The Legend of ‘Magyar’ – A Hungarian Bomb Expert Among the Korean Freedom Fighters in the Early 1920s
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35926/HDR.2025.2.2Kulcsszavak:
Korea, Mongolia, China, independence fight, bomb factory, Hungarians, World War I, prisoners of warAbsztrakt
The Korean Peninsula commemorates the 80th anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 2025. This anniversary makes a detailed investigation of a little-known legend relevant. According to a Korean patriotic book written in 1947, a Hungarian bomb
expert provided assistance to Korean independence fighters in the 1920s. Based on the book, the person was a Hungarian prisoner of war during World War I in Russia, who later met a Korean independence activist in Mongolia and, at his persuasion, went to China, where he joined a Korean organization called Uiyoldan. This study attempts to investigate the truth behind the above legend and identify the mysterious ‘Magyar’ in the legend. The author collected and analyzed numerous archival sources to identify the wanted person.
Hivatkozások
PUBLISHED SOURCES
• Csoma, Mózes: Korea története – a két koreai állam történelemszemléletének összehasonlításával. Antall József Tudásközpont, Budapest, 2018.
• Forbáth, László: A megújhodott Mongolia. Franklin Társulat, Budapest, 1934.
• Pach, Zsigmond Pál – Okladnyikov, A. P. – Alekszejev, A. V. – Józsa, Antal (eds.): Magyar internacionalisták Szibériában és a Távol-Keleten, 1917–1922. Kossuth Publishing House, Budapest, 1978.
• Park, Tae-won: Yaksangwa Uiyoldan. Seoul: Kiphunsem, 2015.
• Yang, Ji-son: Honggariin ‘Majaru’wa hanguk tongripundong. (The Hungarian person ‘Majaru’ and the Korean independence movement.) In: Hangukkva Honggari tongripundongui kiokkva kyocha. (The memory and intersection of the independence movement of Korea and Hungary.) Dankook University, Yongin, 2019, 147–180.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
• Beszámoló és filmvetítés Mongóliáról. Dunántúli Napló, March 13, 1955, 6.
• Elutazott a koreai kormányküldöttség. Szabad Nép, April 10, 1955, 1.
• Fogadás a szovjet nagykövetségen a Szovjetunió kormányküldöttségének tiszteletére. Szabad Nép, April 2, 1955, 1.
• Hazájától távol. Brassói Lapok, July 17, 1987, 8.
• Mentsék meg lelkünket. Az Est, February 4, 1920, 2.
• Tizenöt év után hazajött egy magyar hadifogoly és üzenetet hozott a Kínában élő magyar hadifoglyokról. Pesti Napló, December 23, 1930, 13.
ARCHIVAL SOURCES FROM THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL ARCHIVES
• Documents of the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Shanghai, which protect the interests of Hungarians, 1917–1940. 1. cs. HU-MNL-OL-K 672.
• Official Record. Written in the office of the Hungarian Association on August 7, 1942, at 10 a.m. MNL-OL-K 103 Hungarian Legation in Tokyo, 1939–1944.
• Record of the Budapest headquarters of the Royal Hungarian State Police on the interrogation of Zsófia Magyar on March 12, 1931. K 73 T12-HF-M-974.
• Report of Ambassador Pál Szarvas on March 24, 1955. MNL XIX-J-14 Box 6 50-159.
• Report of charge d’affaires Dr. László Keresztes on April 20, 1955. MNL XIX-J-14 Box 6 50-159.
• The only known autobiography of Gábor Magyar, written on April 15, 1943. MNL-OL-K 103 Hungarian Legation in Tokyo, 1939–1944.
ARCHIVAL SOURCE FROM THE HUNGARIAN MILITARY HISTORY ARCHIVES
• Tibold Kregczy’s qualification sheet. HM HIM HL AKVI 1952, 5.
ADDITIONAL ONLINE RESOURCES
• “Rio de Janeiro, Brazil records,” images, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95B9-9GKN?view=index: June 5, 2025), image 28 of 203; Arquivo Nacional de Brasil (Rio de Janeiro), Image Group Number: 004915887 familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95B9-9GKN?view=index
• “Rio de Janeiro, Brazil records,” images, FamilySearch (familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQG5YW-LM6?view=index: June 6, 2025), image 54 of 203; Arquivo Nacional de Brasil (Rio de Janeiro), Image Group Number: 004910461 familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G5YW-LM6?view=index
• Klavdia Magyar. United States, Index to Alien Case Files, 1940–2003. 10488106.
