Loui Kuthy - the old man of the sea

Taranaki people grow up near the sea. In fact it's not that far to the sea even if you live in the middle of the North Island.

Loui and Verna Kuthy (left) outside their New Plymouth factory and coolstore in New Plymouth in 1999.

Image: The Daily News

Loui Kuthy grew up in Hungary. It's a land locked country in Europe and some people there never see the ocean. They don't walk on a beach or paddle in the sea. Loui travelled a long way to do that. This week's story tells you why.

Rewind to 1956

Loui left Hungary in 1956 and arrived in New Zealand in 1957. Were these things really happening way back then? Choose true or false and check your answers at the end of this week's story.

1. The first ever Give Way signs are installed on New Zealand's roads.
2. The New Zealand cricket team wins a test match for the first time.
3. Children can now get inoculated against the deadly poliomyelitis virus.
4. Sir Edmund Hillary leads a New Zealand expedition to Mt Everest.
5. New Zealanders are now the world's leading milk drinkers.

Answers at the bottom of the page

Word watch

All the words and phrases below are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning and then check your answers when you read the story.

1. subdued (a) angered or (b) controlled
2. boiling with tension (a) becoming excited or (b) in a state of nervousness and stress
3. spontaneous anti communist uprising (a) a sudden revolt against a government that controls the way people live or (b) a revolt that happens over a period of time
4. unprecedented (a) unusual or (b) without leaders
5. submission (a) admitting they were wrong or (b) surrender
6. oppression (a) control or (b) hate
7. dignitaries (a) very important people or (b) politicians
8. tantalising (a) appealing or (b) very tiny
9. benefactor (a) a lawyer or (b) supporter
10. ecstatic (a) quite happy or (b) thrilled

Answers at the bottom of the page

Map that country

Loui Kuthy came from Hungary. Find out a little about this country by using the maps below.

Look here to find out how many countries are on Hungary's borders.

Look here to answer these questions:

1. Is Hungary north or south of Poland?
2. Which small country could Hungarians cross to get to Italy?
3. Of all the countries on Hungary's border, which has the greatest land area?
4. Which country would Hungarians pass through to get to the sea as quickly as possible?
5. How many borders would travellers from Hungary cross if they went from Hungary to France via Switzerland?

Answers at the bottom of the page

A good reason to leave

Loui Kuthy fled from Hungary during some fairly troubled times. A communist government was in power and citizens were not even allowed to leave their country. Some, like Loui escaped but they couldn't leave of own free will. Those that spoke out against the government were arrested and some of these people were never seen again.

Check out the timeline below. Loui lived through these times. What if you lived in Yugoslavia then? How many reasons can you find for wanting to leave?

1944 - Hungarian Nazis take over the government and Hungarian Jews and gypsies are deported to death camps.

1945 - Soviet ( Russian) forces drive the Germans out of Hungary. The new communist government takes land from large estate owners and gives it to peasants.

1947-48 - The communists become more powerful and they start to run Hungary in the same way that Stalin runs the Soviet Union

1949 - The Government takes over businesses and farms and a wave of police terror begins- people who don't like these communist ideas can easily be eliminated.

1956 - A daring rebellion takes place and protesters demand the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Soviet forces crush the rebels and thousands are killed.

Spot the threat!

Read the first part of this week's story down to "Another attempt to get away." Find out what happened when Loui first tried to escape from Hungary.

If you want to leave New Zealand today and live in Australia you can. You can even cross the world and live in England for a while if you want to.

When Loui was a young man people weren't allowed to leave Hungary. They could get shot if they tried to leave. That's hard to imagine.

Try this with a classmate or in a small group. Work out a consequence of each communist action below. (Consequences are things that happen because of the action)

Action 1 By 1948, the communists had taken over the governments of eight Eastern European countries and Yugoslavia was one. The Soviet Red Army was always in the background, ready for action. Consequence?

Action 2 Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union wanted to control all these countries to help protect his homeland and help communism grow. He demanded that they run their countries in the same way that he ran the Soviet Union. Consequence?

Action 3 All this meant no independent political parties, no fair elections, and no criticism of the communist party. Consequence?

Action 4 The Government owned the factories, farms, mines, and all other ways of making money. People could no longer own their own profit-making businesses and farms. The Government decided what and how much should be made each year, what the prices should be, and what wages should be paid to the workers. Consequence?

Action 5 Smoke billowed from all the factories and industrial waste flowed into rivers. Pollution became a major problem, but little was done about it. Factory managers were under pressure to meet production targets. Consequence?

Run for your life!

The next two parts of the story tell you how Loui escaped. Read down to "New beginnings in New Zealand".

Loui could have gone to the USA but he chose New Zealand instead. Which of the 50s facts below give clues that show that Loui made a wise choice? Think, pair and then share your ideas with a classmate.

1. The 1956 census shows that more than half of New Zealand homes have washing machines, refrigerators and electric ovens.
2. A New Zealander is first to the top of Mt Everest.
3. Full employment means that many families move to or stay in cities. They buy homes in new, low-cost subdivisions.
4. There is a world wide demand for wool.
5. New Zealand can now send meat and dairy products to Britain, duty free.
6. The reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth, visits New Zealand for the first time.
7. Japanese long-liners begin fishing for snapper off the New Zealand coast.

Answers at the bottom of the page

New life in New Zealand

What if you arrived in a new country where you were unable to speak the language? All you have are the clothes you wearing. Work out a list of priorities with a classmate. These will be the things you will have to do within the next three days.

Now read "New beginnings in New Zealand" and see how many of these priorities Loui achieved with the help of others.

I see the sea

Loui was 32 years old before he touched and tasted sea water so he was quite keen to reach the sea. Read the next two parts of the story up to "The ocean beckons and calls."

Find out how Loui made the most of his opportunities and work out the one thing that would help Loui succeed more than anything else.

Sea breaks

"Breaks" are things that happen to people that help them along the way. The next two parts of the story tell of Loui's breaks- the things that helped him become a successful fisherman.

The first "break" Loui had was when he wrecked his boat in the surf at Back Beach. That probably made him respect the sea even more- that's vital for fishermen.

Read "The ocean beckons and calls" and "Loui's glorious sea" and see if you can find five more breaks that Loui had.

Answers at the bottom of the page

Fish for sale

Finish the story now and find the one drawback about being a commercial fisherman in the 1960s.

Why do you think people ate a lot less fish then than they do now?

The fishing industry has changed a lot since Loui's career began. Try this true or false quiz and then check your answers on the site below.

True or false?

1. Five times more people work in the fishing industry now than in the 1960s.
2. Today most New Zealanders only buy fish that they are used to eating.
3. The New Zealand fishing industry doesn't bother to catch fish like squid and hoki. New Zealanders don't eat these species.
4. New Zealand's most important export markets are Japan, Australia and the USA.
5. Today the fishing industry doesn't need any special rules to prevent over fishing.
6. Apart from over fishing there isn't really anything that will harm our fish and affect our fishing industry.
7. There is a special zone around New Zealand and New Zealanders manage all the fishing done inside this zone.
8. Some deep water fish like orange roughy still can't be caught. They are just too deep.
9. Some species of fish are farmed.
10. There are some places in New Zealand where even commercial fishers are not allowed to fish.

Fast Forward to 2005

"Arriving in a new country as a refugee is like arriving as a new born baby. We come without clothes and without baggage. We come without knowledge of the world in which we find ourselves, without the language to find out. We are totally dependent on the goodwill of those around us to ensure that we survive and also for the quality of that survival."

Refugee woman.

Loui came to New Zealand as a refugee. About 35,000 refugees have settled in New Zealand since World War 11. Auckland is home to the highest number of refugees followed by Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton.

Today there is an organised programme of resettlement and support for refugees. They arrive in New Zealand five times a year in groups of about 150 and spend six weeks at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland.

At Mangere they receive health care, English lessons and learn about life in their new country before starting their new lives in towns and cities throughout New Zealand.

The Resettlement Centre is a relaxed place set in over two hectares of grounds away from the city. It has accommodation blocks, a nursery, classrooms, dental and medical clinics, a dining room, a lounge, a meeting room, a recreational area and a clothing store.

What do you think refugees should learn about before they set out for life in New Zealand? Get together in a small group and jot down a list of "essential knowledge."

Answers

Rewind

1. True. This happened in 1956.
2. True. It was against the West Indies.
3. True. 11 million children have already been safely vaccinated in America and Europe.
4. False. Sir Edmund Hillary does lead an expedition but it is to the South Pole.
5. True. New Zealanders consume an average of 45.1 gallons each. That's 170.67 litres.

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Word Watch

1b, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5b, 6a, 7a, 8a, 9b, 10b

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Map that country

There are seven countries on Hungary's borders.

1. South
2. Slovenia
3. Ukraine
4. Slovenia or Croatia on the way to the Adriatic Sea.
5. Four borders

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Run for your life

Numbers 1,2,4 and 5 show that the economy was booming in New Zealand. There were plenty of jobs and opportunities for people to well. Number 7 shows there were a lot of fish around- that's why Japanese fishing boats came here. All these things are good reasons for Loui to choose New Zealand.

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Loui's breaks

1. A chance to crew on the Annabella.
2. A great day at sea with a school of porpoises helped Loui make up his mind that the sea life was for him.
3. Alan and Jim Rutherford were good fishing teachers.
4. He got a loan from the doctor to buy a boat.
5. He was able to buy an excellent sea boat.

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