Wept shepherdess of Polish war refugees in Hungary

fpg24.pl 1 year ago

In September 1939, thousands of civilian and military refugees crossed the Carpathian Pass and were located in the area of the Zakarpacka Ruse owned by the Hungarian Crown for respective months. In Hungary, General Maczka's celebrated armored division and another many Polish troops found shelter. A wave of Polish civilian refugees sought refuge in the nephews. Among them was the household of Polish consul in Bratislava Juliana Sroki, who came to Poland on vacation in August 1939 and was found here by the war. The Polish diplomat was then given the command to search refuge in Hungary. That's what he did. He and his 2 sons and wife went to Budapest.

Hungarian aid

“I was only a fewer years old, but I remember that we were warmly welcomed by Hungarians. We besides got a very decent 2-room apartment, a large one, in a tenement house, by the railway station in Budapest. The landlords moved to the state so that we could live in very good conditions. There were quite a few Polish families in Budapest, but 1 of us, a friend, had problem uncovering a place, and we gave them one. It wasn't besides tight. There was a large common hall. The Baranovskis had 1 room. The Magpies had a second room," recalls Fr Bronisław Magpieka.

Already in October 1939, the Civic Committee for the Care of Polish Refugees was established, which was a kind of Polish government. A Polish school, press, youth and cultural organisations were established in Budapest and another cities. In particular, many Polish refugees owe the Home Minister dr. József Antall. spiritual life flourished among Polish refugees. In addition to the already existing Polish parish in Budapest, Poles could hold Holy Masses in Polish, among others, in the Rocky Church at St. Gellert Mountain, which was cared for by Hungarian Paulini. On 24 December in this church a commemorative Polish shepherdess was celebrated, later called a wept shepherdess. What is significant, the Hungarians participated in it alongside the many Poles gathered.

Wept Christmas Eve

‘(...) And then [was] our first Christmas Eve and our first shepherd on emigration in 1939. The Hungarians were so good, so kind that they gave us up—not the full church, but we had hours appointed erstwhile it was our mass... We just had the alleged stone Church on the side of Buda. A very interesting temple, due to the fact that it was a cave in the rock. And in this cave Poles celebrated Mass all Sunday. I remember specified an episode, specified a scene at the time of this shepherd: we sang our Polish Christmas carols (...) and at the end individual infused this carol God is born, power is dead. The full church picked up. Hungarians – just out of curiosity – came to our shepherdess. And now we have sung any verses of this song... And that was most likely the 3rd or 4th verse: Raise the hand of God, child... Bless the villages with the cities etc. This carol is known. erstwhile it happened Raise the hand of God, child, bless the loving country, It spread throughout this church sobbing, crying. Not only Poles, besides Hungarians, cried. They had something to cry about. Then years later... I was already a priest after ordination and was allowed to spend Christmas Eve with my parents in Gdańsk. And so we talked about these Christmas Eves, the brother mentioned this very Christmas Eve and the father remembered it besides (it was an old man, he was 87 years old). And he besides remembered it erstwhile they sang this carol, this song. Raise the hand of God, childThat something grabbed people's throat, that they couldn't finish the song. The shaking just, deep emotion. This was the very 1 of the wept shepherds," Fr Bronisław Sroka SJ recalls.

The Magpie household lived in Budapest until 1945. During 1 of the next Christmas Eves in Budapest, the Magpies invited a Hungarian household to a formal dinner. "I remember that they did not know the tradition of breaking a wafer and it was fresh to them. Parents were very crucial to Christmas Eve, so we explained our customized to them,” Fr.

The household of Magpies returned to Poland in 1945, although consul Julian Sroce and his close Polish Jews – grateful for saving their lives (exposing false documents) – offered to finance emigration to South Africa.

Polish – Hungarian...

The Hungarians' attitude to Poles during planet War II was clearly borne out by the fact that Hungary refused to decision on German troops which were to attack Poland in 1939. Hungarians besides did not make peculiar problems for Polish soldiers and officers who in 1940 wanted to get to France to fight Germany further. This was the case, among others, with the infamous division of Gen. Maczek.