What do you think?
Rate this book
Made in Hungary: A Life Forged by History
Made in Hungary is a remarkable memoir of resilience. Born in a bombing raid in 1944, Maria Krenz's childhood in Budapest traversed the tumultuous years from the Holocaust through the Soviet occupation to the year following the Hungarian Revolution, when she and her mother fled to Venezuela. It was a young life filled with uncertainty and contradiction amid the swirl of history. Raised Catholic by her Jewish parents, under Communism she lived every lonely day with the fear that it was dangerous to be either. After her father's death in 1950, she lived with her traumatized mother and was mostly left to fend for herself. She survived with her fierce spirit intact, and over time, grew hungry to understand the larger historical context of her early years. This book is the result, a poignant personal and family story steeped in history.
262 pages, Paperback
First published October 26, 2009
1 person is currently reading
41 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 17, 2025
The madness of different tyrants held the nation of Hungary in its grip at various times throughout the 20th century; and Maria Krenz was there to witness that madness, and was fortunate to survive it.
In her 2009 memoir Made in Hungary, Maria Krenz tells her own life story in a manner that captures the turmoil of Hungary's 20th-century history. Though she left Hungary as a child after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and eventually settled in the United States of America, Krenz feels that she was “made in Hungary.” And, as the book's subtitle indicates, Krenz truly lived “a life forged by history.”
Krenz was born during an Allied bombing raid on World War II Budapest, just a short time before all hospitals were closed to Jewish patients. She survived the Holocaust, as did some members of her family, but her descriptions of that horrible time from history make for harrowing reading nonetheless.
Krenz, of course, was too young to remember the dreadful specifics of the Second World War; but while she was growing up, her mother told her about life in Nazi-occupied Hungary in vivid terms. “Mother continued to relive the horrors of the Holocaust. Again and again she would describe hiding on the top floor, kneeling over the laundry basket that held me while the bombs were falling, being afraid to walk on the street with the yellow star” (p. 156).
With the Allied victory in 1945, the genocidal machinery of the Nazi Holocaust was permanently shut down; but anti-Semitism was still a fact of life in post-World War II Hungary. Krenz recalls how “In 1945 Father changed our family name from the German/Jewish ‘Fleischl’ to the impeccably Hungarian sounding ‘Felhös,’ meaning ‘cloudy’….I was too little yet to understand what the secrecy meant, but nevertheless could sense that we weren’t quite right, quite like others, quite acceptable” (p. 47).
Comparably compelling are those passages in which Krenz describes how Hungarian communists and their Soviet overlords gradually seized power in Hungary after the war, bringing to Hungary the same kind of terror that existed in the Soviet Union during Stalin's time. When Mátyás Rákosi, hand-picked by Stalin, took over as leader of the Hungarian Communist Party and de facto ruler of the country in 1948, he immediately established a political system that “copied Soviet paranoia and terror. Rákosi…launched a campaign with the slogan ‘Increase Vigilance!’ inciting people everywhere to look everywhere for enemies of the state, enemies of the workers, to ‘watch out for the smallest hostile actions or words.’ People were encouraged to report on their fellow workers, friends, and family” (p. 98). Krenz conveys well the challenges and difficulties of life in an Iron Curtain dictatorship.
The focus on Krenz's family gives the book an intimate, personal quality that I like. And yet, even when talking about school and books, teachers and childhood friends, Krenz conveys the pressures of living in a hyper-politicized and unfree society, as when she describes one of the neighbour families in her part of Budapest – “the Toth family…with two kids. Mr. Toth worked for the AVO (State Security Police), and so they kept to themselves and we were wary of them” (p. 153). That was how it was in those days, as Krenz makes clear. If the local secret police agent lives across the street with his wife and kids, you remain aware of their presence, and keep your distance.
Another highlight of the book is the way Krenz emphasises the atmosphere of hope that prevailed throughout Hungary after Stalin’s death in 1953, when the brutal and dictatorial Rákosi was summoned to Moscow and replaced as Hungarian prime minister by the reformist Imre Nagy. Nagy’s promises delighted the Hungarian people: “to slow the speed of industrialization, to make agricultural cooperatives voluntary, to close internment camps, and to grant amnesty to political prisoners. There would be more tolerance toward religion and more esteem of intellectuals” (p. 200).
Nagy is still remembered with affection in Hungary for his attempts to undo Rákosi’s tyranny – to make life better and more free for the average Hungarian, even within the constraints of a communist system. Yet, as Krenz recounts, the hope and promise embodied by Nagy was ultimately undone by the Soviets’ crushing of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and Nagy himself was executed.
A year after the thwarted revolution, Krenz and her family were able to leave Hungary (though it wasn’t an easy or pleasant departure); and after a few uncomfortable years as “stateless people” in Venezuela, Krenz and her family were able to begin a new life in the United States of America.
Krenz closes her memoir by reflecting on her difficult, conflicted relationship with her native country: “I am not ‘cured’ of Hungary, no matter how much I’d like to be. My unrequited love affair still continues….I close my eyes and I am in Csévi Street or Pasaréti Square, at the Chain Bridge, or some other forever magical place” (p. 253).
Having lived for a time in Hungary, and having seen many of the places of which Krenz writes in her book, I can testify to the truth of what she writes in these concluding passages of her book. Hungary does possess a unique and magical quality. For all the difficulties of Hungary’s history, and for all of the pain that she endured during her early life there, I can understand why she still misses Hungary.
Made in Hungary is well illustrated with photographs. Some are contemporary, such as the haunting "shoes" memorial along the east bank of the Danube River in Budapest, showing where victims of the Holocaust were shot and dumped into the river. Others are historical, showing Krenz and members of her family at different points in time. Krenz’s Made in Hungary takes readers back to a singularly beautiful country during some of the most difficult times in history.
In her 2009 memoir Made in Hungary, Maria Krenz tells her own life story in a manner that captures the turmoil of Hungary's 20th-century history. Though she left Hungary as a child after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and eventually settled in the United States of America, Krenz feels that she was “made in Hungary.” And, as the book's subtitle indicates, Krenz truly lived “a life forged by history.”
Krenz was born during an Allied bombing raid on World War II Budapest, just a short time before all hospitals were closed to Jewish patients. She survived the Holocaust, as did some members of her family, but her descriptions of that horrible time from history make for harrowing reading nonetheless.
Krenz, of course, was too young to remember the dreadful specifics of the Second World War; but while she was growing up, her mother told her about life in Nazi-occupied Hungary in vivid terms. “Mother continued to relive the horrors of the Holocaust. Again and again she would describe hiding on the top floor, kneeling over the laundry basket that held me while the bombs were falling, being afraid to walk on the street with the yellow star” (p. 156).
With the Allied victory in 1945, the genocidal machinery of the Nazi Holocaust was permanently shut down; but anti-Semitism was still a fact of life in post-World War II Hungary. Krenz recalls how “In 1945 Father changed our family name from the German/Jewish ‘Fleischl’ to the impeccably Hungarian sounding ‘Felhös,’ meaning ‘cloudy’….I was too little yet to understand what the secrecy meant, but nevertheless could sense that we weren’t quite right, quite like others, quite acceptable” (p. 47).
Comparably compelling are those passages in which Krenz describes how Hungarian communists and their Soviet overlords gradually seized power in Hungary after the war, bringing to Hungary the same kind of terror that existed in the Soviet Union during Stalin's time. When Mátyás Rákosi, hand-picked by Stalin, took over as leader of the Hungarian Communist Party and de facto ruler of the country in 1948, he immediately established a political system that “copied Soviet paranoia and terror. Rákosi…launched a campaign with the slogan ‘Increase Vigilance!’ inciting people everywhere to look everywhere for enemies of the state, enemies of the workers, to ‘watch out for the smallest hostile actions or words.’ People were encouraged to report on their fellow workers, friends, and family” (p. 98). Krenz conveys well the challenges and difficulties of life in an Iron Curtain dictatorship.
The focus on Krenz's family gives the book an intimate, personal quality that I like. And yet, even when talking about school and books, teachers and childhood friends, Krenz conveys the pressures of living in a hyper-politicized and unfree society, as when she describes one of the neighbour families in her part of Budapest – “the Toth family…with two kids. Mr. Toth worked for the AVO (State Security Police), and so they kept to themselves and we were wary of them” (p. 153). That was how it was in those days, as Krenz makes clear. If the local secret police agent lives across the street with his wife and kids, you remain aware of their presence, and keep your distance.
Another highlight of the book is the way Krenz emphasises the atmosphere of hope that prevailed throughout Hungary after Stalin’s death in 1953, when the brutal and dictatorial Rákosi was summoned to Moscow and replaced as Hungarian prime minister by the reformist Imre Nagy. Nagy’s promises delighted the Hungarian people: “to slow the speed of industrialization, to make agricultural cooperatives voluntary, to close internment camps, and to grant amnesty to political prisoners. There would be more tolerance toward religion and more esteem of intellectuals” (p. 200).
Nagy is still remembered with affection in Hungary for his attempts to undo Rákosi’s tyranny – to make life better and more free for the average Hungarian, even within the constraints of a communist system. Yet, as Krenz recounts, the hope and promise embodied by Nagy was ultimately undone by the Soviets’ crushing of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and Nagy himself was executed.
A year after the thwarted revolution, Krenz and her family were able to leave Hungary (though it wasn’t an easy or pleasant departure); and after a few uncomfortable years as “stateless people” in Venezuela, Krenz and her family were able to begin a new life in the United States of America.
Krenz closes her memoir by reflecting on her difficult, conflicted relationship with her native country: “I am not ‘cured’ of Hungary, no matter how much I’d like to be. My unrequited love affair still continues….I close my eyes and I am in Csévi Street or Pasaréti Square, at the Chain Bridge, or some other forever magical place” (p. 253).
Having lived for a time in Hungary, and having seen many of the places of which Krenz writes in her book, I can testify to the truth of what she writes in these concluding passages of her book. Hungary does possess a unique and magical quality. For all the difficulties of Hungary’s history, and for all of the pain that she endured during her early life there, I can understand why she still misses Hungary.
Made in Hungary is well illustrated with photographs. Some are contemporary, such as the haunting "shoes" memorial along the east bank of the Danube River in Budapest, showing where victims of the Holocaust were shot and dumped into the river. Others are historical, showing Krenz and members of her family at different points in time. Krenz’s Made in Hungary takes readers back to a singularly beautiful country during some of the most difficult times in history.
December 4, 2013
I love the richness of the descriptions of the everyday life of Maria as a young girl; the street life, appearance of buildings, friendships with other girls, contrasted with the reality of Hungary during the Holocaust and the following years. Beautifully written. All the more special as Maria is my neighbor!
January 10, 2010
This is a memoir by a dear family friend. I thought I would enjoy it because it is her story, but I was really impressed by how well-written it is, and what a truly beautiful, heartbreaking story it is. It is the story of her early childhood, from her birth in 1944 in Budapest through the Soviet invasion, the Hungarian revolution, and finally leaving Hungary at the age of 14.
November 15, 2013
In Made in Hungary, Maria Krenz tells her own story in a manner that captures the turmoil of Hungary's 20th-century history. Though she left Hungary as a child after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, moved to Venezuela, and eventually settled in the United States, Krenz feels that she was "made in Hungary." And, as the book's subtitle indicates, Krenz truly lived "a life forged by history." Born during an Allied bombing raid on World War II Budapest, just a short time before all hospitals were closed to Jewish patients, Krenz survived the Holocaust, as did many members of her family, but her descriptions of that horrible time from history make for harrowing reading nonetheless. Comparably compelling are those passages in which Krenz describes how Hungarian communists and their Soviet overlords gradually seized power in Hungary after the war, bringing to Hungary the same kind of terror that existed in the Soviet Union during Stalin's time. The focus on Krenz's family gives the book an intimate, personal quality that I like. Krenz also provides accounts of the general history of the time in a manner that is likely to be helpful to readers who are not familiar with Hungary's often tragic history. Well illustrated with photographs, both contemporary (e.g., the haunting "shoes" memorial along the Danube River in Budapest, showing where victims of the Holocaust were shot and dumped into the river) and historical (showing Krenz and members of her family at different points in time). Recommended for readers with an interest in autobiography, Holocaust studies, Cold War studies, and Hungarian history.
August 28, 2022
A lucidly written and interesting book that delivers what it promises by weaving historical and contextual elements within a memoir setting. It reads as a living room conversation with a friendly storyteller, who is also quite knowledgeable about the historical circumstances surrounding her own story. This gives the book great strength and gives it a "living history"-type of feel rather than simply coming across as a bitter memoir of a difficult time.
I read the book while I was in Budapest and thoroughly enjoyed it. I particularly enjoyed her recollections of childhood perspectives on parenting, life at home, as well as the historical events which surrounded her.
Although some reviews refer to it as a "holocaust story", I found that it had much more to offer. First, it goes well beyond the holocaust, both in terms of historical context and personal memoir. Second, it reads more like a book about growing up, coming to terms with one's own identity (religious or otherwise), and how societal, cultural and historical contexts outside of our control influence who we become, how we think, and what we are eventually forced to come to terms with later in life. While the author does keep returning to her Jewish ancestry, the impact of the holocaust on her family and how these impact her feelings and thought processes, calling this memoir "a holocaust story" would, in my view, take too much away from what the book has to offer.
It is, in effect, a short history book set against the backdrop of the author's personal experiences and stories. A challenging feat, but the book manages to achieve this quite well.
The chapters, storyline and even the photographs throughout the book, are well laid out and all add to the books flow and rhythm.
In terms of negatives, I'm not clear on why the author decided to translate "neni" as "aunt" because the translation for aunt is "nagyneni", while the term "neni" in Hungarian is simply used instead of Miss or Mrs. Naturally, while the author is free to write whatever she pleases, I felt that the use of the term "aunt" instead of "Mrs" or "Miss" confused the story unnecessarily while providing little benefit to the story as a whole.
Second, the author provides no notes, sources, a bibliography or an index, which somewhat weakened the book from a historical narrative perspective. With only a little research and a strong bibliography this book could have been so much more.
Third, the book would have greatly benefited from several maps, including maps of greater Hungary, post-Trianon, Horthy's reign, and post-World War II Hungary. A map of Budapest would have certainly been welcome. Considering the explanations and historical narrative portions of the book, maps would have helped draw readers in a lot more and would have served as a means of grounding the stories in space, not just a time or historical setting.
Lastly, while the list of names and family members at the end of the book was a nice addition, it would have been more advantageous to have these in a family tree format or a diagram of sorts rather than simply a list of names.
Regardless of its weaknesses, however, this book is miles above George Konrad's awfully dull "A Guest in My Own Country: A Hungarian Life" book, and would make an excellent companion for someone not familiar with Hungarian history or culture to add to a travel bag and read while visiting Hungary.
On the product (paperback, 1st ed.), it's of good quality binding and paper with a decent font size. There are some minor typos and a couple of odd grammatical errors, but nothing overly bothersome that detracts from the story. The book will withstand standard travel abuse and is small enough to carry around easily, though it is slightly heavier than your usual mass-market paperback. Amazon lists the book as 262 pages, but the story itself runs to 253 including epilogue. The lack of footnotes/endnotes, source citations of any kind, a bibliography or an index, as well as the absence of maps, give this book a 4 star rating.
I read the book while I was in Budapest and thoroughly enjoyed it. I particularly enjoyed her recollections of childhood perspectives on parenting, life at home, as well as the historical events which surrounded her.
Although some reviews refer to it as a "holocaust story", I found that it had much more to offer. First, it goes well beyond the holocaust, both in terms of historical context and personal memoir. Second, it reads more like a book about growing up, coming to terms with one's own identity (religious or otherwise), and how societal, cultural and historical contexts outside of our control influence who we become, how we think, and what we are eventually forced to come to terms with later in life. While the author does keep returning to her Jewish ancestry, the impact of the holocaust on her family and how these impact her feelings and thought processes, calling this memoir "a holocaust story" would, in my view, take too much away from what the book has to offer.
It is, in effect, a short history book set against the backdrop of the author's personal experiences and stories. A challenging feat, but the book manages to achieve this quite well.
The chapters, storyline and even the photographs throughout the book, are well laid out and all add to the books flow and rhythm.
In terms of negatives, I'm not clear on why the author decided to translate "neni" as "aunt" because the translation for aunt is "nagyneni", while the term "neni" in Hungarian is simply used instead of Miss or Mrs. Naturally, while the author is free to write whatever she pleases, I felt that the use of the term "aunt" instead of "Mrs" or "Miss" confused the story unnecessarily while providing little benefit to the story as a whole.
Second, the author provides no notes, sources, a bibliography or an index, which somewhat weakened the book from a historical narrative perspective. With only a little research and a strong bibliography this book could have been so much more.
Third, the book would have greatly benefited from several maps, including maps of greater Hungary, post-Trianon, Horthy's reign, and post-World War II Hungary. A map of Budapest would have certainly been welcome. Considering the explanations and historical narrative portions of the book, maps would have helped draw readers in a lot more and would have served as a means of grounding the stories in space, not just a time or historical setting.
Lastly, while the list of names and family members at the end of the book was a nice addition, it would have been more advantageous to have these in a family tree format or a diagram of sorts rather than simply a list of names.
Regardless of its weaknesses, however, this book is miles above George Konrad's awfully dull "A Guest in My Own Country: A Hungarian Life" book, and would make an excellent companion for someone not familiar with Hungarian history or culture to add to a travel bag and read while visiting Hungary.
On the product (paperback, 1st ed.), it's of good quality binding and paper with a decent font size. There are some minor typos and a couple of odd grammatical errors, but nothing overly bothersome that detracts from the story. The book will withstand standard travel abuse and is small enough to carry around easily, though it is slightly heavier than your usual mass-market paperback. Amazon lists the book as 262 pages, but the story itself runs to 253 including epilogue. The lack of footnotes/endnotes, source citations of any kind, a bibliography or an index, as well as the absence of maps, give this book a 4 star rating.
October 15, 2014
The Goodreads description is pretty accurate. The author came and answered questions last night at my book club. How great is that?! Everyone thought she wrote well and that she conveyed to the reader the fear of being Jewish in Hungary in the 1940's-1950's. Also the hunger, deprivation, overcrowding, scarcity of goods and services under communism for ordinary citizens. I think we all learned a lot from reading the book, as she did a lot of historical research to partly explain how it all came about. I also found it useful to have already read Ken Follett's Fall of Giants, which provided a lot of background to Hungary's WWI situation, leading up to WWII.
December 19, 2010
This is the incredible story of one woman's childhood experience in communist Hungary. She seamlessly weaves together her own story with Hungarian history giving us a glimpse into the everyday life of the time and a fascnating personal tale. Her story reminds us that it is amazing what people can survive.
January 18, 2013
fascinating.
i love hungary. i love memoirs. it was guaranteed to be a win. and it was.
i love hungary. i love memoirs. it was guaranteed to be a win. and it was.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews