Silent tribute to commemorate the flag-raising

Every year, the Pro Cultura Subcarpathica NGO commemorates the raising of the Kuruc flag at the beginning of the war of independence led by Prince Ferenc Rákóczi II.

According to historical records, in the spring of 1703, a rebellion was brewing in the villages of Ugocsa and Bereg in northeastern Hungary, on the Tiszahát, against the Habsburgs who were oppressing the people. On 21 May, under the leadership of Tamás Esze, the flags of the Kuruc uprising were unfurled in Vári and Tarpa, and a day later here in Beregszász, marking the beginning of the Tiszahát uprising and Rákóczi’s War of Independence. Pro Cultura Subcarpathica commemorates this event every year.

Starting with a parade and a dance house on the stree, the commemoration has grown into a festival. However, recent events, like the coronavirus epidemic and then the war, have changed the course of the event. But the organisers have not forgotten the occasion.

On May 21, the participants gathered in Beregszász at the bust of Tamás Esze for a silent wreath-laying ceremony, without involving large crowds. During the wreath-laying, Rákóczi melodies resonated from the tárogató of Ferenc Csetneki, a teacher at the Tulipán Tanoda and Ferenc Csetneki Jr.

On the previous day, 20 May, the historical background of the War of Independence was recalled in the building of the Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College, where the Brezan Proclamation was recited in Hungarian and Ukrainian and the Prince’s flag was unfurled.

This occasion continues to strengthen the identity of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia, but it is also important for non-Hungarian nationalities, as the most loyal nation to Rákóczi was the Ruthenian community living here.

Adél Gál
Kárpátalja.ma

  Flag-raising at the Rákóczi College Well-known UK procurement consultant Richard Beaumont held a guest lecture for master accountants