HUNGARY: Hungarian, Slovak and Czech historians urge reconciliation at an international conference and exhibit on the 60th anniversary of Benes Decrees

Marking the 60th anniversary of and Hungarian-Czechoslovak population exchanges based on the controversial Benes Decrees, Hungarian politicians and historians condemned Slovakia for recently re-affirming the Benes decrees. An international conference and exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the Hungarian-Czechoslovak population exchanges in 1947 took place at the House of Terror Museum in Budapest on Thursday (September 27). The exhibition drew much attention due to a re-newed political tension between Slovakia and Hungary over a recent decision by the Slovak parliament to re-affirm the post-World War II Benes Decrees. The Benes Decrees, named after the then president Eduard Benes, were passed after the war as punishment for ethnic Germans and Hungarians living in Czechoslovakia, making them collectively guilty for their countries' role in the war. In addition to property confiscation, over 100,000 ethnic Hungarians were deported to Hungary after the war without any compensation. Thousands were taken for forced labour in Czechoslovakia and more than 60,000 Slovaks from Hungary were transported to Slovakia as part of the forced population exchange. Last week the Slovak parliament re-affirmed the Decrees, angering Hungarian politicians both in Hungary and Slovakia. The Hungarian prime minister Peter Medgyessy said in a statement that the decision contradicts EU principles and does not support good neighbourliness relations. European Parliament MEPs from Hungary, Slovakia, and Germany also protested the move. "The whole thing, and especially the 'warming-up' of this case is becoming the shame of the whole European Union because the Slovak parliament re-affirmed something that should not have been allowed in the first place at the time," Miklos Duray, member of the Slovak Parliament and vice-president of the Party of Hungarian Coalition said. Both the Czech and Slovak ambassadors to Budapest were invited speakers at the exhibition opening but both cancelled their participation due to foreign diplomatic engagements. At the conference Slovak historian and member of the Hungarian-Slovak Joint Historical Committee stressed that the Slovaks are not yet ready to face up their past because of the lack of knowledge among the Slovak population about the events 60 years ago. "For the Hungarians in Slovakia this problem is continuously topical, alive, passed on from generations to generations. But at the same time this kind of pressure is missing from the Slovak families. Only the history books that have been published recently talk about the fact that aggressive actions happened against the Hungarians, that they were held collectively guilty and collectively responsible. The Slovak students have so far not heard of these things," Stefan Sutaj said. Hungarian historian Lajos Izsak condemned in his speech the Benes decrees and their affirmation and called for a moral compensation. "They [the Benes decrees] constitute crimes against humanity. Sadly, their spirits are still alive and have negative effects. The leadership of Czechoslovakia and its successor countries did not initiate the withdrawal of the decrees. No one has made an apology to the Hungarian nation, or has said even gently sorry to the Hungarians in Slovakia. This moral compensation should have taken place a long time ago. But instead, what happened was, - in the words of our President, that we got another slap in the face," Izsak said. Speaking to the Hungarian media after the conference, Czech historian Helena Noskova emphasised the importance of making apologies and said that Czechs should help in the reconciliation process based on their experience in the German-Czech conflicts. "When I read documents I am of course very sorry that these things happened and I think at last someone should say "sorry" for what happened. The totalitarian regimes are gone and now we are in a democracy but people don't know what direction to take. At least some steps should be made towards a reconciliation process. The Czechs don't have a conflict with the Hungarians, the conflict is between Slovaks and Hungarians, but the Czechs could help these two nations to understand each other," Noskova said. The exhibition on the population exchange focuses also on the family histories and the stories of victims along the historical documents. Historian and director of the museum, Maria Schmidt, believes that remembering the victims and recognising their fate is crucial to understanding each other. "Everyone sees things from a different angle, and with different emphasis. But sympathy towards the victims is obligatory and if it's there then the rest could differ from each other," Schmidt said.

ITN Source | October 1, 2007

Tags:. .fate. .cancelled. .angering. .diplomatic. .democracy