Communist Purges In Serbia In 1944–1945
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The communist purges in Serbia in 1944–1945 are
war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
''"Most of these people were murdered without a trial"'' (talking about at least 20,000) ''"...There is not even a smallest of doubt that these were war crimes."'' quoted from
Istina o streljanjima važnija od sudskih progona
(PDF, in Serbian)
that were committed by members of the
Yugoslav Partisan Movement The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...
and the post-war
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
authorities after they gained control over
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, against people perceived as war criminals,
quisling ''Quisling'' (, ) is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English to mean a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force; it may also be used more generally as a synonym for ''traitor'' or ...
s and ideological opponents. Most of these purges were committed between October 1944 and May 1945. During this time, at least 55,973 people died of various causes, including death by
execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...
or by illness in retention camps. The victims – the vast majority of them deliberately
summarily executed In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, a ...
, without a trial – were of different ethnic backgrounds, but were mostly
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
,
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
,
Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...
and
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...
. Some contend that the killings were not planned, but were unorganised vendettas of individuals during the post-war chaos, or that those considered victims of execution instead died in battle against the Partisans. The exact number of victims remains controversial, as the investigation is ongoing. There are different estimates regarding the number of victims. According to one source, at least 80,000 people were executed in the whole of Serbia, while another source states that the number of victims was more than 100,000. The names of about 4,000 individual Germans who were killed by the Partisans are known, but it is estimated that many more
ethnic Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...
were executed.Ulrich Merten: ''Forgotten Voices: The Expulsion of the Germans from Eastern Europe After World War II'', Transactions Publisher, New Jersey, USA, 201

/ref> These events during the fall of 1944 are referred to as "''bloody autumn''" by some sources. In 2009, the government of Serbia formed a State Commission to investigate the secret burial places of victims after 12 September 1944. The Commission compiled a registry of names, basic biographical data, and details of persecution. The registry contains a total of 55,973 names, including 27,367 Germans of Yugoslavia, Germans, 14,567
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
and 6,112
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...
.


Background

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, in 1941,
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
invaded and occupied
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
.
Central Serbia Central Serbia (), also referred to as Serbia proper (), is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the north and the disputed Kosovo region to the south. Central Serbia is a term of convenience, not an administ ...
was put under the
Military Administration in Serbia The Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia (; ) was the area of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that was placed under a military government of occupation by the Wehrmacht following the invasion, occupation and dismantling of Yugoslavia in ...
(MAS),
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
was
annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...
by the Italian protectorate of Albania, and eastern Serbia was occupied by
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
. The
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
region was divided into three occupation zones:
Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...
was placed under direct German control as an autonomous region within the area governed by the MAS,
Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...
was annexed by Horthy's
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...
and
Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...
was annexed by the
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...
. The
Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
found it difficult to combat the
Yugoslav partisan The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...
uprising led by the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...
, due to a shortage of manpower and the rough terrain, and relied heavily on auxiliary
anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...
forces drawn from various Yugoslav peoples. In
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
they used the Serbian Volunteer Corps,
Serbian State Guard The Serbian State Guard (, SDS; sr-Cyrl, Српска државна стража; ), also known as the Nedićevci, was a collaborationist paramilitary force used to impose law and order within the German occupied territory of Serbia during ...
, and the
Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...
of
Kosta Pećanac Konstantin "Kosta" Milovanović Pećanac ( sr-cyrl, Константин "Коста" Миловановић Пећанац; 1879–1944) was a Serbian and Yugoslav Chetnik commander ('' vojvoda'') during the Balkan Wars, World War I and World ...
and
Dragoljub Mihailović Dragoljub ( sr-cyr, Драгољуб) is a Serbian masculine given name, derived from Slavic ''-drag, drag-'' ("dear, beloved") and ''ljub'' ("love, to like"), both very common in Slavic dithematic names. It roughly means "dear love". It may refer ...
. From the German minority in Banat, Germany organized the
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen" (), initially named the SS-Volunteer Division ''Prinz Eugen'' (''SS-Freiwilligen-Division "Prinz Eugen"''), was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS, an armed branch of the German Na ...
. Some Hungarians in Bačka and Baranja joined the Turan Hunters. From the ranks of White Russian emigres, Germany recruited the Russian Protective Corps. Aside from military and paramilitary formations, many national organizations that weren't originally
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
or
irredentist Irredentism () is one state's desire to annex the territory of another state. This desire can be motivated by ethnic reasons because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to or the same as the population of the parent state. Hist ...
, such as the German ''
Kulturbund The Cultural Association of the GDR (, KB) was a federation of local clubs in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It formed part of the Socialist Unity Party-led National Front, and sent representatives to the Volkskammer. The association had ...
'' and the DMKSZ (, ) also showed support to the occupying armies. From the beginning of the occupation, the occupying powers committed numerous war crimes against the civilian population of the region, especially against
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
,
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...
. Therefore, many citizens of Yugoslavia of all ethnic groups joined the partisan resistance movement to fight against the occupation. The victims of the Axis troops were mostly
civilians A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civilian enga ...
, while some were the fighters of the partisan resistance movement. Vojvodina was a region with an ethnically mixed population. In their struggle against the Axis forces, the partisans viewed the Chetniks as misled and continuously called on them to defect. A similar policy was conducted toward members of the Croatian Home Guard. Those who defected were included in the partisan ranks or were given amnesty. On 17 August 1944,
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...
proclaimed a general amnesty for Chetniks and members of the Croatian Home Guards on condition that they did not commit any crimes and join the partisans before 15 September 1944. Members of voluntary anticommunist or
quisling ''Quisling'' (, ) is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English to mean a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force; it may also be used more generally as a synonym for ''traitor'' or ...
formations ( Serbian Volunteer Corps, Ustashe Militia and Russian Protective Corps) were excluded from the offer. This amnesty, as well as the proclamation of King Peter II on 12 September 1944, that all armed formations should come under the command of
Marshal Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 until his death ...
, led to a fall in the numbers of the Chetnik and the Croatian Home Guard. Another amnesty was proclaimed on 21 November 1944, and again by the adoption of the Amnesty and Pardoning Act of 6 July 1945. Between 10,000-15,000 Chetniks were amnestied in this way, which accounted for about a third to a half of the Chetniks in Serbia at that time.


Central Serbia

The number of victims in
Central Serbia Central Serbia (), also referred to as Serbia proper (), is the region of Serbia lying outside the autonomous province of Vojvodina to the north and the disputed Kosovo region to the south. Central Serbia is a term of convenience, not an administ ...
is estimated at 30,000. According to
Milovan Đilas Milovan Djilas (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Милован Ђилас, Milovan Đilas, ; 12 June 1911 – 20 April 1995) was a Yugoslav communist politician, theorist and author. He was a key figure in the Partisan movement during World War II, as well ...
, before communist forces entered
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, their leaders decided that followers of Serbia's former pro-
Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...
puppet
Government of National Salvation The Government of National Salvation (; , VNS), also referred to as Nedić's government or Nedić's regime, was the colloquial name of the second Serbian Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborationist List of World War II ...
should be liquidated immediately. According to communist leaders, Belgrade was the main center of Serbian reaction and, due to that, it was designed to be "very carefully cleansed from anti-communist elements". The establishment of communist administration was, therefore, followed by a brutal showdown with notable participants in the cultural, political and public life of the German-occupied territory of Serbia, and also with members of the rival
Chetnik The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...
resistance movement who were defeated in a civil war.


Vojvodina

In
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
(which then included
Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...
,
Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...
, Baranja and
Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...
regions), most of the executions were performed during Military Administration in Banat, Bačka and Baranja, between October 1944 and January 1945.


Background

At the end of 1944, Axis troops were defeated by the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
and the whole of Vojvodina came under the control of the Yugoslav partisan forces. On 17 October 1944, by the order of Josip Broz Tito, the Banat, Bačka and Baranja regions were placed under military administration. About the establishment of this
military government A military government is any government that is administered by a military, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue or by an occupying power. It is usually administered by military personnel. Types of m ...
,
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...
said the following: "The liberation of
Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...
,
Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...
and Baranja requires the quickest possible return to normal life and the establishment of the people's democratic power in these territories. The specific circumstances under which these territories had to live during the occupation, and a mission to fully avert all adversities inflicted to our people by the occupying forces and foreign ethnic elements colonized here, requires that, in the beginning, we concentrate all power in order to mobilize the economy and carry on the war of liberation more successfully". The partisan troops in Bačka had a very strict order, they had to "show the strongest possible determination against
fifth column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...
ists. The term "fifth column" is applied to the subversive and resistant forces and organizations left behind by a retreating enemy. The National Committee for People's Liberation and the Red Army had agreed on the necessary cooperation in due time. Brigadier General
Ivan Rukavina Ivan Rukavina (January 26, 1912 – April 3, 1992) was army general of the Yugoslav People's Army, People's Hero of Yugoslavia and politician. Rukavina was a member of the International Brigades and prominent Croatian and Yugoslav communist. H ...
was appointed commander of the military administration. He was in constant and direct contact with Tito, the supreme commander. In his first decree, he ordered his troops to "protect the national future and the South Slavic character of the territories" . In the 28 October 1944 issue of '' Slobodna Vojvodina'', the newspaper of the People's Liberation Front in Vojvodina, one member of the Regional Committee of the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...
summarized the intentions suggested from above, with the obvious aim to raise spirit for revenge by exaggerations and distortions:
Although we destroyed the occupying German and Hungarian hordes and drove them back to the west, we have not yet eradicated the roots of the poisonous weeds planted by them... The hundreds of thousands of foreigners who were settled on the territories where our
ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...
s had cleared the forests,
drained ''Drained'', ( Portuguese: ''O Cheiro do Ralo'') is a 2006 Brazilian dark comedy film based on a novel by Lourenço Mutarelli. It was directed by Heitor Dhalia, and stars Selton Mello. The film was produced by Geração Conteúdo, Primo Filmes ...
the swamps, and created the conditions necessary for civilized life. These foreigners still kept shooting at our soldiers and the
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
soldiers from the dark. They do everything they can to prevent the return to normal life, preparing, in the midst of this difficult situation, to stab us in the back again at the appropriate moment... The people feel that determined, energetic steps are needed to ensure the Yugoslav character of Bačka.


Ethnic composition of victims


Germans (Danube Swabians)

The estimated number range of Germans victims in Vojvodina is between 17,000 and 59,335. According to Friedrich Binder, the total number of the German victims in Yugoslavia was 56,736, of which 240 died while escaping in October 1944, 8,049 were executed by the Yugoslav partisans and 48,447 died in prison camps from starvation, illness and in the coldness. Serbian State commission formed in 2009 established the list of 27.367 German victims in total. Before World War II, the German population of Vojvodina numbered about 350,000 people. Between 160,000 and 200,000 were left after the withdrawal of Nazi forces. As a consequence of the World War II events in Yugoslavia, the collaboration with Nazi forces and committed war crimes of the German community the Yugoslav Communist government took a reprisals on ethnic citizens of German origin in Yugoslavia: they had their citizenship revoked, their belongings were taken by force, and they were forced to share their houses with ethnic Serb, Montenegrin, Croat and Macedonian refugees from other parts of Yugoslavia who were colonized in Vojvodina (houses of these refugees in other parts of Yugoslavia were mostly destroyed by German army during World War II). Between 1944 and 1946, a prison camp system was established for all Vojvodina citizens of German origin in almost all settlements where they lived (see also:
List of concentration and internment camps This is a list of Internment, internment and concentration camps, organized by country. In general, a camp or group of camps is designated to the country whose government was responsible for the establishment and/or operation of the camp regardle ...
, Yugoslavia). In those camps, ethnic Germans were used as slave labor, they were tortured, beaten, and left to die from preventable illnesses and starvation. Some members of the German community were executed by Yugoslav Partisans in those camps. Yugoslav Partisans handed over some of the ethnic Germans to Soviet Red Army, who then took them to Siberia and used them for work in mines as slave labor. Some members of ethnic Germans of Vojvodina were expelled to Germany or Austria. File:Gakovo Memorial1.jpg, The German victims' memorial in
Gakovo Gakovo () is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Sombor municipality, in the West Bačka District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population is 2,201 (2002 census). Name In Serbian language, Serbian, the ...
. Image:Rudolfsgnad.jpg, The German victims' memorial at the edge of the old German
graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...
in
Knićanin Knićanin (, , ) is a village in Serbia. It is located in the Zrenjanin municipal area, in the Banat region (Central Banat District), Vojvodina province. Its population is 2,034 (2002 census) and most of its inhabitants are ethnic Serbs (97.39 ...
, dedicated to those who died of "hunger, disease, and cold", according to the sign. File:Bački Jarak, post-WW2 memorial.jpg, The German victims' memorial in
Bački Jarak Bački Jarak () is a town located in the Temerin municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The town has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 5,687 people (2011 c ...
.


Serbs

After king Peter's speech via
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
on 12 September 1944, those Chetniks who didn't join Partisans became effectively outlaws. In time of the king's speech, Chetniks and Partisans were engaged in Battle of Jelova Gora, which ended with serious Chetnik defeat. Mihailović with his party fled to
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, while smaller Chetnik groups remained in Serbia, hoping that
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
would accept them as allies. When this did not materialize, those groups, joined by former Serbian State Guard, began retreat toward Bosnia through
Sandžak Sandžak (Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) is a historical and geo-political region in the Balkans, located in the southwestern part of Serbia and the eastern part of Montenegro. The Bosnian/ Serbian term ''Sandžak'' derives from the Sanjak of Novi Paza ...
, on flanks of retreating German
Army Group E Army Group E () was a German Army Group active during World War II. Army Group E was created on 1 January 1943 from the 12th Army. Units from this Army Group were distributed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean area, including Albania, Greece ...
from
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. On their route through Sandžak, Chetniks and Germans were harassed by Partisans and air raids from Allied Balkan Air Force. The number of the Serb victims in Vojvodina is estimated at about 23,000–24,000 (According to the professor Dragoljub Živković, 47,000 ethnic Serbs were killed in Vojvodina between 1941 and 1948. About half of the Serb victims were killed by occupational forces and the other half of them were executed by post-war communist authorities). In 1944, in Rajina Šuma near Novi Sad, partisans executed about 200–250 Serbs, who were accused that they sympathized with the Chetnik movement of Draža Mihajlović. They were buried into two mass graves, which were discovered in 1991 during communal works in that area. After the entry of partisan forces into Novi Sad on 23 October 1944, by the order of general
Ivan Rukavina Ivan Rukavina (January 26, 1912 – April 3, 1992) was army general of the Yugoslav People's Army, People's Hero of Yugoslavia and politician. Rukavina was a member of the International Brigades and prominent Croatian and Yugoslav communist. H ...
(who was a commandant of military area of Bačka and Baranja), mass arrests of respectable Serbs had begun. They mostly were reputable and rich householders, industrialists and intellectuals, who were seen as a possible threat for the new communist authorities. Order was carried out by the 11th Vojvodinian people's liberation brigade and most of the arrested citizens were executed until the middle of November. Citizens who were executed included dr Miloš Petrović (former mayor), dr Obrad Milutinović (doctor and vice-president of Novi Sad municipality), Dragoljub Ristić (an industrialist), Pavle Tatić (one of the founders of Socialist Party in Novi Sad), Vojislav Matić (editor and publisher of "Nova Pošta" magazine in Serbian language), Miloš Kostić (footballer of
FK Vojvodina Fudbalski klub Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Војводина), commonly known as Vojvodina and colloquially as Voša ( sr-Cyrl, Воша), is a Serbian professional football club based in Novi Sad, Serbia, the second large ...
), Svetislav Vilovski and Đurica Vlaović (members of Serbian ''Soko'' society), Milan – Peca Popović (intellectual and member of
Rotary club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...
), Jovan Begović (provincial clerk), Aleksandar Silber (economist), Pera Savić (journalist), Fedor Radić (doctor), and Gaja Gračanin (director of "Putnik" agency). Especially tragic fate is that of pre-war mayor dr Miloš Petrović, who was creditable for elevation of monument dedicated to Svetozar Miletić that still stands in the centre of Novi Sad, and who also helped in saving lives of hundreds of Serbs who were imprisoned in concentration camp "Šarvar" during Hungarian occupation. State commission formed in 2009 after thorough investigation made a list of all victims, available on its official site. List includes a total of 14.567 Serb victims. 917 of them are from Vojvodina, and further 101 from Zemun.State Commission Registry
accessed on 22 June 2014


Hungarians

Various sources provide very different numbers of Hungarians executed in Vojvodina at that time. ''"The Book of Evidence of Killed War Criminals in 1944/1945"'' published in Yugoslavia states that a total of 1,686 people were executed in Bačka of which approximately 1,000 people were presumed to be Hungarians. However, the estimation of historian Kasaš tells 5,000 executed Hungarians. According to other estimations, the number range of the executed Hungarians in Vojvodina may be between 40,000Dimitrije Boarov, Politička istorija Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 2001. and 50,000. Some sources claim that the most probable number of the executed Hungarians in Vojvodina was between 20,000 and 25,000, while others claim that it is about 35,000 (Cseres Tibor gives an exact estimate of 34,491 executed people). Some Hungarian
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
s were sacked and a number of Hungarian civilians were executed and
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
d. Some women and children were
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
d. Some men who were able to work were
deport Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...
ed to
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
. People of Hungarian nationality are third in terms of the number of dead after the liberation, according to the 2014 data from Serbian state commission. In 2014 there were 6,112 registered persons (with 300 ''potential'' duplicate names), of which 589 are ''alleged'' to have disappeared (some of whom ''possibly'' fled to Hungary) and 279 died in camps. Unlike in
Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...
, in
Bačka Bačka ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska (), is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. ...
there were drastic punishment of members of the Hungarian national minority, especially those found, often on the basis of witness statements, that took direct or indirect involvement in the January 1942 raid and in the suffering of the Serbian population in April 1941. Members of
Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party (, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National Unity. They were in power from 15 October 1944 to ...
were especially targeted, as well as members of collaborationist apparatus, leadership of the DMKSZ (''Cultural Union of the Hungarians of the Southern Territories'' that was also proclaimed to be a fascist organization), but also and others that were considered to fall under the category of associates of the occupiers. The largest number of people of Hungarian ethnicity died after the liberation of Vojvodina was recorded in places where, during the occupation, the Hungarian army and local Hungarians participated in mass crimes against the
Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...
ian,
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...
population. The largest number of Hungarians killed was recorded in the region of
Šajkaška Šajkaška (Шајкашка) is a historical region in northern Serbia. It is the southeastern part of Bačka, located in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The territory of Šajkaška is divided among four municipalities: Titel, Žabalj, Novi ...
(towns
Žabalj Žabalj ( sr-cyrl, Жабаљ, ; ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. According to 2022 census, the town Žabalj has a population of 8,449 and the municipality Žaba ...
,
Čurug Čurug (; ) is a village located in the municipality of Žabalj, Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 8,166 inhabitants (as of 2011 census). It is the ...
and
Mošorin Mošorin ( sr-cyr, Мошорин; ) is a village located in the Titel municipality, South Bačka District, Vojvodina, Serbia. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 2,569 people (as of the 2011 census). History ...
), which were affected by the January 1942 raid. The attitude towards the Hungarians began to change from November 1944. The military administration of Banat, Bačka and Baranja warned that in some cases, especially in Bačka, mistakes were made and that the treatment of Germans was better than the Hungarians. In its instructions, it is pointed out that only those Hungarians who committed or incited crimes against the Slovene population were to be detained in the camps, and that Hungarians who did not fall into the category of war criminals should be released from camps. These guidelines are not accepted in all places with approval, especially in the Šajkaška region. In January and February 1945, some residents of Čurug and Mošorin demanded that all Germans and Hungarians should move out of these places, because their co-existence is impossible after events during the war. Almost the entire Hungarian population of Šajkaška was expelled and the largest number of detained in camps in
Bački Jarak Bački Jarak () is a town located in the Temerin municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The town has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 5,687 people (2011 c ...
,
Gajdobra Gajdobra () is a village located in the Bačka Palanka municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the autonomous province of Vojvodina. Gajdobra has a total population of 2,578 inhabitants (as of 2011 census). Most of ...
and
Mladenovo Mladenovo () is a village located in the Bačka Palanka municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 3,358 people ...
. Part was sent to
Srem Syrmia ( Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is ...
as a labor force in the preparation of the partisans for the breakthrough of the
Syrmian Front The Syrmian Front () was an Axis powers, Axis line of defense during World War II. It was established as part of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front in late October 1944 in Syrmia and east Slavonia, northwest of Belgrade. After the ...
and in repairing of the
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
-
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
railway. People detained in Bački Jarak were used as labor force for agricultural works. According to the book of the deceased from January to May 1945, due to poor conditions in the camp (maltreatment, hunger and disease), 66 adults and 55 children from the age of one month to 18 years have died. Nevertheless, the Hungarian population was accepted into partisans ranks. At the time of these events, the 15th Vojvodina Shock Brigade "Sándor Petőfi" was formed from the Hungarians from area of
Bačka Topola Bačka Topola ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка Топола, ; , ) is a town and municipality located in the North Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The municipality is composed of 23 local communities and, according to the 202 ...
and
Sombor Sombor ( sr-Cyrl, Сомбор, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city has a total population of 41,814 (), while its adminis ...
. About ten thousand of Vojvodina Hungarians took part in the final operations for the liberation of Yugoslavia.


Rusyns

Some members of Rusyn (Ruthenian) population in Đurđevo were also targeted by partisan forces in 1944. According to Hungarian author Cseres, the majority of the Hungarian population of this village left with the retreating Hungarian army. The Yugoslav partisans then established control over this village and took their reprisals out on the Rusyns and Serbs who were sympathetic towards the Hungarians, the Serbian Royal Government or for their religious views. Several hundred Rusyns were executed and some prominent figures tortured. Serbian State commission formed in 2009 established the list of 40 Rusyn victims in total.


Aftermath

In June 2013, members of the Serbian Parliament adopted a declaration, which condemned the massacres and application of the principle of collective guilt against Hungarians in Vojvodina at the end of the Second World War. In response, the Hungarian President
János Áder János Áder (; born 9 May 1959) is a Hungarian politician and lawyer who served as President of Hungary from 2012 to 2022. He is a long-time politician of the Right-wing politics, right-wing Fidesz. As a representative of his party, he took par ...
apologised in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
for the war crimes committed against civilian Serbs and Jewish people during the
Hungarian occupation of Yugoslav territories During World War II, the Kingdom of Hungary engaged in the military occupation, then annexation, of the Bačka, Baranja, Međimurje and Prekmurje regions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. These territories had all been under Hungarian rule prior ...
.


The history of investigations


I. The ''Federal Commission'' ("Državna komisija") – 1943

Even in the midst of the storm of the war, at the second session of the
AVNOJ The Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia,; ; commonly abbreviated as the AVNOJ, was a deliberative and legislative body that was established in Bihać, Yugoslavia, in November 1942. It was established by Josip Broz ...
in
Jajce Jajce ( sr-Cyrl, Јајце) is a town and municipality in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wi ...
, November 1943, a decision was made for a special task force to be formed to investigate the crimes committed by fascists at the territory of Yugoslavia during the war. It was named ''"Federal Commission for determination of the crimes conducted by the Occupators and their helpers during World War 2"'' (in Serbian: Državna komisija za utvrđivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača iz Drugog svetskog rata), and it immediately started its work. In following five years broad investigation was conducted nationwide. It is said that until 1948, this official body collected over a million cases of war crime, documented and reported. This investigation was very extensive, because the newly formed government wanted to collect the best possible set of data that can be presented in a demand for war reparations from Germany (both East and West), Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary – countries responsible for the attack on Yugoslavia and violation of its sovereignty. Although this nationwide program concentrated only on the victims of fascism (and rarely on the civilian innocent victims of communist reprisal), it plays an important part in the completing of the historical picture. Even though the assessment of its results, and its methodology for collecting data (mainly through civil reports of cases) would be different today, the work of this Commission is very important to the reconstruction of events, especially those that followed shortly after the war.


II. The ''Surveying Committee'' ("Anketni odbor") – 2001

The first extensive study, and also the first ever attempt to systematically analize the events that occurred between 1941 and 1948 on the territory of Serbia happened in 2001 on the initiative of the Assembly of the Autonomous province of Vojvodina (Skupština Autonomne pokrajine Vojvodine). On 22 January 2001 in the building of the Assembly in
Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
, this governmental department formed a specialist group with a long name ''"Surveying Committee for investigation of the truth on the events that took place between 1941. until 1945. in Vojvodina"'' (Anketni odbor za utvrđivanje istine o događajima u periodu od 1941. do 1945. godine u Vojvodini) and this institution became a formal body of the Assembly of
Autonomous province of Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to ...
.Tibor Pal (2010)
Na putu istine
O radu Pokrajinskog anketnog odbora za utvrđivanje istine o događajima u periodu od 1941. do 1948. godine.
This should be considered the first modern official investigation that took place after the Second World War, except for some studies done earlier in Slovenia. (There was also a Commission after the war, but it dealt only with the victims of 1941–1944.)


III. The ''Vojvodina Academy'' ("VANU") – 2004

The work of the Assembly Committee was three years later taken over by Vojvodinian Academy of Sciences and Arts (VANU), where it was in a great deal extended. The Academy expanded the research for the period up to 1948, and to some extent even to 1952, processing 10 volumes with over 4000 pages of data. The data was mainly collected from the Historic Archive of Vojvodina (Arhiv Vojvodine) and the raw data was kept in the
Museum of Vojvodina The Museum of Vojvodina ( sr-cyr, Музеј Војводине, ''Muzej Vojvodine'') is an art and natural history museum in Novi Sad, Serbia. The museum houses a collection of over 400,000 specimens and a library of over 50,000 volumes. Notable ...
. The results were first published on paper in 2008. under the title ''"On the way to the truth. Book of victims of AP Vojvodina 1941-1948"'' (title in Serbian: Na putu ka istini. Imenik stradalih stanovnika AP Vojvodine 1941-1948.) Because of the enormous amount of text, forming 9 volumes (8 of which just lists names of the victims) there was not enough money to publish it, so just 10 copies were printed. This makes this work inaccessible even to the researchers. Although the results were raw and yet unstudied to detail, they were already shocking to the public. Important step forward was the collecting of data about all known retention camps, and the victims of the period are classified by ethnic structure and also age and sex, as well as by the place of death. The weak point of this stage of the investigation was, because of the lack of material means, that about 20% of available data still remained unprocessed. As on the positive side, leader of the project dr. Dragoljub Živković claimed that much effort has been put and a lot of attention given to the task that there would be no duplicate entries. The public was presented only with preliminary results, primarily through the media. The representatives said (and was briefly published) that in Bačka, Banat, Srem and Baranja, and also in other countries but from the territory of Vojvodina, between 1941. and 1948. a total of 86.881 civilians perished (above 40,000 Serbs, above 20,000 ethnic Germans, above 15,000 Jews, about 5,000 Hungarians, about 2,700 Croats, about 1000 Slovaks and about 3000 others). The full set of data with ''exact'' numbers is available in the published volume of the ''"Na putu ka istini. Imenik stradalih stanovnika AP Vojvodine 1941-1948"''. It is important to say that this is ''not'' data that summarises victims of the 1944/45 communist purges, because it does not separates specifically the circumstances of death, but it is a raw list, with documents and literature, that was intended for future examination by experts. There is also an important statement that should be considered by the scholars of victimology, that this study showed independently that more than 12,000 inhabitants of Vojvodina, of different nationality ended up and were killed in Jasenovac and also in
Banjica Banjica (, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It's divided between Belgrade's municipalities of Savski Venac (western half) and Voždovac (eastern half). Location Banjica is located 5–6 kilometers south of the ce ...
. It is important to stress that the publication pertains only to the ''civilians'' (unarmed persons) that lost their lives in the period 1941–1948, in retention camps, through executions etc. and ''not'' to military personnel who died in battles during the war. Two very large, unfortunate numbers demonstrate this: among the persons who lost their lives the percentage of women (as compared to men) was 49,90% in Jews, and about 60% in the group of the ethnic Germans.


IV. The ''State Commission'' ("Državna komisija") – 2009

On 9 July 2009 the government of Serbia founded a ''"Commission for the secret graves of victims killed after September 12, 1944"'' (Državna komisija za tajne grobnice ubijenih posle 12. septembra 1944. godine). The choice of the date is connected with the last stage of liberation from the occupator, when on 20 October 1944, with the help from the advancing Red Army, Belgrade was liberated. Soon after that the war activity ceased, but it marked a new period of sufferings. Even before the official declaration of the end of the war, atrocities against civilians that were assumed unsympathizing with communist rule started to happen. For example, in Vojvodina the first Hungarian victims were shot, some of them openly, convicted of being a fascist, in the middle of September 1944 in
Bečej Bečej (, ; , ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 19,492, while the municipality has 30,681 inhabitants. History Bečej was mentioned f ...
, where also the local German population was forced to wear white armbands as a sign that they will be sent to forced labor. The mission of the 2009 Commission was to locate and mark all secret graves in which bodies of those shot after the 1944. liberation lay, and also to exhume them, for the purpose of determining the cause and investigation of the circumstances of death. The first exhumations took place in 2010, in the vicinity of
Zaječar Zaječar ( sr-Cyrl, Зајечар, ; or ) is a city and the administrative center of the Zaječar District in eastern Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city administrative area had a population of 48,621 inhabitants. Zaječar is widely ...
. 29 April of the same year marked a new era in the investigation of the 1944/45 events, as the government ruled a decision to remove the stamp of secrecy from the classified documents of the Archives, where the lists of liquidated persons and other important documents resided. Now the researchers were for the first time able to look at those papers. This was an important step forward, because this was the first time that a governmental investigation focused mainly at the victims of the "red terror".


V. The ''Academic Commission'' ("Međuakademska komisija") – 2010

After the collecting of data from literature and archives to build a database, the phase of in-depth scientific study and analysis followed, which is still going on. For this purpose the governments of Hungary and Serbia agreed to establish a joint Commission. This separate task force, that officially formed 15, December 2010 in Belgrade, is called ''"Hungarian–Serbian academic Joint Committee for the civilian victims during and after the Second World War in Vojvodina, 1941-1948"'' (in Serbian: Mađarsko–Srpska Akademijska mešovita komisija; in Hungarian: Magyar–Szerb Akadémiai Vegyes Bizottság). The Hungarian section of the Joint Committee held its inaugural meeting shortly after, at 6 January 2011. in Budapest.


Rehabilitation

It is expected that the first to be rehabilitated will be public figures, such as teachers, priests and Church dignitaries, those that were executed or persecuted with clear aim to intimidate the wider public through fear, by setting a harsh example. During the purges in Vojvodina, between 13 and 22 Catholic clerics were reported to be missing, 13 of whom proven to be dead (executed). For example, if it was known or suspected that the priest was innocent, official forensic and court procedure was on the way. In some cases a memorial or a bust was already erected, even before the trial was completed.


See also

*
Allied war crimes during World War II An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are call ...
*
Hungarian occupation of Baranja and Bačka, 1941–1944 During World War II, the Kingdom of Hungary engaged in the military occupation, then annexation, of the Bačka, Baranja, Međimurje and Prekmurje regions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. These territories had all been under Hungarian rule prior ...
*
Foibe massacres The foibe massacres (; ; ), or simply the foibe, refers to ethnic cleansing, mass killings and deportations both during and immediately after World War II, mainly committed by Yugoslav Partisans and OZNA in the Italian Empire, then-Italian terri ...
* Mass killings under communist regimes


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * *''Fifty thousand Hungarian martyrs report about the Hungarian Holocaust in Jugoslavia, 1944–1992'' – ed. István Nyárádi, 1992 *Márton Matuska: ''Days of the revenge''. Forum Publisher, Novi Sad, 1991 *Anton Salwetter: ''Heimatbuch Deutsch-Etschka''. Reutlingen-Betzingen 1974. *Erika Reusch-Meirer: ''Sigmundfelder Heimatbuch''. Villingen-Schwenningen 1988. *Documentation Project Committee: ''Genocide of the Ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia 1944–1948''. Donauschwäbische Kulturstiftung, München 2003.


External links


The State Commission for the secret burial places of victims after 12 September 1944, list of names with biographical information and details of persecution
* ttp://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2000/12/26/srpski/P00122513.shtm Istorija bez anestezije*Službena internet stranic
Komisije za tаjne grobnice ubijenih posle 12. septembrа 1944. Ministаrstvа prаvde Republike Srbije
Sаvo Gregović, ''Večernje novosti'', feljton, 10 nаstаvаkа, 8–17 July 2004.

LJubomir Tešić, ''Večernje novosti'', feljton, 10 nаstаvаkа, 17. – 26. June 2006.

Srđаn Cvetković, ''Večernje novosti'', feljton, 11 nаstаvаkа, 14. – 24. December 2006.

LJubomir Tešić, ''Večernje novosti'', feljton, 10 nаstаvаkа, 2. – 12. Mаy 2007.

Miodrаg – Mijа Ilić, ''Večernje novosti'', feljton, 18 nаstаvаkа, 13. – 30. Mаy 2007.

, S. Dedić – V. Arsić, ''Pres'', 7. June 2009.

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