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)
In the first wave, until the spring of 1940, nearly 70,000 soldiers left for Yugoslavia. 3 * According to official statistical figures at the end of 1940 the Hungarian authorities looked after 25,000 civilian and 39,000 military refugees, whose numbers were reduced to 3,500 and 6,000 respectively by 1943. 31 The majority of civilian refugees had families with children, and nearly half of the military refugees consisted of elderly and sick soldiers, who had been called up from the reserve. There were also nearly 500 university students, who intended to continue their studies in Hungary and therefore did not join their comrades in escaping abroad. 32 Later they were added to the civilian list in order to facilitete their studies. In the military camps, too, at first the health units of the Hungarian Army operated, but by 1942 the Polish doctors and orderlies took over, with the supervision of the Hungarians. 33 As to the health conditions of the Polish refugees, the most reliable data available concern the soldiers, as the Representation of Interned Soldiers working under the 21st Department of the Ministry of Defence prepared a health survey at the end of 1942. According to this 75 per cent of the rank ad file (4028 persons) was suffering from some illnesses, and 66 was under hospital treatment. 71.3 percent of the sick was already unfit for military service, though not unfit for work. The diseases noted are listed as follows: 1.75 per cent had pulmonary or respiratory disease 0.6 per cent had veneral disease 33 per cent had gasric or digestive disease 34 per cent had reumatism 36.65 per cent had some nervous disease. Jan Konopnicki, the deputy commander of the Győr hospital had similar findings, adding that 33 per cent of their patients needed considerable dental treatment. 34 The Polish Physicians' Group kept a general register of births and deaths throughout the years of emigration. According to that until 19 March 1944 142 Polish refugees died on Hungarian territory: 131 men, 6 women and 5 children. 24 of them died of tuberculosis or pneumonia, 24 of heart failure, 10 of influenza, 9 of malignant tumour, 13 committed suicide, the rest died in senile marasmus. 2.5 per cent of the dead were soldiers. The children died in pneumonia. The number of live births was 204, that of abortions about 4 — 500. There were more births among the refugees but the makers of the statistics considered only those new-born children who lived on Hungarian territory during the time of the survey. 35 30 O. L. P. 1614. A Lengyel Vöröskereszt magyarországi megbízottjának iratai (1936 — 1945). (Papers of the representative of the Polish Red Cross in Hungary.) Dr. Eusztachy Serafinowicz reports on 6 Aug 1940 to the President of the Polish Red Cross in Paris that he estimates that from Hungary 45,000 Polish refugees reached the Middle East. His letter written to the representative of the Polish Red Cross in the Palestine on 22 July 1940 contains the same figure. 31 O. L. K.150. B.M. IX. ügyoszt. iratai. 4025. tétel. Napidíjak és elszámolások. (Daily allowances and accounts.) 32 Roeznik Polski, 1943: 33 O. L. P.1614. Egészségügyi helyzetjelentés a Lengyel Vöröskereszt elnökének (Report on the health situation to the President of the Polish Red Cross). 14 February 1940. 31 Ibid. 35 Ibid.
