KRÓNIKA 1984. March p. 30
Susan Papp-Zubrits:
The Hungarian Community of Toronto
Over 50 Years of Change
The City of Toronto celebrates its Sesquicentennial
in 1984. A distinct Hungarian community was formed in Toronto during the
late 1920s. Since that time, until present, three distinct waves of immigrants
have arrived, and through their activities, enriched the cultural fabric
of the community. Toronto is presently the most active centre of Hungarian
community activities in Canada, and possibly even all of North America.
But, as the following article details, it was not until the post-war years
that this development occurred.
One of the first reports about the Hungarian settlements of Canada was
compiled in 1928, by Ödön Paizs, a newspaper writer from Budapest. Paizs
wrote the following about the Hungarian community of Toronto:
“It looks as if, not only is Toronto not very friendly in my opinion,
but other Hungarians would rather settle in the outskirts as well. They
say that work is scarce, the English workers are jealous of immigrants,
and that the Hungarians do not seem to make progress. As I was walking
the streets, I was always observing the people. Toronto was the only city,
where I did not hear Hungarian spoken at any time. I was soon informed,
however, that there are a few Hungarians living in the city, between fifty
and eighty families comprise a core group, but community life has still
not developed. Violinist Géza Kresz and Winters, the reporter for the Hoerst
newspapers, represent the intelligencia of the community.
Other well-known “old Canadians” include: László Odor, carpenter
from Zilah; László Bodor, baker; Ferenc Pataki, carpenter; Ferenc Benedek,
civil servant; János Bernáth, industrialist; Mihály
Jakab, carpenter; Szilveszter Szabó, baker; Antal Bodis, among others.
There are others as well, who work at the meat packing factories and other
industrial factories. Almost a11 others, however, consider Toronto to be
simply a city to pass through; from where, given the chance, they escape
from. “
Although Paizs was correct in assessing Hamilton as the centre of Hungarian
community life in Eastern Canada, he underestimated the strength of the
Toronto Hungarian community in the late 1920s. The Roman Catholics and
Presbyterians within the community had already organized themselves into
respective congregations. By 1931, according to the Canadian census,
1,354 Hungarians were residing in the city, and despite the fact that the
Hungarian population of Hamilton was double that of Toronto's in 1931,
by I 941 the two cities had nearly equal numbers of Hungarian residents.
As demonstrated later on in this article, the immigration which took place
during the post-World War II years represented the greatest change between
the two cities, i.e. Toronto's Hungarian community was significantly increased.
By the 1930s, Hungarian immigrants had settled in a distinct area of
Toronto: namely that bordered on the south by Queen Street West, on the
north by College Street, on the west by Spadina Avenue, and on the east
by McCaul Street. In this area were located Hungarian boarding houses,
grocery stores, steamship agencies, churches and clubs.
The community grew slowly but steadily during the Depression years.
Many single men found refuge in the Hungarian-run boarding houses, and
families also came together to live under one roof, trying to somehow survive
the tough economic times through mutual aid: Father László Forgách, sent
as a seminarian to finish his education in Canada and take charge of the
fledgling Hungarian Roman Catholic congregation, related how he assisted
many destitute members of the congregation to find housing. Jointly, they
rented five houses; which provided residence for thirty-six families. Forgách,
only recently arrived himself, often didn't have the vaguest idea of how
the rent was going to be paid. During his fcrst fif teen years in Canada,
Father Forgách received no salary. The only way the congregation could
provide for him during the Depression was by inviting him to a different
home each evening for dinner.
Hungarian. community events were very important during the 1930s and
1940s in Toronto. These events represented more than just a social occasion,
they were the means by which these immigrants could meet fellow countrymen
and feel acceptance and understanding in a different and often hostile
environment. As stated earlier, the Hungarian Roman Catholic congregation
was formally established in 192.8, with the arrival of Fr. László Forgách.
Rev. Charles Steinmetz started to do missionary work among Hungarian Presbyterians
in Toronto and Oshawa in 1932. Steinmetz later served as minister of Toronto's
First Hungarian Presbyterian Church from 1937 to 1952. During the mid-1930s,
the Hungarian Lutherans in the city were organized by Rev. Eugene Ruzsa.
There was also a small but active Baptist congregation within the Toronto
Hungarian community.
With regard to secular organizations, other cities and towns in Ontario,
such as Welland, Hamilton and Brantford preceded the Toronto Hungarian
community by several years. As early as 1913, the Brantford Hungarian
Mutual Benefit Society was formed, and Welland had established the Hungarian
Self Culture Society, housed in a large community centre, by 1921. In fact,
chapters of the aforementioned, such as the Brantford Hungarian Mutual
Benefit Society, were established in Toronto before that city founded its
own organizations and groups. The forerunner of the Toronto Hungarian House,
the Toronto Independent United Hungarian Society, was founded in 1938.
The House itself, located at 245 College Street, was purchased in
1942. The Hungarian Canadian Left was also active in the city during
the 1930s and 1940s, represented by the Independent Mutual Benefit Federation,
and the Canadian Hungarian Workers and Farmers Clubs. The Leftist organizations
were distinct from the community in general: they organized their
own newspapers, dramatic troupes, singing circles, and community schools.
In general, the members of the community were very concerned with finding
employment and maintaining their employed status. Often the family breadwinner
would relocate two or three times a year in search of work. Sometimes the
distances were not great, e.g. traveling to the tobacco district of southern
Ontario to assist in the tobacco harvest, but it still meant insecurity
and a high degree of transience on the part of the community. Despite these
difficulties, much effort was made to preserve the community's cultural
identity, particularly through amateur dramatic troupes. Drama circles
flourished, and were probably one of the most popular aspects of community
life. Much time and effort was in- vested in creating authentic folk drama:
costumes and props were painstakingly copied in the Hungarian tradition.
One organizer of such production, Joseph Jager, related that often there
was no income from these productions, but that the members of the community
simply enjoyed organizing them and acting in them, and so they continued.
The Second World War and its aftermath signaled much change in the Toronto
Hungarian community. The economy became more stable; institutions such
as the Toronto Hungarian House, as well as a number of congregations acquired
permanent homes. The community became active politically - campaigning
to obtain sponsorships for as many Hungarian Displaced Persons as possible,
and working for the alleviation of suffering in their war-torn homeland,
through such organizations as the Hungarian Canadian Federation.
The postwar emigrants were different - most were professionals - lawyers,
doctors, engineers, military officers, Hungarian embassy staff, journalists
and writers. Organizations founded by the post Second World War emigrants;
such as the Hungarian Veterans' Association and the Royal Hungarian Gendarmerie
Veterans' Benevolent Association, (both founded in Toronto) tried to maintain
the culture and traditions of the homeland, particularly those traditions
undermined in Hungary after 1945.
These immigrants placed special emphasis on transmitting their cultural
identity and heritage to the second generation. The Hungarian
Scouts Association was reorganized in displaced persons' camps in
Europe. The first troop in Canada, number twenty, “Árpád Vezér,” was founded
in 1952 in Toronto. Community language schools were reorganized and required
a more advanced proficiency on the part of students. The Helicon Society
was founded in Toronto to promote the education of Hungarian-Canadian youth;
it obtained credit status on the secondary school level for Hungarian language
courses.
Another cultural organization founded in Toronto by post-war emigrants,
the Rákóczi Association, has branched into several different
areas: the Rákóczi Historical Society, Memorial Society and the Rákóczi
Foundation. The Association awards deserving Hungarian-Canadian students
with university scholarships, in addition to funding projects such as a
Hungarian Heritage Handbook, an English-language reference text highlighting
Hungarian history; other resource books have also been planned. The United
Hungarian Fund also campaigns for educational and cultural monetary assistance,
and has sponsored community housing projects. Professional organizations
were founded as well, such as the Canadian Hungarian Engineers' Association;
these latter groups also served a cultural role within the community.
The postwar emigrants are the most politically conscious segment of
the Hungarian community. New periodicals were founded, which reflected
the new cultural and political strength of the community. The two Toronto-based
weeklies, Kanadai Magyarság (Canadian Hungarians) and Magyar Élet (Hungarian
Life), reflect the group's non-recognition of the present government in
Hungary as the legal representative of the Hungarian people. The weeklies
have a combined circulation of approximately 14,000; both are produced
in their publishers' own printing shops. Since the early 1950s, the leadership
of the Hungarian Canadian Federation, an umbrella organization representing
all Hungarians in Canada, has been directed by the postwar emigrants, and
the Federation has been permanently relocated in Toronto.
The emigration of approximately one hundred Hungarian Jesuit priests
following the Second World War significantly affected the status of Hungarian
Roman Catholic congregations. St. Elizabeth of Hungary Roman Catholic Church
has become one of the strongest parishes in the Toronto diocese. In 1978
a Hungarian Jesuit Noviciate, the only institution of its kind in the Hungarian
Diaspora, was established in Toronto.
Following the Revolution in Hungary in 1956, over 41,000 Hungarians
immigrated to Canada; the Hungarian-born population of
the City of Toronto was increased by 7,564. These refugees were characterized
as the youngest wave of Hungarian immigrants and the group least aware
of future plans and goals when compared to previous waves. They learned
English in a relatively short time and assimilated with greater ease than
had those who came earlier. Many were single. Interestingly, St. Elizabeth
of Hungary Roman Catholic Church and the First Hungarian Presbyterian Church
in Toronto were flooded with requests to perform marriages for newly arrived
refugee couples.
Hungarian Canadian communities were enhanced and enriched by the refugees
of the revolution. The newcomers founded a multitude of cultural
organizations: theatre companies, folk dance groups and choirs. The Freedom
Fighters' Federation of Canada was organized by immigrants
of this wave who sought to foster the ideals of the revolution. In 1966,
the tenth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution was commemorated by Hungarian
communities across Canada, and a monument was erected in Toronto. The Freedom
Monument is in Wells Hill Park, renamed Budapest Park at the time of its
dedication.
Undoubtedly, the great impact these immigrants had on Hungarian Canadian
communities was the direct result of their numbers. Churches had to be
modernized and enlarged to accommodate the increase in parishioners, and
wholly new congregations were formed. Hungarian community centres were
also rejuvenated. The Toronto Hungarian House on College Street was sold
so that the community could purchase the much larger Hungarian Canadian
Cultural Centre on St. Clair Avenue West, which is at present, the largest
community centre in the Hungarian diaspora. The centre is a symbol of an
even greater accomplishment; however, as it represents the combined effort
of three waves of Hungarian immigrants, something which is unheard of in
the larger Hungarian communities of the United States. The Centre publishes
its own Hungarian-language monthly periodical; the Krónika (Chronicle),
and houses a massive Iibrary of over 24,000 books. The Hungarian-Canadian
Cultural Centre encompasses some twenty organizations, and
several national organizations, with chapters in other areas of Canada,
maintain their head office and records at the Centre.
The Toronto Hungarian community is ever-changing and growing. In 1978,
a chair of Hungarian Studies was established at the University of Toronto,
the first such institution in Canada. The many professionals, artists and
writers who emigrated during the postwar years have made a significant
contribution to the mainstream o/' Canadian life. For example, Central
Hospital in Toronto was founded by two brothers - Hungarian doctors, who
saw a need for a hospital, which would serve the needs of immigrants with
no knowledge of English. The future of the community is yet to be determined,
however, its history will undoubtedly be recorded as the centre of the
North American Hungarian diaspora, and as a community with much cultural
persistence.
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