A makeshift altar set up on a low hill overlooking the meandering Don River, served as the site for Sunday religious services for the benefit of all those desiring to attend. For the Hungarian troops, often feeling abandoned by their far-away home country, the message of divine love must have been a measure of solace.

Hungarian Altar at the Don River, 1942


Religious services managed to lift the spirit of the Hungarian troops far-away from home, like this one held at Uriv, in part by hinting at the possibility of divine support in a situation generally troubled by a great deal of uncertainty.


Religious Service for Hungarians,  Don Front, 1942

Dug into the sides of low hills located not far from the Don River defensive line, these makeshift rest stations provided some peace and quiet for Magyar troops rotating out of the front lines.  Unfurnished, unpaved, cool in summer, and usually unheated in winter, here at least a soldier could lie down to rest and be out of the line of fire for a while.
