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Show A BIG HEART Colorado Town Adopts Family From Hungary LITTLETON. Colo. The Bela Bodnars came to Littleton last month to the first home they have known since they were uprooted from their native Hungary by the Communists in 1944. Citizens ot this town of 3.400, nestled on the eastern slope of the Rockies, had adopted the refugee family almost two years before and, In an titration titr-ation recalling the old pioneer house-raising, built a home for them here. Friendship house, as it was called, was a beacon of hope to the Bodnars during the interminable inter-minable and sometimes hopless wait in Germany for passage. But the waiting is over now, and it's a new life with new hope and security for Bodnar, his pretty wife Maria, and three-year-old Judit. Security is a strange, new word to the Bodnars who, until June 1949, faced an uncertain future in western European internment camps along with nearly a million other homeless people. Then Dr. J. Russell Chandler, pastor of the Presbyterian church here, went to work. Through the Church World Service, which in turn acts through the United Nations and the International Refugee organzatlon, Dr. Chandler moved to bring the Bodnars to America and Littleton. When he had gotten the official okay he turned to the townspeople. From the pulpit and through the town's newspaper, the Littleton Independent, In-dependent, he appealed to the community. com-munity. Time, labor, material, furnishings fur-nishings were needed for Friend- h i p House. And Littletonites rushed into the breach. Land for the home site was given by one generous lady. Carpenters, plumbers, plumb-ers, painters, and electricians volunteered vol-unteered to work evenings and weekends to speed construction of the proposed home. Home Was Ready Last spring the neat, white, stucco-and-clnderblock house stood finished. Weeks slipped by, lengthened length-ened Into months, an a year passed while officials shuffled papers and the Bodnars struggled against red tape and flagging faith. Bodnar'i frequent letters expressed a growing grow-ing agony of doubt. As one sailing date after another went by Friend- ship House began to take on the unattainable quality of a mirage. "Our papers are being held up. I don't know why," Bodnar wrote Dr. Chandler. And again, "Sometimes "Some-times I wonder if we shall ever get to America ... we are grateful grate-ful ..." . Dr. Chandler, however, did not quit. Between writing to cheer up the Bodnars he pounded away at the door which seemed to be locked to the family. He kept up a steady flow of letters to Washington, to Germany, to anyone he figured could help. His correspondents urged him to give up the Bodnars to take another displaced family Instead. When the minister finally final-ly agreed to do this, it was with the understanding that Littleton would get two refugee families instead in-stead of one. The first family, the Zoltan Ujvarosis, arrived in time to spend Christmas In Friendship House. The Ujvarosis, like the Bodnars, Bod-nars, were Hungarian. Originally from Budapest, they fled when the Reds took over. Child Is Happy A local manufacturing firm employed em-ployed UjvarosI and the family quickly settled Into village life. Meantime, Dr. Chandler continued his efforts to bring the Bodnars here. Early this spring word came from Bodnar, again hopeful. Another An-other sailing date had been set, and if all went well the family would arrive in New York within days. This time there were no hitches. Bodnar had one bad moment when, a few minutes before sailing time, German police boarded the boat at Bremerhaven to question him. It seemed that a Bodnar (the name is a common one in Hungary) was wanted for robbery. It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, however, and the Bodnars were on their way. Tiny, dark-haired Judit, more clearly than all the speeches, voiced the gratitude of the Bod- nars, as well as the hope and doubt which must have been close to torture tor-ture during their long wait. Looking Look-ing with unbelieving eyes at the home which was magically hers, Judit turned to her mother. "Is it really America?" the asked. |