I was badgering Jucika. "How is Károly doing? How did he get back to Békés?"
"Actually, I thought he was dead. When the people started trickling back from the labour camps, there would be a meeting each Thursday. They would discuss who they saw and just any information at all about people's whereabouts. I frequently attended. The first news was that he died in Putnok and was buried there. But no one could tell me where he was buried. I was told that a young chap had been assigned to bury him and that he was to let me know. I was always told the same thing, but never what caused his death. I knew he was dead, but somehow I did not really believe that he could be dead. On this particular Thursday, I went to Csaba again hoping for more news - but no, nothing. Then I decided I should tell the children. But how could I? Though probably they did suspect when they saw me sorting letters and tying them up, telling them that they could read the letters, but to be careful not to lose any. I walked home ever so slowly thinking about all this, when about 700 meters from my house I see a stranger. I didn't notice that he turned in at our house, nor that he had gone inside. The little boy next door said: Juci néni, Uncle Károly is back. - I couldn't believe it, but he said he was positive. I thought if it was him, then I would have seen when I reached the fence. The kid must be joking. As I close the gate, a horrible feeling comes upon me. My two little girls run to me shrieking. They slam the door so hard, I was sure the knob would fall off. Maybe something happened to my little boy, while I was gone. The girls hug me and squeeze me so tightly almost choking me: "Mummy, Daddy is back!" We go inside. Well that was the man I saw before. He hardly had time to ask the girls "Where is your mother?" The girls said "She is looking for you". I almost had a heart attack. My feet were rooted to the ground at the doorstep. Károly, quite overwhelmed, led me inside. Our son could not believe that this was his father. "This is not my daddy. Daddy is dead - far away". It took a whole week to convince him. He always saw his father in uniform and he was only two when he saw him last."
"Do you know" Károly said, "had Gyuri not been with the unit I would be the dead man in the ditch at the railway station."
Then she began to explain how Károly made the trip from Pest to Csaba...
"Imagine, just as he set out, the Arrow Cross arrested him and took him to this big building. There were several people locked in there already. It is now fifteen years since these men were put to death. Károly planned to escape before the execution. The guard was outside the gate, repairing a bicycle. Károly approached him, and asked if he needed a pass. The guard looked up and said "Yes, as far as I know." and he kept working on the bike and Károly just sneaked out. He was scared that they would notice and shoot him. He began to run when he got to the corner. Then he saw Russian soldiers who were picking people up. He passes by a family trying to load up an old truck and he went to help. That's how he escaped. He went on - no money - no food. He found an ear of corn. That was something. He was careful to avoid busy streets. At the station, he tried to find out about trains to Csaba. The railway man said a freight train was to leave soon and they traveled together. The chap had a big heart and shared his meager rations with Károly wo got off at Csaba and walked to Békés. This was the twenty-sixth of January a Thursday." I only saw Károly much later.
He is now a policeman in Békés. He was very anxious to hear about Laci Propper - "the chap with the glasses - real smart".
As I started to tell him the sad story, tears came to his eyes. Then he told me about his host at Ráday utca, the teacher Miska Vasas and his wife Cicus. They came back to Csaba some two months ago - they live on Bajza street.