Under the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty, the Hungarian villages of Oroszvar, Dunacsuny and Horvatjarfalu (now Rusovce, Cunovo and Jarovce in SW Slovakia) had to be ceded to what was then Czechoslovakia.
Residents of these three villages and many others were expelled from Czechoslovakia to Hungary in keeping with a series of decrees issued by the Czechoslovak government declaring collective guilt for atrocities committed by Germany and Hungary against Czechoslovakia during World War II. In all, about 80,000 ethnic Hungarians were forced to leave their homes at this time, and the photos document the passions and despair of the moves.
The exhibition includes a series of dramatic images of the deportees, including photos of women and children from southern Slovakia who crossed the border to escape the deportation of ethnic Hungarians to forced labour camps in Bohemia and Moravia.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
