The Hungarian Revolution in 1956, an attempt to get the country out of Soviet rule, resulted in a violent response by the USSR, with tanks rolling into Budapest to violently end the uprising. Approximately 2,500 people died as a result, and 200,000 Hungarians fled the country. Some of those refugees made their way to Yorkton.
Yorkton went “all out” to help the refugees according to the December 24, 1956 edition of the Yorkton Enterprise.
The city also prepared to welcome 25 of those refugees into the city in January, providing hospitality, reception, living accommodation, food clothing and assist in finding employment.
The committee put together to help with the refugees was headed up by Rev. Father J. Molnar of St. Gerard’s parish, who conducted missions among the area Hungarians. St. Gerard’s new hall was also offered as the reception centre for the incoming refugees. The vice-chairman was General Alexander Ross, who was also the head of the local branch of the Canadian Red Cross. Ross was pleased to see that the many service organizations in Yorkton at the time attended the meeting with the intent of supporting the refugees.
“Let us approach the matter with care and thought,” he said. “Let us approach the situation realistically and not be carried away with emotions.”
Twenty two families in the city pledged their homes to the refugees, with one suggesting they would take three families and another taking one “no matter how large.”
The costs for refugees were covered in the first year by the federal government, while in the second it would fall under provincial responsibility.
The refugees would arrive in the new year, and the charity-minded people of the city also had Christmas cheer to spread. The Enterprise Empty Stocking Fund was packing hampers for the needy, helping 512 individuals in the city have a merry Christmas. The Enterprise needed $1,800 to meet the goal, and noted that “The Yorkton public has never failed.” The ladies of the Yorkton Benevolent Society packed the hampers for each family, which were filled with food and toys for any children.
Christmas is a cause for anxiety for many people, so it’s only natural that a product like Dr. Chase’s Nerve Food would exist. “Hm! Wonder why Dr. Chase’s Nerve Food makes so many people say “my nervous troubles are over!” asked the ad. It claimed that vitamin B1 and “blood building iron” were the active ingredients.
Or maybe it was the strychnine and arsenic, which were also ingredients – though not the ingredients mentioned in the ad copy.
