The „sunken village” in the socialist era

Abstract

The little village Kemse in the Ormánság area became well-know in the 1930’s according to a comprehensive study. By then Kemse had struggled with serious demographic and social problems , but somehow managed to keep alive even still nowdays. Nonetheless the survival of the village is uncertain. This essay presents the deterioration of Kemse in the socialist era (1949-1990) from micro and macro perspectives as well. The official statistical data and the so called „village chronicles” present in a complementary way the increasingly wrong state of Kemse, the process of deterioration of the local community.