Page 103 [103]
Figure 2: Andras Takacs with daughters Theresa and Elizabeth in Montréal in 1934.
Elizabeth is seated in front of her husband and holding their son Alex.
Photo courtesy of Shawn Danko.
u
Ihe story of the Takäcs family is one of the several million emigrant
accounts, reminding us that behind the statistics, there are always individual
stories, hard personal decisions, complicated family histories that may also
contribute to the better understanding of historical events. The aim of this
chapter is to investigate this peculiar aspect of Hungarian-Canadian relations
in the inter-American context, focusing on the main waves of Hungarian
immigration, keeping in mind the interconnectedness of international events
and microhistory. The process outlined was influenced by a variety of factors
and developments, including the First World War, the Treaty of Trianon,
economic problems and emigration regulation in the home country, as well
as nativism and immigration restrictions in the receiving ones.
HUNGARIAN IMMIGRANTS: AT THE CROSSROADS OF
TRANSATLANTIC MIGRATION POLICIES
The turn of the 19" and 20" centuries witnessed one of the largest waves
of immigration to the Americas, a period of mass migration whereby
approximately 40 million people left Europe and emigrated to the West, many
- 101 +