Pole, Hungarian, two good friends

Pole, Hungarian, two good friends is the short form of the popular bilingual proverbial rhyme about the historical friendship of the Polish and the Hungarian people.

Although no surveys have been made about what proportion of Hungarians and Poles can recall the full poem, it must be a high figure in both countries, and practically the full populations are aware of a special relationship between the two Central European nations. No other similar widespread bilingual proverb exists about the mutual relations of two nations.

The texts

The full Hungarian text of the proverb often recited during drinking is "„Lengyel, magyar két jóbarát, együtt harcol s issza borát,”" that is "„Polish, Hungarian (are) two good friends, they fight and drink their wine together”".

The Polish version: "„Polak, Węgier, dwa bratanki, i do szabli, i do szklanki,”" translates to "„Polish, Hungarian (are) two brothers, both for saber, and for (drinking) glass”".

"Bratanki" in Polish means "brother's side nephews", however it probably meant "brothers" in Old Polish. This is slightly different from "barát" in Hungarian version, which means "friend". The saber (or szabla), a melee weapon used extensively by both nations, refers to wars fought together during their history. Hungarian wine, especially Tokaji, was a popular drink among szlachta (Polish nobility).

In Hungarian and Polish there are other versions with the same length, general meaning and in the same rhythm. In Polish however the above version is used almost exclusively.

Historic relations

Good relations between the two nations date back to the 14th century with Hungary and Poland being linked by personal union multiple times. In the 16th Stephen Báthory of Poland came from a Hungarian noble family. But the Hungarians had also lot of famous Polish kings, for example Vladislaus III of Poland who was also Hungarian king. In the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 there was a famous Polish general Józef Bem who became Hungarian and Polish national hero too.

Hungarian political analysts and politicians still often use the "Warsaw express" term to refer to the fact that developments in Hungarian politics like shifts to the right or the left or political unrest very often follow similar developments in Poland in the modern history of the two countries.

The emotional link has not been broken even among extreme political conditions like the period of the Second World War when Germany invaded Poland, while Hungary was a close political (and later military) ally of Adolf Hitler's Germany. In the memory of Hungarians it was one of the few positive chapters of the country's world war history that Hungary received more than 100,000 Polish refugees after the German invasion and even established schools for Polish children [ [http://www.krater.hu/krater.php?do=3&action=a&pp=18796 Dobos Marianne: A lengyel lelkületről (dokumentumírás)] ] [ [http://www.bbkvtar.hu/konyvtar/szemelytar/v/varga%20bela.html Balatonboglári hírességek - Varga Béla pápai prelátus] ] . The Hungarian army also refused to take part in the crushing of the Warsaw Uprising by the Germans.

Day of friendship

On March 12, 2007, Hungary's parliament declared March 23 as the Day ofHungarian-Polish Friendship, with 324 votes in favour, no vote against and no abstention.

On March 16, 2007, the Polish parliament by acclamation declared March 23 as the Day ofPolish-Hungarian Friendship [ [http://orka.sejm.gov.pl/proc5.nsf/uchwaly/1499_u.htm Uchwała Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 16 marca 2007 r.] pl icon] .

References