The expulsion of Germans began already in 1944 when many of them were put into forced labour, Potápi said, adding that many others fled the country.

“Between 1946 and 1948 some 220,000 of our fellow German compatriots were forced to leave behind all they possessed,” he said. “We commemorate today with this plaque those 30,000 local Germans whose only sin was to insist on their nationality,” Potápi added.

Addressing the unveiling, Imre Ritter, the delegate of the German minority to Hungary’s parliament, said the expulsion of Germans was a topic that could not be addressed over several decades.

It also took more than ten years to do justice to that period of history in post-transition Hungarian politics, he said, noting that the first commemoration was held at a memorial day in the parliament in 2007.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Koszticsák Szilárd