Following the defeat in the September campaign, some 33,000 Polish soldiers found themselves in Hungary, where they were held in internment camps. Various organisations, including the Red Cross, were responsible for their care. Formally, healthcare for the Poles was the responsibility of Hungarian military and district doctors; however, in practice – with the authorities’ consent – Polish doctors took charge of this, under the general supervision of Hungarian medical staff. This was partly due to language barriers, which made it difficult for Poles to access the Hungarian healthcare system.

In September 1939, in accordance with a circular from the Ministry of the Interior, military and civilian refugees were entitled to free medical care. On 3 November 1939, the Section of Polish Doctors was established, operating officially within the structure of the Hungarian Red Cross, though linked to the Polish Red Cross in Budapest. Its activities were subsidised by the Citizens’ Committee. In addition to coordinating the work of doctors, this section was also responsible for the work of around 90 Polish nurses. The organisation comprised 41 civilian and 114 military doctors, and its headquarters, along with the Central Polish Clinic, were located in Budapest. Its operation was made possible by Klara Andrássy, who donated an entire floor of her palace on the Danube at Fő utca 11/13 to the Polish medical organisations and the Red Cross.

On the Polish side, supervision and organisation were led by Dr Jan Strzedniski-Kołłątaj (1883–1944), a medical doctor and brigadier general. The exact circumstances of the general’s death are unclear; according to one account, following the Nazi invasion of Budapest on 19 March 1944, he went to his office to burn documents relating to his underground activities, including his involvement in helping to hide Jews. Whilst he was destroying the documents, Gestapo officers entered the building; they first shot the general and then reportedly shot other Poles as well – doctors, nurses and patients. He was buried in the cemetery in Kobenya, now part of Budapest, in the Polish section. For his activities and heroic conduct, he was awarded, amongst other honours, the title of Righteous Among the Nations and the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari.

Thanks to the efforts of Polish doctors and support from the Hungarian side, every camp had a clinic with a ward and a pharmacy. Free dental care was also provided – at the expense of the Polish Citizens’ Committee – and the sanitary conditions in the camps were monitored. To meet the needs of the military, a 140-bed military hospital was opened in Győr in 1940, run by Dr Stefan Sobieniecki. Forty-five Polish soldiers were buried in the adjacent cemetery; they had died as a result of wounds sustained during fighting against the Germans in Poland in 1939 and had been receiving treatment at this facility.

The healthcare system was supplemented by a neurological ward in Szentes, a tuberculosis ward in Eger, and sanatoriums in Letkés and Ipolyszalka, as well as the Health Centre, a tuberculosis sanatorium in Mátraháza (sometimes the name of the neighbouring town, Matrafüred, is given) and a care home in Keszthely.

Care for mothers and children was provided by the Hungarian Red Cross and the International Children’s Safety Organisation. According to statistics, between 1939 and 1945, 212 children were born among the refugees, whilst the number of deaths stood at 300. Special facilities for mothers and children operated in Kadarkut, Dunamocs and Keszthely.

We can learn about the day-to-day running of the infirmary from the ‘Daily Report of the Camp at Begenc Major’ dated 11 November 1941. There we read that ‘one toilet is allocated to the infirmary (in the original sense of the word – a separate room – note by BG), in which examinations of sick soldiers are carried out, and which also houses the junior doctor’s quarters and the camp first-aid kit. Initially, two toilets, each with single bunks and straw mattresses, were set aside for use as sickrooms. In the first half of July 1921, an infirmary, situated in a refurbished building, was opened. It has a wooden floor, adequate lighting thanks to new windows, and accommodates sixteen iron beds with straw mattresses and sheets, as well as the necessary equipment. An average of 250 soldiers present themselves at the outpatient clinic’.

The sites of some of these facilities have been commemorated with plaques – these are located in Budapest, where the Central Polish Clinic was situated; in Győr, where the Polish hospital was situated; and in Keszthely, where the old people’s home was situated.