Gyula Balog had a twinkle in his eye to match his wide smile, as he declared, “I’m an alcoholic, a homeless person, an activist, an actor, and an expert by experience.” He made sure the interpreter captured these words in that precise order, and then continued, “I have been sober for 31 years, and spent 24 years in the welcoming arms of the homeless shelters of Hungary.” He really did speak like this. Talking to Gyula was one of the most interesting interviews I’ve had in my years at Human Rights Watch. So, it was a shock to receive news less than two weeks later, in late November, that he had died.
I was talking with Gyula about increasing poverty among older people in Hungary, but at times it felt less like a research interview and more like the first of a hundred conversations with a new, avuncular, friend.
Gyula’s activism, I have come to learn, is the stuff of Budapest lore. Gyula was the author, part-editor, and distributor of Fedél Nélkül (Without Shelter) Hungary’s magazine led by and advocating for people with experience of homelessness.
Gyula was a leading force in Első Kézből a Hajléktalanságról (Homelessness Firsthand) and the activist movement A Város Mindenkié (The City Belongs to Everyone), which organized people often stigmatized by society to speak up for themselves, be heard, and demand an inclusive city. Gyula was also active with Utcáról Lakásba Egyesület (From Streets to Home Association), a housing rights organization, and Civil Kurázsi, an organization focused on democracy and nondiscrimination.
It was clear from his persistent, rattling smoker’s cough as he spoke that he wasn’t well. But he was focused on his friend of a similar age, with long experience of homelessness, who was convalescing on his sofa in his apartment after a recent medical emergency. Friendship and solidarity clearly mattered to Gyula.
So his friends and colleagues’ depth of sorrow is evident, as is their determination to carry on their activism and advocacy in Gyula’s spirit. Human Rights Watch shares its deep condolences with them as they lay Gyula to rest this week.
