Bel mondo vecchio

‘The beer was better,’ he said finally. ‘And cheaper! When I was a young man, mild beer – wallop we used to call it – was fourpence a pint. That was before the war, of course.’ ‘Which war was that?’ said Winston. ‘It’s all wars,’ said the old man vaguely.

(George Orwell, 1984, 1.8.)

The Hungarian term ántivilág – “ánti-world” – is a complex one, difficult to translate. It is used almost exclusively in the locative form: “in the ántivilág”, where the prefix is the abbreviation for ante bellum, “before the war”. But before which war? Because we have not been short of wars since 1914 when, as an old man told me in the Transylvanian Tibód, “they set ablaze the four corners of the world and it has been burning since ever”. With this term they usually refer to the “happy times of peace” before WWI, whose relative stability and prosperity has been long transcended into a Golden Age in the light – or rather darkness – of the continuous destruction, loss, insecurity, oppression and occupation since 1914. But every war embellishes the bygone peacetime, so the term is also used for the period between the two wars, and even – ironically – for the pre-1989 era of Socialism and Cold War.

And this already takes us to the other meaning of ántivilág, where the prefix is not interpreted as “ante” but rather as “anti-”, that is the opposite and negative mirror of our world, such as the antipodes living upside down in the southern hemisphere. Ántivilág is not only the world which perhaps was not even true, but also the one in which nothing was true, * the world of manipulation and propaganda. Indeed it is usually the propaganda that creates the anti-worlds proclaimed as the best of all existing worlds, and which at the same time – when looking back or from the outside – exposes in the most absurd way the futility of such efforts.

This concept with a double meaning which – like all past ages – raises nostalgia and aversion at the same time, is translated by us to English as “brave old world” which, besides the feeling of the “good old times” also implies the irony of Huxley’s “brave new world”. We are curious to know how our readers would translate it to other languages.

• Prologue Belle époque • The future, a century ago • Cartes de visite • The language of stamps • The first bicycles 1. 2. 3. • A black man in Hamburg • Black people in the zoo • Ghosts on old photos 1. and 2.    The Austro-Hungarian Monarcy • The tastes of the Monarchy 1. and 2 • Hawelka in Vienna and Krakow • Un ristorante in Abbazia • I, Anna Csillag: ads from Schulz to Hitler • Beginnings of the Hungarian railway • The Casino of Kőbánya • Hundred years of a tree in Kőbánya • Pharmacies in Kőbánya • The Golden Eagle Inn in Pest • Cartolina da Budapest a Firenze, 1900, e la Tabán sparita • Temperance campaign at the turn of the century • Shutter labels: Korányi and Fröhlich, Paschka, Sándor Árkai, Czernowitz, Lemberg and Żółkiew • A former passage in Lwów • Multi-ethnic house in Lemberg • Century-old brick graffiti in Budapest • “King Matthias’ palace” in Kassa, 1899-1943 • Bram Stoker’s hotel in Beszterce • Vampire-killing sets for a Transylvanian journey • Hungarian Armenians • Art Nouveau in Szabadka • Szabadka 1912-ben, 1. 2. 3. 4. • An Indian in Szabadka • The last postcards of the Monarchy – from Odessa • The Austro-Hungarian army, 1914    Germany • Passion play in Oberammergau • Immagini di vecchie estati • Un’escursione di Pentecoste    Britain • The Oxford Arms Inn and old London • Ghosts in the photos of old London    France • Figures in old photos of Paris • Henri Roger-Viollet, Paris • The Luna Park in Paris • Building and apotheosis of the Eiffel Tower • Train accident, 1895 • The last Tsar in Paris, 1896 • Zuavs in the French colonial army • The Fifer Boy in the imperial army • French primer of geography, 1905 • Az 1910-es nagy párizsi árvíz    Italy • Childhood of an Italian patriarch • The first hydrocycle • The Messina earthquake, 1908    Spain • Photos of dead children • Old Palma in the photos of the Escalas archive • Palma: The first velocipedists • Palma: The Born Passage and Edison’s voice • The rural world of Mallorca    The Russian empire • Alexander Roinashvili, the traveler • Dmitry Ermakov, chronicler of the Caucasus • Ernest Chantre’s Caucasian photos, 1881 • Flood of the Kura in Tiflis, 1893 • Qajar houses in Tiflis • Ivan Boldyrev: Don Cossacks, 1875-76 • Marriage ad with a balance • Moscow’s fire brigades 1. and 2. • Constructing the Trans-Siberian Railroad • Sakhalin, 1894-1905 • Bike on the dacha • Three Russian family photos from Ekaterinoslav, 1914 • Three generations on Russian photos • Russian photos from Odessa • Culture of Odessa in the early 20th c. • The blossoming and end of Jewish Odessa • The Russian army, 1892 • Russian sailors at the Messina earthquake, 1908 • Moscow in 2259 • Russian slides by František Krátký, 1896 • The coronation of the last Tsar, 1896 • The last Tsar in Paris, 1896 • The last day of the peace    The Ottoman empire • An Ottoman shoebox • Damascus anno • Photographers of the East • Turkish-Hungarian friendship    The Persian empire • Ahmad Mirza, the last Qajar Shah • Sándor Kégl, Iranian scholar • Qajar houses in Tiflis    The Heavenly Empire • Studio Po-Chou, Hong Kong, 1897-ben    Jews • Yinglish shop label in New York Great Games • The Gulistan Treaty • The exiles of the Boer war The Great War • The attempt in Sarajevo in the Russian press • The cut photos of the attempt in Sarajevo • To My Peoples • Soldiers’ trains 1. és 2. • Cartoline rosa dalla fronte a Óbuda per sei anni, 1. • The Europeana 1914-1918 project • Conquering eveywhere. War ad of the Pathé Brothers • Versions of the “pointing” recruiting poster • British and Russian children’s propaganda • German military children’s books • Preparation for the war with paper soldiers • Bathing little Venus, delight of children soldiers • Krampus and red devils on the front • Soldiers’ cemetery in the Carpathians (Tatariv) • An evangeliary from Galicia • The Jews of Podhajce greeting Archduke Frederick, 1916 • The Jews of Kolomea greeting Charles IV, 1917 • Generals in Lemberg’s Café Sztuka • Statues of Hungarian and Romanian heroes in the Carpathians • Songs from the two banks of the Isonzo • Austro-Hungarian artillery in the Holy Land • The five graves of Captain Truszkowski • Jews in WWI. Exhibition of the Vienna Jewish Museum, 2014 • Jewish military cemetery at Gorlice • Kraftwagenpark 505: German soldiers in the Holy Land 1. and 2. • People of Véménd in Béla Hernai’s photos, 1916-1918 • Christmas greetings by Russian POWs to Sándor Kégl • Photo cut in two in Valenciennes • Merry-making at the news of Russia’s withdrawal from the war Strange peaces • New borders in Europe • The Hutsul Republic • Una scuola alla frontiera: Temesvár/Timișoara • Stemma ungherese sul parlamento croato, 1918 • The Moravians in Hultschin, who said no to Czechoslovakia • Plebiscito falso su Subcarpazia The Mexican revolution • The Casasolas, chroniclers of the revolution • Songs of the revolution • José Guadalupe Posada, drawer of the revolution • Holy pictures of the revolution The world revolution • Photos of the February revolution in the Dicescu collection • Retouched postcards of the February revolution • True pictures of the October revolution • Vladimir Fedorov’s revolutionary cartoons, 1917 • Lenin’s Transylvanian bodyguard • The fate of an officer’s family • Fleeing Russia • The birth of the Soviet Union and the Council of People’s Commissars • Eugenetics in the Soviet Union • Boris Kustodiev’s processions • Boris Kustodiev’s great leap • Mayakovsky, lighthouse of the revolution • World revolution for children • Day of Birds and other parades • The NEP period and its songs, 1921-1928 • Soviet Photo, 1926 • Yuri Yeremin: Moscow, 1926 • Branson De Cou: Moscow, Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo, Odessa, 1931 • Ilya Ilf, Russian and American photos • Kommunalki • Two New Year photos from Russia

War against the alcohol • Hungarian and French campaign at the turn of the century • Soviet temperance posters, 1920-1991 • Say no! Metamorphoses of the poster of 1954 • Polish temperance posters • With temperance posters against Coca-Cola • With luboks against the alcohol, 1989 Between two wars • The golden age of Hungarian photography • Hassids in Subcarpathia • Polish Jews: Alter Kacyzne • Polish Jews: Roman Vishniac • Polish Jews: Menachem Kipnis • Kipnis’ cantors • The Al Capone of Tarnów • Jewish quarter in old Lwów • Yiddish shop labels in Lwów • Places of mezuzahs in Lwów • Old book posters from Lwów • Postcards of Rosh Hashana • Photos of the Czech priest Josef Baťka from the New World • Picture cathecism according to the Bernadette method • French family photo with a blacksmith’s workshop • Father and son in Buenos Aires • The Görlitz railway station in Berlin • Willy Römer’s photos on Berlin’s craftsmen in the 1920s and 1930s • Buhse, the shoemaker, by Gabriele Tergit, with a photo by Willy Römer • Organ grinders in Berlin • Organ grinders in Budapest • Old Serbian Gypsy musicians • Wilhelm Miklas in Budapest, 1937 • Paleo-GPS’s from the 1930s • Tango’s golden age: Carlos Gardel • Pyotr Leshchenko and Russian homesickness • Bohemian world in Bucharest • Misery in Bucharest • Balance of a hundred years in Bucharest • Who was Essad Bey? • Lenin, Hitler and the children • Mussolini, Perón, Franco and the children • Germany and the Soviet Union in the Paris world exposition of 1937 • Warsaw, a week before the war The Spanish civil war • The last 13 hours of Lorca’s life • The conquest of Potes • Franco, the friend of the children • Bullfight at Stalingrad The Great Terror • Waiting for the execution • Exploding the Church of Christ the Savior, 1931 and the photo of Ilya Ilf on it • Crimean Tatars on the photos of Husein Bodaninsky, 1920-30s • God is great and I’m not. Soviet monumental statues • Lenin head in the Altai • Lenin statues on imperial bases • Drawings of Soviet prisoners on Lenin • The Russian Beobachtung, 1935 • The snake in German-Soviet propaganda • 1 May 1935. Color film by Nikolai Ekk • Voyage from Tula to Moscow for 7 November 1937 • Jean Abbe, photographer of dictators • Good wishes for Stalin’s birthday, 1939 Drang nach Osten • The SS officers’ housing estate of Krumme Lanke • The ideal Nazi family • Holidays in Nazi Germany • Nazi May Day, 1933 • Anna Csillag, Hitler’s master • Nobel Peace Prize for Hitler • Hitler in the Jewish cemetery of Bucharest • Jew-cleaning game in Vienna • Kristallnacht, destruction of the German synagogues and On the 75th anniversary • Apotheose of Marechal Pétain • Eiffel Tower, 1940 • Soldatenkaffees in the occupied Paris (and elsewhere) • German policemen with Black POW • German soldiers’ photos from the Warsaw ghetto • Memorial to the Nazi liberators • The German Kharkov • Johannes Hähle: Kharkov, Lubny, Baby Yar • The last fresco of Bruno Schulz • Drohobycz and the world • Lemberg’s destroyed synagogues • The Janowska death camp in Lemberg • Birth of the Tango of Death • Paesaggio intorno a Belżec nel 1936 e 2014 • Tale on the Roman ghetto • The Generalgouvernement’s birthday, 1941 • Easter 1942 in the occupied lands • An ordinary day in German Kiev, 1942 • The “Death Match” of Kiev, 1942 • The lies of BBC on the Death Match of Kiev, 2012 • Blooming and destruction of Św. Józef in Galicia War phrasebooks • War phrasebooks • Russian phrasebook to the occupation of Estonia, 1940 • German-Russian phrasebook for a preventive blow, 1941 and a confirmation article on the same • German-Russian mechanical dictionary, 1940(?) • Russian-German phrasebook for the Wehrmacht • Russian-German phrasebook with Nazi feast days, 1942 • Russian primer for German soldiers, with prisoners’ camp • A patriotic Polish-Hungarian dictionary, 1940 • Romanian primer for the returned Transylvania, 1940 • Hungarian-Russian phrasebook on requisition, 1942 • Hungarian phrasebook for the Soviet liberators • Belgian phrasebook for the English liberators The non-war (1939-1941) • Polish-German, two good friends, 1933-1939 • Occupation of Lwów, 1939 • Soviet-Nazi parade in Brest, 1939 • German and Soviet films on crushed Poland • On Stalin’s birthday, 1939 • Dovzhenko’s Bukovinian propaganda film, 1940 • Cernăuți 1939 – Черновиц 1940 • This was – this became. The Estonian government, 1940 • Soviet-German poster for the bombing of London The Great Patriotic War • Yevgeny Khaldei’s war photos • Triangular soldier’s letters • Song on Katyusha • Children in the war • The hero cats of Leningrad • Destroy King Kong! • Parade of captive German soldiers in Moscow, 17 July 1944 • Greetings from Trenčín • Triumphal graffiti on the Reichstag • Soviet soldiers’ graves The world war • Finn video with mistaken map, 1939 • Secondary use of military maps • Italian soldier at the Don • British leaflets in Iran on the model of the Shahnameh, 1943 • Soviet and German safe-conducts • German, Italian, Soviet illustrated front postcards • Nazi demotivator leaflets for American and British soldiers • Japanese war kimonos • Souvenir of Hiroshima • Robert Capa’s photos on D-Day • Meeting at the Elbe, 25 April 1945 • Boris Kobe’s lager card from Dachau, 1945 • Mine-free ghost inscription in Vienna Hungary in the war • Visiting in 1939 the returned Huszt and in Kőrösmező • Pictures of the Kőrösmező railway station • Memory of the Jews deported in 1941 to Kamenets-Podolsk in Kőrösmező • Romanian primer for the returned Transylvania, 1940 • Hungarian scout on the front • Our man on the Russian front • Lonely gravepost in Nagykónyi • A poet going to forced service • The Bor Notebook by Miklós Radnóti • Yellow-star houses, Budapest 1944 • La casa di stella gialla di Marcell Komor • Hand-drawn Russian front postcards • Don. A tragedy and its afterlives • Photos of Zoltán Marics from the Don Bend • Hungarian soldiers in Danemark, 1945 • Soviet occupation in Csömör • The day of the dead • Mine-free ghost inscriptions in Budapest La Resistenza • Bella ciao

After the War • After siege: Stalingrad and Budapest • After siege – sixty years later • The blown-up Elisabeth Bridge • The blown-up Marguerite Bridge • Organ grinder in Kígyó Street • Lwów depolonized • Radio Lwów, Radio Breslau • The Nazi elefant and more • Deportation of the Germans from Southern Bohemia • The abandoned cemetery of Ottau/Zátoň The Cold War • Stamp in Imogen Cunningham’s passport War on the front of the peace    The Soviet Union • Russian-Nanay two good friends • Village lunch on Lake Baikal, 1978 • The Soviet radical absurd • I don’t speak for all Odessa • Ropeways of the Georgian mining town Chiatura • The building of the Ostankino tower • Moscow, 1956 • Jacques Dupâquier: Moscow and Tashkent, 1956 • Viktor Akhlomov, the Party’s photographer • Flag science. Soviet flags from the Memento Park • Soviet prison cards, 1967-81 • Saints in the woodworker’s shop • May Day in Moscow, 1983 • Khayyam brought down to earth • The Lithuanian school of photography • The photos of Romualdas Požerskis • Return of Novruz in Baku • Santiago de Baku • Ideal cities and their fall • Aleksandr Kalion: Province, early 80s    Central Europe • La statua di Stalin a Praga (1952-1963) • Czech provincial trains in winter • Czech trolleybuses • “Village radio” in Český Krumlov • Two poems by Miroslav Holub • Clematis sociology 1 and 2. • Košice, Schalkház Hotel    Hungary • Soviet officer and his family in Hungary • Russian first • Headwaters of the Lenin Song • Captain Ostapenko’s statue • On the 60th birthday of Comrade Rákosi • No maintenance to be paid for minors fleeing the country • 1956 in Polish TV newsreels • Sissi film with Hungarian dubbing, 1956 • Prison library • Traiin accident, 1962 • Playing in the suburbs of Budapest • Old market in Óbuda • Brick graffiti in the ELTE • Bookmobile in Kőbánya • Statue of Béla Radics in Angyalföld • History sung • Do not wait for May • The sea    China • The old Beijing, 1946 • Mao with the Dalai Lama • Mao lives. Photos by three generations • John Dominis’ photos in the socialist China    Vietnam • Vietnamese leaflets for American soldiers The Islamic revolution • Restaurants of dictatorships • Political message of beards • Elections in Iran, 2009 • It’s winter • Shajarian: Dawn bird • The dawn gives news Brave new world • Songs of changes of regimes • Viktor Tsoi and the golden city • Night of the bards • Pulling down the Dzherzhinsky statue in the Lubyanka • Autumn in Baku, 1989 • The two bear cubs • The museum of censorship • Tbilisi, a city in-between • Steampunk Budapest from the future • Destroying poppy crops in Afghanistan After the turn: Russia • Abandoned Russian villages 1. 2. 3. 4. • Aleksandr Sennikov’s nostalgic Soviet still lives • The poetry of decay • Service day and night • Front fighter’s vodka after Nazi model • The Nazi model of the Russian great family • Lenin, Marx, Putin • Crisis calendar in Mayakovsky’s style • Anti-Coca-Cola calendar in the style of old Soviet posters • Patriotic War against Coca-Cola • Multi-ethnic Russia, 2011 • Reality show. Putin and Medvedev’s breakfast • Russian elections, 1. and 2. • The new cult of Stalin • Pro-Stalin Russian graffiti in Simferopol • Stalin’s church cult in today’s Russia • Apocryphal icons in modern Russia • Katsap and khokhol. Russian-Ukrainian nicknames • Nicknames of other peoples • May Day 2014 for Putin and the Soviet Union • Boycott, August 2014: the food which disappeared After the turn: Ukraine • The Ferenc Mine in Solotvino • Glory to Ukraine. Nazi pub on Lemberg’s central place • Hitler, friend of the Aryan Ukraine • Kiev’s Maidan on the night of the revolution • Pulling down Lenin’s statues in the Ukraine • Trizuby Stas: Twelve communists. Song for pulling down Lenin’s statues • Yanukovich, lover of old books • Tragedia a Odessa, 2 maggio 2014 • Parade in Donetsk with captive Ukrainian soldiers, 24 August 2014 After the turn: Central Europe • Slovak mistranslations on Hungarian statues • War songs in the Balkans once and now • Red sludge of forty years • Conspiracy of the two-tailed in Mallorca and Prague • Budapest: 2013, the crisis is over! • Tsar of the champagnes: the Soviet champagne • Magic crown in Dunakeszi, Hungary • Nokia box and Cola Cao • Time has stopped in Lwów • Hungary, great power in fooball, 2014 Il decadente Occidente • Attila, the hero of Tulln • London, May Day 2014 In search of lost time • A house in Krakow • A door on the Grodzka • A door on the Krisztina boulevard • The memory of walls • Un ristorante in Abbazia • Yiddish shop labels in Lwów • The cemetery of Czernowitz • The Calatrava • Siphon bottles of a childhood • Negozio chiuso da lungo a Kőbánya • House number from 1940-44 in Aknaszlatina • Ghost inscriptions in Prague’s Lesser Town • Century-old Otta Soap ghost ad in Prague • Metamorphoses of the Golden Angel in Prague • Sursum corda • On the Dam of Eternity