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Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2009
Licencja: all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery
Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2009
Licencja: all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery
Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2009
Licencja: all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery
Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery, photo Rada OPWiM, 2009
Licencja: all rights reserved
Fotografia przedstawiająca Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery
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ID: WOJ-000541-W (HU-0018)

Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery

ID: WOJ-000541-W (HU-0018)

Polish quarters in the Kisasszony cemetery

In September 1939, thousands of civilian and military refugees crossed the Polish-Hungarian border. Thanks to the favour of the Hungarian authorities and society, Poles found shelter and were cared for. The Hungarian Ministry of War took care of the military internees, while the Ministry of the Interior took care of the civilians. The number of Polish military internees in the initial period of exile is estimated at around 33,000 privates and officers, placed in camps.

Care for the refugees was provided by, among others, the Hungarian-Polish Refugee Committee, the Hungarian Red Cross and the Civic Committee led by Henryk Slawik. A Representation of Polish Civil Refugees was established, whose main task was to provide assistance for the illegal passage of Poles from Hungary to the West. In 1940 and 1941, many Poles, mainly military, but also civilian refugees, left Hungary, heading via Yugoslavia and Italy to France and the Middle East. Until 1941, there was a Polish Government Delegation in Exile in Hungary, recognised by the authorities in Budapest.

Poles placed in internment camps were allowed to leave them freely. Sanitary care was duly provided in the camps. The internees received an allowance in cash from the Hungarian state and could also work for a living. Polish education was active.

One camp for Polish officers and non-commissioned officers operated in Eger from September 1939 to March 1944. Some officers were accompanied by their families.

During the Second World War, 10 military men died in Eger and were buried in the local Kisaaszony cemetery. In November 1940, Lieutenant Ludwik Gruszczynski was the first to be buried in the new part of the cemetery, followed in 1942 by Captain Konstanty Manko and Major Leon Nowak in the second row. In 1943, as many as 6 officers died: Captain Ignacy Kuzdrzał-Kicki, Major Franciszek Busz, Reserve Platoon Sergeant Bolesław Karbowniczek, Captain Adam Maleczyński, Captain Stanisław Petry and Captain Eugeniusz Zamojski. The burials were carried out one by one, placing them in the same row as the 1942 graves. The tenth and final officer burial at the Kisasszony Cemetery was that of Captain Dr Adam Kropiński in May 1944. - He was laid to rest in the same row as Lieutenant Gruszczynski, but on the other side of the plot.

A modest tombstone commemorating Lieutenant Gruszczynski had already been erected before 1 November 1941, financed by contributions from colleagues. Later tombstones followed the same design: a rectangular individual grave surrounded by a rectangular frame with a cross on a rectangular base in the back equipped with an ellipsoidal metal inscription plaque. In 1944, the Polish quarters were cleaned up with private funds from the officers.

Due to the poor technical condition of the graves, the section was revitalised in 1979: the space inside the frames of 9 graves was filled with smooth terrazzo slabs decorated with the coat of arms of Poland, and in the 2nd row, between the 4th and 5th gravestones, a rectangular pedestal of artificial stone was erected, on the upper wall of which a bronze inscription plaque was set with the following text: KWATERA POLSKICH / ŻOŁNIERZY ZMARŁYCH / W OKRESIE II WOJNY / ŚWIATOWY / A II VILÁGHÁBORÚ / IDEJÉN ELHÚNYT LENGYEL / KATONÁK SÍRHELYEI. Most likely, in the first decade of the 21st century, the remains and tombstone (or part of it) of the Jarmul captaincy's daughter Basia, who died in 1943, were moved from the Rozália cemetery to the Kisasszony cemetery, placing it behind a pedestal with a bronze inscription plate.

In 2009. The Council for the Protection of Remembrance of Struggle and Martyrdom carried out a reconstruction of the quarters. The work resulted in a coherent composition including all 11 graves. The remains of officers (Lieutenant L. Gruszczyński and Captain Dr. A. Kropiński), whose tombstones were previously located in the 1st row, were exhumed and moved to the 2nd row. Most of the historical elements were used, but the pedestal with the inscription from Lieutenant Gruszczyński's gravestone was not preserved. All parts added in 1979 were removed. In order to unify the appearance of the individual crosses, the missing parts, such as the base of Basia Jarmula's cross, were made of new blocks. The cross commemorating the burial of Lieutenant Gruszczyński was provided with a new inscription plaque in a shape repeating the others. A high main cross was added in the middle of the quarters, on which the coat of arms of Poland was placed. Below the coat of arms is an inscription in Polish and Hungarian which reads: TO THE POLAKS / WHO IN THE YEARS / 1939 - 1944 / RESTED / IN ETERNAL SLEEP / FAR FROM / THEIR NATIVE LAND / COMPATRIOTS / AZOKNAK A / LENGYELEKNEK / AKIK AZ / 1939 - 1944 / ÉVEKBEN A / HAZAI / FÖLDTŐL / TÁVOLTÉRTEK ÖRÖK / NYUGALOMRA / HONFITARSAIK. The lower wall of the vertical cross beam bears the inscription: POLISH / WAR CEMETERY / RESTORED / IN 2009 / THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF / THE OPWIM / LENGYEL / KATONAI TEMETŐ / FELÚJÍTVA COUNCIL: / 2009 - BEN. / A HARC / ÉS MÁRTIROMSÁG /EMLÉKÉT / ÖRZŐ TANÁCS / GONDOZASAVAL.

In 2019. The Mosty Foundation carried out the restoration of the quarters thanks to funding from the Programme of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage "Sites of National Remembrance Abroad". The conservation and restoration work was carried out by students from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń under the direction of Karolina Witkowska, M.A., a research and teaching fellow at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, and Katarzyna Polak, M.A., from the Nicolaus Copernicus University. All the work was supervised by dr hab. Piotr Niemcewicz, conservator of historical monuments and expert of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

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List of buried persons

11

Related objects

4
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