METHODS OF KILLING ARE THE SAME IN 1992

The following conversation took place in August of 1992 in a smoky pub in Budapest which is visited especially by Serbian war-refugees. Hungarian refugees from Bácska and Vajdaság have chosen another place for haunt:

“I am the officer of the Serbian army of liberation: My name and rank are not important

– I don’t doubt it. What did happen in Zvornik? Were you there, too?

– I was there only at the occupation of the village. A lot of people lost their life there. The boys were very angry, so it was impossible to give them any command. The prisoners were bound by long wire. Only men were these. There were 25-30 men. The superior command was to take them to the wood-yard and to lock them into a store. But this store didn’t exist. Then one of the boys caught sight of the circular saw and he came the idea to make “firewood” from the prisoness. And it began that time. They didn’t take orders any more.

– Were the unlucky men really sawed up? .

– Some of them were. There was too much blood and within a short time everybody lost his interest in it. I didn’t wait for its end. I left them.

– Did you decide to leave the war that time? – There are things into which you never let someone else. But I can tell you one thing: it is really infernal sight when the saw cuts into human flesh. And when it files the bone…

– Did these people shout?

– Some of them did. As they were skinned. There was who screamed that his father was Serbian. They were crying scamming and they threw down to their knees. Some of them fainted away: But there was who only set his teeth and didn’t say anything. At such a man the boys lost their pleasure. So they had mercy on the others.

– Were they released? . .

– Certainly not, they were shot down. But this was at least quick: Now I am going to escape to West . . .

– Will it succeed?

– My friend, the Serbian contacts are viable. Nobody can let us Serbians down until time immemorial.”

EXTIRPATION AND PERSECUTION

Josip Kompanovic Croatian government commissioner: The invented authority which came into power is unwaveringly pursuing the Croatians and the Hungarians. Its aim is to change the character of the population in the territory of Baranya. Serbians are settled in it and as soon as they arrive; the Hungarian and Groatian families are simply driven out from their own houses.

Serbian armed men go in front of their houses and command the unlucky inhabitants: within half an hour they should move off or otherwise they will be killed. We are aware that a lot of houses were undermined forcing their inhabitants to go away with nothing but a dress on them in this way. Then the Serbian armed men transfer them to the Hungarian frontier and drive them across to Hungary. Here is the text of a deporting order: “Hereby we command you to move off from Kiskószeg within 24 hours. Otherwise we shall force you to leave by gun because you are ustashi (Ustashi was the name of Croatians fighting on the side of Hitler in the Second World War.)

The people cannot do anything else but to escape from the territory of Saran a 20,000 people were already driven away. Only one quarter of the inhabitants living on the territory between Danube and Drava is Serbian. Its majority is Hungarian and Croatian: After the occupation of this district exclusive Serbian authority was introduced. Inhabitants of the ancient Hungarian villages are driven away.

Serbian families escaped from Bosnia were moved in their houses in order to make possible to say on the future peace conference that here the Sesbians are in majority. Then who will care about whether the original inhabitants were killed or driven across the frontier.” David Kelemen deputy of the UNO and the European Community tells about Szent Laszlo (SaintLadislas) the pure Hungarian small town: “Who is not Serbian cannot live there.”

They received a document. Hungarians were forced to sign this paper. If they didn’t sign it, they were shot down at once or taken to forced labor. It was written on the paper that he waives his house property animals and he is not allowed to come back to the town anymore. The document also contains a confession that the Hungarian signer confesses that he was shooting at the Serbian Yugoslavian army. These soldiers are treating their victims with the already known Serbian bestial cruelty.

I was there and saw it. It is not enough that the unlucky men are shot down but they are outraged in their death, too. Their heads are cut down, their eyes are taken out and their stomachs are ripped open by knife. Just like in l944.” Miklós Hornyik, Hungarian writer from Vajdaság Vojvodina) “I met observers of the UNO two times. I saw the documents, photos and videos which they had. I read their written testimonies.

Extirpation and expelling of the native Hungarian inhabitants are of so enormous size that another example in the history of 20th century cannot be found. Even Hitler didn’t do such things! On the territories occupied by the Serbians massacre, holocaust are going on. A lot of people are tortured, driven away and made homeless. The Geneva conventions of human rights are several times broken by the Serbian supreme command; Serbian terrorist organizations.

They are committing war crimes for which Belgrade and the Serbians should undertake responsibility once in the future. Milan Paroski· Serbian nationalist leader gave an interview to the Panoráma, program of the Hungarian Television. The reporter was Ferenc Szaniszló. Szaniszló: Do you know certainly about that the Hungarian inhabitants are driven away from their villages? Paroski: Yes as they are Serbian territories! -Do you think that such ancient Hungarian villages as Kórogy and Szent Laszlo can be considered Serbian territories? From there thousands of Hungarians were driven away? They were tortured! You have to know it well that these things were done by the new Serbian power.

The Hungarians served the Croatian power which also extirpated the people. We didn’t occupy Kórogy, we liberated it! lt was liberated by the Serbians living there! . – Do you think that it is a liberation if whole villages are destroyed and their population is forced to escape? -But why did they escape? Do you know about only one execution which was made by Serbians? -Yes, I do! -You cannot know about it but there are contrary examples it happened that the Hungarians ranged themselves on the side of the Croatians and were shooting Serbian troops.

Then having guilty conscience they fled from there. They shouldn’t have to fire at the Serbians. -Maybe they didn’t want to be liberated by the Serbians. So you acknowledge that the new Serbian power killed Hungarians? -Baranya is historic territory of the Serbians! -Körogy is a thousand year old Hungarian village like Szent Laszló. The vi1Iages have been blockaded by Serbian soldiers for weeks, shot by artillery. When Kórogy was occupied, some of its defenders mere killed. Hungarian inhabitants of the village were driven away. The name of the village was changed and Serbians were settled to it.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

Serbian army and chetniks frightened the Hungarian villages also with destroying their churches, too. The church of the village Darazs was burnt down in the summer of 1991 Inhabitants of Szent Laszló couldn’t place their corpses in the cemetery of the village even in 199I.Funeral processions were shot at by Serbian sharpshooters.

After Croatia was attacked by Serbia every catholic and Reformed church was shot at by cannon. These were villages where the vicarage and church were destroyed deliberately. Hungarian priests were driven away. In Kórogy Reformed church was hit The ringer was also wounded by the cannonshots. The Reformed clergyman was driven away. Szent László was already mentioned in a document in 1404.

It was pure Hungarian village. Now nobody is living in the village which had 458 houses and 1,600 inhabitants. The church is in ruins the priest has escaped. Haraszti is a village belonging to the period of conquest. The houses of the village are destroyed by the bombardments. The Reformed church was hit by several cannon-shots. The clergymen of Kopács and Csuza were forced to escape. Nobody from the catholic priests living between Drava and Danube was left in their villages. The last was the priest in Batina who was forced to escape after he was humiliated and tortured.

OCCUPATION OF THE ANCIENT RESIDENCES

Serbian government lead by Radoman Bozovic has issued a decree. This determines how many Serbian refugees from Bosnia should be accepted in the pure Hungarian villages in Bacska: 3,400 in Bácska-Topolya, 2,900 in Ada, 2,800 in Zenta, 2,500 in Csoka. Its hidden aim is: to change the contiguous block of the Hungarian population in Vajdaság (Vojvodina). Vacant houses of the Hungarians escaped from the fights and persecutions, houses which are the property of old couples are drawn up by the Serbian government.

The recipe is old: fully extirpation of the Hungarian ethnic group. Serbians do not allow the resettlement of the Hungarians. The proposal of amnesty was voted down by the parliament. According to this proposal liable to military service from Vajdaság who escaped to Hungary could have returned with impunity. In that case there would not be, so many empty houses in the towns of Bácska.

The name of the towns from which the inhabitants were driven away is changed. Herkoca populated by the Croatians was changed to Srboslavici, Hungarian Kórogy is called now Sprska Palaca. Delegation of the Hungarians from Vajdaság was not let in the conference in London! However András Ágoston, president of the Community of Hungarians in Vajdaság succeeded in talking with Mr. Arrens, president of the committee which was dealing with nationality questions in the conference.

Ágoston said the following: It is evident that the Serbian government wants to change the national composition of the territories populated by the Hungarians.” Hungarian population of Kórogy and Szent László was driven over to Hungary by force already in 1991. Their hope of returning to their native land by September of 1992 has not come true. Their priests being with them afraid of giving them new terms as they do not want that the people will be disappointed. People from Kórogy don’t get married during their long banishment. In the meantime five old men died. Their last request was that they should be taken home. Since then the corpses have been cremated. The sepulchral urns lines up at the undertakers. The living and the dead are also waiting for returning home.

FOR WHOM DO THE HUNGARIANS FIGHT?

Last year the name of the village in – Bácska, Kishegyes became well known. A sad event happened there. Corpses of Hungarian soldiers, who were called up to the Yugoslavian army and killed in the unreasonable war, were taken home to their native land. In August of 1992 corpse of Tibor Sipos· young soldier was taken home.

It is very characteristic of the Serbian methods that the ordered recruiting in the village just on the same day with the funeral of the young man. The Serbian authority provoked the Hungarian inhabitants: They expected that the Hungarian youth would not appear before the committee as result of the funeral. On 9th August about 30 young man came together to enjoy themselves in one of the houses.

Among them there were also some Hungarian soldiers serving in the Serbian army. Some of them should have already gone back to the battlefield but they were fed up with the war which was made by the Serbian communists. But they didn’t have enough courage to protest in public against the Serbian military service. At midnight policemen with truncheons appeared on the party and carried off the soldiers. As their mates accompanied the young soldiers to the police station and they demanded their release, the were also accused of rebellion. Policemen asked for help from other village.

Young men were beaten by truncheons. Just on the same day when the soldiers and their mates were thrashed within an inch of their life in Kishegyes, Helsinki Watch published the list of the persons who were accused of committing war crimes. On the first place of the list there is Blagoje Anzsics general who has been Yugoslavian Minister of War recently. The question is: whether is anybody obliged to go to the war on the call of such a Minister of War who is burdened by war crimes. Fifth member of the list of the criminals is Szlobodan Milosevics former communist secretary general, President of the Serbian State.

EXECUTORS OF THE EXTIRPATION AND DEPORTATIONS

The Security Council of the UNO ordered the disbanding of the Serbian volunteer units so called chetniks troops. The Serbians disclaim that such troops would exist on the territory of Little Yugoslavia which consists of Serbia and Crna Gora. They are supposed to be under the command of the regular army and they are considered as real soldiers. They are going over the Hungarian villages in Vajdaság several times and they are who take parts in expelling of the Hungarians and mortal revenge too.

This activity of them (establishment of the nationally pure state) is shown definitely according to fascist receipt. They attack the churches and the saint places of the Musulmans in Crna Gora. Serious war-mongering is going on against the Hungarians in Vajdaság. Voivod Seselj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party and the volunteer Serbian armed men, the chetniks declares that there is no place for the Hungarians, neither for the Croatians in Serbia.

Seselj thinks it so seriously that he wants to extirpate the Hungarians and he makes the Hungarians extirpated. In Oromheges, in the village populated by the Hungarians and Croatians Seselj stood in front of the church and declared that everybody should get out from the village except the Serbians. Then his armed men came and shot into the houses and the people. Men of the village where 2,000 Hungarians were living refused to join the army and they came together on the court of the inn so that they shouldn’t be carried off one by one.

They held on for weeks. They were approximately 120. Then the last thread had broken and the village said that the men would not go to the army. On the inn’s court they were beaten by gun-stock when they brought food to their husbands and sons. But finally the men were obliged to go. One of them got frightened, started off and took the others with himself. The Serbian armed men beat them. They should have to go…

WHO DIDN’T ESCAPE

A Hungarian farmer tells: “There was no more such a rich village in Yugoslavia. There were 2,000 pigs, 120 cattle, 500 steers for fattening, hens, ducks, gooses by thousands here. Here in the village and its surroundings 300 tractors with trailers and all equipment were working. Today there is nothing and nothing… Serbians who were brought here didn’t look for the old houses, they moved into only the new ones. Serbians were removed into the Hungarian villages not from Bosnia but from the neighboring Serbian territories.

Who arrived to the village from July of the last year, those could choose only among the empty houses. I am not afraid of to speak out, these people stole everything from us. Even one nail was not left. The harvest took place by such a way that the fields remained here, but the people were driven away. Our fields were reaped by the neighboring Serbian village, Palacsa. Only God knows what the future has in store for us. Serbians got the lands of the Hungarians driven away.

They have already planted the maize. They will remain here for ever… Ten thousands of the Hungarians have already received summons in Vajdaság. They can escape from the war only if they flee across the Hungarian frontier. Then their lands and houses are taken away. Up to now about 20,000 Hungarians have escaped from Vajdaság. Inhabitants of Oromhegyes did not want to leave their village.

Tanks were ordered against them, they were driven away by this way. A man from Oromhegyes: “If we are not at the service of the Serbians, then we can go away, they do not need us. The Hungarians were elected in order to make them responsible for everything. Who is not with the Serbians, those are pushed to Hungary. Hungarian men are forced to enter into the army. They even don’t know to which front-line they will go.

We already know that Yugoslavia doesn’t exist any more, because of this we don’t understand for whom we would fight? If somebody had attacked the country, but nobody did it. The Serbians attacked minorities in Yugoslavia, the Slovenians, Croatians, Bosnians and Hungarians. Even the seal of the former Yugoslavia is no more. Nothing else has remained from this country, only the “J” letter.

EPILOGUE

András Ágoston, President of the Democratic Community of the Hungarians in Vajdaság: “If the international pressure induced Belgrade to change its aggressive policy then would be avoidable that 150,000 Hungarians should escape from Vajdaság. On the conference about Yugoslavia which took place in London, we met high commissioner for Refugees of the UNO and we introduced the danger in details to him which would endanger Vajdaság if the plan of the Serbian government was realized and 30,000 Serbian refugees would be settled to the territories populated by the Hungarians.

We told him we knew how hard was the life of the refugees, ourselves helped them with money, clothes. But the sad situation of the refugees cannot be used for the change of the ethnic composition as this is prohibited by international regulations. In my opinion it will turn out very soon how much worth the conference in London was. If the heavy guns which caused the tragedy in Bosnia were got under control of the UNO within the agreed term, then the whole conference was defeated. If this happens, then tragedy of Vajdaság could follow… *

While there are discussions on the conference day by day Hungarians of Serbia, Vajdaság are enlisted by thousands, they are threatened by removal and deportation. About half million Hungarians, already decimated and bleeding from thousand wounds have got into final danger. Democratic Community of the Hungarians in Vajdaság with its politics protecting Hungarians and other minorities has got into opposition even among the Serbian parties of the opposition.

Reference

https://www.hunsor.se/dosszie/fiftythousandhungarianmartyrs.pdf