World War I memorial in Vágfarkasdon

The story of the erection of the monument ; (Written and presented at the inauguration ceremony held on October 5, 1930 by Károly Anda, the chairman of the statue committee) ; ; The World War was still claiming its victims in large numbers, blood and tears were still flowing, suffering was still ongoing, but hope, this benevolent angel that never leaves a person even in the most difficult days, lived in our hearts, and we believed and expected that the great world war would end once and for all. ; That is why on August 22, 1916, the representative body of our village, at the suggestion of György Haulik, decided to erect a monument in memory of our heroic dead, partly with the contribution of a collection and partly with the contribution of the village treasury. ; On February 15, 1918, the statue committee was elected, the collection began, the result of which was approx. 4,000.- crowns. ; After the coup d'état, the movement to erect the monument was suspended for a while. In the meantime, the 4,000 crowns deposited in the savings bank suffered a 34% loss. ; On August 25, 1925, the village council, at the suggestion of many, decided to continue the work that had been started and to perpetuate the memory of the heroes. ; A 32-member statue committee was appointed to carry out this work. The statue committee held its first meeting on January 5, 1926, when it was duly established, and organized a collection among its members as an example and encouragement, with a result of 4,660 crowns. ; The work of collecting money among the inhabitants of the village was undertaken by the village authorities. ; However, the issuance of the permit required for the collection was very slow, until finally, with the order dated March 2, 1927, the district office granted the permit under No. 1091/1927. The collection began in mid-June 1927, the result of which was 10,000.- crowns in cash, 4,620.- crowns in compulsory funds, and together with the old collection, the donation of the sculpture committee and the interim interest, it amounted to 22,480.- crowns. ; In the meantime, the plans for the monument were also completed, and although the necessary amount of money was not available, the sculpture committee decided to have the monument made in a design that would be worthy of the population of the village of Farkasd and the memory of the 198 heroic dead. From the received plans, the sculpture committee selected Ferenc Ivány of Deák ref. ig. tan., a native of our village, accepted the design prepared by Ernő Fischer, a stonemason (sculptor) from Vágselly, as the most suitable. Based on this design, Ernő Fischer, a stonemason (sculptor) from Vágselly, was commissioned to create the monument. On May 21, 1928, we concluded the contract with Mr. Fischer for 48,500 crowns, excluding the foundation, fence, letters and transportation costs. ; The village council willingly handed over this beautiful place to erect the monument at this location, at the request of the sculpture committee. ; The fence surrounding the monument was undertaken by Sándor Tothpáter, a locksmith from Vágselly, for 5,000 crowns. ; When the monument was ready, we submitted our application for the permit required for its erection to the district office. One point of the permit raised certain objections to a part of the monument. This point, as the chairman of the sculpture committee, dr. I appealed with the intervention of the lawyer Vince Baranyai from Vágselly. The appeal was successful, and the National Office, in accordance with our wishes, authorized the erection of the monument with the permit No. 8126/14/1930 dated May 12, 1930. ; The total cost of the monument amounts to 75,000 crowns, which amount was covered by donations and collections. ; ; The Heroes' Memorial Column ; The monument to the heroic dead of the World War stands in the main square of the village. Seven meters high, first in a quadrangle, then narrowing upwards like a column, three stepped Silesian granite columns protruding from a mound covered with green grass, with an extended wing "Turul" on the top, a relief on the front, an older fallen soldier slumped on a broken cannon wheel: the father, his son charging next to him. ; The Turul and relief are cast in bronze. ; At the base of the memorial column, the names of 198 Hungarian heroic dead are engraved in a square block of polished Silesian black granite measuring 4x95x125 cm, in gold letters. ; The design of the memorial, as well as the idea and plaster pattern of the Turul and relief are the work of Ferenc Ivány, a teacher from Deák, a native of our village. The technical execution is by Ernő Fischer, a stonemason from Vágselly. The memorial column is surrounded by a tastefully made, strong and decorative iron fence, the work of Sándor Tothpáter, a locksmith from Vágselly. ; The ceremonial inauguration of the memorial took place on October 5, 1930, with the participation of the residents of our village and neighboring villages, in the presence of a crowd of about 5,000 people. The following were present at the ceremony: Dr. Marcell Jankovics, president of the Toldy-Kör in Bratislava, who gave the ceremonial speech; Hungarian Nationalist Senator János Richter; Dr. Gyula Alapi, provincial assembly member; Gyula Koczor, executive director of the Hungarian Nationalist Party; Sándor Döbrentey, retired chief justice; Géza Kúthy, president of the “Hanza”, Kálmán Tóth, deacon-pastor of the Deák parish; Benő Sándor, negyedi parish priest; László Kalitza, Zsigárdi parish priest; Béla Dukon, Béla Dukon, litigators; Árpád Kocsis, Királyrév parish priest; Ferenc Ivány, deacon; Kálmán Szőcs, Zsigárdi parish priest; Jenő Morvay, Hungarian Nationalist Party secretary; Győző Kardos, district socialist party secretary; and a representative of the district office, and many others. ; After the ceremony, a 100-table dinner was held in the Cooperative's great hall. ; The inauguration ceremony was commemorated in longer articles by all Hungarian newspapers: the Prague Hungarian Newspaper, Híradó, Barázda, Magyar Néplap, Érsekújvár and its Region, Komáromi Lapok, Csallóközi Lapok, Hanza, etc., as well as several Hungarian newspapers. ; The following lines of remembrance are written on parchment paper at the base of the monument: ; In the name of the Holy Trinity, an eternal God! ; ; Dated in Vágfarkasdon, in June of the year of the Lord 1929 (one thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine). ; ; Late Descendants! To those who will receive this writing when the hard stone turns to dust, when the iron teeth of time consume the work of human hands, believed to be strong and permanent, stand in this place with reverence, for this is a holy place: a place consecrated to memory. We, who survived the great world war of 1914-1918, imbued with the understanding of the idea that only that people are worthy of life that can appreciate its great men and heroes, when the dark clouds of the great storm, the world war, which brought much glory, but even more suffering and loss, passed over our heads, we wished to express our gratitude and true appreciation for the 198 Heroes who, among the inhabitants of our village, sacrificed their lives and blood for the most precious treasure: the Homeland. ; You can clearly see from the perspective of history (there is still a dark gloom before our eyes), was not the shedding of the blood of these Glorious Ones a vain sacrifice and were not our many sorrows, tears, and the many bitternesses of our souls a hopeless sowing for the future? ; If a blessing has come from these and a more beautiful and better age has dawned upon you: surely they will be happy, and we too will be in our graves. ; ; The statue committee ; The list of the statue committee perpetuating the memory of the heroes of Vágfarkasd: ; Chairman Károly Anda, Vice-Chairman Géza Csiffáry, Treasurer György Haulik, Clerk Bálint Trebaticky, Pastor Árpád K. Pap, Rev. Pastor, Dr. Antal Heródek, R. K. dean, R. K. Osztényi, R. K. teacher, R. K. Jónás, R. K. teacher, István Anda, village judge, Gyula Molnár, Gyula Perecz, ; Károly Nagy, István Both, Károly Tóth, István Szőcs, Károly Iván, Ferenc Deák, Lajos Deák, Zsigmond Iván, Kálmán Takács, István Svéda, János Czibula, Dániel Kürthy, industrialist, István Tóth, chief firefighter, Mihály Hornyik, self-educational, István Takács, I. tem. association, Sándor Baranyai, II. tem. association, József Fischer, Károly Singer, István Körös, Alajos Fiala, Ferenc Czibula, Lajos Liptai. ; ; Renovation of the monument to the 198 heroes of Farkasd who fell in World War I; At the meeting of the local government held on February 17, 2000, representative László Szőke, on behalf of the nine representatives of the Local Organization of the Hungarian Coalition Party, made a proposal for the renovation of the monument and its surroundings. ; He also proposed the expanded re-publication of the “Memorial Book of the Heroes of the 1914-1918 World War in Vágfarkasd” published in 1931 and the organization of a ceremony on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the inauguration. He requested the establishment of an “anniversary statue committee” to implement the ideas. The local government unanimously supported the proposal and appointed Deputy Mayor Gyula Iván, Mayor József Czibula and János Restár to the committee. ; The three-member committee immediately began the organization. They started collecting funds among the population, and the landscaping of the main square began with public works. ; Sculptor György Lipcsey was asked to renovate the statue and create the missing parts of the bronze relief, who completed the work on May 30th to the satisfaction of the committee for a fee of 50,000.- Sk. ; He entrusted Attila F. Balázs, director of AB-ART Publishing House based in Bratislava, with the publication of the memorial book. The committee received the 300 bound copies and the 50 plate-bound copies during August for a fee of 39,500.- Sk. ; The date of the memorial ceremony and the festive service was set for 10 a.m. on October 1st, 2000.