?I placed my grandfather?s curriculum vitae into a detailed picture of the era and included the areas of medicine in the first half of the 20th century. The background for this is?the sinking of the Titanic. It is this event, and the self-sacrificing work of the crew of the Carpathia which are at the focus of the book,? says Reich.
The book includes five separate accounts by Lengyel of the sinking of the Titanic. The first comes from a letter he wrote to his brother a few hours before arriving in port and the second is from the text of a presentation he gave before the Budapest Medical Association a month after the Titanic sunk. Another account was written a year later and the last two were prepared for broadcasts on Hungarian radio on the 20th and 25th anniversaries of the tragedy.
Lengyel, was one of three ship doctors on the Carpathia, but, as the only one with rescue experience, was the first sent to the aid of passengers of the sinking Titanic.
The Hungarian doctor never set foot on a ship again after the tragedy, and he spoke of the night only in an official capacity and using strictly medical terminology.
The book, called In The Shadow of the Titanic, is published by Delta Vision.
The Magyar Posta will issue a postage stamp bearing a portrait of Lengyel on April 13. Budapest?s Transportation Museum will open an exhibition called Titanic 100 on the same day.
The Titanic sunk on April 15, 1912.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
