Hungarian occupation of Baranja and Bačka, 1941–1944
Encyclopedia
The Hungarian
occupation of Bačka
and Baranja regions of Yugoslavia
lasted from 1941 to 1944. It began on 11 April 1941 with the deployment of 80,000 troops. The Hungarian Third Army met no resistance. However, the local Volksdeutsche
minority, which was mostly pro-Nazi
oriented, had already organized a militia and quickly disarmed some 90,000 Yugoslav troops
. Despite the absence of resistance in the beginning, the Hungarian troops engaged in wholesale killing of civilians, which struck local Germans as well. Yugoslav
sources estimate that about 3,500 civilians were killed in Bačka and Baranja in the first days of occupation.
In the following period, Yugoslav partisans began subversive activity against the Hungarian occupational administration, which became more intensive after mid-December 1941. Their activity was to a large extent concentrated in the Serb ethnic area of southern Bačka in the historical Šajkaška
region (e.g. in the settlements of Čurug
, Žabalj
, Mošorin
, etc), where Hungarian Army, gendarmerie and counterintelligence avenged their losses with increasing brutality. Due to these raids in January 1942 the Serb population was collectively called to account in many places, such as Bečej
, Srbobran
and Novi Sad
. According to Enikő A. Sajti, 2,550 Serbs
, 743 Jews
and 47 other people fell victim during January 1942 events.
and the Treaty of Trianon
, which defined border between Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
), Hungarian leaders who were not satisfied with these borders advocated their revision. The Paris Peace Conference divided regions of Bačka, Baranja and Banat between Hungary, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and Romania, and the area that was assigned to newly established South Slavic kingdom (including larger part of Bačka, smaller southern part of Baranja, and smaller western part of Banat) had a population of 1,52 million people and Serb ethnic plurality. Sizable Hungarian and German minorities also remained in the area. During the inter-war years the relations between these countries were greatly strained.
Between 1938 and 1940, following German mediation in the First Vienna Award
and the Second Vienna Award
and the Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine
, Hungary enlarged its borders and included parts of southern Slovakia, Carpathian Ruthenia and northern part of Transylvania
, which Kingdom of Romania
was forced to cede to Hungary. Due to the German support to these border revisions, Hungary established even closer relations with Germany
. In December 1940, at the initiative of the prime minister, Count Pál Teleki
, Hungary concluded a friendship and nonaggression treaty with Yugoslavia. Both countries were nonparticipants in the war, and the pact was meant to underscore their common nonbelligerent status. Although the idea of the treaty was supported in Berlin
and Rome
, the treaty itself was received with mixed feelings. Germany was well on its way in preparing an attack on Greece
, and taming Yugoslavia would obviously assist in these plans. After the regime change in Yugoslavia and subsequent German invasion of the country in 1941, Pál Teleki was unable to stop his government from granting the Wehrmacht permission to cross Yugoslav border. Convinced that his country had dishonored itself beyond redemption, Teleki retired to his office and committed suicide. The new prime minister of Hungary, László Bárdossy
, ordered the Hungarian army to follow in the steps of the German Wehrmacht and to occupy northern parts of Yugoslavia.
on the side of Germany. Under the pretext of protecting the Hungarian minority, on the 11th April 1941 the Hungarian 3rd Army occupied Bačka and Baranja regions, with Mobile, IV & V Corps and I & VII in reserve.
Admiral Miklós Horthy
wrote in his diary:
The fast maneuvres of the German army forced the tactical withdrawal of the Yugoslav forces confronting the Hungarian army units in the Bačka without clashes. Therefore the Hungarian General Staff regarded only the Chetnik units
and the Partisan voulunteers as a significant enemy.
Horthy continues:
On 12 April, the 1st Parachute Battalion captured canal bridges at Vrbas
and Srbobran. Meanwhile, Sombor
and Subotica
were also captured. Finally, on 13 April, 1st and 2nd Motorized Brigade occupied Novi Sad, going on to take a part in conquering of the rest of Yugoslavia with German forces. News of successful victory of armed forces in Yugoslavia were welcomed rapturously in the Hungarian Parliament.
, but also native inhabitants) to Nedić's Serbia
were opposed by the German command in Belgrade, the Hungarian occupational regime expelled 50-60,000 of them mostly to Serbia.
During the war, the Hungarian fascist regime settled the Székelys of Bukovina
on the land of expelled Serbs. In 1941 more than 18,000 of them were reportedly settled in the Bačka and Baranja.
, local Yugoslav partisans were committed to united Yugoslav
resistance to the usurper. After the resistance broke out in Hungarian-annexed Bačka and Baranja in the second half of 1941, the Hungarian military personnel, like in other occupied zones, reacted with heavily repressive measures. Even before the Partisans of Vojvodina managed to stand on their own feet, the German and Hungarian occupiers largely destroyed their movement in the lowlands of the Banat and Bačka by the end of 1941. The resistance, however, had much larger success in Syrmia.
and gendarmerie captain Márton Zöldy, but, according to historian Zvonimir Golubović, they were planned by the highest military and civil officials of Hungary, including Chief of Staff Ferenc Szombathelyi
, Minister of Internal Affairs Ferenc Keresztes Fiser, Minister of People's Defense Károly Barta, President of the Hungarian government László Bárdosi, and Regent Miklós Horthy
himself. With little evidence about the location and identity of the Yugoslav partisans, the raid in Novi Sad was carried out over a three-day period in the form of mostly random savagery that costed many lives. Victims of these raids were primarily Serbs and Jews, but also members of other ethnicities: Roma people, a small number of Russian refugees
who had fled Russia
after the Bolshevik Revolution
, and even some local Hungarians.
of Bačka, including the local Volksdeutsche, began. With the advance of Yugoslav
partisans and Soviet Red Army
, some of the Germans of Bačka left from the region and some other, despite the situation, stayed. In October 1944, Banat and Bačka were captured by Soviet troops. After a few weeks, they withdrew and ceded the full control to Yugoslav partisans. About 60,000–70,000 Germans were evacuated from Bačka; while additional 30,000–60,000 Germans from Bačka were serving in the Wehrmacht
at the time. The first period of communist administration until spring of 1945 is characterized by persecutions targeted against one part of local population, with mass executions, internments and abuses. Victims of communist regime were of different ethnic backgrounds and included some members of Hungarian
and German
minority, but also members of majority Serb population. Hungarian writer Tibor Cseres in his book describes, in detail, crimes he claims the Yugoslav communists committed against the Hungarian minority.
After the liberation of Yugoslavia, the military and national courts in Bačka prosecuted war criminals and traitors who during the period of occupation killed about 10-20,000 innocent men, women, and children from all parts of Bačka. The Security Service of Vojvodina captured the majority of these defendants. Meanwhile, some of those who were responsible for the genocide in southern Bačka were captured in, and extradited from, newly-formed People's Republic of Hungary
. Prof. Dr. Sándor Kaszás from Novi Sad University
in his book Mađari u Vojvodini: 1941–1946 [Hungarians in Vojvodina: 1941-1946] (Novi Sad, 1996) listed a total of 1,686 executed war criminals by name.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 14 of the Armistice Agreement, the Hungarian authorities extradited to Yugoslavia several top-ranking officers charged with complicity in the massacre of thousands of Serbs and Jews in the Bačka. The accused, including Gen Ferenc Szombathelyi
, the former chief of the General Staff; Gen. Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeydner
, the commander of the Fifth Army Corps; Maj. Gen. József Grassy; and Capt. Márton Zöldi, were first tried in Hungary. The National Court of Hungary in Budapest found Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeydner guilty as the main perpetrator of war crimes and sentenced him to death by hanging and the confiscation of his property.
Hungary during World War II
Hungary during World War II was a member of the Axis powers. In the 1930s, the Kingdom of Hungary relied on increased trade with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to pull itself out of the Great Depression. By 1938, Hungarian politics and foreign policy had become increasingly pro-Fascist Italian and...
occupation of Bačka
Backa
Bačka is a geographical area within the Pannonian plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east of which confluence is located near Titel...
and Baranja regions of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
lasted from 1941 to 1944. It began on 11 April 1941 with the deployment of 80,000 troops. The Hungarian Third Army met no resistance. However, the local Volksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche - "German in terms of people/folk" -, defined ethnically, is a historical term from the 20th century. The words volk and volkische conveyed in Nazi thinking the meanings of "folk" and "race" while adding the sense of superior civilization and blood...
minority, which was mostly pro-Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
oriented, had already organized a militia and quickly disarmed some 90,000 Yugoslav troops
Royal Yugoslav Army
The Royal Yugoslav Army was the armed force of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from the state's formation until the force's surrender to the Axis powers on April 17, 1941...
. Despite the absence of resistance in the beginning, the Hungarian troops engaged in wholesale killing of civilians, which struck local Germans as well. Yugoslav
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
sources estimate that about 3,500 civilians were killed in Bačka and Baranja in the first days of occupation.
In the following period, Yugoslav partisans began subversive activity against the Hungarian occupational administration, which became more intensive after mid-December 1941. Their activity was to a large extent concentrated in the Serb ethnic area of southern Bačka in the historical Šajkaška
Šajkaška
Šajkaška is a geographical region in Serbia. It is southeastern part of Bačka, located in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Territory of Šajkaška is divided among four municipalities: Titel, Žabalj, Novi Sad, and Srbobran. Historical center of Šajkaška is Titel.-Name:Name Šajkaška means "land...
region (e.g. in the settlements of Čurug
Curug
Čurug is a village in the municipality of Žabalj, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
, Žabalj
Žabalj
Žabalj is a town and municipality in South Bačka District of Vojvodina, Serbia. Žabalj town has a population of 9,582, and Žabalj municipality 27,418. It is located in southeastern part of Bačka, known as Šajkaška.-Name:...
, Mošorin
Mošorin
Mošorin is a village in Serbia. It is located in the Titel municipality, South Bačka District. Mošorin is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in the south-eastern part of Bačka, known as Šajkaška. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 2,763 people...
, etc), where Hungarian Army, gendarmerie and counterintelligence avenged their losses with increasing brutality. Due to these raids in January 1942 the Serb population was collectively called to account in many places, such as Bečej
Becej
Bečej is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District in Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 25,703, while Bečej municipality has 40,877 inhabitants. It is multiethnic town, with Hungarians and Serbs as largest ethnic groups...
, Srbobran
Srbobran
Srbobran is a town and municipality in South Bačka District of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town is located on the north bank of the Danube-Tisa-Danube channel...
and Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
. According to Enikő A. Sajti, 2,550 Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
, 743 Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and 47 other people fell victim during January 1942 events.
Background
After the Paris Peace ConferenceParis Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference may refer to:* Paris Peace Conference, 1919, negotiated the treaties ending World War I* Paris Peace Conference, 1946 July 29 to October 15, 1946See also...
and the Treaty of Trianon
Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon was the peace agreement signed in 1920, at the end of World War I, between the Allies of World War I and Hungary . The treaty greatly redefined and reduced Hungary's borders. From its borders before World War I, it lost 72% of its territory, which was reduced from to...
, which defined border between Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
), Hungarian leaders who were not satisfied with these borders advocated their revision. The Paris Peace Conference divided regions of Bačka, Baranja and Banat between Hungary, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and Romania, and the area that was assigned to newly established South Slavic kingdom (including larger part of Bačka, smaller southern part of Baranja, and smaller western part of Banat) had a population of 1,52 million people and Serb ethnic plurality. Sizable Hungarian and German minorities also remained in the area. During the inter-war years the relations between these countries were greatly strained.
Between 1938 and 1940, following German mediation in the First Vienna Award
First Vienna Award
The First Vienna Award was the result of the First Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace on November 2, 1938. The Arbitration and Award were direct consequences of the Munich Agreement...
and the Second Vienna Award
Second Vienna Award
The Second Vienna Award was the second of two Vienna Awards arbitrated by the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Rendered on August 30, 1940, it re-assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.-Prelude and historical background :After the World War I, the multi-ethnic...
and the Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine
Carpatho-Ukraine
Carpatho-Ukraine was an autonomous region within Czechoslovakia from late 1938 to March 15, 1939. It declared itself an independent republic on March 15, 1939, but was occupied by Hungary between March 15 and March 18, 1939, remaining under Hungarian control until the Nazi occupation of Hungary in...
, Hungary enlarged its borders and included parts of southern Slovakia, Carpathian Ruthenia and northern part of Transylvania
Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania is a region of Transylvania, situated within the territory of Romania. The population is largely composed of both ethnic Romanians and Hungarians, and the region has been part of Romania since 1918 . During World War II, as a consequence of the territorial agreement known as...
, which Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
was forced to cede to Hungary. Due to the German support to these border revisions, Hungary established even closer relations with Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. In December 1940, at the initiative of the prime minister, Count Pál Teleki
Pál Teleki
Pál Count Teleki de Szék was prime minister of Hungary from 19 July 1920 to 14 April 1921 and from 16 February 1939 to 3 April 1941. He was also a famous expert in geography, a university professor, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Chief Scout of the Hungarian Scout Association...
, Hungary concluded a friendship and nonaggression treaty with Yugoslavia. Both countries were nonparticipants in the war, and the pact was meant to underscore their common nonbelligerent status. Although the idea of the treaty was supported in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, the treaty itself was received with mixed feelings. Germany was well on its way in preparing an attack on Greece
Kingdom of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great Powers...
, and taming Yugoslavia would obviously assist in these plans. After the regime change in Yugoslavia and subsequent German invasion of the country in 1941, Pál Teleki was unable to stop his government from granting the Wehrmacht permission to cross Yugoslav border. Convinced that his country had dishonored itself beyond redemption, Teleki retired to his office and committed suicide. The new prime minister of Hungary, László Bárdossy
László Bárdossy
Dr. László Bárdossy de Bárdos was a Hungarian diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1941 to 1942.-Biography:...
, ordered the Hungarian army to follow in the steps of the German Wehrmacht and to occupy northern parts of Yugoslavia.
Invasion
Hoping for change of the Hungarian-Yugoslav border, defined by the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary entered into warWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
on the side of Germany. Under the pretext of protecting the Hungarian minority, on the 11th April 1941 the Hungarian 3rd Army occupied Bačka and Baranja regions, with Mobile, IV & V Corps and I & VII in reserve.
Admiral Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
wrote in his diary:
April 10th, the Independent state of CroatiaIndependent State of CroatiaThe Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
was proclaimed. At the same time we received a growning number of reports of acts of violence perpetrated by local partisans on the Hungarian people on Yugoslav soil.
The fast maneuvres of the German army forced the tactical withdrawal of the Yugoslav forces confronting the Hungarian army units in the Bačka without clashes. Therefore the Hungarian General Staff regarded only the Chetnik units
Chetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
and the Partisan voulunteers as a significant enemy.
Horthy continues:
Wishing to end the ravages of anarchy. I only then gave orders to my troops to occupy the Bačka and to protect life and property of the large number of Hungarians living in this area, which had been torn away from the Fatherland in 1918.
On 12 April, the 1st Parachute Battalion captured canal bridges at Vrbas
Vrbas (town)
Vrbas is a city and municipality located in Serbia at , in the South Bačka District in the province of Vojvodina. In 2002 the city had a total population of 25,887, while the municipality had 45,839.-Name:...
and Srbobran. Meanwhile, Sombor
Sombor
Sombor is a city and municipality located in northwest part of Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina. The city has a total population of 48,749 , while the Sombor municipality has 87,815 inhabitants...
and Subotica
Subotica
Subotica is a city and municipality in northern Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
were also captured. Finally, on 13 April, 1st and 2nd Motorized Brigade occupied Novi Sad, going on to take a part in conquering of the rest of Yugoslavia with German forces. News of successful victory of armed forces in Yugoslavia were welcomed rapturously in the Hungarian Parliament.
Occupational regime in Bačka and Baranja
At first, these territories were placed under military administration and were administered by Hungarian military commanders of the occupying forces. Later on, the Hungarian civil administration was introduced. On 27 December, these regions, referred to as “Southern Territories” , were by an Hungarian law formally incorporated into Hungary. This act, however, was not internationally recognized and these territories were de jure still internationally regarded as parts of Yugoslavia. The Hungarian authorities have introduced a genocidal policy and endeavored to magyarize these territories. Although the plans to deport 150,000 Serbs (including colonists from Interwar periodInterwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
, but also native inhabitants) to Nedić's Serbia
Nedic's Serbia
Serbia under German occupation refers to an administrative area in occupied Yugoslavia established by Nazi Germany following the invasion and dismantling of Yugoslavia in April of 1941...
were opposed by the German command in Belgrade, the Hungarian occupational regime expelled 50-60,000 of them mostly to Serbia.
During the war, the Hungarian fascist regime settled the Székelys of Bukovina
Székelys of Bukovina
The Székelys of Bukovina are a small Hungarian ethnic community with a complex history. They live today in the Tolna and Baranya counties of Hungary, in Hunedoara County in Romania and in the Serbian province of Vojvodina.-Origins:...
on the land of expelled Serbs. In 1941 more than 18,000 of them were reportedly settled in the Bačka and Baranja.
The Resistance
Opposing the mass destruction of Yugoslav citizens and magyarizationMagyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
, local Yugoslav partisans were committed to united Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
resistance to the usurper. After the resistance broke out in Hungarian-annexed Bačka and Baranja in the second half of 1941, the Hungarian military personnel, like in other occupied zones, reacted with heavily repressive measures. Even before the Partisans of Vojvodina managed to stand on their own feet, the German and Hungarian occupiers largely destroyed their movement in the lowlands of the Banat and Bačka by the end of 1941. The resistance, however, had much larger success in Syrmia.
The Terror Regime
Less than a year of the beginning of the occupation, in January 1942, the Hungarian army and gendarmerie massacred more than 3,300 people in and around Novi Sad on the excuse of searching for partisans. Raids were carried out in Šajkaška from January 4 to January 19, 1942; in Novi Sad from January 21 to January 23; and in Bečej from January 25 to January 29. The raids were ordered by lieutenant-general Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeidner, major-general József Grassy, colonel László DeákLaszlo Deak
László Deák was a Hungarian army officer who served in World War I and World War II. He was accused and convicted of war crimes due to his involvement in the massacre of Serbian and Jewish civilians during the Axis armies' invasion of Yugoslavia...
and gendarmerie captain Márton Zöldy, but, according to historian Zvonimir Golubović, they were planned by the highest military and civil officials of Hungary, including Chief of Staff Ferenc Szombathelyi
Ferenc Szombathelyi
Vitéz Ferenc Szombathelyi was a Hungarian military officer, who served as Chief of Army Staff during the Second World War.-Military career:...
, Minister of Internal Affairs Ferenc Keresztes Fiser, Minister of People's Defense Károly Barta, President of the Hungarian government László Bárdosi, and Regent Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
himself. With little evidence about the location and identity of the Yugoslav partisans, the raid in Novi Sad was carried out over a three-day period in the form of mostly random savagery that costed many lives. Victims of these raids were primarily Serbs and Jews, but also members of other ethnicities: Roma people, a small number of Russian refugees
White Emigre
A white émigré was a Russian who emigrated from Russia in the wake of the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War, and who was in opposition to the contemporary Russian political climate....
who had fled Russia
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
after the Bolshevik Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, and even some local Hungarians.
The Liberation and aftermath
Occupation of Bačka and Baranja regions lasted until 1944. Fearing that Hungary might conclude a separate peace with the Allies, in March 1944, Hitler launched Operation Margarethe and ordered German troops to occupy Hungary and its annexed territories. A couple of days after the Red Army entered the Banat on October 1, 1944, the German evacuationFlight and evacuation of German civilians during the end of World War II
Plans to evacuate German population from the occupied territories in Central and Eastern Europe and from Eastern Germany were prepared by German authorities at the end of World War II. However, the evacuation in most of the areas was delayed until the last moment, when it was too late to conduct it...
of Bačka, including the local Volksdeutsche, began. With the advance of Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
partisans and Soviet Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, some of the Germans of Bačka left from the region and some other, despite the situation, stayed. In October 1944, Banat and Bačka were captured by Soviet troops. After a few weeks, they withdrew and ceded the full control to Yugoslav partisans. About 60,000–70,000 Germans were evacuated from Bačka; while additional 30,000–60,000 Germans from Bačka were serving in the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
at the time. The first period of communist administration until spring of 1945 is characterized by persecutions targeted against one part of local population, with mass executions, internments and abuses. Victims of communist regime were of different ethnic backgrounds and included some members of Hungarian
Hungarians in Vojvodina
Hungarians are the second largest ethnic group in the Vojvodina province in northern Serbia. According to the 2002 census, there are 290,207 ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina who compose 14.28% of the provincial population. The number of ethnic Hungarians in the whole of Serbia is 293,299, and their...
and German
Danube Swabians
The Danube Swabians is a collective term for the German-speaking population who lived in the former Kingdom of Hungary, especially alongside the Danube River valley. Because of different developments within the territory settled, the Danube Swabians cannot be seen as a unified people...
minority, but also members of majority Serb population. Hungarian writer Tibor Cseres in his book describes, in detail, crimes he claims the Yugoslav communists committed against the Hungarian minority.
After the liberation of Yugoslavia, the military and national courts in Bačka prosecuted war criminals and traitors who during the period of occupation killed about 10-20,000 innocent men, women, and children from all parts of Bačka. The Security Service of Vojvodina captured the majority of these defendants. Meanwhile, some of those who were responsible for the genocide in southern Bačka were captured in, and extradited from, newly-formed People's Republic of Hungary
People's Republic of Hungary
The People's Republic of Hungary or Hungarian People's Republic was the official state name of Hungary from 1949 to 1989 during its Communist period under the guidance of the Soviet Union. The state remained in existence until 1989 when opposition forces consolidated in forcing the regime to...
. Prof. Dr. Sándor Kaszás from Novi Sad University
University of Novi Sad
The University of Novi Sad is a university located in Novi Sad, the capital of Serbian province of Vojvodina and the second largest city in Serbia....
in his book Mađari u Vojvodini: 1941–1946 [Hungarians in Vojvodina: 1941-1946] (Novi Sad, 1996) listed a total of 1,686 executed war criminals by name.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 14 of the Armistice Agreement, the Hungarian authorities extradited to Yugoslavia several top-ranking officers charged with complicity in the massacre of thousands of Serbs and Jews in the Bačka. The accused, including Gen Ferenc Szombathelyi
Ferenc Szombathelyi
Vitéz Ferenc Szombathelyi was a Hungarian military officer, who served as Chief of Army Staff during the Second World War.-Military career:...
, the former chief of the General Staff; Gen. Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeydner
Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeydner
Vitéz Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeydner was a Hungarian military officer, who had a significant role in the Novi Sad massacre during the Second World War.-Military career:...
, the commander of the Fifth Army Corps; Maj. Gen. József Grassy; and Capt. Márton Zöldi, were first tried in Hungary. The National Court of Hungary in Budapest found Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeydner guilty as the main perpetrator of war crimes and sentenced him to death by hanging and the confiscation of his property.
See also
- Invasion of YugoslaviaInvasion of YugoslaviaThe Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
- Occupation of Vojvodina, 1941–1944
- 1942 raid in southern Bačka
- Communist purges in Serbia in 1944–1945