‘We owe a lot to Andrzej Prewoźnik, and with this exhibition we are starting to repay our debt,’ said Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics at the House of Terror Museum’s exhibition entitled ‘There they lie, as if they were still alive...’, which was organised in memory of the Polish historian.

Andrzej Prewoźnik was travelling on the presidential airplane which crashed near Smolensk on 10 April 2010. The passengers on board were flying to Katyń to honour the memory of the victims of the massacre there in 1940.

Andrzej Prewoźnik left an enduring mark on Hungarian-Polish relations. In 2004 he was awarded the Middle Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic by the President of the Hungarian Republic for his self-sacrificing contribution to military and historical relations and Hungarian-Polish friendship. In his speech opening the exhibition, Tibor Navracsics said that Andrzej Prewoźnik was a great Polish patriot who loved the Hungarians and served his country faithfully, and cared for the memory of his nation.

The Deputy Prime Minister added that, whether he was researching Katyń, locating Hungarian soldiers’ graves in Poland, or nurturing the memory of Polish officers who escaped to Hungary, Andrzej Prewoźnik searched for and perpetuated the real underpinnings of Central Europeanism and the most beautiful moments in Polish-Hungarian friendship.

Prewoźnik, Katyń, and Polish and Hungarian history are intertwined not only for us but for everyone who deals with the history of the two countries, continued Tibor Navracsics. He pointed out that the historian was a representative of a generation who showed in his daily life that ‘Pole and Hungarian, (are) two good friends’, but it is symbolic that he also considered it important to strengthen this friendship through exploring the past.

At present, we must continue to strengthen this friendship, and a number of events have therefore been organised in which future generations can come closer together. Prewoźnik could not finish what he started; the minister stressed that we, however – who owe him so much – can fulfil his plans.

(kormany.hu)