People in Spite of History

Tibor Várady is professor emeritus at Emory University, and professor emeritus at the Central European University. Parallel with his scholarly work, he published prose works and essays in several languages including fourteen literary books.

• ForewordRichard BuxbaumWhat is This Book about?I. On the Relevance of History: Mária Ormos v. Mathias AlbrechtII. Three Becskerek Stories: Featuring Local Jews and Germans in the Leading RolesAn Anacrusis1. The Eckstein Case2. Socks on the Chandelier, Lives by a Thread3. The Freund/Baráth DocumentIII. Hungarian Stories of Banat: People and Formulae1. An Early Attempt to Topple the Soviet Power in Hungary2. The Case of István Bakai with Various Armies3. Is There a Window to Shoot From?IV. A Story from the Border of Banat: From Goose-down Business and Border Trespassing to Concentration CampV. Divorces, Near Divorces, and Sham Divorces1. A Near Divorce2. Divorces and Sham Divorces in the Wake of World War Two3. A Husband Who Very Seldom Visits Pubs and Only in the People's InterestVI. Legends Checked in Legal Files1. The Messinger2. Dueling in BecskerekVII. The Development of the Economic Situation: Lawsuits in the Years of the First Five-Year PlanSome Perspective in Introduction1. Corn or Corn Flour2. Even if the Money is Made Available, I Cannot Transfer It3. Cooperative Denial4. A Calf-Killing Against the People’s Interests5. Mafia-type Activity in the Years of the First Five-Year PlanVIII. Exploiting Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Disputes between Neighbors and Churches1. Fascism for Household Use in Becskerek 2. A Cynical Anti-People Smile (From Behind the Window)

"Várady earlier published accounts of some of these case files, first in Hungarian in 2013, then in Serbian in 2015, and then in German in 2016. Anglophones are fortunate now to have access. For a social historian, interest lies in what the cases reveal about the life of a multi-ethnic community living through difficult times. A lawyer reading the book will wonder how s/he would have dealt with the situations that confronted the Várady law firm. An introduction by Professor Richard Buxbaum, former editor of the American Journal of Comparative Law, notes the book’s broader importance. It could well serve as a model for writers on law and social history, even those who do not have elders who practiced law through two world wars and one social revolution."