Hungary

"Through a cousin of mine, we hired a bunch of guys from Hungary who had worked in some electronic factory and who were all part of the 56 exodus. Once we went to a trade show at a hotel in Houston with six or eight Hungarian guys in three Clairtone trucks. The unions from Chicago wanted to stop us unloading and setting up our displays on the weekend. These American union guys came out and said, “You're not supposed to move products. That job belongs to one of our state unions.” And the lead guy, Bertie Hahn, said, “You just try and stop us.” The Hungarian guys were water polo players, all at least six feet tall. No one was going to get in their way, either Saturday or Sunday. We were the only stereo and hi-fi display in the whole weekend trade show. Those guys would die for Canada. They hated Hungary. They hated Russia. In Canada they had a job, they had profit sharing, they had stock options. And we all made money. It was a fantastic time!"

"Peter Munk doesn’t believe in leaving his family money. “I believe in leaving them a strong set of moral guidelines. I think that I was influenced by the fact that I saw my grandfather, at the age of seventy-four, kicked out of Hungary by the Nazis with only a knapsack. So to me that can happen again in a lifetime. If you've got the moral guidelines, the self-confidence and the determination, you'll start again and will make it. But if all you have is the money and the money is taken away from you, then you are finished.”"