Eeklo, Belgium
For the first time, the Liszt Institute in Brussels hosted a Hungarian Cultural Day in the Flemish town of Eeklo, northern Belgium, dedicated to commemorating the history of the so-called “children’s trains”, which transported impoverished Hungarian war orphans to Western Europe in the aftermath of World War I.
Reported by a statement issued Monday by Zsófia Kovács, Director of the Liszt Institute Brussels, the event was organized in cooperation with KVVV Eeklo, the local Royal Association for Folk Culture. The initiative aimed to promote Hungarian culture and highlight the historical significance of the children’s trains, while also showcasing traditional Hungarian music, dance, literature, and cuisine.
The cultural day was inspired by a local resident whose mother had arrived in Belgium via one of the children’s trains and later settled in Eeklo.
The first of these humanitarian trains departed from Budapest in the 1920s, carrying children—many of them war orphans—to Belgium and the Netherlands. The initiative offered relief to those suffering from post-war deprivation and diseases such as tuberculosis.
As Zsófia Kovács noted, during the interwar and post-war periods, thousands of Belgian families provided temporary homes to Hungarian children, with an estimated 60,000 Hungarian youths benefiting from the program over the years.
Coinciding with the weekend’s events, a month-long exhibition entitled “Little Hungarians in Meetjesland” opened at Eeklo’s municipal library. The exhibition features archival photographs and documents, retracing the lives and stories of Hungarian children who arrived in Belgium via these trains.
Director Zsófia Kovács emphasized that the event provided a significant opportunity to enhance the visibility of Hungarian culture in Flanders.
Via MTI; Featured image: Wikimedia Commons
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