The text written on the monument is to honour Canada for accepting some 40,000 Hungarians following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The Rakoczi Foundation, along with the Canadian Embassy in Budapest and the Canada Hungary Educational Foundation was instrumental in bringing this monument to completion.
Summary:
On Wed Nov 26, 2008, the Governor General and Mr. Jean-Daniel Lafond concluded Canada’s State visit to Hungary with a moving ceremony, remembering Canada’s role in welcoming 40,000 Hungarian refugees after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The event highlighted the importance of people-to-people contact and presented Canada as a successful model of integration for newcomers (in contrast to assimilation). Through the Governor General, the Canadian people received abundant and well-deserved credit for their selfless support in 1956/57. Those who uttered thankful words were, among others, Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky and several Canadian-Hungarians.
The fact that Canada with its small population at the time (14 million) took almost 40,000 Hungarian refugees -- more per capita than any other country in the world -- made the Hungarian exodus to Canada special. While Canada had Hungarian immigration since the 19th century, it is this fact that stands out. The new arrivals made a large contribution to Canadian society because they came in such a large group and found themselves in different parts of the country (e.g. the Sopron University's entire Faculty of Forestry, a group of 200 people including professors and students, moved to British Columbia and became influential in BC's forestry industry). The Hungarian influx also helped to change Canadian immigration laws which up to then had heavily favoured British immigrants.
At the unveiling ceremony emceed by three young students of the American International School, the Lycee Français and the Rakoczi Foundation, Their Excellencies were joined by close to 200 guests, including Hungarian dignitaries, members of the Hungarian-Canadian community and the diplomatic corps. With the Governor General describing Canada as a "country where anything is possible", Mayor Demszky put Canada in the limelight and thanked the Canadian people for their solidarity in 1956/57.
This legacy project could not have been realized without the generous support of two Canadian-Hungarian organizations, the Rakoczi Foundation/Susan Papp-Aykler and the Canada-Hungary Educational Foundation/Judy Young. Both organizations contributed each C$ 6,000 to this Canadian-only project. Organizational partners included the Budapest Mayor Office, the City Gardens and the Budapest Gallery. With 10-12 media representatives present at the unveiling, press coverage included so far Duna TV, the daily Magyar Hirlap and Calgary Herald coverage and Canada's ethnic Hungarian newspaper entitled Kanadai Magyarsag.
Reported from Canadian Embassy staff of Budapest, Tamas Papp and Richard Martin-Neilson
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1956 Oral History Project.
The Rakoczi Foundation, in partnership with the Multicultural History Society of Ontario , jointly launched an Oral History Project to collect, organize and preserve the personal stories and archival materials of these immigrants who came to Canada between 1956 and 1958 as a direct result of the Hungarian Revolution.
www.multiculturalcanada.ca/collections
(Please click on the picture for full information)
