Száraz Miklós György - Székelyek (2021)

A proud, tough, fighting people in the middle of Europe - they are the Szeklers. There are many secrets surrounding them. Starting with who are they? Descendants of Scythians, Avars, Khazars, Kabars? The remnants of an ancient, long-lost Jewish tribe? Great-grandchildren of Greeks, Persians, Goths, Sicilian Roman legionnaires? Direct relatives of Attila and King Csaba? The most ancient people of Europe, the earliest to settle on its land? Or should we not complicate it...? They are simply Hungarians too.

Hungarian prehistory, including the history of the Szeklers, is so exciting that scientists and obsessed amateurs research it with unceasing enthusiasm. György Miklós Száraz tries to capture the nature, customs and peculiarities of the Szekler region with his cultural history album, which is published with beautiful photographs. But because the habitus of a people shapes its history, and its history shapes its habitus, the author tries to introduce the Székely people embedded in history, which has its own land, anthem, flag, holy mountain, and most importantly, its own freedom.

"My paternal grandfather, when he experienced something unusual, said with a smile: 'It's as twisted as the mind of Székely.' This was also his way of saying: 'Three Jews one Armenian, three Armenians one Székely.' I don't know where he got the catchy saying from, I don't even know if he ever met an Armenian person, and if so, did he know who he was. But I do know that he loved the Székely people. Why? Maybe the Székely Division because of?"

The album is the second, revised, richly illustrated and expanded edition of György Székelyek, a popular cultural history work by Miklós Száraz.