--- title: Europe's Migrant Crisis and America's 1950s Model Response description: Eisenhower ordered food and other assistance for the refugees canonical: https://time.com/4040051/eisenhower-hungary-refugees/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-19T16:00:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:37.072Z article:section: History og:title: Europe's Migrant Crisis and America's 1950s Model Response og:description: Eisenhower ordered food and other assistance for the refugees og:url: https://time.com/4040051/eisenhower-hungary-refugees/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c8f720543a16bb5/6988642535ba6f56abc0f36b/hungary.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Hungarian refugees bording the plane for America og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Europe's Migrant Crisis and America's 1950s Model Response twitter:description: Eisenhower ordered food and other assistance for the refugees twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c8f720543a16bb5/6988642535ba6f56abc0f36b/hungary.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How 1956 Can Be a Model for Dealing With Today's Refugee Crisis by [William Lambers / History News Network](https://time.com/author/history-news-network/) ## William Lambers / History News Network Sep 19, 2015 4:00 PM UTC  Hungarian refugees bording the plane for America at Schwechat Airport. Austria, 1956. Hungarian refugees bording the plane for America at Schwechat Airport. Austria, 1956.Imagno / Getty Images by [William Lambers / History News Network](https://time.com/author/history-news-network/) ## William Lambers / History News Network Sep 19, 2015 4:00 PM UTC  History News Network _This post is in partnership with the_ [_History News Network_](http://historynewsnetwork.org/)_, the website that puts the news into historical perspective. The article below was originally published at_ [_HNN._](http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/160608) We have seen the heartbreaking images of Syrians in desperate attempts to flee their war-torn homeland. All they want is to find safety in Europe, away from the conflict in the Middle East. Thousands of Syrians each day are making this dangerous journey. They are tired, scared and hungry. What should the international community do? Start welcoming them. That is exactly what the United States and other nations did for Hungarian refugees after their 1956 revolt against the Soviet Union. President Dwight Eisenhower launched Operation Safe Haven for refugees who were escaping the assault by the Soviet troops who were suppressing the rebellion. Other nations were welcoming to those Hungarians forced out of their country. Eisenhower remarked in 1956, “It is heartening to witness the speed with which free nations have opened their doors to these most recent refugees from tyranny. In this humanitarian effort our own nation must play its part.” Eisenhower did something else, which President Obama should do right away too. Ike ordered food and other assistance for the refugees. Welcome kits were provided. Eisenhower met Hungarian refugees at the White House. Eisenhower was not the only U.S. president to get involved. Former President Herbert Hoover became involved as well. Hoover became a spokesperson for the charity First Aid for Hungary, which set up field kitchens, first aid stations and mobile pharmacies for those escaping the violence. Food was also moved into Hungary. The Red Cross was able to feed those who remained behind in the aftermath. They provided food, including lunches for schoolchildren and milk for infants. Catholic Relief Services, a charity helping Syrians today, was one of the leaders in providing aid at the time of the Hungarian crisis. So too was CARE. The United States, in 1956, quickly began bringing thousands of Hungarians to Camp Kilmer, N.J., to begin their settlement process. Today, the international community needs a new Operation Safe Haven for Syrians. This would help those who are fleeing into Europe. But the crisis of course goes much deeper. Millions of innocent civilians remain in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries. They are running out of food and hope. They are meeting despair, frustration and hunger. The UN World Food Programme does not have enough funds to feed them. The WFP has been forced to reduce rations. The world powers have not been able to press for a peaceful solution to the conflict. So it goes on and on and on. Bill O’Keefe of Catholic Relief Services, says, “Many Syrians have given up hope of returning home any time soon. Countries such as Jordan and Lebanon that have opened their doors to Syrian and Iraqi refugees are simply out of resources. And many countries in Southern Europe are not prepared to meet the growing needs of those moving onward.” Every person, every country needs to do a better job. Such a desperate time, the worst since the World War II era, demands this of us. A lot more needs to be done. The United States will have to lead on several fronts. First is trying to find an end to the civil war in Syria. For ending the war in Syria is crucial to bringing peace to the Mideast and defeating the Islamic State. The United States Food for Peace program has to be increased, even doubled in size, to meet these hunger emergencies. It’s not just Syria. Wars in Iraq, Yemen, Ukraine, South Sudan, and Central African Republic have pushed countries near famine. The Food for Peace program is the single-largest donor to WFP, which leads the hunger relief in all these countries. We cannot let these people starve. Peace cannot be won on empty stomachs. No political solution in Syria or anywhere else will succeed if people are malnourished and desperate. Hunger and chaos play into the hands of extremist groups. One thing we do know is that we can respond to this crisis. We can elevate our response like we did during WWII and the Cold War era. We can have great leaders today who will rise to meet the challenge. _William Lambers is the author of_ [Ending World Hunger](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAAahUKEwibzuaFmffHAhWHKYgKHW6CA%5FI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FEnding-World-Hunger-School-Lunches-ebook%2Fdp%2FB002A7WCPW&usg=AFQjCNGsnp7UJTODZ67GmErOTfveTtdNug&sig2=0MRVzd%5Fa5hXUHlz96JOQqA) _and_ The Road to Peace_. His writings have been published by the New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Huffington Post, Des Moines Register and many other news outlets._ ### This Is What Europe’s Last Major Refugee Crisis Looked Like  Betti Malek—pictured on May 17, 1945—was one of numerous child refugees brought from Belgium to England after the Germans seized Antwerp in 1940. AP Photo  German refugees and displaced persons crowding every square inch of a train leaving Berlin after the war's end. 1945. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  On Aug. 10, 1944, a girl and her grandmother wait in a schoolyard in Saint-Pois, Normandy, France. Refugees fled to Saint-Pois to escape the fighting in Mortaine during the final battle for Normandy. Galerie Bilderwelt—Getty Images  In 1945, a handful of survivors remain of the 150 refugees who left Lodz in Poland two months earlier, headed for Berlin. They follow railway lines in the hope of being picked up by a British train. Fred Ramage—Getty Images  Refugees in La Gleize, Belgium, on Jan. 2, 1945, wait to be transported from the war-torn town after its recapture by American forces during the German thrust into the Belgium-Luxembourg salient. Peter J. Carroll—AP Photo  Refugees from across Central Europe queue for food at an Allied Forces refugee camp in Germany, on Mar. 20, 1945. Allan Jackson/Keystone—Getty Images  A stream of refugees and people who have been bombed out of their homes moving through destroyed streets in Germany in 1945, after end of war. On the left, two Soviet soldiers can be seen patrolling. ullstein bild—Getty Images  A group of Dutch refugee children arriving at Coventry Station in the U.K., in 1945. Ian Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  German refugees fleeing from the Russian zone in the first few weeks after the end of World War II in Europe, seen on Oct. 25, 1945\. They are sleeping on straw in a makeshift transit camp at Uelzen in the British zone of Germany. Keystone—Getty Images  German refugees crowding the market square on Mar. 3, 1945, at Juchen, Germany, a town captured by the U.S. Army at the end of the Second World War. Fred Ramage/Keystone—Getty Images  Exhausted, homeless German refugees huddled in a city municipal building seeking shelter. 1945. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  Dutch child refugees arrival In Britain at Tilbury, Essex, on Mar. 11, 1945\. The small paper parcel under the boy's arm contains all his luggage. Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer/IWM—Getty Images  Refugees from eastern Germany around 1944-1945. Berlin Verlag/Archiv/picture-alliance/dpa—AP Photo  German civilian refugees prepare to flee war-torn Aachen, Germany as the battle for the doomed city draws to a close, Oct. 24, 1944. Keystone—AP Photo  Women and children standing at the roadside in 1945. dpa/picture-alliance/dpa—AP Photo  Swiss Jew Eva Bass, formerly a nightclub singer in Paris, entering refugee camp at Fort Ontario, with her children Yolanda and Joachim, whom she carried on a 60-km trek through the fighting lines to reach the American transport ship Henry Gibbins. 1944. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  German civilian refugees walking through the streets of Aachen, Germany, on their way to a safer area away from the combat zone, on Oct. 15, 1944. FPG/Hulton Archive—Getty Images  A Civil Affairs Refugee Camp in France, 1944. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  War refugees walking through Berlin with their belongings on Dec. 15, 1945. dpa DANA/picture-alliance/dpa—AP Photo  A Frenchwoman with two children and belongings loaded on a baby carriage seen in Haguenau, France on Feb. 20, 1945, before they started on their long trek to a safe rear area. They are some of the refugees leaving the town because of the planned withdrawal of the 7th U.S. Army. AP Photo  An attendant with white brassard (front, r) accompanies newly arrived refugees, in January 1946, through the refugee camp in Bebra, Germany. dpa/picture-alliance/dpa—AP Photo ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4040051/eisenhower-hungary-refugees/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4040051/eisenhower-hungary-refugees/"},"headline":"How 1956 Can Be a Model for Dealing With Today's Refugee Crisis","datePublished":"2015-09-19T16:00:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:37.072Z","description":"Eisenhower ordered food and other assistance for the refugees","url":"https://time.com/4040051/eisenhower-hungary-refugees/","keywords":["Refugees","Immigration","Opinion topic","migrants"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c8f720543a16bb5/6988642535ba6f56abc0f36b/hungary.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"William Lambers / History News Network"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c8f720543a16bb5/6988642535ba6f56abc0f36b/hungary.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hungarian refugees bording the plane for America","caption":"Hungarian refugees bording the plane for America","creditText":"Imagno / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4040051/eisenhower-hungary-refugees/","name":"How 1956 Can Be a Model for Dealing With Today's Refugee Crisis"}}]}] ```