Helen M. Szablya

Internationally renowned author and lecturer – a tireless advocate for democracy and freedom.

1981 - 1991 (Trinidadian) Catholic News

Weekly column in the Trinidad and Tobago Catholic News including politics, encyclicals, parenting, psychological and management advice. 520 columns available at the Washington State University Archives.

Quick Links

Video: John F. Szablya 1924 - 2005

Video: Helen Named Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Hungary

Video: Hungary Remembered on stage

Publications

New Publication!

From Refugee to Consul: An American Adventure

Imagine leaving everything behind… Follow along as Helen Szablya tells the tale of life after her harrowing escape to freedom from Communist Hungary with her young family in 1956 to establish a new life as a refugee in Canada, then the US. As she builds her family and her business acumen, she eventually helps establish the Hungarian Honorary Consulate in the Northwest US and becomes the first woman Honorary Consul General of Hungary to the USA and the first on the West Coast supporting the new Hungary as it emerges from communism. A deeply personal memoir and a true American adventure with global reach, this book continues where her book My Only Choice: Hungary 1946 - 1956 leaves off and takes the reader on an epic journey to the end of 2020.

My Only Choice

"Helen Szablya's story will shed light on dramatic era in European history, one which Americans hardly know and will find fascinating to discover."

--Anne Applebaum
Columnist for Washington Post, Author of Gulag and Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe.”

Haramiák és emberek (Brigands and People)

This book describes the true stories of people who were deported. Edited and researched by Dr. Zsuzsa Hantó, launched February 3, 2013 in Hungary. Available only in Hungary, in Hungarian.

Publications

One family's escape to freedom, written by Helen M. Szablya

Mind Twisters

English translation and editing from the original Hungarian. Currently out of print but used copies can be found on amazon.com and eBay.

A vörös csillag lehull (The Fall of the Red Star - Hungarian Edition)

Available: Boyds Mills Press, or any bookstore can order it. In Hungary from Holnap Kiadó.

The Fall of the Red Star

“A gripping account of the Hungarian uprising of 1956. A page-turner.”

--Kirkus Reviews

56 Stories

Publication compiled by the Hungarian American Coalition for the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprishing. Includes personal story of escape by Helen M Szablya (mother) and Helen A Szablya (daughter). Book also translated into Hungarian.

Oral history drama

Hungary Remembered

Every word spoken on stage was said by persons who actually lived the experience.

Columnist

1981 - 1991 (Trinidadian) Catholic News

Catholic News weekly column for over 10 years in Trinidad and Tobago. The publication was sent to other Caribbean islands as well for subscribers.