Brother and Sister Reunited After 52 Years – Home Video
My mother Anna Zsarnai, my father and I escaped from Hungary during the 1956 Revolution. My parents worked on a Communist work farm approximately 200 kilometers from Budapest, the capital of Hungary. When the Russian tanks rolled into the capital, thousands of people were killed. The exodus began and many fled the country before the borders were closed. Many were caught and many more imprisoned. Friends and family members were turning each other in and no one could be trusted. One cold November day in the middle of the night, 17 people took a chance and decided they would escape not just from the Communist work farm but from the country. When we left our one room home, my mother at the tender age of 20 with a 4 year old daughter, locked the front door, threw the house key over her shoulder and never looked back. My mother’s family had no idea that would be the last time they would see my mother and me. We were hidden in a covered, horse drawn bread wagon. Women and children in the wagon, the men driving the wagon and one man scouting the road ahead on a motor cycle looking out for Russian tanks. After two days of traveling the main roads, our motor cycle lookout came back with warnings of Russian tanks up ahead. The following 2 days we traveled on dirt farm roads with no idea which direction we were going in. The last town before the Austrian border, huge speakers blasted announcements “If anyone is caught housing or helping anyone escape the country they will be …
