BROTHERLY BLOOD OF POLES AND THE HUNGARIANS

FR. CEZARY CHWILCZYŃSKI, Budapest

President Andrzej Duda, as the only guest from abroad, took part in celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution, held in Budapest. – We are going together, two countries built on the Christian fundament – he said

In 1956, in order to help wounded Hungarians in fights with the soviet army, which had invaded Budapest, Poles devoted 800 liters of their blood. In his speech to thousand of the gathered outside the parliament in Budapest, the president spoke about ‘brotherly blood’ and emphasized: - We are very grateful to you that you accepted out Polish blood then. And we are very proud that today, although in this symbolic meaning, in a lot of heroic Hungarians and their children and grandchildren, there flows a little drop of Polish blood which seals our friendship.

President of the Polish Republic was the only guest from abroad, invited for the national celebrations commemorating the Hungarian revolution in 1956. The speech of Andrzej Duda was interrupted with the ovation of the gathered. – You can rely on Poland in the most difficult moments. We are going together, two countries built on the Christian fundament. Today, being independent, being together in united Europe –president Duda emphasized and said that the Hungarians went further than workers from Poznań in 1956: - They demanded leaving Hungary by the Soviet armies, demanded an independent country, demanded self-determination, demanded complete independence and complete sovereignty, demanded a multi-party system, that is, political freedom.

In the president’s speech there were also words of thanks to the Hungarians for all kinds of help for our nation in history. Referring to the Bolshevik war in 1920 he thanked: - You sent us ammunition, which might have tilted the scales of the war towards the Polish party. In 1939 you opened borders for our soldiers, escaping from German and Soviet aggression and also captivity. Thanks to it, it was possible for the Polish army to appear in the West. (…) Let God bless Poland, let God bless Hungary. Honour and glory to heroes of the uprising of 1956! God, redeem the Hungarians and give them your graces – president Duda concluded.

In a similar spirit, pointing to bonds connecting both nations, the prime minister Vikor Orban gave his speech, calling everyone not to let ‘Europe cut off its roots which used to make it great’. These roots, in the opinion of the prime minister of Hungary, is ‘a life-giving power of nations and respected wisdom of Christianity’. He also said strong words referring to the state of today’s European Union, which – as he said – is at risk of becoming Soviet. – We must not let European Union change into the contemporary empire and ‘The States of United Europe’ appear -he emphasized and added: - We, Hungary, want to remain a European nation, not a national minority in Europe.

In Budapest president Duda also visited a graveyard in Rakoskeresztur where on a previous garbage dump killed insurgents and Hungarian patriots of 1956 had been buried. At the monument of gen. Józef Bem he met with the Polish diaspora in Hungary and Poles who had arrived from Homeland for the anniversary ceremonies. In the Polish Institute he opened an exhibition ‘In a fight for freedom we are always together’.

The Hungarian uprising began on 23 October 1956. Its participants demanded among the others, freedom of speech and complete independence from USSR. The intervention of Soviet armies begun on 4 November, ended their uprising. Over 2500 people were killed, 200 thousand emigrated. A few hundred verdicts were given, and thousands of the Hungarians were sentenced to imprisonment.

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„Niedziela” 44/2016

Editor: Tygodnik Katolicki "Niedziela", ul. 3 Maja 12, 42-200 Czestochowa, Polska
Editor-in-chief: Fr Jaroslaw Grabowski • E-mail: redakcja@niedziela.pl