Professional Visit in Voronezh and Rudkino

The tasks of the delegation included the assessment of the condition and the possible ways of modernising the Hungarian central military cemeteries in Russia, the on-site consultations concerning the individual POW cemeteries, and the professional preparation of the scientific projects planned in the framework of the Hungarian-Russian bilateral interarchival co-operation.

On the first day of the visit, the delegation was received in Moscow by Mr. Szergej Jevgenjevics Piljajev, the General Director of the International Co-operation Society for Preserving War Memorials, who accompanied them to Voronezh, where they viewed the outdoor exhibition of the Great Patriotic War, then they paid a visit to the Hungarian Central Military Cemetery I and II guarding over the mortal remains of almost 30 thousand Hungarian Honvéd soldiers.

Approaching the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, it is the intention of the Ministry of Defence to carry out such renovation works in both cemeteries, which ensure the dignified commemoration for our fellow Hungarians. In addition to the infrastructural investments, the fence, the renewing of the headboards, the replacing part of the granite plates containing the names of the dead heroes, recultivating the unsettled part of the cemetery, the Museum of Military History initiated the placement of bilingual information signboards on the public road. The HM HIM plans a state-of-the-art visitor centre in Rudkino, which would host the exhibition introducing the Royal Hungarian 2nd Honvéd Army. The inauguration of the renovated cemeteries and the new visitor centre is expected to take place in 2019, marking the Memorial Day of Hungarian Heroes.

At the conclusion of the Rudkino tour, the head of the delegation, Colonel Dr. Vilmos Kovács, the Commander of the Museum of Military History awarded the Administrator of the Hungarian military graveyards in the Don-Bend the Gold Grade of the Honorific Title for the Hungarian War Graves Care donated by the Minister of Defence of Hungary.

The delegation also visited the Tula POW Cemetery, where 444 German, 53 Austrian, 1 Lithuanian, 2 Czech, 1 Yugoslavian, and 57 Hungarian soldiers sleep their eternal dream. In the POW Cemetery the renovation of the burial places needs further archival research, which has been pledged by the Society for War Memorials.

Following the professional visit to the Tula Arms Factory, the delegation attended a working meeting with Madam Irina Olegovna Garkusa, the Director of the Russian Federation State Archive of Military History. During the negotiation they agreed in the basic concept of a Russian-Hungarian, bilingual publication on World War I, and viewed the Hungarian-Austrian spoils of war held in the Archives. As a result of the talks both institutes are waiting with affirmative position for the forthcoming session of the Hungarian-Russian Archival Joint Commission in St. Petersburg on the 13th of September.