Memorial Plaque for Hungarian Soldiers Supporting Polish Insurgents in World War II
Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / MTI | 2014. július 6. 6:01On Sunday, June 29 a state and church ceremony was held at Wiersze, a village situated in the area of today’s Kampinos National Park in Kampinos forest near Warsaw. The participants put up a memorial plaque with full military honors, in memory of those Hungarian soldiers who had stationed in the area during World War II and supported the fight of Polish insurgents against the Germans, the Hungarian embassy in Warsaw informed Hungarian News Agency MTI.
Cardinal Archbishop of Warsaw Kazimierz Nycz celebrated a ceremonial Holy Mass for the homeland, after which the participants unveiled three memorial plaques: one in honor of the Hungarian soldiers who helped the members of the underground Polish Home Army, and another two in memory of the Polish war heroes of two nearby villages, Czosnów and Leszno. An exhibition commemorating the fights was also opened with the title “The Independent Republic of Kampinos".
A delegation of the Hungarian Ministry of Defence was present at the event, including Administrative State Secretary Dr. István Dankó, who delivered a speech, and Lt.-Col. Roland Maruzs, the head of the MoD Public Relations and War Memorial Service Department. The ceremony was also attended by Iván Gyurcsik, Hungary’s ambassador to Warsaw, Defence Attaché Szabolcs Szilágyi and János Tischler, the director of the Hungarian Cultural Institute. The Hungarian delegation laid wreaths by the local memorial for Polish heroes.
The memorial plaques were put up on the wall of the Catholic church, where there are already a number of similar plaques commemorating the fights in Kampinos forest at the time of the Warsaw Uprising, between August 1 and October 2, 1944. The Hungarian MoD delegation had a conversation with a Polish veteran, Tadeusz Budzinski – whose life was saved by Hungarian soldiers – and presented him with a memorial plaquette. Urszula Przymus, the president of the Memorial Council – the initiator of the unveiling ceremony –, and Antoni Krezlewicz, the Mayor of Czosnów also received memorial plaquettes.
From mid-August 1944, Hungarian units were stationed in the area of Warsaw. Although the Hungarians were allies of the Germans, they kept contact with Polish insurgents and in some cases even supplied them with weapons. Some Hungarian soldiers even changed sides to fight with the insurgents. The Germans executed a few Hungarian soldiers on charges of collaboration with the insurgents.
There are several Hungarian war graves in the area of Warsaw which have been taken care of by the local Polish people in an exemplary way to the present day.
Photos: MoD Public Relations and War Memorial Service Department
