Remembering the Hungarian Heroes of the Battle at the Don River

More than eighty years ago today, the Battle of the Don River took place, one of the most tragic events of World War II from a Hungarian perspective, claiming the lives of nearly 100,000 Hungarian soldiers and laborers. On the anniversary, numerous commemorations are being held across the country, and a requiem mass is being celebrated.

The Hungarian army suffered one of its greatest losses in the Don Bend, which is considered one of the greatest blood sacrifices of Hungarian soldiers. During World War II, the 2nd Hungarian Army was sent to the Eastern Front at the request of Germany, based on an intergovernmental agreement. The 207,000-strong army deployed to the front was lacking in equipment for its own troops, but the heavy equipment and supplies promised by the Germans never arrived, meaning that the Hungarian units were abandoned and then used as rearguards.

On January 12, 1943, in temperatures of minus 30-35 degrees Celsius, the Soviet 40th Army launched an attack from the Uri bridgehead and penetrated 8-12 kilometers into the Hungarian defenses that same day. By January 16, the Soviet attack had split the Hungarian army into three parts.

There are no precise data on the losses by the Don River. The material losses of the 2nd Hungarian Army were about 70 percent, with some sources putting the number of casualties at about 93,500 and others at 120,000–148,000. The exact number of wounded and captured soldiers is unknown. The army had already suffered heavy losses during the summer battles, supplies were faltering, and disease was decimating the soldiers, but the weakened and depleted units showed extraordinary resilience.

Hungarian soldiers successfully carried out their duties for a long time in temperatures of minus 30-40 degrees Celsius and did not give up their positions. They persevered, and some of them even broke through enemy lines and made it home.

The survivors could have returned home with their heads held high, but instead they were met with shame, humiliation, and ostracism by the state, thus for a long time the Don tragedy could only be discussed at family gatherings, if at all. The only ones who remembered those who fell or froze to death on the battlefield were their loved ones, their widows, who raised their children alone. After the change of regime, state institutions began to commemorate the heroes of the Don once again. January 12 became the day of remembrance for the destruction of the Second Hungarian Army.

At the same time, the possibility of directly passing on personal experiences ceased to exist: in February 2021, at the age of 99, the last known survivor of the Don tragedy, Ferenc Smohay from Székesfehérvár (central Hungary), who lived through the tragedy as an ensign, passed away. Experts do not rule out the possibility that there may still be some unknown survivors among us, but the likelihood of this is quite slim.

Today, commemorations are being held across the country to mark the 83rd anniversary of the Don breakthrough.

In Szombathely (western Hungary), a memorial service commemorated the heroes at 10 a.m. at the papal cross in the courtyard of the Martineum Adult Education Academy, while in Szentes (southeast Hungary), at the same time, victims were honored at the World War II memorial in Széchenyi Park.

In Szolnok (central Hungary), the city council and the MH Kiss József Helicopter Brigade held a commemoration ceremony at the Hungarian Golgotha World War II memorial in Heroes’ Square in memory of the heroes who fell in the Battle by the Don River.

A municipal commemoration took place on Thursday at 5 p.m. in Zalaegerszeg (western Hungary), in Heroes’ Garden, on October 6 Square, and on Sunday, January 15, and at 8:30 a.m. a Mass of Atonement was held, followed by a municipal commemoration in Keszthely (near Lake Balaton), at the Parish Church of Our Lady of Hungary and in the Castle Garden.

Via Magyar Nemzet; Featured image: Fortepan / Fortepan/Album058

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