Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 77. (Budapest, 1976)
TANULMÁNYOK - Kapronczay Károly: A lengyel menekültügy orvosi ellátása és szervezete Magyarországon a második világháború alatt, 1939—1945 (angol nyelven)
The work of the doctors was much more than simple medical treatment. The displaced, homeless persons showed various symptoms typical among emigrants. Depression and various psychological diseases were widespread, whereas loneliness often resulted in excessive drinking, especially among the soldiers.8 Another problem was the treatment of those refugees who already had some disease when arriving in Hungary. Those suffering from tuberculosis were sent to a sanatorium established especially for them at Mátrafüred, in other cases treatment was provided by the Hungarian hospitals. For the military refugees a 140 bed Polish hospital was established in Győr, a 50 bed Health Home at Letkés a gastric hospital at Ipolyszalka, and a 23 bead neurological department at Szentes. These institutions operated with Polish staff, they were maintained by the Ministry of the Interior and by the Ministry of Defence respectively, and the Polish Government in London also contributed to their budget through the International Red Cross. The largest of the Polish health establishments was the Polish Hospital in Győr. It had four departments: internal, surgical, otorhinolaryngological, and dermotological, with X-ray equipment and a laboratory attached. The hospital was directed by dr. Stefan Sobiecki, his deputy was dr. Jan Konopicki, and the departments were headed by Gabriel Nowosadko, Antony Rozduch, Wincenty Kunziar and Stanislaw Sowinski. respectively. Altogether the hospital employed nine physicians, a military surgeon, eight nurses, two cadets, twelve non-commissioned officiers an fifteen medical orderlies. Most of the doctors were specialists. 29 The building of the hospital in Győr used to serve as the warehouse and office of a wood-working factory. In the summer of 1940 the town handed it over to the refugees. With the help of the military camps of Győr and Komárom it was reconstructed and transformed into a hospital at relatively low cost. It started to work already in the autumn of 1940, mainly treating the only Polish-speaking inmates of the neighbouring military refugee-camps, but later they accepted civilians as well. The Health Home at Letkés (near Szob) belonged to the Győr Hospital, and was mainly looking after elderly soldiers. To some extent the Győr hospital can be compared to the Polish Grammar School in Balatonboglár: both worked openly with purely Polish staff and direction —at a time when no such things existed in Poland. THE HEALTH CONDITIONS OF THE POLISH REFUGEES The majority of the refugees came from the army, their number approaching 110,000. There are exact data on 74,000, but it must be born in mind that there were many who deliberately avoided registration with the Hungarian authorities with a view of facilitating their further escape. The Polish Legation, too, issued tens of thousands of passports for persons whose majority did not appear in the Hungarian lists. 95 per cent of the military personnel left Hungary by the beginning of 1943. 28 A rend, Op. Cit. 29 Csorba Tibor, „Sylwetki lekarzy polskich na Wegrzech (1939—1945)", Arch. Hist. Med. 1959. Vol. 22. pp. 585-592.
