The Luduș massacre occurred in the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Luduș Luduș (; Hungarian: ''Marosludas'' or ''Ludas''; Hungarian pronunciation: , German: ''Ludasch'') is a town in Transylvania, Romania in Mureș County, south-west from the county's capital, Târgu Mureș. Six villages are administered by the to ...

(), in the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

. Between 5 and 13 September 1944, on the outskirts of the village, the

Royal Hungarian Army The Royal Hungarian Army (, ) was the name given to the land forces of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary in the period from 1922 to 1945. Its name was inherited from the Royal Hungarian Honvéd which went under the same Hu ...

occupied the village and, with the help of natives, shot 15

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 2 Romanians: Mihai Polac, Vilma Polac and their daughters Rozalia and Maria, Iosif Gluck and his daughter Rozalia, Mauriciu Fred, Ghizela Fred, Maria Kopstein, Adelca Izrael and the Haller sisters (Sarolta, Fani and Rozalia). The latter five were raped and subsequently murdered in the Haller sisters' home. Following the recovery of the village, an investigation was started to find the culprits of the

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

. Investigations took place from 1945 to 1946. The Hungarian

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

s were never identified, but two natives, Bela Szabó and Elisabeta Bartha, were found guilty by the Romanian People's Tribunal in

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

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* Holocaust massacres and pogroms in Romania Massacres in 1944 September 1944 in Europe 20th century in Transylvania History of Mureș County Hungarian war crimes 1944 murders in Romania Hungary–Romania relations Ethnic cleansing in Europe Military history of Hungary during World War II Family murders Rape in Romania Sexual violence in Europe during World War II Violence against women in Romania Hungarian irredentism Sexual violence during the Holocaust Massacres in Transylvania {{Romania-hist-stub

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