Exile does strange things to people. Those suffering from it have been known to undergo a psychological transformation in which they begin to identify more with the land of exile than with their homeland. This psychosis is similar to the Stockholm Syndrome, where hostages begin to identify with those who have taken them hostage. As I continued to develop my itinerary for the lost cities beyond Hungary’s borders, I began to dread the idea that eventually it would come to an end, but instead of resignation, I began to focus on delayed gratification. I would do this by segueing the lost cities into the lost lands. This would allow me to keep this journey going as long as possible.
I am a believer that you can never get enough of a good thing. When someone asks me, “Do you ever stop?” I know that I am headed in the right direction. When they say, “Give it a rest.” I feel like giving it everything I’ve got. Curiosity never quits. The only thing that can stop us is ourselves. The end of one road can just as easily be the beginning of another. Dead ends are just detours that result in opportunities to reroute a journey in a new and equally exciting direction. This is the case with my lost cities itinerary which I am now turning into something just as ambitious, the lost lands.
Making History – Sombor (Zombor) in Vojvodina (Credit: Dekanski)
Going Too Far – An Itinerary of Exploration
The presence of the past informs the lost cities and lands beyond Hungary’s borders. As such, it is only appropriate to invoke one of my favorite quotes from a book that delves as deep into the past as any literature ever written. In Remembrance of Things Past, French author Marcel Proust plumbs the depths of his memory bank for thousands of pages. The intellectual erudition and psychological analysis of Proust is a treasure trove of wisdom. One of my favorite quotes from Proust sums up the fascination of traveling to lost cities and lands. “We must never be afraid to go too far, the truth lies beyond.” Pushing further onward, outward, and around the lands beyond Hungary’s borders will yield many more discoveries that help me understand the effects of Trianon past and present. At the same time, this project will also reveal greater historical truths beyond Trianon.
There is a great deal of ground to cover while exploring the lost lands. The task is daunting, made more difficult because there will never be enough time to visit every place. Fortunately, armchair travel has less limits than the physical kind. Armchair travel expands as far as the imagination. There are plenty of places affected by Trianon that are worth revisiting. A map and knowledge are the only things needed to get started from the comfort of my favorite armchair. The goal is a trip to the lost cities and lands of Historic Hungary that follow my imagined itineraries. I have been to many places in the lost lands, but never visited them as part of an intentional process. Piecing together the past into a coherent whole is a worthy pursuit. There are hundreds of cities, towns, villages, historic sites, and monuments awaiting rediscovery.
Pride in the Past – St. Jakob’s Church and Town Hall in Levoca (Lőcse) Slovakia
(Credit: Pudelek)
Minority Report – People & Proportions
My lost cities itinerary was supposed to end in Subotica, followed by a return trip to Budapest. That was until I decided it would be better to finish in Szeged, one of the Hungarian cities that did not get away in the aftermath of World War I. By the time the lost cities’ itinerary made its way to Szeged, I began to ask myself why not keep going? There must be more than seven lost cities awaiting my arrival beyond Hungary’s borders. Ironically, I had been in this same situation a few years ago. At the beginning of 2020, only a month before the pandemic began, I spent time in Subotica before heading back to Budapest via Szeged. I now have an opportunity to reimagine that part of my past. Rather than heading for home, I can voluntarily go into exile by crossing back over the Hungarian border and into the unknown. I am certainly not starved for choice. 3.2 million ethnic Hungarians living in cities, villages, and the countryside ended up outside the borders of Hungary after a few strokes of the pen at the Trianon Palace in Versailles on June 4, 1920.
10.7 million people in the lands of Historic Hungary suddenly found themselves in other countries. This was the desired result for Romanians, Ruthenians, Serbs, and Slovaks. It was the opposite for those 3.2 million ethnic Hungarians, most of whom lived in large pockets together. These pockets were scattered throughout the lost lands, though most were within a hundred kilometers of Hungary’s new border. Among the more notable places affected by Trianon were the lost cities of my first itinerary. Despite their notoriety, these cities did not make up a large proportion of the population affected by Trianon. The combined totals of Eisenstadt (3,073 population/1910 census), Bratislava (93,200/1921), Kosice (52,900/1921) Uzhhorod (13,590/1910), Oradea (64,149/1910) Timisoara (86,850/1920) and Subotica (101,286/1910) adds up to 415,048 people. That is a small proportion of the 10.7 million people that were no longer living in Historic Hungary. Furthermore, in several of the lost cities, Hungarians were not a majority. It is safe to say that the Lost Cities made up about a tenth of those 3.2 million ethnic Hungarians living beyond the borders of Hungary at time.
Looking Back – Satu Mare (Szatmárnémeti) Railway Station
(Credit: Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag Meißen)
Old Wounds – The Past Is Paramount
All these calculations add up to a simple conclusion. There are millions of stories waiting to be unearthed in the lost lands. It is a place where the personal and political have been colliding for over a century. The effect has been an uneasy peace. The lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders are as peaceful (except for Ukraine) and prosperous as they have ever been. The worst tensions have abated though problems still surface from time to time. Scratch just beneath that surface and an old wound might just open because history has a different meaning there than in the rest of Europe. The past is paramount. I can hardly wait to visit. First by armchair, and then hopefully in person, because there is nothing quite like following in the footsteps of fate.
Click here for: Taking Sides – Crossing The Hungary-Romania Border (The Lost Lands #2)
Europe Between East And West 