All their lives they believed they would get home
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Anna Szirtli was born on July 12, 1939 into the Hungarian Földes family. The family lived in the village - Hamuliakovo, near the riverbed of the Danube river. Her parents made a living as farmers and hired workers. On November 17, 1946, the village announced the names of the families who were to arrive at the train station in three days. They were to be displaced as part of the post-war repressions from the territory of Slovakia, to the Czech Republic and Hungary. The inhabitants of Hamuliakovo did not know where or under what circumstances they would be relocated. While watching the forced displacement in the neighboring village, many decided to escape across the Danube. In the following days, Anna’s parents packed the necessary things, got into a boat and together with others secretly crossed the Danube to the neighboring village of Rajka in Hungary. They spent two months with 60 other families in one room. They slept on straw and waited to return home. After some time they got an apartment in Rajka and in 1950 a small house. It was there that Anna’s parents spent the rest of their lives. The Família could visit their Hamuliakovo home again only in 1953. At that time, another family lived in their house. In 1963 Anna married Ferencz Szirtli, her childhood friend, whose family also fled from displacement. Four children were born to them. In 1994 Anna’s husband died and a few years later her two sons also died. In 2021 Anna lives with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Rajka.
