The Nușfalău massacre occurred in the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

of Szilágynagyfalu (today

Nușfalău Nușfalău ( hu, Szilágynagyfalu or ''Nagyfalu'') is a commune located in Sălaj County, Crișana, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Bilghez (''Bürgezd'') and Nușfalău; Boghiș and Bozieș split off in 2005 to form Boghiș commune. Th ...

Sălaj County Sălaj County () (also known as ''Land of Silvania'', ''silva, -ae'' means "forest") is a county ('' județ'') of Romania, located in the north-west of the country, in the historical regions of Crișana and Transylvania. It is bordered to the nort ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

) in

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

. It happened on 8 September 1940, when a Hungarian soldier with the support of some natives tortured and killed eleven people (two women and nine men) of

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

ethnicity from a nearby village, who were passing through the area.

Background

At the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...

of 30 August 1940, as a result of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

–

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

arbitration,

was forced to cede to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

the northwestern part of

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, which included

, as well as the

Székely Land The Székely Land or Szeklerland ( hu, Székelyföld, ; ro, Ținutul Secuiesc and sometimes ; german: Szeklerland; la, Terra Siculorum) is a historic and ethnographic area in Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hungarians. ...

. Under the terms of the award, Romania had 14 days to evacuate those territories and hand them over to Hungary, but Hungarian troops came across the border earlier, on 5 September. On 7 September, the

Hungarian Second Army The Hungarian Second Army (''Második Magyar Hadsereg'') was one of three field armies (''hadsereg'') raised by the Kingdom of Hungary (''Magyar Királyság'') which saw action during World War II. All three armies were formed on March 1, 1940. ...

arrived at

Șimleu Silvaniei Șimleu Silvaniei (; hu, Szilágysomlyó, german: Schomlenmarkt) is a town in Sălaj County, Crișana, Romania with a population of 14,436 people (2011 census). It is located near the ancient Dacian fortress Dacidava. Three villages are administ ...

and Ip, and on 8 September at

Zalău Zalău (, unofficial and former official name: ro, Zălau (; german: Zillenmarkt or , hu, Zilah, tr, Zile) is the seat of Sălaj County, Romania. In 2011, its estimated population was 56,202. History Ancient times Zalău is situated in the a ...

, the seat of Sălaj County.

Massacre

On the morning of 8 September 1940, a group of eleven people of Romanian ethnicity were leaving the village of Szilágynagyfalu (

), after spending the night there at the house of the mayor, Gheorghe Imrea. These people were from the village of Kozmaalmás,

Bihar County Bihar was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary and a county of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and Principality of Transylvania (since the 16th century, when it was under the rule of the Princes of Transylvania). Most of ...

(today Almașu Mare, part of Balc,

Bihor County Bihor County () is a county ( județ) in western Romania. With a total area of , Bihor is Romania's 6th largest county geographically and the main county in the historical region of Crișana. Its capital city is Oradea. Toponymy The origin of ...

), some away. The group was composed of two women (Silvia Costaș and Maria Costea) and nine men (Traian Bencheu, Gavril Bogza, Dumitru Costaș, Nicolae Costaș, Dumitru Gaceu, Aurel Jarca, Vasile Matei, Dumitru Somei, and Gavril Turdea). While they were leaving the place, they were stopped by Zoltán Szinkovitz, a native Hungarian from the village, and a Hungarian soldier. They took the Romanians to the center of village and started registering them and confiscated their personal belongings. Then, the Romanians were beaten and injured with a

bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...

. Next, the two women were released, while the nine men were taken in a military car away from Zăuan. There, they were killed with a lunge in the heart with the bayonets. The two women were captured by two other Hungarian natives and were taken to the site of the massacre, where they were also killed. The corpses of the 11 victims were quickly buried and covered only with leaves; a proper burial in the cemetery of Nușfalău took place a few days later, at the insistence of the villagers, after the corpses had begun to decompose.

Trial

The facts were established by Decision no. 1 of the Northern Transylvania People's Tribunal (which sat in

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

and was presided by Justice Nicolae Matei), in a public sentence from 13 March 1946. One of the accused, Zoltán Szinkovitz, was convicted of inciting and participating in the Nușfalău massacre. Two other ethnic Hungarians, Ioan Szabo and Ioan Fabian, were found guilty of aiding and abetting the crimes, and were punished, but the Hungarian soldier who bayonetted the male victims was never identified. One of the accused, Ioan F. Tütös (who was also present at the Nușfalău massacre), was acquitted of the charges.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Massacres in 1940 World War II massacres 20th century in Transylvania World War II crimes in Romania Massacres in Hungary 1940 crimes in Romania Massacres of Romanians September 1940 events in Romania 1940 murders in Hungary Hungarian war crimes

Background

Massacre

Trial

See also

References