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Daniel Csnyi is retired, but hes nowhere near inactive, and conducting lectures on a variety of topics at the Forever Learning Institute is one of his frequent activities.

At one point, the director asked me if I had a new topic, and I said that I have to think about it real hard, he says. Csnyi decided to give a series of talks on his life growing up in his native country of Hungary during a period when the country was first occupied by Nazi Germany and then the Soviet Union after the Nazis were defeated in World War II.

I lived through that war, and it was kind of dramatic and I thought that I could share of stories with the people, he says. The director thought it was a good idea, and about 15 or 20 people attended the lectures.

The people who attended the lectures found Csnyis stories to be compelling. They were insisting that this is so good that youve to go put it into a book, he says. That sounds like too much trouble, but they convinced me.

Those stories eventually became Csnyis memoir, Surviving World War II On the Losing Side. Much of our history of World War II comes from the viewpoint of soldiers and historians who were on the side of the victorious allied countries particularly the United States and Great Britain. History, as the saying goes, is written by the victors.

However, those who lived in one of the countries occupied by the Axis powers have a story to tell as well, and Csnyis memoir details his life as a boy and young man growing up in Hungary in the days leading up to Germanys invasion and occupation of the country. He also describes life under occupation and the destruction of the country by the Soviet troops who defeated Germany and in turn became the new authoritarian occupiers in Budapest.

Being on the losing side had real consequences for Csnyi, his parents and sisters, he says. That is not because the family sympathized with the Nazis. They did not, but being liberated by the Soviets rather than the Americans or British changed his life significantly. Csnyi made a decision to become a priest after high school, and that decision eventually forced him to flee the country for Austria and eventually Italy, where he continued his studies. Csnyi describes his escape from Hungary along with a group of seminarians in the last part of the book.

Csnyi served as a priest for about 20 years before asking to be relieved of his vows, after which he married and started a family.

Csnyi says the communists persecuted the Hungarian church, so remaining a priest there was impossible. His decision to leave resulted in him being labeled as an enemy of the state. He says that he could not return to the country for fear of being arrested for many years, and that authorities viewed the family members who remained with suspicion.

One party official tried to get Csnyis sister fired after learning about his defection to Rome. The fact that the woman had a brother who was an enemy of socialism and an aspiring priest went into her file. I saw this file with my own eyes, Csnyi says. The brother of this woman was being trained for the priesthood in Rome by the Vatican I was not being trained by the Vatican but my family should be considered an enemy of the people.

The only thing that prevented Csnyis sister from being fired was her supervisor, who said that woman did important work for socialism.

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Author tells story of life under Nazism, communism in Hungary - South Bend Tribune