A Time of Their Own



In Bánk, the camp’s own borders, society, and language were paralleled by its internal view of time. The era that lasted from 1938 until 1943 went by the name Happy Holiday, after which there was a year’s pause due to the war. For the year 1945, the children were transported to the town of Szilvásvárad by Russian soldiers. Then, in 1946, the camp in Bánk reopened, giving birth to “Bánk time,” whose years were numbered using the same Roman numerals that subsequently featured in camp diaries and issues of the Bánki Béka Brekegi. In Bánk, time passed according to two separate rhythms. The first encompassed the entire summer, from July to September. Campers spent different lengths of time in Bánk, from two weeks to the entire summer, depending on the demands of their parents’ schedules and the depth of their pocketbooks. For the most part, however, children arrived in two groups, one in July and one in August, each of which remained for three weeks. Timekeeping began for the summer with arrival at the camp and concluded with packing and farewell send-offs at the end of August, though time was counted in smaller increments and according to other rhythms, as well. Weekly and daily time-keeping featured morning time, day time, and evening time, weekly letter-writing time, clean-up time, and visiting time. While Bánk time was measured via programmes, role play games, and celebratory events and recorded through bulletin boards and photographs, day-to-day life was defined by the order of whistle calls, chores, rest-times, and meals that appeared in like-it-or-not lists and daily to-do charts.

Bánk Time

1938–1943	Happy Holiday
1945	(Szilvásvárad)
1946	Year I
1947	Year II
1948	Year III
1949	Year IV
1950	Year V
1951	Year VI
1952	Year VII
1953	Year VIII
1954	Year IX
1955	Year X
1956	Year XI
1957	Year XII
1958	Year XIII
1959	Year XIV
1960	Year XV
1961	Year XVI
1962	Year XVII
1963	Year XVIII
1964	Year XIX
1965	Year XX
1966	Year XXI
1967	Year XXII
1968	Year XXIII
1969	Year XXIV
1970	Year XXV
1971	Year XXVI
1972	Year XXVII
1973	Year XXVIII
1974	Year XXIX
1975	Year XXX
1976	Year XXXI
1977	Year XXXII
1978	Year XXXIII

A day in Bánk in the 1940s
– Eszter wakes the company with a whistle call
– Morning calisthenics in the field
– Breakfast
– Tuesday letter-writing to the family or as an act of charity
– Swimming
– Lunch
– Rest-time
– Games: dodge ball, cards, coin games, volley ball, cops and robbers
– Supper
– Camp journal time (different person each day)