A BLUE plaque honouring a group of 200 refugees who were welcomed to Barnsley in the 1950s has finally been unveiled - exactly 68 years after they arrived.
Placed at the National Union of Minerworkers (NUM) building on Huddersfield Road this Wednesday, the plaque honours the 200 Hungarians who fled their war-torn home country in 1956 to find accommodation in Barnsley and work in the coal industry.
The plaque was presented by Hungarian Consul General, Dr Laszlo Risko-Nagy, and former refugee Dr Andrew Zsigmond.
Mayor of Barnsley John Clarke, area chairman of the NUM Chris Skidmore and Paul Stebbing, the council’s archives and local studies officer, also spoke.
Paul told the Chronicle: “It was a really great day and very well attended - not only did Dr Zsigmond come along but a lot of his family too and the families of other refugees.
“He talked about how welcoming the town had been and how it gave him a lifeline at such a difficult time of his life.
“He sent the first email to me about 18 months ago saying he wanted to put together something to commemorate the refugees.
“I’m just really happy to see how its all come to fruition.”
