Papers relating to the Hungarian Refugee Crisis of November 1956
Production date
1956-1957
Audio tour
Description
A collection of papers, related to the Hungarian Refugee Crisis, of 1956
The following is a collection of papers related to the Hungarian Refugee Crisis of 1956. Included in the documentation present, are two rosters: one detailing a number of Hungarian interpreters, and another, Hungarian-speaking doctors. Accompanying these papers: several lists of offers of help, a report of an official visit to a Hungarian refugee camp in Wollersdorf, Austria, between 29th November and 15th December 1956, and a final report of another visit to Ballymacormack Camp, near Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland on 11th January 1957. Both visitations were conducted by the Director of the British Red Cross Oxfordshire Branch and National Headquarters, Miss E. V. Climenson.
On the 1st of November 1956, several divisions of Soviet tanks rolled into Hungary, and surrounded the state's capital. 200,000 Hungarians fled Hungary in the months that followed. By noon on 4th November, 5,000 had crossed the border to the neutral country of Austria. The Austrian authorities, in close conjunction with the League of Red Cross Societies began immediately to establish camps to house the refugees, from Traiskirchen to Graz and Wollersdorf, with the Red Cross and local police offering to take responsibility for their upkeep and security. But despite the ardent humanitarian efforts of organisations like the Red Cross, the number of people flowing from Hungary quickly became unmanageable, and Austria was forced to write internationally to the various signatories of the Geneva Convention and beyond, in the hopes of convincing other nations to welcome the Hungarian refugees. One such nation was Northern Ireland who, along with its southern neighbour, Ireland, provided nearly 900 Hungarian refugees a sanctuary for a few months in 1957.
It might be surprising to remark on the difficulties faced by those displaced in crossing one border, when thousands today embark on the great passage across a series of national and cultural boundaries. But the crisis that spilled out of Hungary over 60 years ago bears more than a few resemblances to our contemporary issues. The ugliness, the unpreparedness and the humanity are present now as they were then and a cursory glance at the past may help us to navigate our present.
Audio recording by Daryll Hewitt (Volunteer), Birmingham.
The following is a collection of papers related to the Hungarian Refugee Crisis of 1956. Included in the documentation present, are two rosters: one detailing a number of Hungarian interpreters, and another, Hungarian-speaking doctors. Accompanying these papers: several lists of offers of help, a report of an official visit to a Hungarian refugee camp in Wollersdorf, Austria, between 29th November and 15th December 1956, and a final report of another visit to Ballymacormack Camp, near Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland on 11th January 1957. Both visitations were conducted by the Director of the British Red Cross Oxfordshire Branch and National Headquarters, Miss E. V. Climenson.
On the 1st of November 1956, several divisions of Soviet tanks rolled into Hungary, and surrounded the state's capital. 200,000 Hungarians fled Hungary in the months that followed. By noon on 4th November, 5,000 had crossed the border to the neutral country of Austria. The Austrian authorities, in close conjunction with the League of Red Cross Societies began immediately to establish camps to house the refugees, from Traiskirchen to Graz and Wollersdorf, with the Red Cross and local police offering to take responsibility for their upkeep and security. But despite the ardent humanitarian efforts of organisations like the Red Cross, the number of people flowing from Hungary quickly became unmanageable, and Austria was forced to write internationally to the various signatories of the Geneva Convention and beyond, in the hopes of convincing other nations to welcome the Hungarian refugees. One such nation was Northern Ireland who, along with its southern neighbour, Ireland, provided nearly 900 Hungarian refugees a sanctuary for a few months in 1957.
It might be surprising to remark on the difficulties faced by those displaced in crossing one border, when thousands today embark on the great passage across a series of national and cultural boundaries. But the crisis that spilled out of Hungary over 60 years ago bears more than a few resemblances to our contemporary issues. The ugliness, the unpreparedness and the humanity are present now as they were then and a cursory glance at the past may help us to navigate our present.
Audio recording by Daryll Hewitt (Volunteer), Birmingham.
Collection Type
Archives
Level of Current Record
file
Catalogue Number
RCB/2/12/4/7