„Operation Mercy” – lehetetlennek tűnő küldetés? Az 1956-os menekültek fogadtatása az Egyesült Államokban
Operation Mercy: The (Not Impossible) Hungarian Refugee Resettlement Mission in the United States

Summary/Abstract: What lessons can be learnt from the refugee crisis of the Cold War, following the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian revolution and freedom fight by Soviet tanks? Nearly 200,000 refugees fl ed Hungary to the West through Austria and Yugoslavia. Despite the existing strict immigration quotas and the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, the United States received some 40,000 refugees until 1959. How was it possible? A series of legal, political, military and humanitarian steps were taken, decisions made, and UN Security Council Resolutions adopted – but not enforced – in order to fulfill this mission. Although there was no war officially declared, yet the scene was a former military camp at Camp Kilmer, NJ; and the main characters were military personnel in addition to c. 2,000 volunteers and 31,225 refugees who were all processed, interviewed and registered at the Army base, turned into a Reception Center.

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