B bábi, Tibor

“Black List” – This is the name of the register of those civil servants who, for economic or political reasons, were marked for dismissal. In Hungary this method of dismissal was used on two occasions: first in 1920, when the dismemberment of Historic Hungary made it necessary for economic reasons; then in 1945-1946, when the objective was a political purge under Soviet rule. – B: 1153, 1020,T: 3233.

“Black March” Pogrom – A severe atrocity against Hungarians in Marosvásárhely (now Târgu Mureş, Romania) took place on 19th-20th March 1990, in the first year of the post Ceausescu new “democratic” political system in Romania. In February, some 100,000 Hungarians demonstrated for the reinstallation of a Hungarian school and a University. The Vatra Romanesca nationalist organization regarded this and the observation of Hungarian National Day on 15 March as a provocation against the Romanian state. On 19th-20th March, groups of Romanians rushed upon the demonstrating Hungarians and beat them up, turning the city into a place of street clashes. During this attack the renowned Hungarian writer András (Andreas) Sütő was severely beaten and wounded, and he almost lost his eyesight. The final result of the “Black March” pogrom was three dead and 100 wounded. Not a single Romanian but many Hungarians were arrested, accused and sentenced to prison terms – B: 1031, T: 3240.→Sütő, András; Atrocities against Hungarians.

“Black Soup” – This was the main course in the Spartan communal mess hall. Its Greek name was ‘haimatia’. In vernacular Hungarian the expression indicates an impending menace. According to tradition, its origin goes back to the time of the Ottoman Turkish occupation. Folklore links it to a saying of Sultan Suleiman who, after gaining possession of the Fort of Buda in 1541 by a stratagem, told the Hungarian magnate Bálint (Valentine) Török, whom he invited to a lengthy dinner and who was anxious to leave, that ‘The black soup is yet to come’, meaning that the last course of the feast, the black Turkish coffee would be served later. True to his word, after coffee was consumed, the Sultan ordered his guards to arrest the Hungarian magnate and incarcerated him for life in the Fortress of the Seven Towers (Yedikule in Turkish) in Istanbul. According to the memoirs of András (Andrew) Szirmay, the same expression was used by the Pasha of Nagyvárad (now Oradea, Romania) to delay the departure of Count Imre (Emeric) Thököly insisting that he wait for the coffee. When the coffee was finished, the Pasha ordered his men to put Thököly in chains. – B: 1078, 1020, T: 3233.→Török, Bálint; Thököly, Count Imre; Szirmay, András.