Hungary taking in Polish WW2 refugees commemorated in Warsaw
A commemoration was held in Warsaw on Monday, marking the 84th anniversary of Hungary opening its borders to Polish refugees at the beginning of the Second World War.
The event was held at the memorial of Jozsef Antall Sr and Henryk Slawik, who organised the rescue effort, and attended by Orsolya Zsuzsanna Kovacs, Hungary’s Ambassador to Poland, and Jan Józef Kasprzyk, the head of the Polish office of war veterans and those persecuted in war. Polish Speaker of the House Elzbieta Witek sent a letter greeting the participants.
In his speech, Kasprzyk noted that in September 1939, Hungary opened its borders to Polish refugees displaced by German and Soviet aggression. He called Antall and Slawik heroes of the Polish, Hungarian and Jewish people.
“Those two men showed that we must preserve our humanity and love for our brethren even in the hardest of times,” he said.
