Transcarpathia: A Scene of Cultural Genocide

Fear has tightened its grip in Transcarpathia, where the Baloha clan and local oligarchs are making life impossible for ethnic Hungarians, according to an American-Hungarian businessman hailing from Mukachevo. Disturbingly, Hungarian street signs in his home town are vandalized, statues symbolizing Hungarians heritage are toppled, and schools crucial to the Hungarian community are taken away. The situation in Kyiv doesn't seem to offer respite, either.

Munkács Turul Fotó: Bereczky Tamás

"I have been saying for a long time that cultural genocide is taking place in Transcarpathia. Unfortunately, life does not disprove this, on the contrary, it provides growing evidence," said Imre Pakh, who was born in Mukachevo (Munkacs) and has remained well-connected to Transcarpathia to receive first-hand information.
The famous art collector says that currently in Mukachevo, street signs are being replaced one after another.

Instead of famous Hungarians with ties to Mukachevo, streets and squares are named after Ukrainians who never set foot in the city and did not even know it existed. Meanwhile, the memory of medieval Hungarian heroes is disrespected.

Imre Pakh was born in Mukachevo, Transcarpathia (Photo: Zoltan Mathe)

"Mukachevo's municipal assembly, headed by Mayor Andriy Baloha, brought a shameful decision: streets can no longer be named after prominent Hungarian historical figures like Janos (John) Hunyadi or Zsofia Bathory. These street signs are being knocked down one by one. This the ukase. But why? They cite two new laws  (decommunization and derussification) that state that in the future, no memorials to communists and Russians should be erected, that statues should be toppled and old street signs should be knocked down."

My question is: when were Janos Hunyadi and Zsofia Bathory Russian communists?! If this is how the Baloha clan ruling Transcarpathia reads and interprets the laws, what can we expect from them in the future, when the newly enacted minority laws have to be applied?

Imre Pakh raised the question.

Hungarian painter Munkacsy also an enemy

The Hungarian-American businessman is convinced that Ukraine can gain no entry into the European Union with lords like the Baloha clan and oligarchs of that ilk who practice arbitrariness instead of applying laws. It is less known that before the  toppling of the statue of the Turul bird, a national symbol of Hungarians, from the castle of Mukachevo, the statue of the renowned Hungarian painter Mihaly Munkacsy had been removed from the city's main square. Nothing proves better that Mukachevo in Transcarpathia is ruled by the dreaded Baloha clan than the fact that

Viktor Baloha, the clan's head Photo: AFP/Sergei Supinsky

Imre Pakh, who sued the municipality led by Andriy Baloha for removing the Turul, could not find a single lawyer in the entire region who would take the legal action against the clan. Eventually, he hired a Ukrainian lawyer in Kharkiv near the Russian border, where the clan's name did not sound so formidable.

University department in coma

When it comes to the Hungarian language, despotism does not stop in Transcarpathia. For years now, not a single student has been admitted to the Hungarian language department at Kiev University.

The Hungarian language department at the Kyiv National Linguistic University was founded almost a decade ago with substantial financial support from two Transcarpathian-born Hungarians, Imre Pakh and Alexander Roth, aka Sandor Roth.

The Hungarian language department exists in theory, but in practice it does not function. It is, so to speak, in a comatose state. Despite interest in the Hungarian language, no new students have been admitted since the university saw the last group of enrolled students complete their  studies. The university failed to inform the two Hungarian founders of this, so they had to find out for themselves what had happened to the department.

Waiting out

Rakoczi Ferenc II school in Mukachevo Poto: Istvan Mirko

The situation at the Ferenc Rakoczi II Hungarian secondary school in Mukachevo seems to be resolved, but who knows for how long. After winning three lawsuits, Istvan Schink, the Hungarian school director who had been dismissed, was reinstated by the superintendent in Mukachevo. However, the Baloha clan installed two Ukrainian deputy directors to hold the reins. Just as a side remark, neither the removed Ukrainian headmistress, nor the two deputies speak a word of Hungarian. Where on earth would anyone find an English language instruction school whose director and deputy directors do not speak English? Istvan Schink's contract will expire in the summer. The rumor in town is that the dismissed headmistress, currently managing a kindergarten, will likely return then.

Cover photo: The Baloha clan had he statue of the Turul bird removed from the castle of Mukachevo (Photo: Tamas Bereczky)