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Echoes Of The Multigenerational Hungarian Trauma
A sliver of insight for the uninitiated into what it really means to be Hungarian…
During the past two years, I have spent more time in Hungary than the previous 36 years of my entire life. Yes, that makes me 38. Congrats on figuring that out — sarcasm, just one of the many Hungarian traits. Because this is not a story about Hungarian inventions like the Hydrogen bomb or the Rubik’s cube — we’re both playful and dangerous. It’s not about spicy Hungarian sausages, the pörkölt, or the Hungarian gulyás — we sure love our food. You don’t need me for listing famous Hungarian sportspeople, scientific achievements or cakes you’ll only find in Hungarian cafeterias — yes, we pulled our weight, baked our cake and ate our cake all throughout history. There’s Google and AI for that, and while all of that is part of being Hungarian, it’s not the essence of our national identity, and most certainly not what I think of when at times I remember that I am, in fact, Hungarian, not just Irish and Romanian. It’s something else, something that runs far deeper — it’s multigenerational trauma.
For context, I am an ethnic Hungarian born in Romania. I lived in Romania, England, Spain, Northern Ireland and finally Ireland, where I gained my 3rd citizenship. That makes me a Romanian Hungarian Irish, or an Irish Romanian-born Hungarian, whichever rolls off the tongue easier. You’ll note however that I never lived in Hungary, which those unfamiliar with history will certainly find odd, so I feel all this must be cleared up as it helps a great deal in explaining the multigenerational aspect of the Hungarian trauma.
We’re “technically” Asians?
Aka, a very brief history of Hungary. I’m no historian, this is merely how the average Hungarian Jane, Joe and I understand Hungarian history. While there is heated debate between historians about the actual origins of the “Magyar” people — as Hungarians refer to themselves — the/a generally accepted version is that the Hungarian story originates somewhere south-east of the Ural Mountains — think modern Kazakstan, and as we know, anything East of the Ural Mountains is Asia, though I’ll admit that being an oversimplification, as the exact delineation of where Asia begins and ends can…
