MaNDAHungarian National Digital Archive

As history goes on, there are always winners, survivors and also losers among the participants unfortunately. Sometimes, fortune stands by us in unexpected situations. The survivors of this story were Leonhard Scheller, the German military officer, Kató Fényes, the popular jazz songstress and all the people whom they rescued in the war together. The New York Hotel was a survivor and winner as well, and the biggest loser of the story was the Hungarian jazz.

In order to map the cultural-historical origin of the Stakhanovite movement you have to look back until the age of the industrial revolution. Based on unveiled pieces of information, analyses, facts and party-secretary statements, it is likely that the event, during which Stakhanov produced his allegedly legendary performance, was the pre-planned, thoroughly calculated action of the Soviet communist party, and its real goal was to introduce the production-organisation principles of the western world and to increase productivity.

In the Middle Ages, the main role of constructing thick walls was to hold the heavy roofing, which had a drawback: little natural light could enter in the buildings through the relatively small windows. Strangely, the Gothic architectural innovations that brought the role of light to the fore were not inspired by practical aspects primarily, but by theological views and the descriptions of the celestial city found in the Book of Revelation. It says that at the end of the world, a city will descend from heavens; a city with high walls decorated with colourful gemstones, which has golden roads, where the shining of divine glory will be seen.