On Sunday, a memorial cross was erected for Hungarian heroes who died in the Second World War on the Giant's roof above Csíkbánk village.
The memorial cross commemorates the heroes who died in the battles fought in the area eighty years ago, in August 1944, 31 of whom were identified by name by the initiators. According to the list published by the Székelyföld news portal, some of them came from the territory of today's Hungary.
The memorial cross was initiated by university professor István Lehel Kovács, former president of the Transylvanian Carpathian Association (EKE).
"At the end of August 1944, at the beginning of September, fierce battles raged there between the Székely border guards and the invading Red Army soldiers. Many people were wounded, dozens of national guardsmen of the 34th Border Hunter Battalion in Székelyudvarhely and the 12th Székely Border Guard Battalion in Sepsiszentgyörgy were killed. This cross commemorates them, as well as all the victims of the wars," said István Lehel Kovács.
The Óriás roof, located at 1,299 meters above sea level, can be reached on foot, by cart, tractor or all-terrain vehicle.
At the ceremony, Kovács explained the history of the crucifixion and read out the names of the 31 heroes who were identified as having died on the Oriás roof in August 1944. After the greetings, the 81-year-old parish priest Lajos Berszán, founder of the Árpád-házi High School in Gyimesfelsőlok, held a camp mass.
The events that took place in the Eastern Carpathians in August 1944 and their effects were described by historian Péter Illésfalvi, a researcher at the Institute and Museum of Military History. As he said, the number of those who died eighty years ago in the battles fought in the Úz valley and in the surrounding mountains can be estimated at several hundred.
The memorial cross on the Giant's roof is 2.5 meters high and 1.6 meters wide. It was made by Attila Sass, a strip-dressing carpenter, from twenty-centimeter hard oak. The inscription A HAZÁÉRÉT 1944 can be read on it.
MTI
Cover image: Memorial Cross in the Csík Mountains
Source: Székelyhon/Fanni Borbély
