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[[Image:Petrovaradin i žrtve racije.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Monument to the victims in [[Novi Sad]]]] |
[[Image:Petrovaradin i žrtve racije.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Monument to the victims in [[Novi Sad]]]] |
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The '''1942 raid in southern Bačka''' was |
The '''1942 raid in southern Bačka''' was a [[wikt:massacre|massacre]] of civilians in [[Occupation of Vojvodina, 1941–1944|Hungarian occupied Bačka]] in January 1942, after the Axis [[invasion of Yugoslavia|invasion and partition of Yugoslavia]]. The raid was performed in several places in southern Bačka, including Novi Sad (event commonly known as the '''Novi Sad massacre'''), villages and towns in [[Šajkaška]], as well as towns of [[Temerin]], [[Srbobran]] and [[Bečej]]. Over 3,000 civilian hostages, mostly of [[Serbs|Serb]], [[Jews|Jewish]] and [[Roma (Romani subgroup)|Roma]] ethnicity, were rounded up and killed in reprisal for resistance activities by the Hungarian Axis troops.<ref name="Scotland">{{Cite journal |title=Revealed: the Scots pensioner and the Nazi war crimes investigation |date=12 April 2009 |author=Billy Briggs |journal=[[Scotland on Sunday]] |url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/scotland/Revealed-the-Scots-pensioner-and.5164273.jp |accessdate=2010-10-14}}</ref> The massacre is considered one of the most notable [[war crime]]s during the [[Axis occupation of Serbia]]. |
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In response to local partisan activity, Hungarian forces assembled 240 patrols in southern [[Bačka]], near [[Novi Sad]], for the purpose of conducting anti-partisan raids. Civilians suspected of aiding local resistance fighters were rounded up and taken to the bank of the [[Danube]] to be killed. |
In response to local partisan activity, Hungarian forces assembled 240 patrols in southern [[Bačka]], near [[Novi Sad]], for the purpose of conducting anti-partisan raids. Civilians suspected of aiding local resistance fighters were rounded up and taken to the bank of the [[Danube]] to be killed. The victims, some still alive, had their bodies thrown under the ice of the frozen river. The Hungarian forces then shot into the ice to break it up. Most of the victims drowned. The Hungarian forces shot at those who were still afloat.<ref>[http://www.serbianna.com/columns/savich/062.shtml Carl Savich Column on Serbianna.com | Front Page<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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==Casualties== |
==Casualties== |
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The total number of civilians killed in the raid was 4,211. Zvonimir Golubović, Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj, 1942. godine, Novi Sad, 1991. (pages 146, 147)</ref> The victims included 2,842 [[Serbs]], 1,250 [[Jews]], 64 Roma, 31 [[Rusyns]], 13 [[Russians]] and 11 ethnic [[Hungarians]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Yahil | first = Leni | title = The Holocaust | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford Oxfordshire | year = 1990 | isbn = 019504522X }}, p.503</ref> Civilians were rounded up at random and taken from their homes and businesses during their workday and while they were engaged in regular activities, even weddings. |
The total number of civilians killed in the raid was 4,211. The victims came from a number of nearby towns, including [[Novi Sad]], [[Bečej]], [[Vilovo, Serbia|Vilovo]], [[Gardinovci]], [[Gospođinci]], [[Đurđevo]], [[Žabalj]], [[Lok, Vojvodina|Lok]], [[Mošorin]], [[Srbobran]], [[Temerin]], [[Titel]], [[Čurug]], and [[Šajkaš]].<ref>Zvonimir Golubović, Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj, 1942. godine, Novi Sad, 1991. (pages 146, 147)</ref> The victims included 2,842 [[Serbs]], 1,250 [[Jews]], 64 Roma, 31 [[Rusyns]], 13 [[Russians]] and 11 ethnic [[Hungarians]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Yahil | first = Leni | title = The Holocaust | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford Oxfordshire | year = 1990 | isbn = 019504522X }}, p.503</ref> Civilians were rounded up at random and taken from their homes and businesses during their workday and while they were engaged in regular activities, even weddings. |
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==Causes and initiators== |
==Causes and initiators== |
Revision as of 08:43, 19 February 2011
The 1942 raid in southern Bačka was a massacre of civilians in Hungarian occupied Bačka in January 1942, after the Axis invasion and partition of Yugoslavia. The raid was performed in several places in southern Bačka, including Novi Sad (event commonly known as the Novi Sad massacre), villages and towns in Šajkaška, as well as towns of Temerin, Srbobran and Bečej. Over 3,000 civilian hostages, mostly of Serb, Jewish and Roma ethnicity, were rounded up and killed in reprisal for resistance activities by the Hungarian Axis troops.[1] The massacre is considered one of the most notable war crimes during the Axis occupation of Serbia.
In response to local partisan activity, Hungarian forces assembled 240 patrols in southern Bačka, near Novi Sad, for the purpose of conducting anti-partisan raids. Civilians suspected of aiding local resistance fighters were rounded up and taken to the bank of the Danube to be killed. The victims, some still alive, had their bodies thrown under the ice of the frozen river. The Hungarian forces then shot into the ice to break it up. Most of the victims drowned. The Hungarian forces shot at those who were still afloat.[2]
Casualties
The total number of civilians killed in the raid was 4,211. The victims came from a number of nearby towns, including Novi Sad, Bečej, Vilovo, Gardinovci, Gospođinci, Đurđevo, Žabalj, Lok, Mošorin, Srbobran, Temerin, Titel, Čurug, and Šajkaš.[3] The victims included 2,842 Serbs, 1,250 Jews, 64 Roma, 31 Rusyns, 13 Russians and 11 ethnic Hungarians.[4] Civilians were rounded up at random and taken from their homes and businesses during their workday and while they were engaged in regular activities, even weddings.
Causes and initiators
The raid was sparked after 40 Serbian partisans were detected hiding out at the farm of Gavra Pustajić near the town of Žabalj by a Hungarian patrol on January 4, 1942. From January 21 to January 23, 1942, by the order of officers lieutenant-general Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeidner, major-general József Grassy, colonel László Deák and gendarmarie-captain Márton Zöldy numerous Serbian and Jewish civilians were murdered in the Bačka northern region of Serbia.
Responsibility
Serbian historian Zvonimir Golubović in his book about the raid claimed that Horthy himself was aware of the raid and approved its being carried out.[5] This was denied immediately after World War II. Horthy was a witness at Nuremberg Trials, and all accusations were dropped against him. This incident was embarrassment for Hungarians even in the eyes of its Axis allies, and Horthy was forced to investigate the crime during the war. Based on this, Horthy was not deemed responsible and despite the strong demand from Yugoslavia, both the Americans and the Soviets favored dropping the charge.[6][7][8][9] However, when Horthy ordered investigation, the officers who had ordered the raid fled to Nazi Germany and returned only after the German Nazi regime occupied Hungary in 1944. They were executed after the war.
Aftermath
In 1943, the Hungarian leaders attempted to revive relations with western Allies, thus as part of such aims, Hungary organized a trial of several officers that were among those responsible for the raid.[8][9] However, the officers were allowed to escape to Germany before their sentencing.[10] After the war, some of the individuals responsible for the raid were tried again by the new communist government of Hungary (which sentenced them to death or to life in prison) and again in Yugoslavia, where they were sentenced to death again, and executed. László Deák and Miklos Horthy, who allegedly were also among those responsible for the raid, were never convicted.
In 2006, Dr. Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center charged Dr. Sandor Kepiro with participating in the massacre on the evidence of his conviction in the trials of 1944 and 1946. Kepiro, however, states that as a police officer, his participation was limited merely to arresting civilians, and he did not take part in the executions or any other illegal activity.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Billy Briggs (12 April 2009). "Revealed: the Scots pensioner and the Nazi war crimes investigation". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ Carl Savich Column on Serbianna.com | Front Page
- ^ Zvonimir Golubović, Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj, 1942. godine, Novi Sad, 1991. (pages 146, 147)
- ^ Yahil, Leni (1990). The Holocaust. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019504522X., p.503
- ^ Zvonimir Golubović, Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj, 1942. godine, Novi Sad, 1991. (page 194)
- ^ Thomas L. Sakmyster, Miha Tavcar Hungary, the Great Powers, and the Danubian Crisis, 1936-1939 (ISBN 0820304697)
- ^ Thomas L. Sakmyster: Miklos Horthy (Univ. of Georgia Press, 1980, ISBN 9783902494146)
- ^ a b Ilona Edelsheim-Gyulai: Becsület és kötelesség, part I p.236 (Európa press, Budapest, 2001.) ISBN 963-07-6544-6
- ^ a b Miklós Horthy: Memoirs p. 235-236 ISBN 0966573439 (PDF)
- ^ Zvonimir Golubović, Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj, 1942. godine, Novi Sad, 1991. (page 187)
- ^ "Nazi hunters identify convicted war criminal", Nicholas Wood, International Herald Tribune, September 28, 2006