Run and Pray

By Tibor Gyorffy

This book is about the life of a teenage boy who went through a tough, difficult experience in order to escape the Soviet (Russian) slaughter of the Hungarian people. Leaving his family and country at age 19 was a very difficult time. Going to Austria, where German is spoken, and living in different refugee camps, where the food is substandard and insufficient, was hard to endure. His faith in God sustained him and made him a strong young man. After two years of refugee life, his prayers were answered and he found long-awaited freedom in the USA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Proisle Publishing Services
• Release date: Sep 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781959449010

Book preview

Dedication

I would like to thankfully acknowledge the following people for their help in typing and editing this book: my wife, Judy, my children, Steve, Lisa, Mike, and three of my grandchildren, Collin, Emily, and Nathan. My good friend, John Davis, encouraged me to write this book and helped me with formatting it’s contents.

I would like to dedicate it to my wife, children, grandchildren, my family in Hungary, and my church friends for all their prayer and encouragement.

Quotation

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

-Patrick Henry

Foreword

This book is an attempt to answer the many questions voiced by my children, grandchildren, and friends about who I am and why I am here in the U.S.A.

As a child and teenager, I experienced the Soviet Russian Communist oppression on my country and family. The Hungarian people wanted to be free of Russian occupation and live with freedom as an independent country! Obviously the Soviet Union did not allow that to happen And used every possible dictatorial means to discourage The Hungarians. This is the reason why the 1956 Hungarian revolution happened. And this is the reason why my friend and I took a chance and escaped from Hungary in December 1956.

That experience changed my life. At age 19, I knew that my life would be different. I knew that it would be impossible to go back to life as it was before. In this book, the readers will see why that was the case. Everyone knows that no one wants to go back to living under tyranny. But at the same time, it is extremely difficult to leave a stable and loving family behind and face an unfamiliar life. At 19, you need a lot of support and direction! Also, facing a different language and culture in your surroundings is difficult.

Life in free Hungary

It was July 2, 1937.

There was an excitement in the Gyorffy household. Their third child, a little boy, was born around noontime joining a sister and a brother. The father was the principle in the local elementary and Junior high school. The newborn boy was named Tibor. The father Joseph Gyorffy, besides being principle in the local school, was an organist in the Reform (Presbyterian) church. He also directed the choir.

At this time, as over centuries, the people In Hungary enjoyed freedom and independence. Life in Hungary was good for our family. Our family was active in the church and in the community.

Currently Europe was in turmoil. Germany had elected an aggressive chancellor, Adolf Hitler. He was openly building up the German army and was hostile toward many other European countries. At the same time Hungary was independent and democratic.

Unfortunately, that would soon change. Germany decided on September 1, 1939, to attack some European countries. That started the Second World War in Europe.

I was only two years old when this happened!

Spring 1942

The winter had been very cold. But Spring in Hungary is long and beautiful. I could hear my Dad and Mom, talking about how they were looking forward to Spring and, also, about the war. Even though I was only five years old, I heard the anxiety in their voices. They would lower their voices a little when they talked about the war. "It's here. The soldiers are here" It was true. There were German and Hungarian soldiers everywhere. They were going east to the Russian frontline. The fear of the war coming to our city had been upon us for months. And with the war and the soldiers came hardship.

Life was hard, even for a five year-old boy. Food was scarce and sometimes I was hungry. Every evening my father, mother, brothers, and sister prayed and asked God to bring us food for the next day. God never failed to provide us with daily bread.

While the second front, led by the US. and English armies, opened late in western