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OCR Page 1 of 7REFUGEES
TRUMAN
'NATIONAL
ARCHIVES AND
RECORDS
SERVICE"
The influx of Hungarian refugees into Austria in November
and December 1956, consequent upon the political upheaval and
military repressions in Hungary which began on October 23, con-
stituted one of the largest refugee movements in Europe since
World War II. By December 9, 1956 over 130,000 refugees had
entered Austria. The flow was continuing at the rate of approxi-
mately 2500 a day. While some effort on the part of the Hungarian
and Soviet military to prevent the refugees from leaving Hungary
was apparent, the controls at the border were obviously ineffective
and at times appeared to be either half-hearted or poorly organized.
Austria was ill prepared to receive, house and feed such
large numbers suddenly seeking asylum with little more than the
clothes on their backs. Already the host for some thirty thousand
refugees from Eastern European countries and one one hundred
and fifty thousand Volkadeutsche who had arrived at the end of the
war and had not acquired Austrian citizenship, Austria had earlier
in the year granted asylum to increasing numbers of refugees from
Yugoslavia. The flow of refugees from Yugoslavia in earlier years
had been in manageable proportions. From the spring of 1956 to
December the numbers increased from four hundred to one thousand
monthly. Another thousand refugees from Yugoslavia were entering
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