 A Most Painful Division... Although brother and sister have lived in the same village all their lives, Maria Ivan and her brother, Arpad, have been able to hug each other only twice in the past 53 years. As a result of a post-World War II treaty, a barbed wire fence marking borders has divided them.
Szelmenc (called Solontsi in Ukrainian and Velke Slemence in Slovak) is found near where the Ukrainian, Slovakian and Hungarian borders meet. After WWII, the Soviets took this part along with half of the village for themselves. The other half was given to Czechslovakia. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Soviet part became part of Ukraine.
 The Soviets constructed the border at the end of World War II. To prevent people from seeing each other, the Soviets built a 20-foot high wood plank fence through the village, a little "Berlin Wall." The border cut the village in half so that one part of Szelmenc now belonged to Ukraine and the other to Slovakia. The border not only divided buildings and streets, it also separated people. Many of the people who were on the wrong side that day were not allowed to reunite with their families, and the only means of communication was yelling across the border.
 “I could never bury my family members.” Stefan Ignac's grandmother and mother lived and died on the Slovak side. Since he lived on the Ukrainian side, he missed their funerals. He coudn't even bring flowers to their graves.
Ending the Painful Divide... AHF worked closely with its member, the Center for Hungarian American Congressional Relations (C.H.A.C.R.), who led the effort to illuminate and resolve this problem. Capitalizing on its work establishing the Hungarian American Caucus, C.H.A.C.R. organized a nation-wide grassroots campaign calling on members of the Caucus and others in U.S. Congress to support a border crossing to end the 60-year old separation.
In 2004, the Ambassadors of Slovakia and Ukraine were invited to participate in a meeting on Capitol Hill with members of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus where the film, "Szelmenc, the Divided Village" (see the videos in the top right column on this page) helped shock participants into action. For details on these actions, [click here].
 In 2005, the parties agreed to finally open a border crossing. Important historically to the local Hungarian community, both sides were optimistic regarding what a border crossing and increased traffic could mean economically. Short-term, both sides of the border experienced much needed development. Sadly, a December 2010 report by Hungary's Duna TV demonstrated that visa requirements and their associated costs (that can exceed an entire month's wages) have replaced the barbed wire once preventing villagers from meeting.
[Read more about Szelmenc]
 
 
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Watch related videos 
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"Magyarok a pokol tornácán" Szelmenc in 1992 (in Hungarian) [  magyarul] |
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"Hosszu Utazas " A Kiss Szelmenci határtkelő megnyitásárol szóló dokumentumfilm. A history of how Szelmenc came to be. Includes the Congressional Briefing on Szelmenc in 2004 (in Hungarian) [ magyarul] |
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Visa requirements replace barbed wire as barrier to border crossing / "A szögesdrót helyett most a vízumkényszer választja el a szelmencieket"
Szelmenc in 2010
[ Magyarul]
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AHF's 100 YEARS
CONGRESSIONAL DISPLAY
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AHF in the Beginning:
1906 and Budapest's
George Washington Memorial
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AHF and the "Justice for
Hungary" movement calling
attention to the tragedy of Trianon
[read more]
AHF, Tibor Eckhardt, and
the "Free Hungary Movement"
seeking to extract Hungary
from the Axis sphere
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AHF Honoring our
Heroes at the Arlington
National Cemetery
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AHF and the Kossuth
Bust in the US Capitol
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AHF as a watchdog for
human rights in Rumania
[read more]
AHF as a watchdog for
human rights in Vojvodina
and the MÁÉRT movement
[read more]
AHF as a watchdog for
human rights in Carpatho-Ukraine:
The Divided Village of Szelmenc
[Read More]
AHF relief efforts during WWII
[Read More]
AHF relief efforts during
the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
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