They Learn to Value Peace

The German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) organizes the camp every year. Eric-Bastion Ossowski, the main organizer of this year’s program told us that the students who have come from three countries are all volunteers. Many of them were encouraged to participate by their schools, whereas others were convinced by their parents’ support. The main goal is to commemorate the forebears, the war heroes.

“Of course, beyond war grave care, these young people participate in several enticing and interesting programs, so they are introduced to the sights of Hungary and Hungarian culture during the week", the main organizer added.

For the most part, the common language is German, as the Hungarian students from the Friedrich Schiller Secondary and Vocational School of Pilisvörösvár have a good command of this language.

During the time spent with work, the campers repaint the inscriptions on the gravestones of the Budaörs cemetery and wash them down, paying tribute to the fallen in this way. Many of the young participants are already familiar with the site, as they have been visiting Hungary for the second or the third time, seizing the opportunity provided by the camp.

The camp leaders say that, besides mutual cultural understanding and joint work, these camps have an educational role too because the students realize the wrongness of violence, understand what war is, and, most importantly, learn to value peace.

A total of 54,000 German soldiers fell in the area of Hungary. 14,000 of them were buried in the German–Hungarian military cemetery of Budaörs, beside the mortal remains of 567 Hungarian soldiers.

Photo: Gábor Galovtsik