Dr Csaba Latorcai, Deputy State Secretary for Priority Social Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office delivered a ceremonial speech on the occasion of the inauguration of the Trianon Memorial Column in Szőreg, the work of sculptors Györgyi Lantos and István Máté. The inauguration ceremony was also attended by Szeged-Csanád Bishop Dr László Kiss-Rigó.
The Deputy State Secretary took the view that Trianon is a common trauma of the Hungarian nation which is passed on from generation to generation, and which we are still unable to fully process. Given that this is a social trauma – which is made worse by its fundamentally unfair nature and the knowledge that those who forged the Treaty worked with falsified data and were characterised by extreme anti-Hungarian sentiments – healing takes far longer than in the case of an individual. Up to the change of regime, it was forbidden to talk about it, Trianon was only mentioned in falsified history textbooks, in combination with the false claim of irredentism, and generations grew up without knowing what actually happened to Hungary 96 years ago. Among other things, the shameful vote of 5 December 2004 is down to this lack of knowledge, the Deputy State Secretary highlighted, and pointed out, after an introduction of the historical path leading to Trianon, the peace dictate and its consequences, that in addition to mourning and commemorating, our most important duty is to define and to perform our responsibilities and goals.
The National Government completed the first stations of this path when on the 90th anniversary of the Treaty of Trianon, it declared the day of the forced signing of the Treaty of Trianon the Day of National Unity, and when it introduced the scheme of dual citizenship in order to ensure the individual’s freedom which also includes the freedom to choose his or her national identity.
At the end of his ceremonial speech, he spoke highly of the artistic significance of the widely recognised sculptor couple Györgyi Lantos and István Máté. In his view, they are among the ranks of artists who have dedicated the meaningful tools of their creative activities to depicting the emblematic figures and events of Hungarian history, thereby also concentrating on healing our stigma-filled past. The desire to heal can also be traced in their sculptures on display in Szőreg – Girl with roses, the memorial Hussar Girl commemorating Zsuzsanna Szalóki, and the Well of Emese on Heroes’ Square.
A man cannot lose either the past or the future; the present is the only thing of which a man can be deprived, the Deputy State Secretary cited Marcus Aurelius, and knowledge of the past is the most solid foundation for building the future.