By Bruce Holland, Publisher
Recently, I had an opportunity to visit with a friend, colleague, and mentor, former Mayor of Halifax County, Laszlo Leichter, and his wonderful wife, Rosza. Laszlo was the Mayor of Halifax County back when I represented District # 4, Prospect Road.
We reminisced about those days on Council and had lots of laughs and fond memories of those days, but that was not the main purpose of my visit. About six months ago Laszlo contacted me to let me know he finished his autobiography, Border of Hope, Fence of Despair.
In the book Laszlo talks about his life living under the despair of Communism in Hungary, which is topical today, as this is exactly what the people of Ukraine are trying to avoid going back to. It is hard for us to understand just how controlling and devastating a life under such regimes can be like, but Laszlo very vividly exposes such terrene for what it is.
Lisa Annand described her experience reading the book this way, “What an amazing memoir! The author was my high school principal and although I knew he and his family escaped from Hungary. I had no idea what they endured to get to Canada. The struggle and determination of Laszlo and his family is described in detail in the book. The impossibility of a decent life under the Communist Government in Hungary became more and more evident. I was on the edge of my seat as I read this riveting account of their lives and the escape. It is also a wonderful story of his courtship and marriage to Rozsa. Laszlo did not hold back. It is an emotional and gripping book!”
You can join and rewatch Laszlo and I, and my Parkview News Podcast co-host, Zoran, on our Parkview News Facebook page our live podcast last April 13th 20th as we delved into the emotions and realisms of living under communism and what it means to live in a country like Canada.
When I left Laszlo’s house after our recent visit and thought about what is going on in the world right now in Ukraine, I couldn’t help but think about my Father, who at a very young age, joined the Navy and ventured overseas with tens of thousands of other Canadians, to defend our land against the terror of Nazi Germany. A feeling of pride in Canada and Canadian’s filled my heart and soul!
