Even though I want to jump right in and start telling you all of the stories that I grew up hearing about my father and grandfather, about the people they met, the experiences they had, the atrocities they endured....I know that to make it all make sense I have to keep things chronological. So, I will start off with some deeper layers of my father's history, it may get boring at times, but bear with me...the history lesson will soon enough give way to what I think merits being an award winning documentary. =) Over the course of the next few blog posts I'll go over all that I've gathered from my dad in regards to his bloodlines, otherwise this one post could easily become overwhelming to read...and write!
My father tells me that one beautiful summer's day in August of 1940 the family was gathered in Pusztamonostor (another of their homes) and after lunch on the terrace his sister, Eva, asked their father to tell them about their family. My father was 11 years old and it was at that time that he got to learn about his ancestors in detail. Until then, he and his sister were just kids who were growing up in a life of privilege, but really not privy as to why. The following is some of what they learned that day.
The Makay family are the direct descendants of St. Stephen (Istvan in Hungarian), the first Christian King Of Hungary. King Istvan's mother, Sarolta, was sister to a woman named Karolin who married Duke Doboka, the ruling Prince of Transylvania at the time, and who is the farthest back to whom we can trace our bloodlines. Duke Doboka had a son, Duke Csanad, who then became King Istvan's cousin. When King Istvan was coronated in 997, my father's ancestors (the descendants of Csanad) stayed in the royal court and became members of the Royal Council.
The Makays were one of the seven biggest landowning families in all of Hungary at the time. Sadly, the Hungarian Royal House of Arpad died out in 1301 making way for foreign dynasties to move in and take over. Foreign dynasties ruled over Hungary until 1918 with the Habsburg family as the longest ruling. Due to the fact that the Makays were well known for being independently minded, pure blooded Hungarians, they were ostracized and expelled from the Royal Court and sent to live on their private estates. Sadly, things didn't stop there. Over time, the Imperial Court in Vienna started confiscating the Makay estates one by one and ordered the family to live incognito. The land and estates that were taken from the Makays were then given to Austrian families that the Imperial Court recognized as princes, counts and barons while the larger parcels of land were kept by the Habsburgs. Although the Hungarian people were unhappy with Austrian rule and several upraisings took place (in 1514,1609,1703,and 1848) all of them failed and the Habsburgs continued their reign. The Makay family had a particularly difficult time with the Austrians as they avidly participated in the upraisings as well as helped the freedom fighters. One of my father's ancestors was executed in 1711 for his activity against the Austrian Empire and after the failed War of Independence (1848-1849) my father's great-grandfather, Imre Makay, was sentenced to 10 years in an Austrian Prison. His son, Istvan (this is very much a family name as you will see throughout this history lesson), was left to govern the remaining family estate in Tiszainoka. Istvan later had two sons, Imre and Istvan (little Istvan if you may) who was to become my father's father.
It wasn't until 1868 that the Imperial Court and Emperor Franz Josef became more lenient in their governance of Hungary and allowed for a limited Hungarian government in Budapest at which time a dual monarchy with limited independence and freedom was created....this became known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. My great-great-grandfather was unhappy with the outcome as he wanted Hungary to regain its full autonomy, but, as a private citizen there was not much he could do other than go home and finish raising his sons. Although he did all that he could to ensure that the boys had a rich education leaning towards agronomy, both Imre and Istvan decided that they wanted to join the cavalry. This disappointed their father and he tried, unsuccessfully, to change their minds. He did not want his sons to end up serving the Habsburgs and infantrymen, but the boys had plans of their own,
After four years of vigorous military training little Istvan (not so little anymore) became a lieutenant at the age of 22. Unfortunately, WWI had broken out a year earlier, and he was ordered to go to the Eastern Front to fight against Imperial Russia. Three months later, Istvan was captured by the Russians in the Ukraine and spent 5 years in Irkuts, Siberia as a prisoner of war. Upon his release and return to Hungary he and his brother, Imre, were promoted to Captain and their new assignment was at the Royal Hungarian Defense's Personnel Dept. located in the Royal Palace. Not long after, at a debutante ball, Istvan met and fell in love with an 18 year old girl named Erszebet. On August 14, 1924 they were married and on May 28th, 1925 their daughter, Eva, was born. My father graced the family with his presence four years later on April 14th, 1929....and so the story begins....
St. Stephen
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