THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

I was drafted onto Truck Roy's program just now. He needed a big mouth immediately because someone had not shown up.

I will deal with this later, if you care. But the main protagonist in the discussion was SF's Kennewickman, who is Hungarian. Which reminded me of Hungary. [SF Hungary Moderator]

Usually I put a title on a piece for BUGS and start writing. By the time I finish I find that the title needs changing. So let me stick to the script here.

When I was in Hungary and it was behind the Iron Curtain, Hungary had a monument to the heroic dead of the Soviet Union who had liberated Hungary from the Nazis. That monument was in an interesting place.

Hungary had been occupied by many powers over the centuries, but the Turkish Occupation stood out in all that bloody history. There was a huge fort on the Buda River which had been the basis of the Turkish Occupation. When the Turks were driven out, that fort was left unoccupied by everybody. It had been deserted ever since.

Balkan hatreds run DEEP. Hungarians historically hated the Rumanians to a degree that made Polish feeling about Nazi Germany seem to one of love. We all know how Serbs and Croats feel about each other.

I was so close to all this that it makes it hard for me to explain what that Memorial meant. With all the Balkan hatred in Hungary, with all the oppression that people had endured, one occupation stood out, the TURKS.

That building was so odious that nobody touched it for CENTURIES.

That fort was to Hungarians what Untouchables are to Indians.

Then the Soviets, our beloved Allies, Liberated Hungary from Hitler. Under Stalin, Hungarians made THAT fort into a Monument to the Heroic Soviet Dead. I saw Soviet troops visiting it regularly.

The Soviets don't have a sense of humor so they didn't GET it. Soviets were very grateful for that Memorial.

The fort which reeked of the Turks for centuries was finally occupied again. It was dedicated to Stalin's Boys.

I laughed my ass off at that.

Quietly.

I wasn't there on what the Soviet Liberators would have seen as Legitimate Business.