Searching for World War graves of Hungarian servicemen

As it was said at the awarding ceremony the greatest deed of the Ukrainian professor was the research of the grave of legendary assault-artillery captain József Barankay, killed in action on 13th July 1944 buried at a previously unknown location. The Hungarian War Graves Commission regards the identification of the grave of captain Barankay, the exhumation of his remnants and their reburial in Hungarian soil as one of the most significant events of military piety.

As a representative of the official war graves commissions of Ukraine and Hungary Igor Tarasovich Kochkin has discovered and placed under legal protection nearly 100 burial places of Hungarian military personnel who died in Ukraine in two world wars. Six years ago with the professional exhumation of the remains of 16 Hungarian soldiers buried in the graveyard of the village church of Bukivna, Ivano-Frankivsk county, Mr Kochkin immediately deserved the professional appreciation of the Hungarian War Graves Commission.

“With the identification, registration and restoration of the Hungarian war graves in Ukraine Mr Kochkin provides immense help and assistance to the preservation of Hungarian military graves and the tribute to the victims", was said at the ceremony.

The award was presented by Minister of Defence Mr Csaba Hende.

Photos by Mária Krasznai-Nehrebeczky