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Romanian-Language Book Presentation in Timisoara
DATE: Wednesday, June 3
TIME: 15:00
WHERE: Adam-Müller-Guttenbrunn-Haus, Str. Gheorghe Lazar 10-12, 300080 Timisoara. Tel: 00-40-256 499614.
Presentation at the Book Festival
April 16, 2015
The book that reveals what happened in the Romanian Revolution Timisoara - The 25 Anniversary Edition will be available at the 22nd International Book Festival Budapest from April 23 - 26, 2015, in the Hungarian capital at the Millenáris, Kis Rókus utca 16-20 in the second district. (Near Széll Kálmán Tér.) (Website: www.konyvfesztival.com)
The author Árpád Szőczi will also hold a presentation and book signing there on Friday, April 24 in the Kner Imre Room from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. In it he will reveal how he found his information about the role of the Hungarian Secret Service during the fighting against Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and about the danger the dictator posed for Hungary. Included is an interview with the former Hungarian Prime Minister Miklós Németh who spoke about how Hungary was able to monitor Romanian Securitate agents and protect the country's greatest dissident, László Tőkés.
The author will also do a book signing on Saturday, April 25 from 13:00 - 17:00 at Stands B52-B53.
Everyone is welcome to drop by!
Secrets About the Romanian Revolution
December 12, 2014.
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Press Conference and Book Dedication
at the
Sajtóház (MÚOSZ Székház), 1064 Budapest, Vörösmarty u. 47/A
on
Monday, February 15 at 15:30
Special Guests include László Tőkés and the two Canadians who did the secret TV interview with him that was first broadcast on the Panoráma TV show on July 24, 1989: Michel Clair and Réjean Roy.
The event will be in Hungarian and in English.
For more information, please call the author at: +49-172-323 4159.
What Really Happened in the Romanian Revolution
April 24, 2013
Both the English-language books Timisoara - The Real Story Behind the Romanian Revolution and the Hungarian version Temesvár - A romániai forradalom kitörésének valódi története - are now available around the world. The author Árpád Szőczi reveals the names of agents, spies, informers - and of course, the heroes - during the Ceausescu dictatorship. The book took five years to write, was researched on three continents (Europe, North America and South America) where almost 70 participants were interviewed, including former Securitate Major Radu Tinu. Plus the author got unprecedented access to the Securitate files in Bucharest as well as to the Hungarian Secret Police files in Budapest.
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Just one example: Szőczi uncovered the fact that the Hungarian military sent a crack unit into Romania on November 15, 1989 (one month before the Romanian Revolution) "to make observations".
For more information on the book, you can visit its website (as well as the website of the documentary film version of the Romanian Revolution): www.romanianrevolutionfilm.com.
In Europe the book is printed by Partium Press. The book is also printed by iUniverse in the U.S. for mainly those readers who live outside of Europe (for delivery purposes).
To order the Hungarian version of the book, there are multiple ways:
In Hungary, it is available at the larger Libri bookstores and Alexandra bookstores. Here are the links:
Libri: www.libri.hu/talalati_lista/?text=Temesv%E1r
Or go to www.libri.hu and look under keresés for the book.
Alexandra: www.alexandra.hu/scripts/cgi/webshop.cgi/GetBook?BookID=727513
Or go to www.alexandra.hu and look under keresés for the book.
Or you can order from iUniverse as well as from Amazon.com.
iUniverse also carries an E-Book version
in both English and Hungarian.
Here is the direct link for the English version of the book (both print
and E-Book):
http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=Timisoara
Or go to iUniverse.com and do a search for the book.
Here is the direct link for the Hungarian version of the book (both print
and E-Book):
http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=Temesv%C3%A1r
Or go to iUniverse.com and do a search for the book.
The books (but not yet the E-Books) are also available through amazon.com. For the English and Hungarian print versions, please go to www.amazon.com and do a search for the title under Books.
If you live in Germany and want to order the English- and/or Hungarian-language versions of the book, you can order directly from the author. Please first contact him at his e-mail address at: euronair@aol.com, and then transfer 22 Euros to:
| Name of Account: EurOnAir Productions Ltd. Address: Seelingstr. 47/49, 14059 Berlin, Germany Bank: Deutsche Bank Account No: 9410200 Bank Affiliate No. (BLZ): 100 700 24 |
Please allow one week for delivery.
If you live in a European country other than Germany or Hungary and want to order the English- and/or Hungarian-language versions of the book, you can also order directly from the author. Please contact him at his e-mail address at: euronair@aol.com, and transfer 22 Euros to:
| Name of Account: EurOnAir Productions Ltd. Address: Seelingstr. 47/49, 14059 Berlin, Germany Bank: Deutsche Bank BIC (SWIFT): DEUT DE DBBER IBAN: DE 12 100 700 240 9410200 00 |
Please pay the cost of the money transfer from your end. Otherwise, the book costs 25 euros.
Please allow one week for delivery.
For additional information including press reviews, please go to book's (and documentary film's) website www.romanianrevolutionfilm.com
The first review of the book in The Vancouver Sun can be read here.
Furthermore, in Hungarian there is an interview with the author on DUNA TV's show Öt kontinens - Egy nemzet (Five Continents, One Nation) from Jan. 20, 2013. Here is the link: http://euronair.eu/video_hu.htm
Thank you for your interest.
December 21, 2012
The Hungarian version of the book is now available in Hungary through www.bookline.hu!
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Donations for a Romanian-language Edition!
"Timisoara - The Real Story Behind the Romanian Revolution"
Dear Readers,
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Canadian reporter Réjean Roy interviews László Tőkés in his church in Timisoara on March 20, 1989, which is later shown on 'Panoráma'. |
I am raising funds to help finance the Romanian-language version of my book. This is an important project because, for example, many of the things that I researched shed new light on the subject of the Romanian Revolution, and I would like to make this available to the Romanian public also. Furthermore, in Romania there seems to be a re-writing of history regarding the events that started on December 15, 1989 in Timisoara including playing down the role of Reformed Minister László Tőkés and the minorities when it came to taking on dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. I also reveal things that have never come to the public eye before, including fascinating interviews with former informers and secret service agents. I also researched at the Romanian Secret Police Archives 10 times (I am the only reporter from North America who got permission to do that) and at the Hungarian Secret Police Archives seven times. I also conducted 60 interviews on three continents for this project.
My book, "Timisoara - The Real Story Behind the Romanian Revolution" deals with the circumstances surrounding Tőkés' stance against Ceausescu, the Romanian Revolution itself, and also the background actions taken by groups in the West, including Hungarian and Romanian émigré organizations to support him and others. Some of those actions - dare I say 'missions' - were truly top secret.
The English-language version of my book comes out on November 3 and the Hungarian-language version will be released on December 4.
Working on the Romanian edition are two colleagues of mine - one is in Cluj-Napoca and the other is in Berlin. We plan to release the book in Romanian on December 15 in Timisoara on the anniversary of the uprising.
The costs for translating and publishing the Romanian-language edition are 3,300 euros.
If you believe this project is worthwhile, then I kindly ask you to make a donation to help me cover my costs (all self-financed). Every donation - no matter what size - is greatly appreciated.
Please also send me an e-mail at euronair@aol.com to alert me to the fact that you are donating so I can do the paperwork. I send a receipt to all of those who donate. Please include your address.
Thank you for your consideration.
Here is the bank-transfer information:
- if you are making a donation from other than Germany or Hungary, please send to the following account:
| Name: | EurOnAir Productions Ltd. | |
| Address: | Seelingstr. 47/49, 14059 Berlin, Germany | |
| Bank: | Deutsche Bank | |
| Bank Address: | Berlin-Olivaer Platz, Kurfurstendamm 182-183, 10707 Berlin, Germany | |
| BIC (SWIFT) Code: | DEUTDEDBBER | |
| IBAN: | DE12100700240941020000 |
- if you are making a donation from Germany, please send to the following account:
| Name: | EurOnAir Productions Ltd. | |
| Address: | Seelingstr. 47/49, 14059 Berlin, Germany | |
| Bank: | Deutsche Bank | |
| Bank Address: | Berlin-Olivaer Platz, Kurfurstendamm 182-183, 10707 Berlin, Germany | |
| BLZ: | 100 700 24 | |
| Konto: | 502 1969 |
- if you are making a donation from Hungary, please send to the following account:
| Name: | EurOnAir Productions Ltd. Kulf. Vall | |
| Address: | Budapest, 1146 Magyarország, Dózsa György út 19., IV. em., 5. ajtó | |
| Bank: | ERSTE Bank Hungary Zrt. | |
| Bank Address: | 1138 Budapest, Népfürdő u. 24-26 | |
| Account Number: | 11600006-00000000-37607034 |
Please write under "Purpose" when doing your transfer "Romanian translation".
Thank you for making this possible!
Yours truly,
Árpád Szőczi
Donors
June 12, 2013
Many thanks to the following people and organizations in North America who donated so far:
Corneliu Chisu, Canadian Member of Parliament - $250. Cdn.
Mindszenty Hall, Windsor - $132. Cdn.
Magyar Ház, Ottawa - $60. Cdn.
Excerpt from Book
The Montreal Break-In in 1985
(The following is an excerpt from the upcoming book on the Romanian Revolution by Árpád Szőczi. This part deals with the North American NGO Group, the HHRF - Hungarian Human Rights Foundation - which tried to publicize the situation in Romania to the West during the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. The following incident occurred in 1985 when two members of the group broke into the Romanian Consulate in Montreal. The English- and Hungarian-language versions of the book will be released on Sat., Nov. 3, 2012. The Romanian-language version will be released on Dec. 15, 2012. Please check back to this page on Oct. 15 for updates on where you can buy or order the book. It will be available around the world, including on Amazon.com.)
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The building where the former Romanian consulate was |
The anecdote was that there was indeed a security guard in the building but he was scared and locked himself in a closet.
The two young men then basically filled up their car with documents "and anything else we could get our hands on, but nothing of commercial value", explained Megyeri who now lives in Hungary, "except for a carpet that we rolled up most of the goods in.".
"We also found a brown-lacquered box that had a padlock on it as well as the symbol for radioactivity. That we also took."
The pair then left and as they started up their car which they had parked right in front of the consulate the security guard crept out and wrote down their licence plate number. It's now about 3 a.m. and they then went to István's home, rang his doorbell, and a very surprised host opened the door.
"They showed me what they had, including the box with the radioactive symbol on it, and I just said, 'Jesus, what did you do?'"
They then told him and he reluctantly agreed to let them store the stolen goods in his garage for the time being.
They then went home and slept it off.
And on that Sunday they had things to do. So did the police.
The first to get caught was Gáspár. On Sunday morning he had gone out for a short walk. By the time he came back home his apartment was full of police who demanded to know where the consulate's goods were. Gáspár struck a deal - if he were to tell them then they wouldn't arrest him. They agreed. He told them.
And then they arrested him.
Next stop: Megyeri's home.
He had just come back from István's place where they discussed what had happened. He lived at his father's and as he approached the apartment he saw that the door was open and the home was swarming with police who were taking the place apart. Joe Gáspár was sitting in the living room in handcuffs.
The detective at the scene then approached.
"Are you G. Megyeri?", he asked.
"Yes."
"And do you know why we're here?"
"I have a pretty good idea."
Megyeri says that the detective wanted to know his version of where the stolen goods were. He asked to talk to the detective outside and struck a deal.
"I asked him that we should do this in a civilized way. I told him to stop the search because the stuff's not there. I asked him to take the handcuffs off of Joe Gáspár, and I asked him to let us go and we would return the stuff in an hour. He agreed. He told me to bring everything to the police station. He also said there are two ways this can go down - one, that this was simply a student prank; or two, that this was a break-and-enter offence.
"Which one do you want?" asked the detective.
"The first one, obviously," said Megyeri.
The two were indeed let go, returned the goods to the police station, where Megyeri was interrogated.
"The detective went back a little on his word with me. They pressed charges."
This is when the protestant minister of the Hungarian church in Montreal, Aladár Komjáthy, the same man who befriended István when he first came to Montreal, intervened. It had been suggested in the community that Komjáthy, an American citizen, had secret service contacts. He certainly had pull with the police and found out from them that none of the stolen goods were immediately returned to the Romanians. Instead, they were examined by both the RCMP and the CIA - especially the box with the radioactive logo on it. And when the box was opened the investigators found it full of - condoms.
Condoms were illegal in Romania at the time and hence had a high black market value.
And so Komjáthy and the pair's lawyer made it crystal clear that should this become a full court case they will talk about the contents of the "radioactive" box.
It never went to full trial and became a plea bargain instead. The pair was given a choice of spending half-a-day in jail or taking a two-year suspended sentence. They chose the latter because, as Megyeri said, "We didn't want to spend a single minute in jail."
The Romanian consulate also quickly moved to a new location and got a lot better security system.