Hungarian Human Rights Monitor

Magyar Emberi Jogok Monitora

113 Waniska Ave, Toronto, Ontario, M8Y 1R5

Tel/Fax: 416 259-0877

Memorandum on the 50-th anniversary of the massacre of more than 20,000 ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina by Tito's partisans and Serb nationalists

As the world celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of allied victory, we as Hungarian Canadians also wish to participate in honouring those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and equality of all races. We wish to join other nations as equals in remembering the millions of innocent victims, who perished in the historic upheavals surrounding the events and the aftermath of the Second World War.

Yet, as we celebrate peace, the unabated Serb aggression on the territory offormer Yugoslavia, evokes in us the chilling realization of the vulnerability of the 3.5 million ethnic Hungarians of Europe.

One third of the Hungarian nation lives under oppressive regimes of varying severity in countries surrounding Hungary, namely Serbia, Rumania, Slovakia, and to some extent, the Ukraine.

Fifty years ago, in the fall of 1944 Tito's partisans, and the local Serb nationalists massacred over 20,000 innocent Hungarians in Vojvodina, including over 20 priests. Similar atrocities were committed against innocent Hungarians in Rumania, and on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The Hungarians in Czechoslovakia were stripped of their citizenship, branded with the stigma of collective guilt and deported from their homeland.

These atrocities against Hungarians have never been reported. Fifty years after their tragic deaths, the guilt, or the innocence of the victims has never been established, the perpetrators heve never been brought to justice.

In every settlement of Vojvodina, with a sizable Hungarian population, there are still unmarked mass graves of victims. The authorities persistently refuse to allow the proper burial of the victims. There is a ban on any research leading to the discovery of historical truth surrounding the mass execution in 1944 of nearly 5% of the 750,000 strong Hungarian population in Vojvodina in 1944.

Let there be no misunderstanding about our intentions. We do not wish to exonerate the facsists, or the colaborators. This document is our plea and testimony to the memory of the tens of thousands of local peaceful citizens, who were rounded up en masse, tortured, condemned and executed by the same authority, and in most cases by the same individuals.

Preceding the tragedy ofthe ethnic Hungarians, more than 70,000 Danube Germans perished in Vojvodina at the hands of Tito's partisans, followed by the collective expulsion ofthe whole Danube German population from Vojvodina, 400,000 people in all, altering the demographic pattern ofthe region completely. The media did not report these events in 1944, or at any other time since.

The western historians have not dealt with these events to this date. Perhaps, if these atrocities, committed fifty years ago against ethnic Hungarians and the Danube Germans had been conscientiously reported at the time, and documented by western historians evenhandedly, the current ethnic cleansing on the territory of former Yugoslavia could have been prevented, and hundreds of thousands of innocent lives could have been spared.

Until the historical truth is established, and the guilt, or the innocence of those who were executed is clearly and openly defined, ethnic Hungarians of Vojvodina remain in danger of being victimized again by the unbridled nationalistic elements still rampant in present day Serbia.

As we speak, the very existence and the survival of Hungarians, as a distinct ethnic group is at risk. More than 30,000 Hungarians, mostly young men and women have fled from Vojvodina to avoid forced induction into the army, and to escape the political and psychological pressure exerted on them, just because they are Hungarians. Due to the inaction ofthe world, the "quiet" ethnic cleansing in Vojvodina continues unabated.

As the world commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the conclusion of the Second World War, each nation affected by these historic events honours its heroes, and venerates its victims. It is customary for survivors to lay a wreath, or pause in fiont of the actaal, or symbolic graves of their dead. On this occasion, we as Hungarian Canadians also wish to pay our last respect to our victims of the war. It is our right to nurture the memory of all victims, regardless of on which side they perished.

This document is a testimonyto to our heritage and the first step towards the full reevaluation of the truth surrounding the tragic and brutal massacre of more than 20,000 Hungarians in Vojvodina fifty years ago. It is our intent to bring to the attention of the world, that our fathers, brothers, sisters, and brethren in Vojvodina, in Rumania, Slovakia, and in the present day Ukraine, were victims, therefore their memory should be keptalive openly, and with honor. We urge the western leaders and the international community to recognize our right, and the right of every nation to bury our dead with dignity and keep alive the memory of our innocent victims. We ask this in the name of civilization, and human decency.

Dated at Toronto, November 1, 1994