Our Foundation commemorates Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who passed away seventy years ago on 3 April 1954. The Portuguese diplomat, as his country’s Consul General in Bordeaux, was instrumental in 1940 in helping to escape Otto von Habsburg and his family, who were accused of treason and persecuted by Nazi Germany.
Today marks the 35th anniversary of the passing of Sándor Márai, who died at his home in San Diego. On this day, we remember one of the most influential Hungarian writers of the 20th century by reflecting on his correspondence with Otto von Habsburg.
Our Foundation owes a lot to an outstanding representative of the Hungarian American community, Dr. Eugene Megyesy, who lives in Denver. This time, he brought us to Budapest some interesting documents of Otto von Habsburg’s visits to Denver and his network of contacts there. The photos are from Ambrose Balajthy Júlia, whose mother was the sister of Etienne Perényi, a prominent figure in the Hungarian colony in Denver and a friend of Otto von Habsburg.
In 1941, Otto von Habsburg was the guest of honour at the commemoration of the 15th of March for Hungarian Americans. A newly discovered photo shows the figures of the Hungarian emigration in unprecedented detail.
