Voice of America News
September 13, 2004

RADIO SCRIPTS – BACKGROUND REPORT 5-55828

IMMIGRANT STORIES

by MIKE O’SULLIVAN

TEXT: LOS ANGELES

Immigrant Autobiographies Recount Turbulent Lives

INMTR: The United States is a nation of immigrants and each one has a
story. Many of their stories are compelling. Mike O’Sullivan spoke to
two immigrants who have published their autobiographies to share
their personal tales of hardship and triumph.

Susanne Reyto (RAY-toh) was born in Nazi-occupied Hungary near the
end of the Second World War. Her Jewish family survived the Holocaust
with the help of two diplomats, Raoul Wallenberg of Sweden and Carl
Lutz of Switzerland, who issued diplomatic papers to save tens of
thousands of Jews from the Nazi death camps. But no sooner were the
Nazis gone when a Soviet-backed regime was installed to replace it.

Her father was a successful businessman who suffered persecution
again under the communists, losing his home and business. The family
would spend 29 months in a prison camp, then witness the failed 1956
Hungarian revolution against the Soviet Union. In 1957, the family
escaped Hungary and made its way to Australia, and later came to the
United States, settling in Los Angeles.

Ms. Reyto says her grandson, who was studying the Second World War,
asked her to talk about her experiences with his school class. She
did, and later repeated the talk.

[REYTO ACT]

“I spoke to all of the eighth-grade classes at that time, and I
realized how much of a transformation the children experienced,
especially a few days later when I received their “thank you” notes.
And one of the little girls said, Mrs. Reyto, I think you should
write a book so everybody else can listen to your stories, not only
us.”

[END ACT]

That suggestion and a later visit to Hungary cemented her decision to
put her story in writing.

[OPT] On a trip to Budapest, she visited a museum called the House of
Terror. Located in a former prison and secret police headquarters, it
documented the events of Ms. Reyto’s childhood: the persecution under
the Nazis, the confiscation of her home by the communist government,
and the prison camps.

With the help of those documents, and recollections of her mother,
[END OPT] she published her story this year in a book called “Pursuit
of Freedom.”

Eighty-four year-old Yervand Markarian has a very different story,
with a similar happy ending. Mr. Markarian was born to an Armenian
family in the Chinese city of Harbin. Located near the border of the
newly formed Soviet Union, in 1920 the Chinese city was home to
expatriate White Russians who were fleeing the Bolsheviks, and
Armenians who had fled persecution in Turkey.

As a young man, he would join the French army to fight against the
Nazis. To his surprise, he ended up in French Indochina, modern-day
Vietnam, fighting communist insurgents for the French Foreign Legion.

After the war, he worked as a policeman in the French concession of
Shanghai, then joined his father-in-law running two Russian
restaurants.

[OPT]

After the war, the restaurants thrived, but survived only briefly
after the communists took power in 1949. Mr. Markarian recounts, it
was soon apparent the new regime would not be good for business.
Officials visited to ensure that none of the married customers was
having romantic liaisons.

[MARKARIAN ACT]

“Or they would come up to a couple that would say, yes, we are
married. (The officials would ask) do you come often to such a
restaurant? Well, two or three times a week. How much do you spend?
So much. How much do you make a week? So much. Well, we think you can
afford another 10 percent of your salary to the state.”

[END ACT]

[OPT]

Branded as capitalists, some of Mr. Markarian’s business
acquaintances committed suicide. Others like him eked out a living
until they were able to leave. In 1951, he settled with five family
members in Brazil.

Unable to speak Portuguese, he faced new hardships, but he finally
found work in the Ford Motor Company’s Brazilian operation.
Eventually he took his family to the United States, were he also
worked for Ford.

Mr. Markarian would build a successful business on Hollywood’s Sunset
Boulevard, where he recreated his Shanghai restaurant called Kavkaz.
It soon became popular with film stars and directors.

[MARKARIAN ACT]

“Roman Polanski, Dan Duryea, Simone Signore, Peter Ustinov.”

[END ACT]

[OPT] Celebrity patrons also included the actor Omar Sharif, oil
magnate Armand Hammer, and singer Barbra Streissand. [END OPT]

Mr. Markarian recounts his tale in a self-published book called
“Kavkaz,” named after his popular restaurants.

The two immigrants say that despite their early hardships, they have
kept their optimism. They are both effusive about the opportunities
and freedom they have found in their new country. Mrs. Reyto adds
that she is sharing a message.

[REYTO ACT]

“My message or theme is inspiration, the power of positive thinking,
and hope and dream for a better tomorrow. And without that, we just
can’t survive. And in the worst of times, there are always decent
people in the world.”

[END ACT]

There is always, she says, light at the end of the tunnel.

The author says she has learned to take control of difficult
situations because it is always possible to change them. (Signed)