". I was born in Paris - and was baptized in the Hungarian Presbyterian Church by the Rev. Kulifay - I wrote to him in 1959 - before I got married - I still have the correspondence - if I remember: I needed a copy of my Birth Certificate. I will do some digging in my OLD personal posessions and will find the address of the Hungarian church in Paris - I HOPE!!! My first son - Henry - was born in April 1963 and my father lived just long enough to learn that he had a grand-SON, who was named after him. He died six weeks later of a heartattack. That was 37+ years ago and I STILL miss him.
e-mail: glen@itl.net
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