Monument to Freedom Fighters and the Fallen of 1956

The monument pays tribute to the freedom fighters of both the 1848 and 1956 revolutions. Later, a wooden memorial stake and a stone cross were added to the structure, commemorating the victims of the revolution and the freedom fight, as well as the first wooden cross—erected in 1957—which had an “eventful” history.

In October 1957, the Hungarian community in Ottawa wanted to celebrate the first anniversary of the revolution. Beechwood Cemetery offered the Hungarians a plot of land and asked them to erect a memorial in honor of the fallen freedom fighters, on which they erected a simple wooden cross. Three days later, during his routine patrol, the cemetery’s night watchman discovered that men who had arrived in a car with a diploma license plate had pulled the cross out of the ground, shoved it into the car, and driven off. The night watchman chased after the thieves and followed them. In a secluded spot, one of the men got out, took the cross out of the car, and threw it into a ditch beside the road. The guard decided to immediately notify the Hungarian community, whose members acted right away: they drove to the road described by the guard, found the cross, and, with the guard’s help, returned it to its proper place. From that night on, a member of the Hungarian community stood guard by the cross day and night until the memorial ceremony.

HUNGARIAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS MEMORIAL 1848-1956
1956 Magyar szabadságharc mártírjainak Ottawa magyarsága és canadai barátaik