The story of the Hungarian doctor who saved the survivors of the Titanic

The biggest maritime disaster of all time, the sinking of the Titanic, happened exactly
110 years ago. Stories have it that several Hungarian people were also passengers.
However, the most famous Hungarian who was involved in the tragedy of the Titanic
is a Hungarian doctor who provided medical attendance to those who survived the
sinking of the Titanic.

The Titanic was 270 meters long and 56 metres wide. It was thought to be
unsinkable, which is why there were only 16 lifeboats on the ocean liner instead
of the advised 64. After the ship had sunk, it became clear that
the insufficient number of lifeboats was a major factor in the number of
deaths. Thus, the previous rule that a 10,000-tonne ship was only obliged to carry
16 lifeboats was changed.

There are many reasons for the ship’s horrible fate. Some of them were human
errors, others were a series of unfortunate coincidences. On the occasion of the
anniversary of the disaster, blikk.hu examined the story from the perspective of a
Hungarian passenger who was certainly on board and the potential Hungarian
passengers.

Leopold Weisz

Leopold Weisz is the only Hungarian who is certain to have been a passenger on the
Titanic. Weisz was born in Veszprém around 1875 as Lipót Weisz. He emigrated at
the age of 19 and studied in England at the Bromsgrove Industrial Art Society. There,
he met his future wife, the Belgian Mathilde Françoise Pëde. Weisz travelled to
England to pick up his wife and together they left for Canada where the couple
imagined their future. They were originally scheduled to travel first class on a ship
called the Lusitania, but they were transferred to the Titanic’s second class, which
they embarked on in Southampton on 10 April.

As blikk.hu writes, Weisz did not survive the disaster, which was caused by
a collision with an iceberg, but his wife was able to take a seat in lifeboat No 10. As
it turned out, Weisz had transported his entire fortune in gold bars sewn into his
jacket. His wife arrived in New York penniless. Fortunately, when they identified her
husband’s body, which was in life jacket 283, they returned the precious metals they
had found on him.

The hero doctor

Dr Árpád Lengyel was the heroic doctor of the ship Carpathia, which came to the aid
of the Titanic. After hitting the iceberg, the Titanic tried to contact
the surrounding ships by radio to come to its aid. The Carpathia was the first ship to
pick up the radio signals.

The Carpathia could carry 705 passengers and sailors, many of whom were injured.
A Hungarian-born doctor on board the ship was in charge of the care of the
survivors. Dr Lengyel and his colleagues tirelessly cared for the survivors all the way
to New York. The doctor received numerous awards for his heroic conduct.
source: Blikk.hu, Encyclopedia Titanica; Daily News Hungary

A cikk elolvasása után döntsd el, hogy a következő állítások igazak (T), vagy
hamisak (F) a cikk alapján.

1.The Titanic was 56 metres wide and 270 meters long with 64 lifeboats.

2. Human mistakes played a role in some of the ship’s misfortunes, while others were
a series of unlucky coincidences.

3. Leopold Weisz and his wife were originally scheduled to travel first class on the
Titanic but they were transferred to second class.

4. As it turned out, Weisz had transported his entire fortune in gold bars sewn into his
wife’s jacket.

5. The survivors were cared for by a Hungarian-born doctor and his colleague from
the ship called The Carpathia.á

survivors túlélők
maritime tengeri
to be involved in belekeveredni/részt venni
to provide medical
orvosi ellátást biztosítani
attendance
instead of valami helyett
insufficient nem elegendő
to be obliged to kötelese valamit megtenni
fate sors/végzet
unfortunate
szerencsétlen egybeesés
coincidences
certainly biztosan/bizonyára
to schedule beosztani
to embark on beszállni (hajóra)
collision with összeütközés
to turn out kiderülni
fortune vagyon
gold bars sewn into arany rudak valamibe
sg bevarrva
to identify beazonosítani
precious metal nemesfém
to come to the aid of segítségére jönni
surrounding környező
to be injured megsérült
to be in charge of felelősnek lenni valamiért
tirelessly fáradhatatlanul
to receive awards díjakat kapni
heroic conduct hősies cselekedet/
viselkedés