Politics of the past: the use and abuse of history - Socialists ...

In response to these questions, two groups of contrasted opinions
emerged. Slovaks thought that the Slovaks should not apologise
to Hungarians and Germans for the Beneš decrees (Slovaks –
79.31%). Hungarian respondents were convinced that the Slovaks
should apologise to Hungarians and Germans for the Beneš decrees
(Hungarians – 71.61%).
A clear majority of Slovak respondents (50.35%) thought the
Vienna Arbitration was significant and felt there should be an apology
for the fact that part of the territory of southern Slovakia had
been split off and annexed to Hungary, while respondents of Hungarian
nationality disagreed markedly with this statement (80.26%).
In order to illustrate this better, the following chart represents, in
percentages, respondents who agreed and disagreed with the
statements, by Slovak and Hungarian nationality.
Figure 2
Slovak and Hungarian respondents’ opinion about the Beneš decrees.
Legend:
Yes No Yes No
Slovaks Hungarians
1 – Slovaks should apologise to Hungarians and Germans for the Beneš
decrees.
2 –Hungarians should apologise to Slovaks for the 1938 Vienna Arbitration.
2
1
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