Department of "Huh?!"
Susie Madrak is skeptical of the story of Darrell Issa staffer Peter Simonyi aka Haller:
Former Goldman Employee Who Works For Issa Says He Changed His Name To Honor His Grandfather. Really?: What a touching story:
A staffer working for Rep. Darrell Issa's Oversight Committee on financial regulation issues has come under scrutiny by ThinkProgress for changing his name after he left his previous position at Goldman Sachs. The story implied that he changed his name three years ago to hide his background with the company. But Peter Haller, formerly known as Peter Simonyi, said in a statement to TPM that he and his sister switched their names a few years back to respect the last wish of his grandfather to carry on his mother's family name. His mother's father, Alfred haller-koi gr Haller, was killed by fascists in Budapest in 1944 when he tried to stop children from being conscripted into the military, Haller said.
My mother, whose maiden name is Theodora Maria Theresia haller-koi gr Haller (in the U.S., Dora Haller), married Imre Gabor Simonyi and took his name. Her father Alfred haller-koi gr Haller was killed in Budapest in 1944 by fascists as he attempted to prevent children from being conscripted into the military. Prior to his return to Hungary in 1944, he served under Regent Miklos Horthy, as a Hungarian diplomat stationed in England supporting the British in opposition to Germany. His last request was that if Theodora marries, her husband and children would carry on the Haller name…
Indeed. Inasmuch as Britain declared war on Hungary on December 7, 1941, it is unclear how there could have been Hungarian diplomats in Britain working for fascist-allied Regent Admiral Miklos Horthy in 1944…
