BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Martin County Historical and Genealogical Society invites the public to a special book signing event at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Bookstore in Washington, May 31 to June 1, from noon to 5 p.m. each day. The event will celebrate the life of Hungarian-American Martin Himler with a signing of his autobiography, “The Making of An American.”
Himler, who arrived in America in 1907, made significant contributions to the Appalachian region, particularly in Martin County. He founded the Himler Coal Company in 1918 and the town of Himlerville (now Beauty), Kentucky, which was predominantly inhabited by Hungarian immigrants. He also launched the Magyar Bányászlap (Hungarian Miners’ Journal), a weekly newspaper that boasted a circulation of 60,000 in America and Hungary.
Historians describe Himlerville as an experiment, noting that the Himler Coal Company was the first coal mine cooperative in America. Himler provided Hungarian immigrants an opportunity to own a stake in the land and, if they possessed their “papers,” stock in the company.
According to retired teacher Cathy Cassady Corbin in an interview with KET, by the mid-1920s, the coal boom had cooled and the mine was no longer profitable, prompting the company to file for bankruptcy. However, an act of nature abruptly ended Himlerville. A flood June 28, 1928, washed away most of the town. Corbin stated in the interview, “Houses just floated down Buck Creek. Mr. Himler said, ‘I believe this is a sign from God himself that Himlerville can no longer be.’”
After leaving Martin County, Himler moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he continued to publish the newspaper. Later, he served in the U.S. military during WWII, working for the OSS, arresting and interrogating Hungarian Nazi war criminals and providing evidence for the Nuremberg trials.
Though written in his later years and unpublished during his lifetime, Himler’s autobiography was published in Hungarian by Europa Publishing in Budapest in 2021. The manuscript, held within the Himler family before being donated to the historical society in 2007, features editing and annotations by Corbin and an introduction by Dr, Doug Cantrell, longtime Himler researcher and expert on Appalachian Immigrants.
“Martin Himler’s legacy is extremely important not only to national Holocaust history but also to Kentucky Holocaust history,” Corbin said Tuesday. “The Kentucky Legislature passed the Ann Klein and Fred Gross Holocaust Education Act in 2018 to mandate that Holocaust curriculum be taught in Kentucky middle and high schools, with the Martin Himler House and Himlerville being Kentucky’s most prominent sites of Holocaust history.”
Corbin expressed uncertainty about whether the curriculum was being taught in Martin County schools. “It’s usually taught in history and language arts classes,” she noted. “I did tell some local educators that the University of Kentucky-Jewish Heritage Foundation Holocaust Education Initiative mentors and provides lesson-plan suggestions for Holocaust education, which is becoming increasingly important.”
She added, “The Holocaust Education Initiative is working to publicize the Himler study and incorporate it into their lesson plans. Martin County teachers would be teaching local history if they taught the Himler story.”
The “Making of an American” book signing event offers an opportunity to engage in discussions led by Himler’s family, descendants of Himlerville residents, and historians.
The family of Martin Himler is donating autobiography royalties to the restoration of Martin Himler’s home in Martin County.