Some years ago, Frank Mandalik called me to inform that he was about to embark
upon a new project. He proceeded to tell me that he was going to write a book
about his hunting ventures in British Columbia.
The thought of a new creation, whether it be a totem pole, a new fence around
the house, or a book on hunting is always an exhilarating idea. As I was aware,
Frank had been involved in hunting for four decades and, judging from his
stories, he had had many colourful and educational experiences that would
interest a lot of nature-loving readers. The book, he said, was going to be
written in Hungarian, for he had fellow hunters in the Old Country in mind. He
hoped that some day they would be in a position to join him and share the
pleasures that hunting can offer in beautiful British Columbia.
Although my experience is limited in hunting, other than reading hunter
stories in such classics as Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev’s A Sportsman’s Sketches,
I have volunteered enthusiastically to assist in the project. As shown in my
letter included in this collection, I offered some thoughts on what I thought
the best approach to the writing of the book would be.
Months passed without a word from Frank. I thought he was hard at working on
his book, or that other duties were keeping him occupied. As I remember now,
those were difficult times for the Mandalik family. Frank’s parents had passed
away in rapid succession. This was followed soon by the most painful event
parents can endure - the death of a child. Their son Árpád died tragically. The
media had carried the sad news on T.V., radio and newspapers, describing his
heroic deed as Árpád, the pilot of a small aircraft, had saved the lives of a
group of children playing on the beach, by diverting the landing plane, thus
sacrificing his own life and that of his passengers.
And only a few years later came the most shocking news, unbelievable as it
sounded, that Frank had in the prime of life passed away too. In addition to the
deep sorrow of losing a wonderful friend and an influential member of the
Hungarian community in Canada, came the realization that this was the end of the
proposed book on hunting.
A few years later, the loving widow, Roselyn, undertook the task of gathering
Frank’s notes and manuscripts and forwarded them to me to edit and translate the
more comprehensive writings into English. The present collection is a result of
that work. It contains chapters pertaining to Frank’s autobiography in Hungarian
and English, beginning in Czechoslovakia, continuing in Hungary and ending in
Canada. It also includes selections from his stories, and notes on British
Columbia’s natural and geographical characteristics, with lists of its plant and
animal kingdoms, the species spelled out in Latin, English and Hungarian.
Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the collection is the lively story, A
Hunter’s Confessions, in which Frank depicts a hunting venture that took place
in 2002. The second part of the booklet comprises some reminiscences authored by
his friends and associates, celebrating Frank’s accomplishments. His untimely
departure has left quite a void that many of us, colleagues, friends,
acquaintances, who had the honor of knowing him, feel to this very day.
Frank was born in Bratislava (Pozsony) in 1937. The city with that part of
Slovakia was called before Upper Hungary, an integral part of the Hungarian
Kingdom for over a thousand years, until 1918. Frank’s father, the elder Frank
Mandalik, was a master mason, a prosperous farmer and, as we were to learn in
Canada, a poet. His mother, Maria Nyéki Végh, was a home-maker. Life in
Czechoslovakia is remembered by Frank as hell. Edward Benes' nationalistic
government pronounced the newly created country’s German and Hungarian
minorities as war criminals. Frank’s father was laid off of his job, while
Frank, an elementary school boy, was expelled from school, only because of their
nationality. Things got even worse in 1946, when the family was deported to
Moravia for forced labour. All of their possessions, including their house and
belongings and 11 hectares of land, were confiscated and given away to Slovak
citizens. The Mandaliks, fortunately, were able to escape labour camps. They
moved to Hungary by crossing the ice-covered Danube, arriving there as
half-frozen, penniless refugees. Nevertheless it was a day of joy for they were
free again.
Life was hard for the family in Hungary too. The country was economically
devastated by the war and was over-flown of minority Hungarian refugees from
Rumania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. In 1947, the Communist Party came into
power by rigging the elections and a terrorist regime began. Personal trouble
came upon the family when it turned out that the elder Mandalik had associated
himself with the Christian Democratic Party. He was arrested, interrogated,
tortured and persecuted for years. When a letter arrived from their son in late
November, 1956, informing that he had escaped the country because of his
participation in the October Revolution, for which he had been condemned to
death in absentia, the heart-broken parents had no choice but to follow suit and
join their only child in Austria as refugees – for the second time in less than
a decade. They arrived in Canada in 1957 and settled in Nanaimo, British
Columbia.
The new homeland that adopted them, along with close to 40,000 other
Hungarian refugees, has been good to the family. Hard-working and law-abiding
people, they have managed to integrate into the mainstream of Canadian society.
Frank’s 40-year career in Canada started on a promising note, when Howard
Logging hired him as an hourly labourer. The young man with a degree in
industrial technology from Hungary was not choosy. He worked hard, because that
was his nature. Better times followed in 1962, when he gained employment with
the major forestry company MacMillan Bloedel, stationed at its Franklin
Division, as Forestry Crew Charge-head. Later he became Forestry Foreman and
Engineering Assistant.
Frank acquired responsible positions by loyalty to his employers, hard work
and self-improvement. He had taken a course in forestry and general technology
at the Chicago Vocational Training School in 1962, followed by such advanced
courses as accident control, management skills, forest fire control, industrial
first-aid, emergency and evacuation. In 1964, he married a young lady, Roselyn
Jaenisch. Roselyn was born in 1945 in Czechoslovakia to German-Canadian parents,
who returned to the Old Country to settle family matters. World War Two started
and they were stranded. A tragic event had happened when Roselyn’s father and
four young sons had perished in an air attack conducted by the Allied Forces.
Roselyn’s mother returned to Canada with 6-year old Roselyn in 1951. Having
lived in different parts of the country, they settled in Powell River. Frank and
Roselyn worked hard, they prospered and raised two sons, Árpád and Christopher,
the former having received the honor of a group of boy scouts in Hungary
carrying his name.
Frank’s employers and associates have expressed high respect for his personal
qualities. He was regarded as a keen and conscientious person. Some of his
employers, including A.J. Harper, Divisional Forestry Supervisor (1968), had no
hesitation in recommending him for field supervisory work in forestry. He became
an expert in planting, brush control, site preparation, regeneration surveys,
record compilation and forestry mapping. In 1970, he applied for work at
Weldwood of Canada Ltd., and stayed with that company for five years. Firm
Manager C.E. Forrest informs us that it was a real pleasure to work with Frank.
“He has proved himself to be an untiring worker, trustful and cooperative… He
has shown excellence in costing, estimating, fire control, safety, conducting
safety meetings and, above all, assembling and holding together a far above
average number of crew men…”
He had special qualities in operational logging industry, cost management,
implementing operational plans and long-term planning and budgeting. His
associates, superiors and subordinates, regarded him as an effective team
player. At Weldwood of Canada he served as Logging Manager, being in charge of
140 employees. In addition to his regular activities, he was also assigned to
supervise road construction and helicopter logging. He received numerous
citations and rewards, one from Weldwood for having the best safety records in
the West Coast. He was a member of such professional societies as “The Society
of Engineering and Technology and was a chartered member of the Applied Science
and Technology of British Columbia.”
Frank retained his association with the local and nation-wide Hungarian
community in Canada. He was one of the founding members of “The Hungarian
Society of Nanaimo”, from its beginning in 1985. He also belonged to “The
Hungarian Veterans’ Association” and was a member of “The Knightly Order of St.
Ladislaus”, and “The Order of Vitéz”. In the latter he served as Captain of the
Western-Canadian Region until his death. Perhaps the highest appreciation
bestowed upon him was, as expressed by National Captain, Julius Detre, saying
that the Order decided to appoint Frank to National Captain after the retirement
of Mr. Detre.
“The Order of Vitéz” was founded in 1920 by Rear Admiral Miklós Horthy,
Regent of Hungary. The Order was constitutionally established by Article 77 of
the Law of XXXVI/1920 to reward the war veterans who risked their lives in the
defense of the country, and who had been decorated according to their ranks with
high war medals. As v. Antal Radnóczi, Brigadier General, and General of the
Order, suggested, the Order of Vitéz is rooted in the tradition of Hungarian
history, beginning with the first king, St. Stephen, who gave nobility and
property to superior war veterans. “The title of ‘vitéz,’” writes Mr. Radnóczi,
“(warrior, war hero, or knight) has no fixed translation. It appears in front of
the surname, regardless of military rank or social position.” According to the
Brigadier General, at the end of World War II, approximately 23,000 vitéz were
on the lists of the Order. In 2000, there were 1800 new members in Hungary and
about 600 in the Western World.
According to qualifications, ordinary members are those admitted on the basis
of their high military merits in the two world wars and those freedom fighters,
such as Frank Mandalik, who by bravery and acts of heroism in fighting against
communism in 1919 and 1956 gained high merits. There are also members who by
non-military means gained high merits by defending or serving the Hungarian
cause spiritually, by deeds, works or writings. Frank played a significant role
in promoting and organizing the Order in Western Canada. During his tenure as
Captain, the number of registered members in British Columbia increased
noticeably.
As mentioned at the outset the purpose of the present collection is to
represent Frank Mandalik as a hunter. A Hunter’s Confessions is one of the few
things written by him that we were able to unearth.
I have edited the original text and translated it into English. It offers a
wealth of information about the laws and procedures pertaining to hunting in
British Columbia. The reader can obtain a great deal of insight into the
province’s wilderness, as well as into its plant and animal kingdoms. Based on
his story, we can regard Frank as a role-model in following proper procedures in
hunting. The Confessions testifies to the fact he was a devoted family man, a
loving husband and a thoughtful father. He was generous and helpful towards his
fellow hunters, and was nobody’s fool. As in everything in his life he was well
organized in hunting. He took that sport just as seriously as his profession.
Having a great respect for natural conservation, he enjoyed observing nature
as much, as if not more, than shooting wild animals and birds. He was practical
and knowledgeable about nature. A great cook and sharing person, he once drove
more than a hundred kilometers across the Malahat Mountain to bring us and other
friends in Victoria some of their delicacies put together for Christmas.
Energetic and immaculate, he demanded cleanliness and propriety from other
people too. He was a devoted Roman Catholic but showed understanding and
compassion towards other denominations and sects.
His story is full of lively characters such as city slicker hunters who know
and care little about the rudimentary elements of hunting, but he enjoyed most
writing about people who care a great deal about natural conservation and
protecting the wildlife population. The Confessions could be used as a handbook
in showing that what is expected of a person to make him a reliable and
wholesome hunter in order to keep nature intact without leaving a mess behind.
It is our hope that we’ll be able to find more of his manuscripts for the
benefit of all. On behalf of Roselyn and her family, I would like to convey our
gratitude to the many people who made this collection a reality, including the
authors of the stories and reminiscences about Frank: Jack Rydeen, Gyula Detre,
László Pintér, Stan Kaardal, Peter Czink, Árpád Kercso and family, Kevin Davie,
Carl Rathburn. Special thanks are due to Frank Veszely and Jean Tabory for
editing the English translations, and to George Fias for converting my
manuscripts to Publisher’s file and catching the final typos. All in all, we
have made the collection a fine read, worthy of Frank Mandalik, the story
teller, the populist and the inquisitive fellow that he was.
