[Chessie Shaw]

What an amazing project! It’s incredibly well done. Thank you for giving us the backstory on it. It inspires me to attempt to do something similar with my Hungarian family history.

[Chessie Shaw]

Steven and Marianna,

I am happy to talk to you both offline about what it was like as an older student participating in the Summer Program at the Balassi Institute.

Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have questions!

[Chessie Shaw]

My name is Chessie Shaw. My father was born in Budapest in 1944. He was born during the Siege in a bombed-out hospital. My grandmother was a member of the Kohner family. From approximately the late 1800s to WWII, they were a well-known Jewish family. The most well-known Kohner was Adolf Kohner, a philanthropist and art collector. Some Kohners died in the Holocaust, but quite a few survived. Most of those who did survive left Hungary when they were able.

My father and grandmother left Hungary in 1949. My grandmother and grandfather divorced right before they left. My grandfather was arrested in 1951 and was imprisoned until 1956, when he was able to leave for Switzerland. My great aunt, my grandmother’s sister, also left Hungary in 1956.

This is my 3rd Expo. I was a co-presenter at the 2nd Expo with Zsanett Borsos. Zsanett works with Liz on helping people learn more about their Hungarian family history. Zsanett is an excellent researcher and helped me immensely. We have worked together for two years and have made many discoveries together.

I look forward to hearing about all of this week’s presentations and information!

[Chessie Shaw]

Steven-I just completed a month long class in Budapest through the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship program. We took 3 hours of Hungarian classes every morning at the Balassi Institute, and engaged in cultural programs in the afternoon. I am 54 years old. While most of the participants were in their 20s or early 30s, there were about 15 or so of us who were 40 plus.

I definitely recommend looking into it!

[Author]

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