Content area
Full Text
For centuries Hungary and Poland have had a uniquely congenial relationship in spite of their distinctive ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. The Magyars and Poles had a common monarch, Louis the Great (Nagy Lajos), ties through marriages, and then both were under Habsburg rule until World War I. This historical association persevered during World War II, even though the two nations joined opposing camps-Poland with the Allies and Hungary with the Axis. In short, many Magyar political officials and the populous provided assistance and a safe-haven for the Polish military, civilians, and even some Jews during the war.
The Second World War proved extremely confusing and tempestuous for Hungary. Diplomatically, it corporeally took an active part in repossessing territory that it had lost in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon -a portion of Slovakia in 1939 and in 1940 the Bascka-Banat region in Yugoslavia-by collaborating with Germany which also sought to regain lands surrendered in the Treaty of Versailles following World War I. The Hungarian government, however, vehemently denied any official ties to the Axis prior to and during the first few years of the war. Although it provided agricultural and other products to Germany and troops on the campaign against Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Magyar officials still insisted that they were neutral. This bipolar behavior was evident throughout Hungary's involvement in World War II. Consequently, the government's policies concerning the Polish refugees-Christian and Jewish, and military and civiliansalso epitomized its random and erratic positions and actions during the war. Though Regent Miklos Horthy once called the Germans " 'buffoons and brigands" ' according to Hungarian Minister Count Csaky and ultimately refused Hitler's requests to participate in any actions against Poland, his armies did control certain areas of Poland during the war.1 Yet, at the same time the Hungarians voluntarily admitted Poles within their borders. The refugees either lived freely within the borders or found themselves running for their lives dependent upon the Magyars relationship with the Germans or which Hungarian controlled the political arena: e.g., both Dome Sztojay, a puppet of the Nazis, and Ferenc Szalasi, the leader of the Arrow Cross viciously attacked the Poles. The treatment of Jews proved even more enigmatic. The government provided hundreds of Polish Jews with false papers; however, it...