Old Times, Evil Times

"I have often tried to recall how it felt
to be ten minutes away from certain death, but can only
remember that it was beyond one's range of feelings."
John Endrnyi's memoirs, dealing with the periods before,
during, and after the Second World War in Hungary, describe
several such moments of extreme danger. During the Nazi
period, these moments were multiplied and exacerbated for
John's family because of their Jewish origins. During the
Socialist period after the war, everybody was, at times,
emotionally stressed to such an extent that many would cave
in and become erratic, losing much of their ability to think
rationally. There have been many memoirs written involving
these periods of history. Most were by prominent people
whose personality and temperament made them more aggressive
and assertive than ordinary people would have been under
similar circumstances. It is less often that one can read
the stories of ordinary people whose attitude was, at times
of stress and danger, generally passive, not willing to take
risks; like the story of John and his family. Dark periods
are easier to survive with a sense of humor-this is
illustrated in a number of situations.