The only great sin of those who were deported from the Highlands (Felvidék, current Slovakia) was that they were Hungarians and did not deny themselves, said Csongor Csáky, President of the Rákóczi Association, during the annual commemorations remembering the deportation of over 100.000 Hungarians from today’s Slovakia to Hungary. The event took place on a tour boat on the river Danube in Budapest, as the Danube, flowing through both Slovakia and Hungary, is regarded as the symbol of the deportees’ journey and fate.
The President of the Rákóczi Association recalled that on 12 April 1947, the first train carrying young and old people who had been innocently exiled from their homeland, left Czechoslovakia for Hungary.
“We remember those who had the great sin of being Hungarians, many of whom were considered to be the most important figures in their community (..). Their sin was that they could not deny themselves,” Csáky stressed. He pointed out that after the deportations began, there was hardly a Hungarian family in Czechoslovakia at the time that had not been affected, that had not lost someone.
(L-R) Csongor Csáky, Krisztián Forró, Gyula Bárdos, Zsolt Németh. Photo: Hungary Today
He added: “No sooner had a community recovered from the great conflagration of the Second World War than
those who spoke Hungarian and prayed in Hungarian had to feel that they were unwanted in the new Czechoslovak state, that they had become foreigners, disenfranchised pariahs.
Photo: Facebook Rákóczi Szövetség
Photo: Facebook Rákóczi Szövetség
Speaking about the Benes decrees, named after former Czech President Edvard Benes, the President of the Rákóczi Association pointed out that they sealed the fate of Hungarians and Germans in the newly established Czechoslovakia, and collectively made Hungarians disenfranchised, stateless and helpless.
Among the speakers at the event were Zsolt Németh, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, and Krisztián Forró, chairperson of the Alliance Slovakian Hungarian party.
Krisztián Forró Photo: Hungary Today
The Article will be updated.
Via MTI, Featured Photo: Facebook Potápi Árpád János, Hungary Today
