[1.Background]
[2.Numbers & facts]
[3. Methods of holocaust]
[4.Places and times of the massacres]
[5.The present & future]
[6.Autonomy Aspiration of Hungarians abroad]
2. Numbers & facts
On 4th June 1920 the Trianon dictated peace treaty was signed in Versailles according to
which Hungary was punished by the most unjust conditions of peace among the former war
losing parties. The territory of the country was reduced from 283 000 sq. km to 93 000 sq. km, the numbers of the inhabitants from 18,2 million to 7,6 million. Taking into consideration only the inhabitants whose mother tongue was Hungarian 26 000 people to Austria 1 072 000 people Czechoslovakia, 465 000 people to Yugoslavia, 1 664 000 people to Romania were annexed.
In Vajdaság (on serbian, Vojvodina) in 1920, there was 40,5% Hungarians, 22,5% Germans and 19% Serbs, and 18% other nationalities. Before the signing of a peace treaty the Serbs, in their own arrangement, arranged a vote of "representatives of all ethnic groups" of Vajdaság, where (according to Serbs, the "representatives of people") decided on the fate of Vajdaságs status. That group, which decided to whom Vajdaság should belong, included 578 Serbs, 6 Germans and only one Hungarian. Even today (when necessary) they call up and remind the attention of Hungarians and others concerned, that this was "an historic vote" which "gave all rights" to the Serbs on possessing Vajdaság, even today. "The people has spoken, once and forever", - they say, but the truth is that they got Vajdaság, as a "War Gift" from allies, just because they happened to be on a winning side.
Thaw the treaty promised Hungarian schools, the right on publishing in press and a free usage of the Hungarian language in all educational institutions, the Hungarians had to study in Hungarian-Serb classes, and the Serbs also stopped training Hungarian teachers, as much as they could. At that time(shortly after I.W.W.) the teachers used to be replaced, and sent to teach to the south of Serbia, were very few Hungarians lived. The purpose was obvious, with all means neccesery to paralize and disable the education on Hungarian in Vajdaság.
Márton Szűcs, retired rural dean and József Kovács, retired parson both of them were born in
Bácska. They examined the history of the Roman Catholic parishes. They asked the priests of the
villages. After this they wrote secretly because of the threat of the communist regime their
memento with the title "Silence of the Dead" about 40 000 Hungarians innocently executed in
Bácska, Vajdaság. To record the numbers of the murders and their authentic history was
recklessness but as they were living in the Yugoslavian communist state they had no courage
to publish the records. Only after their death the documents got into the possession of Tibor
Cseres, Hungarian writer who wrote his book "Blood feud in Bácska" which was published in
1991 on the basis of the documents.
In October November of 1944 - the pious fathers write - storm of blood swept over the gentle
fields of Bácska. When the Hungarian army retreated from Bácska in October of 1944 the
Soviet army crossed the river Tisza. Under the shadow of the Soviet troops, quasi under their
protection communist partisans of Tito marched to the territories left unprotected. They were
called Army liberating the People" which was allied with England, France and the United
States. Ivan Rukovina brigadier general was appointed commander of the military
government in Bácska and Vajdaság (Vojvodina). He was in continuous and direct connection
with Tito marshal, later president of Yugoslavia.
Already in his first imperative warning, on 22nd of October Rukovina asked his troops to "maintain the Southern Slavian character of the national future and territory." This gave a hidden command for the modification of the existing
ethnical situation i.e. for the extermination of the Hungarians and Germans. The communist
partisans allied with the Atlantic powers fulfilled this warning thoroughly. They killed 40 000
persons only from the Hungarians. In the "Slobodna Vojvodina of Novi Sad", the newspaper
of the Communist United Front in Vajdaság there was published an artide with the title of
"Historical decision" dated 28 October 1944. Among others it says: "though we have
destroyed the German and Hungarian conquering hordes (how the Hungarians could have
been conquerors when they marched into their one thousand year old territories occupied by
the Serbians in 1941...) resp. we have driven them towards West but we have not uprooted
radically the poisonous weeds spreaded by them... People feel that this definitive step is
necessary which insures the Yugoslavian character of Bácska."
The blood feud against the Hungarians, the revenge was originally indulged in the
commanders of the partisans and their political officers who were in continuous connection
with their leader, general Rukovina.
On the other hand the general advised Tito marshal on his all decisions and on all "military"
acts of his subordinates. From the middle of October 1944 the death stormed for 2 months in
Bácska. The illegal murders were well organized genocide (Holocaust) carried out in cold
blood indeed. It was no else than beheading of the native Hungarians. On the death-lists in
existence the nationality of the assassinated was also indicated. Hungarian inhabitants of
whole village’s colonies were taken to the place of execution. Innocent people got on these
lists. Nothing else could be brought up against them that they were Hungarians. The clerks of
death kept surprisingly exact record horrible statement. They mentioned not only the name of
the victims, but their nationality, place of birth, family status; religion and financial situation
were also indicated.
Though the official lists have been hidden in well guarded safes up to this date the two
catholic fathers succeeded in identifying 40 000 Hungarian martyrs as the registers of the
Hungarian villages testify accusingly.
The commander of the communist partisan army, Tito marshal did not give written
command for extirpation of the Hungarians in Bácska, but he tolerated and no doubt he
commanded by verbal order that in the whole territory of the retaken Yugoslavia, so also in
Bácska, his partisans should take vengeance for all injuries which fell his partisans during the
four years of the war. Somehow like this: "Where brook of blood was running, there river of
blood should surge!"
At this time it started to be "a deadly sin to be Hungarian".
Serbs started to encourage the Vajdaság Hungarians to leave their home, which was quite successful, because 27.000 Hungarians moved, and at the same time, 15.000 Serbs moved in to Vajdaság. The ethnic cleansing and colonization process just started.
[1.Background]
[2.numbers & facts]
[3.Methods of holocaust]
[4.Places and times of the massacres]
[5.The present & future]
[6.Autonomy Aspiration of Hungarians abroad]
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More on Vajdaság...
Here can you finde some more Information,
and facts about Vajdaság and the Holocaust committed against Hungarians in 1944
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