[Unicum] Talk by Marianne Szegedy-Maszak at Friendship Heights

The VILLAGAGE OF FRIENDSHIP HEIGHTS  is sponsoring a talk by Marianne-Szegedy-Maszak about her parents.  Her father was the last Ambassador (or Legate) from Hungary before the Communist take-over.  He resigned, refusing to represent the Communist puppet government.  More than that, her book and talk focuses on the love story of her family, the political situation of Hungary in the 1930’s and 1940’s, wartime events and eventual reunification of her parents and hopes dashed in post-war politics.  Ms. Szegedy-Maszak is a great raconteur while giving good historical background and highlighting the emotional narrative. 

 

Below see the announcement with details.  Please call to register so the room can be set up for the number of attendees.  There is no charge to attend and all are welcome.

 

Eniko

 

A beautiful wartime love story

Journalist Marianne Szegedy-Maszák began a New

York Times op-ed piece this way: “My father, a

Hungarian diplomat, dined with Adolf Hitler three

times. And then he went to the concentration camp at

Dachau.” Ms. Szegedy-Maszak will discuss her book,

I Kiss Your Hands Many Times: Hearts, Souls, and Wars

in Hungary, at the Village Center on Thursday, May

21, at 7:30 p.m.

The author’s parents, Hanna and Aladár, met

and fell in love in Budapest in 1940. He was a rising

star in the foreign ministry and a vocal anti-Fascist

who was in talks with the Allies when he was

arrested and sent to Dachau. She was a member of an

aristocratic Jewish family that owned factories, were

patrons of intellectuals and artists, and entertained dignitaries at their baronial

estates. Framed by letters written between 1940 and 1947, this family memoir

tells the story of the complicated relationship Hungary had with its Jewish

population and with the rest of the world.

Marianne Szegedy-Maszák, a journalist whose work has appeared in many

publications, has been a reporter at the New York Post, an editor at Congressional

Quarterly, a professor of journalism at American University, and a senior writer

at U.S. News & World Report.

 

Copies of the book will be on sale by the author at the special price of $20 —

cash or check only please.

 

Please call 301-656-2797 to register.