[Csaba B. Stenge]

Originally Posted by Dénes Bernád

Csaba, this appears to be a clear-cut accusation against my person. What do you actually mean by "you interested in only for your personal benefits"? (Sorry, but I don't clearly understand it). Anyway, you should either prove your accusation, or retract your words publicly.

If you would bother to check my posts here, and on the previous versions of the forum (I am active since the very beginning of Ruy's launching of the initial Luftwaffe forum about ten years now), you would see that I always try to offer answers and information, even photos, whenever I can, and sometimes I also receive answers from most forum members. That's the real purpose of this international discussion forum, a gathering of likeminded people, who try to help each other - purpose which I tought to remind you, in view of your peculiar activity over here.

Dénes,

Well, well... As I said above, I do not post something publicly in this case without a 100% sure proof. Your only problem is, that you are picking info from forum posts instead of the research and wanted to hear something here. Thanks for criticizing my 'peculiar' activity.
If you wish, here are some info about your ‘peculiar’ style and some proofs for my ‘accusation’ against you, since it is a fact, that you are interested in only for your personal benefits, nothing more.

Maybe worth to read it for some foreigners...



Recently you were warned by a Hungarian researching group because of your incorrect researching manner (without effect).

When you asked me many years ago for my assistance, I offered you the opportunity of the joint publications. You instantly refused it (since you need only my unpublished materials to publish them under your name). Our totally one-sided ‘correspondence’ sounds only about, that you – sometimes even pretty aggressively – pressure me for my unpublished materials and send me your manuscripts to correct and expand them, and after you got, what you wanted, many times simply forgot to say: ‘thanks’.

Some other researchers complained me about your manner as well: in the most interesting case, you asked somebody for some cooperation and to exchange materials. After you got from him, what you wanted (some nice unpublished materials), the ‘cooperation’ instantly ended (you sent in return nothing, even just a ‘thanks’).

About your help for the members of this forum: a member of this forum complained me about you as well: he asked something from you in private about the Romanian Air Force and you refused to help (I always helped everyone and sent many unpublished materials as well for everyone, not just well known things).

If we are talking about the public posts and only about the Royal Hungarian Air Force, your posts here are not as breath-taking as well. Here is an example:

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showth...4331#post24331

Before I posted the real information, you were not able to say anything. After that, you posted just erroneous info, since:
1. they were not the only Hungarian ferry unit
2. they moved to Neuruppin in September, not in August
3. they were re-trained to the Fw 190 in May, not in August, they got just some combat training in Neuruppin in September
4. this squadron later was do subordinated to the III./JG 11
5. they do flew few combat sorties over the Ardennes in December, and not with Fw 190F's but with Fw 190A-8's of the German Gruppe (literally everything is wrong, whyt you have written here)

About your research regarding the Royal Hungarian Air Force: you don’t visit Hungarian Archives. How many times did you visit the Hungarian Military Archive? Once or twice for few hours? Or less? During decades? Have you ever visited any other Hungarian Archives? No? I spent many years in Hungarian Archives (I spent literally months in every year in archives for a long period and still doing this)

How many times did you visit the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv? Never? I spent three months there (and I was in the BA-MA in every weekdays in this period)

How many Hungarian veterans did you visit? One, two, three? And how many families did you visit? More, than three? I visited more, than 70 veterans and hundreds of families… And I do not use them one sidedly, and leave them, after I got what I need: I help them in every possible way, so I have very good contact with them (with the sadly few remained veterans and with the families as well)

So, for you, the research of the RHAF sounds only about the exploitation of the real researchers, using the published Hungarian materials and pick forum posts?
You have never published anything about the RHAF’s history in Hungary (no wonder, since you don’t have unpublished materials – I published for a long period many articles with unpublished details, based on my own research)

I published my first book about the RHAF – my aces book - only after an extremely long and intensive, unbelievable hard research, and after I not just graduated as a historian in a university, but after I received my summa cum laude PhD about the history of the Royal Hungarian Air Force in WW II (altough I do not use my degree, to me, it was a must to do first, to learn a lot about the real research)

What was your first comment about the aces book? ‘To me, it contains nothing new’ (not surprisingly, the few fellows, who are really researched the topic, not just pickers, all said, that it contains a very high number of unpublished details, which is the reality, of course) Your satement is not just not true, but very unfair as well. You won’t be a bigger man or a greater ‘aviation historian’ with ‘international fame’ (as you introduce yourself) with this kind of statements and you just discredit my really hard work (that's why I posted above the 'slight' difference between your research and mine).

The situation is similar with my Ace of Hearts book: altough it was not published, yet, you are already discredit it’s value in some way. It the book’s topic, when Mirek asked about the 1/3.’s kills, compare with the Soviet sources, you posted, that these are ‘already included in the first volume of the Barbarossa to Odessa’ and ‘the basic facts are all published in it’(i. e. in your book). Are you sure, that the exaggerated self-reliance is enough alone?

Firstly, my aces book contains many details from 1941 already (engagements and losses from both side’s view)

Secondly: the first volume of the Barbarossa to Odessa contains nothing about the 1/3. ‘s kills and about their Soviet opponents, since that book covers the period only till the end of July (where were these kills ‘already included’?)

Third comment: the Barbarossa to Odessa, altough it is a very good book, does not contains ‘all the basic facts’ about the Hungarians, as you stated (and do not contains anything unpublished about the RHAF, as you stated it in two places in Hungary). But it contains many errors about the RHAF (including about the 2/3’s claims as well). A little bit strange, that you are even not able to copy-paste correctly the ‘basic facts’, which were published many times in Hungary.

Fourth comment, particularly about the 1/3’s claims. If you know everything (including such a basic things, like the air victories of the 1/3.), just tell me here and now:
When did 2nd Lt. Seres score his fourth air victory and where, and in which way was it confirmed to him. Im sure, that after the release of my Ace of Hearts book, you will know everything instantly (as usual), but say it now.

By the way you have got sometimes indirect help from me as well, with interesting results. For example some months ago a friend of mine, a son of a Hungarian WW II pilot said to me, that you asked some of his photos and what is my opinion about this, should he helps, or not (I guess, he just heard earlier something disappointing about you, that’s why he asked me about this). I said to him, that ‘of course, you should help to him’. When next time we meet again, he said, that he had to re-scan his photos many times, because you were not satisfied with the quality (altough he is working in the computer business since many decades and knows well, what is the necessary resolution for printing) After you got the final version, he said, that ‘I hope, you will send me a complimentary copy of the book for the photos.’ Your brief answer was a big no, with the comment, that it will be an expensive book, so no way...

Well, in fact, the photo copyright usage fees are the really expensive ones, not a copy of a book (I bought many photos from Koblenz and from Hungarian Archives and of course, I am talking about the usage copyright fees in the publications, not about the basic fees, when you obtain a picture from them). And sending a complimentary copy for contribution, especially for nice unpublished photos - which not just save you a lots of money, since you can use them instead of museum ones, but shows something unknown earlier - is a basic thing, without asking for it by the photo owner (but of course only for the researchers, who are not looking for only their own benefits)
Just some contrast: I deliberately chosen a publisher for my aces book (and for my Ace of Hearts book as well), which is selling his books as cheap, as possible, to making these books available to everyone easily (even with the consequence, that it is very seriously uneconomic to me financially, since I spent not just enormous high number of hours with my research, but an enormous high amount of money as well, and nothing returned back). But it is good to me, I wanted to do it as cheap as possible to available everyone (altough I’m not a rich man). Additionally, I sent approximately 50 complimentary copies from the aces book all around the world sometimes for even a totally insignificant contribution (and spent more, than 35% of my low royalty for these books and for the shipping).

Considering the above written facts, it is strange, that you are so surprised in my post. Showing this face for the public and acting very different in fact is a hypocrisy.