Here is a new blockbuster movie in Hungary: The Whiskey Robber – TRAILER

There is one particularly interesting and dividing figure in the contemporary history of Hungary, who has been given a lot of media attention in the past three decades, with even a film being produced about his ‘adventures’. Read on to meet Attila Ambrus, the Whiskey Robber (in Hungarian: a Viszkis).

We’ve written recently about the Hungarian highwaymen, the famous Betyárs, who were respected by civilians and hated by the men of law. In that article, Attila Ambrus was already mentioned with his history briefly discussed, and he was even depicted as a modern-day betyár. A Hungarian film, directed by Nimród Antal was released recently, titled A Viszkis in Hungarian or The Whiskey Robber in English. Ever wondered who this guy is that Hungarians are so fascinated by? Now is your chance to find out.

Early life, ‘The Panther from Csík’

Attila Ambrus was born in 1967 in Transylvania, more precisely in a town right outside Csíkszereda, often referred to as Csík (in Romanian: Miercurea Ciuc).

In his teens and younger life he already had some clashes with the law, as he committed several petty thefts,

but nothing serious, and was not sentenced for those crimes. However, he was also a professional ice hockey player, playing for the local team.

His emigration is another interesting story, as in the communist era it was difficult to cross the Romanian border, especially to Hungary. Ambrus was one of the many braves who attempted and one of the few who succeeded at illegally crossing the border. He sneakily avoided the authorities’ attention by riding underneath a freight train. Talk about a daredevil…

He was drifting from one petty job to the other, all the while playing for different hockey teams in Hungary. His teammates at his new hockey team nicknamed him ‘The Panther from Csík’.

The Whiskey Robber

Attila committed the ‘gentleman robberies’ during the 1990s at altogether 27 banks, post offices and travel agencies around Budapest. The very first robbery was committed in 1993, while the last one in 1999. During these six years, the Whiskey Robber managed to scrape together around 100 million Forints, which equals to about 318 thousand Euros.

Where does the nickname come from you might ask? Well,

it was his custom among many others to drink a bit of whiskey at a pub nearby before going in and robbing a given bank or post office.

Other robbery-rituals included giving flowers to female employees where he went robbing or sending a bottle of wine to the police.

After his crimes became famous in Hungary (and even in the surrounding countries where Hungarian-speaking communities are found), he was perceived as a folk hero, a sort of modern-day György Dózsa of the capitalist Communism. He was respected for the fact that, although he carried a gun on himself, he never harmed anyone (however there is one claim that during one of his last robberies he became aggressive and hit a woman).