According to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the deportation of Hungary's ethnic Germans, which happened 68 years ago, is the nation’s irreplaceable loss.

In a statement issued on the day of commemoration of the expulsion of Hungarians of German origin from Hungary, the Prime Minister said Hungary experienced the madness of the dictatorships twice; two times more than any country should ever have to suffer it. He called it a historical disgrace that "between the two dictatorships, in the shadow of the former and during the dawn of the latter, neither Hungarians nor their fellow compatriots could feel safe in their homeland".

The Prime Minister said he believes that the deportation of ethnic Germans from Hungary is the nation’s irreplaceable loss. He recalled when the cattle transport wagons left for Germany 68 years ago on 19 January 1946, the Hungarian Germans hoisted a Hungarian flag with the words ‘Farewell, our homeland!’ "Even then, when everybody was aware of the unavoidable, they said goodbye to their home last. Because in a dictatorship, it is only the homeland that cannot betray you – that can only be done by humans. Every person is responsible for their own sins.", the Prime Minister declared.
People cannot be blamed for the sins of the representatives of an evil system simply because they speak the same language. Still, there are people who believe in punishing nations and ethnic groups collectively. A sin cannot be overcome by another sin; an alleged sin by another sin even less so, the Prime Minister stressed. According to Viktor Orbán, the culture of remembrance is essential in Hungary to counter every sin and evil.

Remembrance serves peace, and the fulfilment of this may occur in 2014, 68 years after the deportation of the ethnic Germans of Hungary, when in the new Parliament the elected or delegated representative of ethnic Germans living in Hungary will be able to speak in German, their first language. Hungary shares in this remembrance and ‘"we will build the culture of remembrance and we will build the future of Hungary together", the statement reads.

Parliament proclaimed 19 January as the day of remembrance for deported ethnic Germans in December 2012, in commemoration of the first cattle wagons that left for Germany on this day in 1946. In its decree, Parliament emphasised the fact that it is paying its respects to the memory of everybody who was deported after the Second World War according to the unjust principle of collective punishment.

For the German and Hungarian language versions of the Prime Minister's statement, please refer to the download link at the right hand side of this page.

(Prime Minister's Office)