Eugenia Jenny Williams - Yenni: A Life Between Worlds

Yenni

A Life
Between Worlds

Eugenia Jenny
Williams

First published in 2002 by
Pluto Press Australia
Locked Bag 199
Annandale NSW 2038
www.plutoaustralia.com

Copyright Eugenia Jenny Williams 2002
Edited by Kerry Davies
Cover design by Tracey Baglin
Typeset by Wendy Farley, anthouse@acay.com.au
All photographs courtesy of Eugenia Jenny Williams
Printed by Hyde Park Press

Yenni was assisted through
Arts Tasmania by the Premier,
Minister for State Development

Australian Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Williams, Eugenia Jenny, 1936- .
Yenni.

ISBN 1 86403 149 2.

1. Williams, Eugenia Jenny, 1936- . 2. Hungarians
Australia - Biography. 3. Immigrants - Australia
Biography. 4. Hungary - Biography. I. Title.

305.894511094

Jenny Williams was born in 1936 in
Kosice, in what is now the Slovak
Republic. She and her family
escaped to Vienna in 1969, before
immigrating to Tasmania. She is
married with two adult children and
two grandchildren and now lives
with her family in Hobart.

She began writing in 1990. This is
her first book.

To my sweetheart and little friend Ellen
and my blue-eyed boy Alec, because they
taught me yet another shade of love.

Table of contents

On the long, bumper-to-bumper highway to publishing, like traffic lights, stand out the ones who helped, guided, directed and held my hand through the traffic.

Kathleen Mary Fallon was the first to call me a writer, even though my hands were covered with flour from making scones for my restaurant. With her encouragement and guidance I took my work out of the drawer and made my first steps. Shelly Norton, who knows me from the days when my English vocabulary could fit into one sentence, helped to translate the whole manuscript from my English into readable English.

Professor David A. Lawton had faith in my writing and tilted the decision of the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board to consider me for a grant. I thank the Minister for Education and Arts Tasmania for approval of the grant toward the editing of my manuscript through the Arts Tasmania 1995 Grants Program. And I thank Stephen Edgar, my first editor through Arts Tasmania, with whom I worked closely and debated the changes strongly and wilfully.

Francis Ibbott, my friend from a writing group, lent me her time and knowledge of English grammar, and enthusiastically encouraged me to write. A number of my friends read parts of my manuscript, passed their honest opinion and kindly kept enquiring about my progress.

I thank the reader at Pluto Press who read my submission, thought it would be an important publication and recommended it for publishing; Tony Moore, Pluto Press publisher, who believed the reader and undertook to publish the book; Kerry Davies, my editor, who with her sensitivity and professionalism endured my lectures on history and objections, and worked hard to achieve the highest possible standard; and the staff at Pluto Press who patiently and tirelessly pushed the publishing to its conclusion.

This book, as any book, is the collective effort of a group of dedicated and hardworking people, whom I will never have the chance to know. I thank them for their efforts.

Throughout the whole process the members of my family made me feel safe and loved, like in a cocoon lined with cotton wool. To my husband Brian, my love, I thank you for your shoulder, your intelligence and your work. You are truly what Bette Middler calls the wind beneath my wings. And finally I thank my children and grandchildren, the new generation who gave me the reason to write this book so they know about their roots.

For further explanation of names and terms, a glossary appears

See this? His finger slides across a white sheet of paper with a circle drawn on it, covering the whole page. The circle is divided into twelve parts. The finger rests in one, the sign of Cancer.

Yeah? So what does it mean? My response is unenthusiastic.

When Pluto is in square with your Sun it indicates a difficult childhood. Something to do with your father. Difficulties. Perhaps unkindness, or He lifts his eyes to my face, looking for approval.

No. Nothing like that.

Perhaps a sudden parting, or an absence of your father from your life. Anyway this is what it means. I detect a little impatience in his voice.

And your mother. See the moon in Gemini? She is, or was, sophisticated, a very refined lady, gave you everything she considered necessary for your life, mainly intellectually. Perhaps she was a little unemotional?

I would not say so, but you are right about my father, he was absent from my life.

His eyes light up a little.

Okay then. See your Venus? In your horoscope it is very dominant. Venus is associated with comfort and the nice things in life, like good quality, nice furniture, clothing, music, arts, and mostly with your sex. Your Venus is in a very dominant position. You have a strong presence as a woman. God help the man. As a matter of fact he would not stand a chance, once you show an interest.

Perhaps a few years ago, but not now. A flippant laugh leaves my lips.

Yes, yes. It is still very dominant. And your Mercury is right next to your Venus. You are smart, social and at times clever. He lowers his head and glances at the circle.

The rest of the signs indicate that you have a huge amount of energy thats because your Mars is in Aries and you are very optimistic thats Jupiter in Sagittarius.

It sounds really good. What a fantastic heritage to be born into.

You could say that, except for two things that overshadow it all. All the important planets create a Grand Cross in your horoscope and Saturn is in Pisces, your Sun sign.

Sorry to be so ignorant but what does that do to my life?

Basically everything. The Cross means that symbolically you have a cross to bear. Whenever the planets touch the points of the Cross major changes take place in your life. For Saturn to be in your Sun sign is not a fortunate position either. When Saturn eclipses your Sun it can make your life very hard indeed. It would have been toughest in your childhood. You were severely tested with periods when you were faced by and forced to deal with the totally undesirable and unexpected His words are mingling with my thoughts and as they do they get on the fast train of my life.

The city in the Eastern corner of Middle Europe. The occupation, war, liberation. A Russian soldier standing with a gun pointing at us. Borders thrown behind our city to make us into something we were not. The grip of the Iron Curtain. Within, the suppression and expansion of culture and ideologies. The black market, corruption, and me, with millions of others, the all-important new generation, through which the new socialist regime will succeed.