Przygody z cenzurą polskiej uchodźczej społeczności na Węgrzech (1939–1945)
Censorship games among the Polish émigré community in Hungary in the years 1939–1945

Summary/Abstract: Civilian and military émigrés of the wartime period who had come to Hungary when the Polish-Hungarian border had been temporarily open (17–28 Sept. 1939) had a relatively rich artistic and cultural life. Thanks to the Hungarian authorities, the Polish émigrés even formed their own institutions. As a result, some kind of press was started and approximately 60 newspapers and magazines were in circulation. What is more, 300 different books and brochures were duplicated in 13 publishing houses. In Budapest, the Polish Institute (Instytut Polski) and Polish Club (Świetlica Polska), among others, organized several dozen public cultural performances. Polish publications and books were controlled by the Press Department of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This censorship function was held by István Mészáros (1891–1964), who later became a famous translator of the Polish literature. After the Nazis entered Hungary in March 1944 he was substituted by Sándor Vajlok. Mészáros was always pro-Polish: he never questioned or refused any Polish publication, was secretly helping the Polish émigrés. However, he was unable to oppose the intervention of the Embassy of the Third Reich in Budapest which temporarily stopped the publication of the leading émigré periodical „Wieści Polskie” („Polish News”) from the 12 May to the 3 June 1941. The reason of it was a quotation from Churchill’s speech allegedly offensive to the German nation.

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