Szilveszter Matuska (29 January 1892 – disappeared c. 1945) was a Hungarian mass murderer and mechanical engineer who made two successful and at least two unsuccessful attempts to derail passenger trains in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in 1930 and 1931. He was born in Csantavér (now Čantavir,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
).
Crimes
Matuska made at least two failed attempts to derail trains in Austria in December 1930 and January 1931.''Murder in the 1930s'' p.230
Matuska's first successful crime was the derailment of the Berlin-Basel express train south of Berlin on 8 August 1931. More than 100 people were injured, several of them seriously, but there were no deaths. Because of the discovery of a defaced Nazi newspaper at the scene of the crime, among other things, the attack was believed to have been politically motivated. A bounty of 100,000
reichsmark
The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...
was put on the perpetrator.
Matuska's second and more notorious successful crime was the derailment of the Vienna Express headed towards Vienna as it was crossing the Biatorbágy bridge near
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
at 12.20am on 13 September 1931. Twenty-two people died and 120 others were injured, 17 of them severely.
Matuska carried out this crime by placing numerous sticks of dynamite in a brown fibre suitcase, which detonated at a viaduct due to the weight of the train, causing the engine and nine of the eleven coaches to plunge into a ravine 30 metres deep. Matuska was discovered at the scene of the crime but, passing himself off as a surviving passenger, he was released. Investigators in the three countries were on his trail, however, and he was arrested in Vienna one month later, on 10 October 1931, whereupon he soon confessed.
Matuska was tried and convicted in Austria for the two unsuccessful attempts. He was later extradited to Hungary on condition that he not be executed. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment as agreed with Austria.
Disappearance
Matuska reportedly escaped from jail in
Vác
Vác (; german: Waitzen; sk, Vacov; yi, ווייצען) is a town in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is ''Vácz''.
Location
Vác is located north of Budapest on the eastern bank o ...
in 1945. According to some reports, he served as an explosives expert during the latter stages of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
; he was "borrowed" from the prison for 17 days, then returned. When Soviet troops were nearing Vác, the Germans released the prisoners, but Matuska, with some other prisoners decided to wait for the Soviets. Allegedly he stayed on because he hoped that his Serbian language skills would enable him to communicate with the Russians. He posed as a surgeon, worked for a time with the Russian war hospital, and then moved on with the troops in January 1945. Later he apparently returned to Csantavér, his birthplace. Fragments of testimony from various witnesses have been pieced together to form what we now know of Matuska's fate. On a Sunday he gave a "nationalist-flavoured sermon" to a crowd coming out of church. The next day he was captured by partisans and taken to
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...
. According to his uncle, he was buried in a mass grave in Szabadka. Rumours have circulated that he appeared on the communist side in the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, but there is no evidence to support this.
Matuska's motives remain unclear. His first attack was initially thought to have been politically motivated. At his trial, Matuska claimed to have been ordered to derail the express by God. Matuska has also been quoted as explaining his crimes by saying: "I wrecked trains because I like to see people die. I like to hear them scream." It was reported that he achieved
orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region chara ...
while watching the trains he had sabotaged crash (a
forensic examination
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimina ...
of the trousers he had worn on the night of the fatal crash discovered evidence of semen stains).
Popular culture
In 1990 Matuska became the subject of a song, ''Sylvestre Matuschka'', by the band Lard. A Hungarian/German TV film titled ''Viadukt'' was made in 1983 which was based on this case (English titled '), starring Canadian actor
Michael Sarrazin
Michael Sarrazin (May 22, 1940 – April 17, 2011)
Armin Mueller-Stahl
Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German film actor, painter and author, who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role i ...
as the lead investigator on the case. In 1993 Matuska became the subject of an art installation by Belgian artist Danny Devos.