Így láttam, így éreztem

If Tibor Kolozsi had not written Pénteki találkozások (Friday Encounters) for the 25th anniversary of 7 NAP, and if Zoltán Kalapis had not published his book A Magyar Szó fél évszázada (Half a Century of Magyar Szó), we would have no written record of the Hungarian press in Vojvodina after World War II...

János Brenner's book Így láttam, így éreztem... (This is how I saw it, this is how I felt it...) is not a work of press history. An autobiography emerged from his workshop, yet it is so closely tied to Magyar Szó and 7 NAP that its press-historical relevance should not be underestimated. There can be little doubt about his expertise, as he has climbed every rung of the professional ladder. His method is not a mere enumeration. On the contrary! He strives to group his memories around major international events, and then related domestic events.

His book reveals that its author, driven by a desire to act, fights his battles as a perpetual motion machine in both his professional and private life against all obstacles, of which, as we know, there were many in the past 60-70 years...

The author moves a multitude of characters. But by no means in a vacuum, rather in the concentrated social environment so characteristic of the era. And although he tries not to paint them in black and white, he does not shy away from exaggerations if he feels that this allows him to provide a more expressive portrayal of them...

István CSORBA

János Brenner's book: Így láttam, így éreztem... (This is how I saw it, this is how I felt it...) is more than an autobiography. It is more because we not only learn about the events that happened to him, but he also characterizes and evaluates local and national events, politicians, and public figures.

Recalling his wartime childhood is a special experience. We here in Bačka know little about the wartime events in Banat. Only Mladen Markov's collection of short stories, Banatska vicinala (Banat Vicinal), deals with similar stories.

Personally, I was particularly interested in the part where he wrote about his student and soldier years. I finished high school and served in the army in the same years. I assert that he creates a very realistic picture of student life and military service at that time.

However, his journalistic career is already more than an autobiography. This profession brought him into contact with local and national politicians. He knew from the inside all the problems of the Hungarian press in Vojvodina, but also the social and economic phenomena and driving forces of the narrower environment and the country. The volume is a press and local history of the four decades after the war, especially concerning the material from his years in Subotica.

Mátyás HORVÁTH