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SUMMARY OF THE WINTER ISSUE

Volume 11, No. 4, WINTER 2003

Slovak Heritage Live

A quarterly newsletter published by Vladimir Linder

Winter issue was published in December 2003 and it was mailed to 1200 recipients world wide. 


Nativity scene from the Church of St. Egidius in Bardejov

FROM THE EDITOR 
I have returned few weeks ago from a month long stay in Slovakia, that is why the newsletter is a bit late. You can read about my trip on the following pages.
Christmas season has started and soon there will be a time for joy and a time for giving and I do hope that you will remember us at this time with kind donations for the newsletter. Many thanks in advance. With the next issue will start out 12th year of publishing Slovak Heritage Live. Please remember that NO GIFT IS TOO SMALL OR TOO GENEROUS. I wish all of you and your families’ joyous Christmas season.

Vinšujem Vám v tento velký sviatok, aby na vašom stole bolo vždy všetkého dostatok, chleba peceň, syra hruda, na poli bohatá úroda, v maštali mocný statok, v sýpke obylia dosti, aby ste všetci žili v svorosti. Toto vinšujeme Vám gazda i Vám gazdinná, vašim dietkam i celej rodine.

Vysliš Pane Bože.

I would like to extend my invitation one more time to anyone wishing to write his or her stories for the newsletter. You can email it or snail mail it including pictures, which will be returned after scanning. It you are mailing your story it should be typewritten...

CHRISTMAS RECIPES REMEMBERED

We have received many requests to publish the Christmas favorite recipes again, so here they are:

 

BOBÁLKY

This is a traditional Slovak Christmas Eve dish.

You will need: 2 pounds of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, one tablespoon of salt, vanilla, 1/2 cup of butter or margarine, one table spoon of oil, 2 eggs, 4-5 tablespoons of dry yeast. Mix all dry ingredients, add butter or margarine, oil, eggs, mix well together, and let rise. Roll out the dough to about a thickness of an inch, cut into stripes, roll the stripes into sticks of about 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Cut into one-inch pieces and place on a well-greased baking sheet. Bake until golden...

 

KAPUSTNICA

CHRISTMAS SAUERKRAUT SOUP

Take a pound or more of smoked pork, ham or smoked pork hooks and cook it. Take the meat out, if you want, separate the fat, and cut up the rest. Add a pound of pork meat, one large diced onion, diced garlic, caraway seed, marjoram, dried mushrooms, one small can of tomato paste, few dried plums, and a jar of sauerkraut. You cook it for few hours and add couple of Hungarian farmer sausages...

 

BISKUPSKÝ CHLEBÍČEK
BISHOP’S BREAD

This is my Christmas favorite.

You will need: 1/4 pound of butter, 1/2 cup of icing sugar, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 2 ounces of chocolate chips, 2 ounces of almonds, 2 ounces of chopped figs, 1 ounce of raisins, 2 ounces of candied chopped fruit, one tablespoon of baking powder.
Mix together butter, half of the sugar and yolks. Beat up a snow from the egg whites, add the other half of the sugar and finish the snow...

HRIATÔ HOT BRANDY
From ČAKLOV-ZEMPLÍN County

You fry a little butter in the pot, add little of granulated sugar, and cook it until it turns to caramel. Add little water, bring the mixture to a boil add a bit of ground coffee and pour in alcohol or vodka or slivovica-plum brandy-to taste. Drink Hot.

 

HRIATÔ HOT BRANDY
FROM TELGART UPPER HRON

You warm-up honey in the pot. When the honey is really warm, you add geese lard or butter. At the end you add clear alcohol or vodka. You can substitute sugar for the honey from which the Hriatô will get golden color. According to older people Hriatô is a good medicine against cough or common cold. Hriatô is often drunk at weddings, christenings, and Christmas Eve. Drink hot.  

 

For complete recipes visit our: RECIPE CORNER

MY FALL 2003 TRIP TO SLOVAKIA
I left Canada October 20 on Lufthansa Airlines to Frankfurt, where I arrived after flawless flight the next day and continued to Vienna where my long time friend and our correspondent MIROSLAVA DULOVÁ met me. Before my departure I emailed her to come to pick me up at the Swechat airport around 3:00 PM. This of course I forgot by the time I arrived in Vienna. The flight was right on time. Vienna Airport is relatively very small on the world scale of international airports and it takes almost no time to get to the arrival hall and to claim your luggage. So I was out by 2:30 PM. There was nobody there to pick me up. I went back and forth between the parking lot and the arrival hall for half an hour, almost having tears in my eyes as I was tired and didn’t feel to wait for the bus to Bratislava. My luggage consisted of two huge suitcases, one camera bag, one carry on suitcase for my photo equipment and a huge box containing a set of golf clubs. All of this was piled up on the luggage cart, that was really difficult to maneuver, and for which by the way you must pay 1 or 2 Euro. This is a problem for any first time North American traveler except for the people from countries where the Euro is their currency. You can change some money at the exchange boot right in the arrival hall but you will also pay a hefty service charge for it. You will get the money back after returning your cart to its proper location. Mira arrived right on time as per my forgotten instructions just as I was about to buy an Austrian phone card and call her on her cell phone. Going through both borders was smooth as usual and we went right away to pick up my car from my friends at ADVANTAGE CAR RENTAL. Juraj Petro was waiting for me at the office. This time I got the same Škoda Felicia again, which I rented on previous occasions. I seem to have luck for the same car...

A CHRISTMAS TO FORGET 
By: Marcel York  

Marcel York is a West Van­couver resident, who was born and raised in Czechoslovakia. Marcel is a personal friend of mine. Last Christmas we discussed the Christmases of our past and he recalled his Christmases at home during his childhood years and for him indeed a time to forget-until he came to Canada.
My earliest memory of a different kind of Christmas starts in 1943 in Trenčín, a city of about 28,000 people located on the river Váh in the White Carpathian Mountains in Slovakia.
It was then occupied by the Germans who had form­ed three large garrisons and an air base.
Day and night the city streets were full of trucks, troops and tanks, their movement making a cons­tant rumbling sound. Uniformed people were everywhere.
The Germans were runn­ing all the local industries and since the work force contained few local people (since most men were away, fighting with the partisans), the work was‑done by Ger­mans and prisoners of war from Russia, Poland and France.
In the winter of 1944, the cold weather started early and persisted with no relief. It seems to me that all bad years bring hard, cold winters, seemingly to add to the discomfort..

MANOR HOUSE MOJMÍROVCE

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The baroque-classicist manor-house in Mojmírovce surrounded by a pleasant greenness of a protected park is not only an important dominant of a village, but also a cultural, tourist and educational center, the tourist attraction of Nitra region.
Mojmírovce manor house, surrounded by a beautiful park is located in the center of the village of Mojmírovce, 15 kilometers south east of Nitra.
The history of its existence started just after the end of Turkish wars-in the period when refugees were returning to the villages-the original inhabitants, but as well the newcomers.
In this period, the village was called URMÍN, and you can hear the family name HUŇADY for the first time. The first members were Ondrej and Ladislav Huňady-arrived in Urmín in 1675. Little by little they became the largest estate owners and the richest family in the village.
In 1721, Huňady built a great manor house in a baroque style (later after the fire, the manor house was rebuilt in a classicist style). A part of this manor house was a small botanic garden called a “green house,” but it does not exist any more. In the following centuries, the park belonged among the most beautiful ones of the Upper Hungary-Slovakia, with a wide range of exotic trees, bushes, and plants.
The pride of Huňady was large stud farms where many noble Arabic, Spanish, and Italian horse breeds were bred. Many saddle horses from this stud farm were successful at competitions or hunts, and yoke horses at demanding distant journeys. Exceptionally the horse Tajár became very famous, it originated in Egypt and was a foundation stud horse for the Hungarian warm-blooded horses. These achievements in horse breeding were the first impulse for organization of a public horse race. The first one was realized at Huňady manor in 1814. At that time, it was the first horse race in Hungarian Kingdom. After 1892, they moved the competition organization first into Bratislava later into Pest, and that was the end of a promising tradition...

JASOVSKÁ CAVE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE
Catastral area: Jasov, District: Košice, Region: Košice


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It is situated in the Medzevská Upland at its Subscribet with the east margin of the Jasovská Plateau in the Slovak Karst, at the west boundary of Jasov. It is located in the National Nature Reserve Jasovské dubiny in the territory of the Protected Landscape Area and Biospheric Reserve of the Slovak Karst. The entrance to the cave is at the eastern foothill of Jasovský Rock, 257 m above the sea level. It was formed in the Middle Triassic Gutenstein dolomites, Steinalm lime stones and dolomites of the Silický nape along tectonic faults, by the former underground waters of Bodva River, at five developmental levels. It reaches the length of 2,122 meters, with vertical range 55 m. Rich sinter filling is represented
by pagoda like stalagmites, stalagnates, shields, drums, straw stalactites, and other forms. The lowest parts of the cave are often flooded as a result of vertical movements of underground water. The lowest water level of the cave lake is 7 m below the surface flow of Bodva, the waters of which are not flowing through the cave at present.
Bones of cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) and cave hyaena (Crocuta spelaea) belong to palaeontological findings discovered here. 17 species of bats have been found in the cave with dominating Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Rhinolophus hipposideros. The cave is one of the most important winter refuges of these species in Slovakia...

 

SLOVAK HISTORY CHRONOLOGY & LEXICON
Publisher: SPN
This book is in English
The book (350 pages) is divided into two sections.

The first section, the calendar, presents Slovak history from the first evidence about human beings on Slovak territory up to the events that took place in 1998 with notations summarizing important historical events and phenomena.
The second section is an encyclopedic dictionary with three hundred alphabetically arranged entries characterizing the most important concepts, institutions, and events. It includes genealogical tables of the longest reigning dynasties on the Hungarian throne, a list of all rulers and presidents of states to which the lands of Slovakia belonged (Great Moravia, the Kingdom of Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Slovakia).
Six historians from Bratislava prepared this chronology of Slovak history (J. Bartl, V. Segeš, V. Čičaj, D. Škvarna-main author, R. Letz and M. Kohútová).
It is said that the way to the knowledge of the present leads through a knowledge of the past. Therefore, this book can be recommended to all readers, who are interested in the Slovak history as well as to those, who are involved in genealogical research.
We can only welcome this book trying to fill the gap because until now, Slovak history was not sufficiently covered and to a very limited extent in the English language.
It is not frequent to mention the translator’ s name, but an exception in this case is allowed, thank you David P. Daniel for your excellent translation.
Reviewed by Miroslava Dulová

This book is available now. Cost is US$75.00. 
Please mail personal check to 
Vladimir Linder 
3804 Yale Street
Burnaby, BC, V5C 1P6, CANADA

OPEN AIR MUSEUM SKANZEN IN BARDEJOV

By: Martin Mešša  

 

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The origins of Slovakia’s oldest exposition of folk architecture were efforts of Eastern Slovak museum employees. The idea to build a skanzen in this important centuries old spa was born in the 1920’s, where the disappearing relics of the folk architecture of northeastern Slovakia could be saved. Transfer of the church from Mikulášová in 1926-32 was the first accomplishment in this effort. Though they could not master enough resources to continue saving architectural relics, the idea survived, and finally at the end of the 1950’s matured to solid projects.

The aim, besides the protection and preservation of folk architecture, was also to increase the attraction of the spa for tourists; and establishing the connection of the spa and tourism with the presentation of rescued relics of folk architecture was an important contribution to visitors of this exposition, which rose on the margin of the valley between 1960 and 1965. In the ensuing years other buildings were added. Among the conservationists who took part in the preparation and realization were the project’s authors, Imrich Puškár and Blanka Pušakárová; as well as Šariš Museum employees A. Frický, J. Mihál, T. Weisz and A. Koval; and a whole range of village carpenters, builders and farmers from the villages of Frička, Bardejovská Nová Ves, Zborov, and Dlhá Lúka. Thanks to the fact that the first exhibits were built by people experienced in timber construction, the first open-air museum in Slovakia grew quite quickly. The small area, and the limited possibilities of activity in a zone for preservation of mineral 

waters influence the park-like method of presentation..

 

MONS.  VIKTOR TRSTENSKÝ (1908-)

By: Mons, Doc. ThDr. ICLic. František Dlugoš, PhD
The personality of monsignor Trstenský, a papal prelate belongs to the lightest personalities in the modern history of Church in Slovakia. He was born on March 28, in Trstená. After graduation in his birth town he registered to study theology at Priest’s seminary in Spiš’s Chapter. He was ordained to priesthood on June 29, 1931 in Spiš’s cathedral, by Spiš’s residence bishop Ján Vojtaššák.
After his ordination he became chaplain in following locations: in 1933 Levoča and in the same year he went to Oravské Veselé, in 1932 again in Levoča, and in the same year in Rudňany, in 1933 back to Levoča and immediately after to Stará Ľubovňa, in 1934 for the fourth time to Levoča and from there he was named administrator of Reľová behind Magura parish. In 1939 he was named priest and deacon in Dolný Kubín in Orava, where he was active until his arrest in 1949. He was arrested in 1949 and wrongfully sentenced for supporting Salesian order sisters. He was imprisoned in several places: Žilina, Ilava, in labour camp in Hronec, Nováky, Ilava, Trenčín Močenok-Sládečkovice. The state court sentenced him wrongfully again on April 23, 1951 for two years and a fine of 10.000.00 Kčs for not reporting a visit from abroad, and loss of citizenship rights for five years. The highest court in Prague confirmed this sentence on October 18, 1951 in full. He was imprisoned in Leopoldov, Jáchymov, Svätoplukov and Ruzyň. After that he spent six months in priest’s camp in Pezinok, army camp in Plzeň, Rokycany, Zvolen and Banská Bystrica. He was freed in 1954 without possibility to work as a priest. He spent a year at home unemployed and then they made him a disabled pensioner. January 13, 1958 he was arrested again and sentenced wrongfully for 15 years for visiting bishop Ján Vojtaššák in Dečín. He appealed this decision and his sentence was reduced to 9 years. He was imprisoned in Žilina, Ilava, Olomouc in Prague’s Pankrác and in Mirov. He was freed on May 13, 1960 during amnesty and later worked as forest laborer and a stock keeper...

BOOK REVIEWS

THE END-KONIEC
Authors: Peter Kubínyi (a reporter) and Alan Hyža (a photographer, holder of 8 Czech Press Photo awards)
At the end of the 90’s of the 20th century different forms of the communist ideology controlled approximately 1.6 billion people throughout the world. This book presents more than 100 unique pictures from such countries: Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Cambodia, Cuba, China, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Korean People’s Republic, Libya, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Rumania, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen and Yugoslavia as well as own experience from several of the above – mentioned countries. It is worth to mention that the prologue is also in the English language. This book is a unique document of the period of time which, let us hope, will never return.

BRATISLAVA A OKOLIE AND ITS ENVIRONS…UND UMGEBUNG
Text: Vladimír Tomčík
Publisher: Media Svatava and Filistein Verlag 2002
The ambitious publishing house, Media Svatava launches again a very nice book, acting globally, in three languages: Slovak, English and German languages.
I
t is a perfect marriage of old and contemporary pictures and readers will feel as a part of the picture when opening at once one picture on two pages consisting again of two pages each side.
The combination of wonderful pictures and text is well balanced, you will learn not only about Bratislava but also about that what is beyond the town gates.
This book was awarded at the international book fair in Almati (June 2003), Sankt Petersburg (August 2003) and Amsterdam (October 2003).
As usually, this innovative publishing house offers several alternatives of this book:
Book; book +CD (compositors inspired by Bratislava: Mozart, Hummel, Beethoven and Haydn); book in a wooden case; book leather-bound or book leather-bound with a relief (a limited edition, only 100 pcs).

SLOVAKS-SLOVÁCI
Author: Karol Kállay
Publisher: Media Svatava, 2001

This is a book full of people and it began to take shape almost sixty years ago. This is a book exclusively about people-about Slovaks. People presented in this book make up a picture of the country and they represent culture, science, sport, business, banking, and other sectors. The compilation of this book is a compromise.

Reviewed by Miroslava Dulová

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Copyright © Vladimir Linder 2003 
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The above article and photographs may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic, without the express written permission of Vladimir Linder. All rights reserved.