Today’s refugees follow path of Hungarians who fled Soviets in 1956

By Tim Lister, CNN
7 minute read
Updated 10:28 AM EDT, Mon September 7, 2015
A woman cries <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/26/europe/migrant-crisis-mediterranean/index.html" target="_blank">after being rescued</a> in the Mediterranean Sea about 15 miles north of Sabratha, Libya, on July 25, 2017. More than 6,600 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in January 2018, <a href="https://www.iom.int/news/90-migrants-reportedly-drown-bodies-wash-libyan-shores" target="_blank" target="_blank">according to the UN migration agency</a>, and more than 240 people died on the Mediterranean Sea during that month.
A woman cries after being rescued in the Mediterranean Sea about 15 miles north of Sabratha, Libya, on July 25, 2017. More than 6,600 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in January 2018, according to the UN migration agency, and more than 240 people died on the Mediterranean Sea during that month.
Santi Palacios/AP
Refugees and migrants get off a fishing boat at the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey in October 2015.
Refugees and migrants get off a fishing boat at the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey in October 2015.
Antonio Masiello/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press
graphic warning - multiple images
Migrants step over dead bodies while being rescued in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Libya in October 2016. Agence France-Presse photographer Aris Messinis <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/06/europe/migrant-boats-libya-aris-messinis/index.html" target="_blank">was on a Spanish rescue boat</a> that encountered several crowded migrant boats. Messinis said the rescuers counted 29 dead bodies -- 10 men and 19 women, all between 20 and 30 years old. "I've (seen) in my career a lot of death," he said. "I cover war zones, conflict and everything. I see a lot of death and suffering, but this is something different. Completely different."
Migrants step over dead bodies while being rescued in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Libya in October 2016. Agence France-Presse photographer Aris Messinis was on a Spanish rescue boat that encountered several crowded migrant boats. Messinis said the rescuers counted 29 dead bodies -- 10 men and 19 women, all between 20 and 30 years old. "I've (seen) in my career a lot of death," he said. "I cover war zones, conflict and everything. I see a lot of death and suffering, but this is something different. Completely different."
ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images
Authorities stand near the body of 2-year-old Alan Kurdi on the shore of Bodrum, Turkey, in September 2015. Alan, his brother and their mother <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/03/europe/migration-crisis-aylan-kurdi-turkey-canada/index.html" target="_blank">drowned while fleeing Syria.</a> This photo was shared around the world, often with a Turkish hashtag that means "Flotsam of Humanity."
Authorities stand near the body of 2-year-old Alan Kurdi on the shore of Bodrum, Turkey, in September 2015. Alan, his brother and their mother drowned while fleeing Syria. This photo was shared around the world, often with a Turkish hashtag that means "Flotsam of Humanity."
DOGAN NEWS AGENCY/EPA/LANDOV
Migrants board a train at Keleti station in Budapest, Hungary, after the station was reopened in September 2015.
Migrants board a train at Keleti station in Budapest, Hungary, after the station was reopened in September 2015.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Children cry as migrants in Greece try to break through a police cordon to cross into Macedonia in August 2015. Thousands of migrants -- most of them fleeing Syria's bitter conflict -- were stranded in a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/22/europe/europe-macedonia-migrant-crisis/" target="_blank">no-man's land</a> on the border.
Children cry as migrants in Greece try to break through a police cordon to cross into Macedonia in August 2015. Thousands of migrants -- most of them fleeing Syria's bitter conflict -- were stranded in a no-man's land on the border.
GEORGI LICOVSKI/EPA/LANDOV
The Kusadasi Ilgun, a sunken 20-foot boat, lies in waters off the Greek island of Samos in November 2016.
The Kusadasi Ilgun, a sunken 20-foot boat, lies in waters off the Greek island of Samos in November 2016.
Alexis Malagaris/Samos Divers Association via AP
Migrants bathe outside near a makeshift shelter in an abandoned warehouse in Subotica, Serbia, in January 2017.
Migrants bathe outside near a makeshift shelter in an abandoned warehouse in Subotica, Serbia, in January 2017.
Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images
A police officer in Calais, France, tries to prevent migrants from heading for the Channel Tunnel to England in June 2015.
A police officer in Calais, France, tries to prevent migrants from heading for the Channel Tunnel to England in June 2015.
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
A migrant walks past a burning shack in the southern part of the "Jungle" migrant camp in Calais, France, in March 2016. Part of the camp was being demolished -- and the inhabitants relocated -- in response to unsanitary conditions at the site.
A migrant walks past a burning shack in the southern part of the "Jungle" migrant camp in Calais, France, in March 2016. Part of the camp was being demolished -- and the inhabitants relocated -- in response to unsanitary conditions at the site.
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images