Survival

This memoir is about my childhood and girlhood in Budapest in the in the 1930’s and 1940’s. It is about a girl child, an only child, growing up and surviving in historically dramatic times. Looking back on those years from London in 2007 I was powerfully reminded of how lucky I was to have survived. While at the time, I was full of fear and uncertainty, I also felt that I was on an exciting adventure. Memories come back through a distorting mirror, they are both false and true. The central theme of this memoir is first of all the way Muci, my nickname at the time, had learned to grow into Marietta, by learning to cope with life under what seems with hindsight quite difficult circumstances. After the Siege of Budapest I began to be aware of other people tragedies and adventures alongside my own. Then, after the occupation by Russian forces ended, slowly a new tyranny became apparent; it was the destruction of all political parties. The new communist government was heading for tyranny. For me, there seemed a way out. It was to go to England, stay with a cousin, learn a new language and with it a new culture and world view. Over time, through new relationships and a variety of work experiences, transformations took place in both my inner and outer life.