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Story: Hungarians

Paul Szentirmay

Video file

Paul Szentirmay, who was to become the Hungarian consul in Wellington, began his life in New Zealand as one of the many who fled Communist rule in 1956. Years later he described his escape across the border with his fiancée and a friend. They paid a smuggler from a village near the border to show them the best place to make their crossing.

Using this item

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Reference: Prone places and crossings [videorecording]. Director/Producer, Jock Phillips. Wellington: Te Papa Productions, 1997.

Permission of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Ann Beaglehole, Hungarians – Immigration from 1956: refugees, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/1060/paul-szentirmay (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Ann Beaglehole, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 August 2024.