ALL MATERIAL: COPYRIGHT CALIFORNIA EUROPEAN CULTURAL INITIATIVE/MEMORY PROJECT

Enikő Vasvári Warren, Child of WWII Refugees

Enikő Vasvári Warren was born on February 6, 1954 in Brooklyn New York. Her parents were Stefánia and Zoltán Vasvári, who had fled Hungary after World War II. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a captain in the Hungarian Army who was forced to leave after Hungary's defeat. They lived in a refugee camp in Germany for many years until they were admitted as refugees to the United States. Her sister Ildikó was born in Germany.

Enikő spent much of her childhood within the tightly-knit Hungarian-American community in New Jersey. Her father founded the Hungarian American Rifle Association (Lövészek), an organization devoted to passing on Hungary's history, culture and language. The founding principle of the organization was to provide military-style training to young Hungarians who might someday return to Hungary to help liberate the country from its communist dictatorship. The organization attracted young Hungarian men and women, many of whom had fled Hungary after the failed 1956 Revolution, and this training was especially strong during the years after the revolution until the late 1960's. Later in the organization's history, during the time Enikő was a member and a leader, the Lövészek was more focused on passing on the Hungarian culture and raising awareness of Hungary's plight behind the Iron Curtain.

In her compelling interview, Enikő talks about her 'dual life' growing up as an American and Hungarian, of being a cheerleader in her local highschool while also leading a troop of Hungarian Lövész girls on the weekends and in the summers at a rural farm in Rummerfield, PA. This farm, owned by her family until 1991, was always an integral part of her Hungarian background.

Enikő went to Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, New Jersey and graduated with a BA in International Studies. Although she thought about working for the foreign service, marriage changed her career plans. After graduation, she moved to Houston where she participated in Hungarian organizations and began a long career in the insurance Industry. Enikő currently lives in San Antonio and recently retired from The Hartford after 26 years. She has 1 son, István, whose Hungarian is very good and he values his Hungarian background.

This interview was conducted in Rummerfield, PA, during a Lövész reunion in September of 2016. The reunion will be featured in a documentary film about the history of the Hungarian American Rifle Association, produced by the Memory Project in 2017.