Hungarian Genealogy & History Resources
Where to Begin Your Own Family Story
These are the books, records and tools behind Marvelisa Legacies, gathered for anyone researching Hungarian genealogy or preserving a family archive of their own.
A Family Legacy Book: Hungarian Roots & American Dreams
Hungarian Roots & American Dreams collects the stories of Hungarian immigrants who built new lives in America, told through personal essays and photographs from family albums. Lisa‘s chapter follows her grandparents from Budapest to New York.
250 Hungarian-American Immigration Stories Online
America 250: Celebrating Hungarian American Contributions to the United States
For the 250th anniversary of the United States, the Hungarian American Coalition is honoring Hungarian American contributions to the country. Elizabeth Fay’s story is one of them: a painter trained in Paris who came to America and opened Mayfair Gallery in Manhattan.
Coming NEXT
A Documentary and a Play
A documentary drawn from the family archive is in production, and the story is being developed into a play. Both will be announced here and to the email list.
Coming Soon
The Marian Fay Levitt Jewelry Book
A book on Marian Fay Levitt’s jewelry is in progress, gathering the full archive of her work in one place. The collection on this site is a selection, and the book holds the complete story. Join the list to hear first when it is ready to order.
Hungarian Genealogy Records & Where to Find Them
Most Hungarian family research starts with church and civil registers, then follows the family through immigration and naturalization records. These sources hold the largest collections, and several are free.
FamilySearch: free access to microfilmed Hungarian church records and civil registrations, searchable by town
Hungaricana: digitized Hungarian archives, maps, census sheets and local histories
Hungarian National Archives: the national and county archives that hold the original registers
Ellis Island passenger records: Hungarian immigration records for arrivals through the Port of New York
U.S. National Archives: naturalization papers and later immigration files
Hungarian Jewish Genealogy Sources
Jewish families in Hungary appear in the same civil registers as everyone else, and these databases add the community records and Holocaust-era documentation that general sites miss.
JewishGen Hungary: the JewishGen Hungary Research Division, with indexed vital records, census data and town finding aids
Yad Vashem Names Database: names and testimonies of Hungarian Jews murdered in the Holocaust
USHMM Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database: survivor registries, transport lists and postwar records
Hungarian Revolution Documentaries and Books on Hungarian History
[Lisa’s five to ten recommended titles, each with one line on why she recommends it.] Suggestions for her to approve or replace:
Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution by Victor Sebestyen
The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat by Paul Lendvai
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer, a novel of a Hungarian Jewish family before and during the war
Freedom’s Fury, a documentary on the 1956 Olympic water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union
Book titles link through Bookshop.org once her affiliate account is set up. This section is not styled yet.
How to Preserve Family History: Archival Supplies and Services
Letters, photographs and paintings last longest in acid-free storage, and a digital copy protects them from loss. These are the supplies and services suited to a family archive.
Archival boxes, folders and sleeves
Gaylord Archival [affiliate link]
Photo and slide scanning
ScanMyPhotos [affiliate link] or Legacybox [affiliate link]
Recording family stories
StoryWorth or Remento [affiliate links]
Some links on this page are affiliate links, which support the archive at no cost to you.