Gaudiopolis

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Gaudiopolis I

Gaudiopolis ( Latin - Greek City of Joy ) was a self-administered youth republic in the post-war period - Budapest 1945–1951.

Gábor Sztehlo

history

Gaudiopolis was founded by the Lutheran pastor Gábor Sztehlo (* 1909 in Budapest , † 1974 in Interlaken ), who had already saved over 2,000 Jews , mostly children, in Hungary during the Nazi regime . Shortly before the end of the war, he and numerous children occupied an abandoned villa on Budakeszi út Street, the residents of which had fled the advancing Red Army . When the house became too cramped - 10 to 15 orphans and war children lived in each room - more vacant villas were added in the neighborhood.

Sztehlo wanted the children to be able to cope with their lives independently and to self-critically overcome social boundaries. He suggested the creation of a republic , which he left to the children to organize. A constitution was drawn up, a prime minister was elected, the Gapo dollar introduced as currency, a newspaper founded, judges and police officers appointed; Sztehlo was made honorary president. The government sat in the main house, the "Villa of the Wolves". The other buildings were called "Schwalbenvilla", "Regenbogenhaus", "Villa der Eichhörnchen" and "Mädchenburg". Girls were not allowed to participate in government business.

Theft and begging were allowed as a means of subsistence, but craft businesses such as a carpenter's shop and a sewing room also sprang up. The self-made sports field was rented to other clubs. Gaudiopolis turned down several offers of help because they were tied to unacceptable conditions: the Catholic Church only wanted to accept baptized children, a Jewish organization only wanted to support Jewish children. The Red Cross eventually delivered food without any conditions.

There was a wide range of leisure activities to counter boredom, which was seen as the cause of conflict, including dancing, films, excursions, the Gaudiopolis Olympic Games and lectures by invited adults.

In 1951, the communist dictator Mátyás Rákosi ordered that Gaudiopolis be nationalized. Sztehlo then worked in a retirement home. In 1961 he followed his wife and two daughters to Switzerland, who fled after the revolution was suppressed in 1956. Many of the residents of Gaudiopolis also went abroad.

Today a plaque on the house at Budakeszi út 48 in the 12th district of Budapest commemorates this episode in early post-war history.

memory

An exhibition from the beginning of 2018 to June 1, 2018 in the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (GfZK), Leipzig, with the title Gaudiopolis - Attempt at a Good Society, commemorates the youth republic.

See also

credentials

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ (en) Charles Fenyvesi: When Angels Fooled the World: Rescuers of Jews in Wartime Hungary - see literature
  2. ↑ (en) Rescuer of Jewish children during WWII - Gabor Sztehlo, Lutheran Pastor , December 29, 2011, on pueblodedioslutheranchurch.com
  3. ↑ a b c d e Mohamed Amjahid : Children in power . Zeitmagazin No. 38, September 8, 2016, pp. 68–78
  4. ↑ Konstantin Nowotny: Children in power . In: Der Freitag , No. 12, March 22, 2018
  5. ↑ (en) Samuel Boussion, Mathias Gardet, Martine Ruchat: Rebuilding a World Devasted by War - see literature

literature

  • (en) Gábor Sztehlo , In the Hands of God , Publisher: Gabor Sztehlo Foundation (1994), ISBN 978-9630441483
  • (en) Charles Fenyvesi: When Angels Fooled the World: Rescuers of Jews in Wartime Hungary , The University of Wisconsin Press / Dryad Press 2003, ISBN 0-299-18840-X - on Gaudiopolis and Gábor Sztehlo: p. 200 ff.
  • (en) Samuel Boussion, Mathias Gardet, Martine Ruchat: Rebuilding a World Devasted by War - Bringing Everyone to Trogen: UNESCO and the Promotion of an International Model of Children's Communities after World War II / in: The History of UNESCO, Global Actions and Impacts , Poul Duedahl (ed.), Palgrave / Macmillan 2016, ISBN 978-1-349-84528-6 , ISBN 978-1-137-58120-4 (eBook) - on Gaudiopolis: p. 101

Feature films

  • Somewhere in Europe / It Happened in Europe , film by Géza Radványi, 1948 ( Irgendwo in Europa , on imdb.com )
  • Gaudiopolis - In memoriam Sztehlo Gábor , TV film, 96 min, film by Erika Szántó (on imdb.com )

Web links

Coordinates: 47 ° 31 '12.2 "  N , 18 ° 58' 22.6"  E