Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook488 pages6 hours
From Darkness into Light: My Journey Through Nazism, Fascism, and Communism to Freedom
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The main title of the book, From Darkness into Light, is a metaphor referring to the most important life-altering event in the author’s life from a totalitarian dictatorship to living in the free world. The subtitle reflects his eyewitness account of events and experiences, captured in five stories, in chronological order, from his birth in 1938 in Budapest, Hungary, to when he is in the United States as twenty-six years old as a married man with a child, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the world’s premier science and engineering institution, and ready to embark on living the American dream.
Robert Ratonyi spent the first seven years of his life in an openly anti-Semitic country, suffering the loss of his father and many of his close relatives, uncles, aunts, and cousins, in the Holocaust. He then spent his adolescent years under the hard-core Stalinist communist dictatorship. He was brought up by a single mother, a Holocaust survivor, in a working-class neighborhood. According to contemporary American definition, the family lived in poverty, barely making it from paycheck to paycheck his uneducated and unskilled mother could provide as a manual laborer. As a freshman at the Technical University of Budapest, he participated in a peaceful student march on October 23, 1956, that turned into a bloody uprising against the regime. He was caught up in the uprising, hoping that Hungary could break free out of the “iron curtain” that separated the east from the west. When the Russians put down the revolution, he managed to escape to Austria on December 6, 1956, with no money or other earthly possessions, leaving behind his mother, family, and friends. He was single-mindedly focused on finding a new, free country where he could continue his university education. He went to the American Embassy in Vienna to apply for immigrating to the US but was told that the quota for Hungarian refugees was filled. The Canadians were actively seeking students who wanted to continue their education, and Robert Ratonyi ended up in Montréal, Canada, in February 1957.
The last story ends when Robert Ratonyi succeeds in finishing his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964. This story demonstrates how an immigrant can become a contributor to society by taking risks, being willing to work hard, delaying gratification, learning English, and getting a good education.
He is now semiretired as a portfolio manager and is a regular speaker on behalf of the William Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum and the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. He and his wife live in Atlanta and are fervent supporters of the arts, education, as well as local Jewish organizations.
Robert Ratonyi spent the first seven years of his life in an openly anti-Semitic country, suffering the loss of his father and many of his close relatives, uncles, aunts, and cousins, in the Holocaust. He then spent his adolescent years under the hard-core Stalinist communist dictatorship. He was brought up by a single mother, a Holocaust survivor, in a working-class neighborhood. According to contemporary American definition, the family lived in poverty, barely making it from paycheck to paycheck his uneducated and unskilled mother could provide as a manual laborer. As a freshman at the Technical University of Budapest, he participated in a peaceful student march on October 23, 1956, that turned into a bloody uprising against the regime. He was caught up in the uprising, hoping that Hungary could break free out of the “iron curtain” that separated the east from the west. When the Russians put down the revolution, he managed to escape to Austria on December 6, 1956, with no money or other earthly possessions, leaving behind his mother, family, and friends. He was single-mindedly focused on finding a new, free country where he could continue his university education. He went to the American Embassy in Vienna to apply for immigrating to the US but was told that the quota for Hungarian refugees was filled. The Canadians were actively seeking students who wanted to continue their education, and Robert Ratonyi ended up in Montréal, Canada, in February 1957.
The last story ends when Robert Ratonyi succeeds in finishing his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964. This story demonstrates how an immigrant can become a contributor to society by taking risks, being willing to work hard, delaying gratification, learning English, and getting a good education.
He is now semiretired as a portfolio manager and is a regular speaker on behalf of the William Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum and the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. He and his wife live in Atlanta and are fervent supporters of the arts, education, as well as local Jewish organizations.
Unavailable
Related to From Darkness into Light
Related ebooks
From Darkness into Light: My Journey Through Nazism, Fascism, and Communism to Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiving in Interesting Times: Living the American Dream Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOut of Hitler's Shadow: Childhood and Youth in Germany and the United States, 1935-1967 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThrough the Eyes of an Immigrant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhite Over Black: American Attitudes toward the Negro, 1550-1812 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Displaced Persons: an Immigrant Journey to America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Interpreter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJust Passing Through: A German-American Family Saga Revised Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFellow Traveler: A Twentieth Century American Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNO COUNTRY FOR IDEALISTS: THE MAKING OF A FAMILY OF SUBVERSIVES Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWill to Freedom: A Perilous Journey Through Fascism and Communism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGerman Voices: Memories of Life during Hitler's Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Souls of Black Folk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Jewish Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before It’S Too Late: My Life and My Recollections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Story of a Boy Favored by Providence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Afterlife of Moses: Exile, Democracy, Renewal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory Lessons: A Memoir of Growing up in an American Communist Family Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSURVIVING BERLIN: AN ORAL HISTORY Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRain of Ash: Roma, Jews, and the Holocaust Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLong Shadows: Truth, Lies and History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free as a Jew: A Personal Memoir of National Self-Liberation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black In Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Soulcatcher: And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The World Is Upside Down Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVoyage Through the Twentieth Century: A Historian's Recollections and Reflections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Painted Bird Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Child Survivors of the Holocaust: The Youngest Remnant and the American Experience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Personal Memoirs For You
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Stolen Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mommie Dearest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Mormon: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Solutions and Other Problems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: the heartfelt, funny memoir by a New York Times bestselling therapist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stash: My Life in Hiding Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Choice: Embrace the Possible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mediocre Monk: A Stumbling Search for Answers in a Forest Monastery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dad on Pills: Fatherhood and Mental Illness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for From Darkness into Light
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews