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“THE NEw MECCA OF IMMIGRANTS”...
off the story of the Canadian Eldorado based on his abundant experience, and
presents the terrible situation in which our fellow Hungarian emigrants suffer in
its true form) on March 17, 18, and 19. [...] last year altogether 388 able, strong,
healthy Hungarians in their prime emigrated to Canada from Zemplén County
and decided to carry the terrible cross on their shoulders that is represented by
living in a foreign land fighting a withering and aimless fight. This is a terrible
loss of blood that is caused to our County by Canadian emigration, and the most
purposeful, most believable propaganda is needed to finally forestall the human
trafficking by Canadian land agents.‘?
In October 1927 Zagonyi, in another letter sent to the counties, reported that
he had altogether delivered 102 lectures in 21 counties and claimed that he had
received several letters acknowledging the beneficial impact of his activities
(although he also writes about financial difficulties and enemies made in the
process). Zagonyi continued his anti-immigration activities for several years,
in 1929 he sent yet another letter to the counties, again calling attention
to the quickly spreading immigration propaganda luring Hungarians to
“dangerous” Canada and he even enclosed a letter written by a friend living in
that country, detailing the true and harsh conditions Hungarians had to live
under in their new home. As noted above, however, the end to this wave of
migration came not as a result of Zagonyi’s or the government’s attempts, but
the stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression.
CONCLUSION
It is possible that Andras Takacs even attended a lecture by Zagonyi or
encountered government information that painted a dangerous and negative
image of Canada. Such information, however, was not enough to deter Andras
from emigrating. In this sense he followed in the footsteps of thousands of
other Hungarians who decided to take the risk for the betterment of their
family. We cannot be sure what role immigration propaganda played in
his decisions but looking at the newspaper and political coverage, and the
archives of counties in Hungary, we can be rather certain that it played a key
role in influencing the routes of Hungarian emigration in general. Although
coming from a small village in the northeastern part of Hungary, Andras’
choices were influenced by a complex web of international events. The push
factor of economic hardship made him look for better opportunities abroad.
With his decision to emigrate, he acted against the wishes of the Hungarian
6% "Ismertető előadások Kanadáról", Zemplén, 13 February 1927. Available at:
https://library.hungaricana.hu/en/view/SatoraljaujhelyiLeveltar_Zemplen_1927_1 (accessed
10 May 2020). Translation is mine.
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