satellite state Hungary, joined Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Monday, May 9, for the 60th anniversary observance of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Georgia, Lithuania and Estonia boycotted the ceremony to protest what they see as "the Russian occupation" that followed the end of World War Two in Europe. Yet as Russian fighter jets streaked overhead, and world leaders watched, President Putin tried to focus their attention to the sacrifice made by Russians and others to defeat the Nazis and fascism.
He said "27 million Soviets" lost their lives "in defense of their nation", more than any other country during the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave United States President George W. Bush a prominent seat next to him to view the military parade.
Neither leader made mention to their differences over the post war period, which Bush described over the weekend as "a painful history" of Soviet occupation for Central and Eastern European states, including the Baltics.
HUNGARY ATTENDS
Latvia and Hungary were among the Eastern European states attending the ceremony, despite the Soviet occupation of their countries. Former Nazi ally Hungary made clear it hopes the 60th anniversary celebrations of victory in World War II in Moscow would lead to reconciliation with Russia.
"Hungary had waged a war against the Soviet Union and its allies, and caused much destruction," Hungarian News Agency MTI quoted President Ferenc Madl as saying near Moscow. On Sunday, May 8, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also asked forgiveness from the Russian people and others who suffered for what he called the "indescribable destruction" in the former Soviet Union.
But Hungary’s Madl also made clear that although Russian forces freed his country from the Nazis, they also occupied the country for nearly five decades to keep it in line with Kremlin policies.
OCCUPYING FORCES
After the war "the Stalinist occupying forces took hundreds of thousands of Hungarian civilians to forced labor camps, and another Russia suppressed the Hungarian uprising of 1956," Madl said.
The Hungarian president reportedly praised then Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s 1992 speech at the Hungarian Parliament in which he apologized for what had happened in 1956. He added however that "many in Hungary expect Moscow to make further apologies for the Hungarian victims," MTI reported.
Elderly Hungarians still recall how most of the 200,000 Second Hungarian Army troops were killed during a fierce fight against Soviet forces from 1942 till 1943.
HEAVIEST LOSS
The battle near the river Don was seen as the single heaviest loss of life for Hungary’s military. Hundreds of thousands of other Hungarians were reportedly sent to labor camps in Russia to punish them for their country’s support for Nazi Germany.
During that time there was little appetite in Moscow to commemorate fallen Hungarian soldiers and other Hungarians who perished in Russia. However there was a huge monument in down town Budapest remembering Russian troops who died as they fought the Nazis.
Since the collapse of communism and the withdrawal of Russian forces there have been calls in Hungary to remove the statue to make way for a parking lot. But the Socialist-led government has made clear that the defeat of the Nazis should be respected.
ASKING FORGIVENESS
"We let their hands go. We were not courageous enough and we were not strong enough to keep them, to keep them with us," said Hungarian Prime Minister by Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany last week during the “March of the Living” in Auschwitz, Poland, to remember those who were massacred.
An estimated 600,000 Hungarian Jews and others the Nazis and Hungarian fascists did not like were killed during World War Two. "Millions of common and unnamed people let this happen. There were governments, Hungarian governments included, who did not believe that their most sacred task, their most important priority should be to protect all citizens," said Gyurcsany, who also asked "forgiveness" for his country’s role in the Holocaust.
However Hungarian politicians have argued that those Hungarian soldiers who were forced to fight with Nazi Germany should be remembered as well.
Therefore Hungary and Russia came up with a compromise: Budapest will respect Russian war monuments and Moscow will create memorials to commemorate Hungarian losses. The Kremlin was allowed to use part of the Soviet era-debt to Hungary to build them. Hungarian and Russian officials hope that remembering all victims will help to prepare for a new European future, together. (With BosNewsLife News Center, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Russia and Hungary)
