On April 18, the Hungarian American Coalition (Coalition) will host its Annual Gala Benefit at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC to honor the accomplishments of Dr. August J. Molnár. Dr. Molnár is the Founder and President of the American Hungarian Foundation.
The Honorary Chairman of the event will be The Honorable George E. Pataki, former New York Governor. Gala Co-Chairs are Mr. and Mrs. John N. Lauer and The William Penn Association.
Members of the Chairman’s Committee include: Mr. and Mrs. J. Joe Adorjan, Ms. Julia Ernst, Mrs. Ina Ginsburg, Ms. Susan Hutchison, H. E. Ambassador György von Habsburg, Mr. Zsolt Harsanyi, Mr. and Mrs. Laszlo Megyeri, the Honorable Mary V. Mochary, Mr. C. Barton Rice Jr. and Mrs. Andrea Lauer Rice, H. E. The Ambassador of Hungary and Mrs. Andrea Bors Somogyi, Dr. and Mrs. Balazs Somogyi, Coalition President, Mr. Maximilian N. Teleki and Mrs. Wendy J. Teleki, William Penn Association Chairman, Mr. Stephen J. Varga, and The Honorable George Herbert Walker III, former Ambassador to Hungary and Mrs. Carol Walker.
On April 19, the Coalition, together with the Carl Lutz Foundation, the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation, the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, the Embassy of Hungary, and the Embassy of Switzerland, will open a week-long exhibit entitled “Carl Lutz and the Legendary Glass House in Budapest”. The Swiss Consul Carl Lutz saved thousands of Jews in Budapest from deportation to Nazi death camps during World War II by issuing tens of thousands of protective letters for Hungarian Jews and establishing Swiss safe houses throughout Budapest, such as the Glass House, an old industrial building in Vadász Street. The exhibit will be open to the public from April 21 through April 26 at the Kossuth House, Washington, DC.
On the same day, the Coalition hosts a half-day symposium entitled “Hungarian Americans Together”, an overview of educational and cultural programs of the Hungarian American community. The seminar and discussion will take place at 9 AM at the Kossuth House. The seminar’s featured speaker will be Professor Molnar, who will address the audience on the past 50 years of the American Hungarian Foundation. The Rector of the University of Pécs, Dr. Róbert Gábriel, will also attend the event and introduce the university’s plans as they expand their activities involving U.S. universities. Several Hungarian American organizations will also participate in the seminar and be giving presentations on their programs.
Lastly, there will be an open discussion on the future of Hungarian American organizations moderated by Maximilian Teleki. This preliminary discussion will serve a basis for a second meeting hosted later this year by HAC and other Hungarian American organizations that are interested in discussing this important subject.