For most of her life, Erika Reich Giles shunned her Hungarian heritage.
Brought to the U.S. as a child by her parents after the family’s escape from post-World War II Hungary, she longed to become an American. Gradually shedding her Hungarian identity over the years worked until, in middle age, she received a letter from her 91-year-old father that convinced her she couldn’t run from the past forever.
She explored her family’s history and uncovered a story that began in 1948, when Hungary was in the stranglehold of the Soviet-backed Communists, who were sealing the borders, infiltrating the government, and confiscating private property. They seized the Reich Gépgyár, her family’s agricultural machine factory, devastating their lives. She was born in the midst of the ensuing chaos. The family embarked on a daring escape soon after. A series of twists and turns culminated three years later in Billings, Montana, where family secrets complicated a challenging refugee life.
Erika’s quest eventually led her back
Targeted Age Group:: Adults
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I wrote the first essay that became a chapter in the book after an exercise in a writing class triggered a memory of a traumatic event in my childhood. That led to more essays–about my family's escape from Hungary after WWII when I was an infant, about the challenges of refugee life in Billings, Montana. The essays, which were published in various literary journals, began to suggest a book, especially after I returned to Hungary decades after I left and discovered a homeland I had never known firsthand. It seemed that a book about my journey to reclaim a heritage I had denied for most of my life would inspire other immigrants and refugees wrestling with their cultural identity, as well as anyone else trying to come to terms with the past.
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