Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

100,000 PENGO, HUNGARIAN CURRENCY

Date

1945

Materials

PAPER, INK

No. Pieces

1

Length

17.9

Width

8.2

Description

OFF-WHITE AND BLUE PAPER BANK NOTE WITH BROWN INKED DESIGN. FACE: LEFT OF NOTE CONTAINS TEXT BEGINNING IN “100000 SZAZER PENGO”, THEN “BUDAPEST 1945…” ENDING IN “A TURVENY BUNTETI”. IMAGE OF WOMAN WITH PLEATED HAIR ON LEFT SIDE. BROWN FLOWER DESIGN ON BLUE BACKGROUND OVERALL. BORDER IS UNINKED (WHITE). BACK: BROWN ON BLUE DESIGN WITH UNMARKED/UN-INKED BORDER. TOP CENTER READS, “100000” WITH CREST DESIGN IN CENTER OF NOTE AND “SZAZEZER PENGO” ON BOTTOM BORDER. TEXT ALONG TOP OF BILL. A HORN DESIGN ON EITHER SIDE OF BILL IN DARK BLUE INK. “M 284” AND “058914” IN DARK BLUE INK STAMPED ON EITHER SIDE OF THE BILL. CONDITION: SEVERELY DISCOLORED. DARK BROWN STAIN ALONG ENTIRE BOTTOM EDGE. EDGE SLIGHTLY WORN.

Subjects

EXCHANGE MEDIUM

Historical Association

CURRENCY/MAUNDY

History

THIS ARTIFACT WAS DONATED TO THE GALT MUSEUM & ARCHIVES AFTER BEING FEATURED IN THE GALT’S EXHIBITION CURATED BY WENDY AITKENS TITLED, "CHANGING PLACES: IMMIGRATION & DIVERSITY," WHICH RAN FROM 31 OCTOBER 2015 TO 17 JANUARY 2016. COPIED BELOW IS THE TEXT PANEL ASSOCIATED WITH THE ARTIFACT’S DONOR, ANTHONY (TONY) HORVATH FOR THE “CHANGING PLACES” EXHIBIT: “HORVATH WAS BORN IN AN AREA OF EASTERN EUROPE WHERE COUNTRIES’ BORDERS AND NAMES CHANGED MANY TIME DURING HIS LIFE. TONY FOUND HIMSELF WITHOUT A COUNTRY AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR. OF HUNGARIAN ANCESTRY, HE WAS DENIED WORK AND HE REFUSED TO BECOME A SERBIAN CITIZEN SO HE WAS ALLOWED TO LEAVE. HE TRAVELLED TO AUSTRIA AND THEN TO THE BREMERHAVEN DISPLACED PERSONS CAMP IN GERMANY. HE SAILED TO CANADA IN DECEMBER 1951 – FIGHTING SEA SICKNESS ALL THE WAY. HE TOOK THE TRAIN FROM HALIFAX TO MONTREAL AND FROM THERE HE WENT TO A FARM NEAR VERMILION, NORTH OF EDMONTON, WHERE HE CLEANED THE BARN AND FED PIGS. LEARNING THAT LETHBRIDGE HAD A LARGE HUNGARIAN COMMUNITY HE HITCH-HIKED SOUTH. HE HAD A FEW CLOTHES, $15 DOLLARS AND HIS VIOLIN. HIS FIRST JOB WAS IN THE BEET FIELDS NEAR PICTURE BUTTE. LATER HE DROVE HORSES THAT PULLED COAL CARTS IN THE SHAUGHNESSY UNDERGROUND MINE. PLAYING THE VIOLIN BROUGHT HIM MUCH JOY, MANY FRIENDS, AND HIS WIFE ANGELIKA. HE OFTEN WENT TO GALT GARDENS AFTER WORK TO PLAY HIS MUSIC AND SOON MET ANGIE, A YOUNG WOMAN RECENTLY ARRIVED FROM GERMANY. FEARING THE DANGEROUS WORK IN THE MINE, ANGIE DEMANDED THAT TONY FIND SAFER WORK ONCE THEY WERE MARRIED. INITIALLY HE WORKED FOR ELLISON MILLING COMPANY, BUT CANADIAN DRESSED MEAT PACKING HOUSE (BURNS MEATS) OFFERED $.08 MORE AN HOUR, SO HE SWITCHED EMPLOYMENT. HE WORKED THERE UNTIL HE RETIRED 27 YEARS LATER. ANGIE WORKED AT THE HOSPITAL AND THEN AS A TAILOR FOR SIMPSON SEARS DURING THAT SAME TIME PERIOD. TOGETHER THEY RAISED FOUR GIRLS.” THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PRESENTED ON THE TEXT PANEL WAS SOURCED FROM AN ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW, WHICH WAS CONDUCTED BY AIKENS ON 8 JULY 2015. IN THAT INTERVIEW – STORED AT THE GALT ARCHIVES (20151076) – HORVATH SAID THAT HE WAS BORN IN THE BALKAN PENINSULA. HE SPOKE OF THE UNREST DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND RECALLED SEEING THE BOMBING FROM ALLIES, SAYING “THE GROUND WAS SHAKEN.” HE REMEMBERED THE PUBLIC EXECUTIONS, MASS BURIALS, AND THE WOUNDED PEOPLE IN THE STREETS. IN THE INTERVIEW, HE DESCRIBED HOW THE QUALITY OF LIFE WAS NOT MUCH BETTER FOLLOWING THE WAR, DURING THE YEARS 1945 TO 1950. THERE WERE HARDSHIPS, SUCH AS LONG LINES FOR BREAD, AND THE CONFLICT HAD MADE FINDING GOOD WORK DIFFICULT FOR HORVATH – A HUNGARIAN, AND THEREFORE AN ETHNIC MINORITY IN YUGOSLAVIA. SOON AFTER HE STARTED HIS JOURNEY TO CANADA IN 1951, WHICH HE DESCRIBED TO GREATER DEPTH IN THE INTERVIEW. ON 5 JULY 2013, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED HORVATH IN HIS HOME TO SPEAK ABOUT THE DONATION OF AN ARTIFACT (P20120044000) BY THE MEZEI ORCHESTRA, WHICH HORVATH WAS INVOLVED IN. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM THAT INTERVIEW: "I [WAS] BORN IN [THE 24TH OF JANUARY] 1931 AND THE SERBS OCCUPIED HUNGARY… SO I BORN ACTUALLY IN YUGOSLAVIA, AND THEN, IN 1939, WHEN THE WAR BROKE OUT – THE SECOND WORLD WAR – IN 1940, THE HUNGARIANS TOOK [IT] BACK… FROM SERBIA. AND IT WAS AGAIN HUNGARY UNTIL 1945, TILL THE WAR FINISHED. [ETHNICALLY HUNGARIAN,] I BECAME A NATIONAL MINORITY IN MY OWN COUNTRY… [A] NATIONAL MINORITY IN YUGOSLAVIA, BUT IT’S NOT YUGOSLAVIA ANYMORE. IT FALL APART AND IT’S AGAIN SERBIA.” IN THE INTERVIEW, HORVATH EXPLAINED, “I ENDED UP BACK AT HOME ABOUT 3 MONTHS BEFORE THE END OF THE [SECOND WORLD] WAR, BACK TO SERBIA TO A CITY CALLED SRBOBRAN. THE CIRCUMSTANCES WAS THAT THE LIFE STANDARD WAS POOR… BEFORE I CAME TO CANADA, I GOT A JOB IN ALEXANDERONKOVICH FACTORY, TORPEDO AND BOMBS AND ALL THAT. I WAS 18 MONTHS WORKING THERE, AND THEN I STARTED TO INVESTIGATE HOW COULD I COME OUT FROM THAT COUNTRY… I DECIDED… I [COULD] APPLY OFFICIALLY TO GIVE UP MY CITIZENSHIP – YUGOSLAVIAN CITIZENSHIP – AND [BECOME] OFFICIALLY [AN] ETHNIC MINORITY… I APPLIED TO EMIGRATE FROM SERBIA, AND I ENDED UP IN AUSTRIA AND FROM AUSTRIA TO BREMENHAVEN, A DISPLACED PERSON I [INDICATED I WAS], BUT ACTUALLY I WASN’T. I WAS A REAL IMMIGRANT BECAUSE I CAME WITH LEGAL PAPERS TO CANADA. IN 1951, I CAME TO CANADA, AND ENDED UP IN THE SUGAR BEETS, I EARNED A LIVING AS A LABOURER – CLEANING… COW STALLS, AND SO FORTH. I MET MY WIFE IN ’53. SHE IS FROM GERMANY. WE GOT MARRIED IN ’54, AND FORTUNATELY, WE HAVE 4 GROWN-UP DAUGHTERS BETWEEN US.” HORVATH ELABORATED ON HIS IMMIGRATION EXPERIENCE, “I HAD AUSTRALIAN OPTION. BUT THE CANADIAN CONSUL SENT MOVIES, PICTURES, ADVERTISEMENTS... [AND THEN] IN 1 MONTH, I WAS IN CANADA. FROM AUSTRIA TO BREMERHAVEN, IN GERMANY, IN 2-3 WEEKS, I WAS READY TO COME TO CANADA. [I] ENDED UP IN MONTREAL. THERE [WERE] STILL CAMPS FOR PRISONER OF WARS FROM THE SECOND WORLD WAR, LIKE GERMANS AND ALL THE OTHER, AND I WAS IN THERE FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS, IN MONTREAL, FROM THERE, SOME FARMERS WERE LOOKING FOR LABOURERS. THEY ASKED ME DID I WANT TO COME TO ALBERTA. I DIDN’T KNOW ALBERTA. BIG DEAL, ALBERTA. I WASN’T SURE AT ALL, BUT WHEN I WAS TRAVELLING DAY AND NIGHT FROM THERE, TO GET TO EDMONTON FIRST, A FARMER WAS WAITING FOR ME, FROM VERMILION. I STILL REMEMBER THE NAME, BOB HOLDEN. HE WAS FROM ENGLAND, I THINK, PREVIOUSLY. HE HAD A FARM THERE AND HE NEEDED A LABOURER. I WAS A LABOURER, BUT WHEN THEY FOUND OUT I CAN PLAY THE MUSIC, FIRST I HAD A BEET SHACK. THEN THEY TOOK ME INTO HIS HOUSE. HE DIDN’T PAY MUCH. THE NEIGHBOUR [IN VERMILION] OVER THERE WAS A HUNGARIAN OLD FARMER. HE SAID TO ME, ‘SON, DON’T STAY HERE, GO TO LETHBRIDGE. THERE IS LOTS OF HUNGARIANS [THERE], AND YOU CAN GO TO THE SUGAR BEETS [FIELDS], AND YOU CAN MEET FRIENDS OVER THERE,’ AND SO ON. I HAD $15.00 IN MY POCKET BECAUSE THE FARMER DEDUCTED MY JEANS, WHAT HE BOUGHT, I CALLED THEM ‘COWBOY JEANS.' AND I ONLY HAD $15.00 LEFT, SO I HITCHHIKED FROM VERMILION ALL THE WAY ‘TIL I GET TO LETHBRIDGE I STILL HAVE SOME MONEY LEFT, AND I ENDED UP IN PICTURE BUTTE, JOE SCHAEFFER’S PLACE, WORKING IN THE SUGAR BEETS.” “IT WAS DIFFICULT AT THE BEGINNING… THE LANGUAGE…,” HORVATH EXPLAINED, “… VERY HARD BECAUSE HUNGARIAN DOESN’T HAVE A SIMILAR WORD WITH ENGLISH; GERMAN IS ABOUT 30%, SO I THANK MY WIFE; SHE LEARNED QUICKER THAN I DID, BUT, NOW, I AM O.K. I CAN GET BY.” WHEN HE FIRST CAME TO CANADA, HORVATH SAID, “I DIDN’T WANT TO BELIEVE [IT]. I THOUGHT IT’S A HEAVEN BECAUSE EVERYONE WAS FRIENDLY, NICE, YOU KNOW. MIND YOU, I WASN’T ASSOCIATING VERY MUCH WITH THE YOUNG MEN, 18-19 YEARS OLD, YOU KNOW.” HE TOLD AITKENS IN 2015 THAT HE DID NOT BRING MUCH ELSE. HE STATES, “[I] ESPECIALLY [DIDN’T BRING] MONEY. NO MONEY… EXCEPT WHAT IS WORTH NOTHING. INFLATION MONEY BY THE HUNDRED THOUSAND, MILLION, TEN MILLION… WHATEVER I HAD I GAVE TO THE OTHER MUSEUM THAT WAS IN THE GALT GARDEN (GURNEY MUSEUM)… INFLATED. THAT’S WHAT WE CALLED IT. THAT WAS INFLATION MONEY. IT WAS SO MANY, PEOPLE DIDN’T KNOW THE NUMBER. THEY JUST SAID, ‘5 YELLOW, 2 GREEN AND…’ YOU KNOW? JUST BY THE COLOUR. THE NUMBER WAS IN MILLIONS AND BILLIONS AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS. PEOPLE DIDN’T KNOW. NO VALUE. YOU COULD USE IT FOR BATHROOM.” INTERNET RESEARCH STATES THAT THE PENGO WAS THE CURRENCY OF HUNGARY FROM 1927 TO 1946 AND EXPERIENCED THE MOST SERIOUS HYPERINFLATION RECORDED (SOURCE ACCESSED 10 MAY 2018). HORVATH REMEMBERED THE BELONGINGS HE BROUGHT WITH HIM IN HIS IMMIGRATION TO CANADA. IN BOTH THE 2015 INTERVIEW WITH AITKENS AND THE 2013 INTERVIEW WITH MACLEAN, HE SPEAKS OF HIS VIOLIN. IN 2013, HE TOLD MACLEAN, “IT WAS A FAMILY VIOLIN. ACTUALLY, MY UNCLE, THE VERY FIRST ONE, I GOT IT FROM HIM, AND, OF COURSE IT WAS LAYING IN THE HOUSE TILL I WAS 8 YEARS OLD, AND THEY DIDN’T WANT ME TO FOOL AROUND WITH IT, TO BREAK IT OR WHATEVER, SO I GOT A SMALLER SIZE OF VIOLIN, HALF A SIZE, AND LATER, I GOT THAT BACK AND I BROUGHT IT WITH ME TO CANADA. THE VIOLIN GAVE ME OPPORTUNITIES NEVER TO BE ALONE. I HAD FRIENDS ON ACCOUNT OF THE VIOLIN; I HAD PARTIES ON ACCOUNT OF THE VIOLIN; I HAD FOOD; I HAD DRINK; AND I HAD GOOD TIME. IT WAS MY BEST PARTNER AND BEST FRIEND. THAT’S HOW I MET MY WIFE, WITH MY VIOLIN CASE UNDER MY ARM, AT LETHBRIDGE GALT GARDEN.” HE REMEMBERED BEING IMMEDIATELY EMBRACED BY THE HUNGARIAN COMMUNITY IN THE AREA: “IN PICTURE BUTTE, JOE SCHAEFFER’S NEIGHBOUR, MR. GABOR GENCSI, HEARD ME PLAYING, [AND] HE TOOK ME OVER. HE SAYS, ‘YOU DON’T WORK THAT HARD IN THE SUGAR BEETS. COME TO ME.’ HE HAD A WIFE BUT THEY HAD NO CHILDREN, AND HE SAYS THAT THEY ARE GOING TO ADOPT ME TO STAY. I SAYS, ‘NO, I CANNOT BE ADOPTED. I HAD MOTHER AND FATHER.’ BUT, WHEN HE HEARD ME PLAYING, I WENT OVER TO HIS PLACE – THE NEIGHBOUR[ING] FARM – HE GAVE ME $100.00 IN ONE BILL. I DIDN’T KNOW HOW MUCH IT WAS WORTH, AND HE SAID YOU ARE GOING TO GET THAT EVERY MONTH, AS LONG AS YOU ARE HERE, BUT YOU HAVE TO PLAY IN THE EVENING TO ME AND TO MY WIFE. THEN I KEPT ON PLAYING EVERY NIGHT. IT WAS A GOOD CHANCE FOR PRACTICE, YOU KNOW. THEY GAVE ME THE FIRST BEDROOM, AND THEY WENT TO THE SMALLER BEDROOM JUST TO TREAT ME WELL, FREE BOARD, FREE ROOM, JUST TO PLAY THE VIOLIN IN THE EVENING. SOMETIMES I WENT OUT AND DROVE THE HORSES WHEN HE WAS THROWING THE BALES ON THE WAGON, SO I HAD A VERY GOOD TREAT, AND A VERY GOOD CHANCE TO PLAY THE VIOLIN.” HORVATH ALSO PLAYED A ROLE IN GETTING HIS PARENTS TO IMMIGRATE TO CANADA, WHERE THEY SET UP A NEW LIFE. HORVATH SAID, “IN 1948, WHEN MY DAD CAME BACK FROM, BECAUSE HE WAS IN THE ARMY, ON THE GERMAN SIDE. HE WAS A PRISONER OF WAR IN RUSSIA, AND HE CAME BACK IN 1948 FROM RUSSIAN PRISONER OF WAR CAMP. I FELT VERY SORRY FOR MY DAD BECAUSE EVERY TIME YOU WANTED TO ASK SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAR IN RUSSIA, HE NEVER WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IT, NEVER, TO NOBODY. I DECIDED HERE, WHEN I WAS IN CANADA, THE BEST THING THEY WOULD COME OUT HERE, NO MATTER HOW OLD THEY ARE. THEY WERE VERY HAPPY… AND IN 1960 WHEN I WAS ALREADY ESTABLISHED HERE, AND MARRIED WITH CHILDREN, [I] BROUGHT MY FAMILY OUT, MY FATHER, MOTHER AND SISTER, WHO IS LIVING NOW IN STIRLING, ALBERTA. AND, THEY [WERE] ALREADY WAS IN THEIR 60’S WHEN I BROUGHT THEM OUT, BUT THEY MANAGED TO ESTABLISH THEMSELVES A GOOD LIFE HERE TOO ON 80 ACRES…” OF HIS IMMIGRATION STORY, HE TOLD AITKENS, “[IT WAS EXCITING TO] ME – TRAVELLING HALF OF EUROPE WITH NO MONEY IN THE POCKET, EXCEPT HAVING THE FIDDLE IN YOUR HAND…” PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE TEXT PANEL COPY. FOR INFORMATION REGARDING HORVATH’S INTERVIEW WITH MACLEAN IN 2013, INCLUDING FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE P20120044000.

Catalogue Number

P20160006003

Acquisition Date

2016-02

Collection

Museum

Less detail