Occupation of Vojvodina, 1941-1944

The Occupation of Vojvodina (now a Province in modern Serbia) from 1941 to 1944 was carried out by Nazi Germany and its client states / puppet regimes: Horthy's Hungary, the Independent State of Croatia, and what was known as "Nedic's Serbia."

In 1941, during World War II, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Hungary invaded and occupied the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Vojvodina region was divided into three occupation zones: Banat was part of Nedic's Serbia and under effective German control on account of its large ethnic German population; Bačka was re-attached to Horthy's Hungary to which it had belonged until 1918 and the part of eastern Syrmia which hadn't been included in the Croatian Banovina defined in August 1939 was similarly re-integrated into Croatia, then part of the Independent State of Croatia which also included Bosnia-Herzegovina. The occupation lasted until 1944, when the region came under control of the Soviet Red Army and Yugoslav partisans.

War crimes

During the four years of occupation, the Axis forces committed numerous war crimes against civilian population: about 50,000 people in Vojvodina were murdered and about 280,000 were arrested, raped or tortured. ["Enciklopedija Novog Sada", Sveska 5, Novi Sad, 1996. (page 196)] The victims belonged to all ethnic groups that lived in Vojvodina, but the largest number of the victims was of Serb, Jewish, and Roma ethnicity.

The total number of the people killed by the occupants between 1941 and 1944 in the entire Vojvodina was 55,285, including:Slobodan Ćurčić, "Broj stanovnika Vojvodine", Novi Sad, 1996. (pages 42, 43)]
*18,193 people who were killed directly
*19,004 people who were sent to concentration camps and killed there
*4,168 people who were sent to forced labour and killed there
*3,286 people who were mobilized and later killed
*10,634 killed members of the resistance movement

Victims in Bačka

The total number of the killed people in Bačka was 19,573, including:
*6,177 people who were killed directly
*8,027 people who were sent to concentration camps and killed there
*2,179 people who were sent to forced labour and killed there
*1,516 people who were mobilized and later killed
*1,674 killed members of the resistance movement

Of the total number of the victims (excluding the killed members of the resistance movement), 11,521 were men, 3,768 were women, 1,283 were old people, and 1,327 were children.

Victims in Banat

The total number of the killed people in Banat was 7,513, including:
*2,211 people who were killed directly
*1,294 people who were sent to concentration camps and killed there
*1,498 people who were sent to forced labour and killed there
*152 people who were mobilized and later killed
*2,358 killed members of the resistance movement

Of the total number of the victims (excluding the killed members of the resistance movement), 4,010 were men, 631 were women, 243 were old people, and 271 were children.

Victims in Syrmia

The total number of the killed people in Syrmia was 28,199, including:
*9,805 people who were killed directly
*9,683 people who were sent to concentration camps and killed there
*491 people who were sent to forced labour and killed there
*1,618 people who were mobilized and later killed
*6,602 killed members of the resistance movement

Of the total number of the victims (excluding the killed members of the resistance movement), 14,484 were men, 3,662 were women, 1,279 were old people, and 2,172 were children.

1942 raid

The most notable war crime was the mass murder of the civilians, mostly of Serb and Jewish ethnicity, performed by the Hungarian Axis troops in 1942 raid in southern Bačka. Total number of civilians killed in the raid was 3,808, while places that were affected by the raid include Novi Sad, Bečej, Vilovo, Gardinovci, Gospođinci, Đurđevo, Žabalj, Lok, Mošorin, Srbobran, Temerin, Titel, Čurug, and Šajkaš. [Zvonimir Golubović, "Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj 1942. godine", Novi Sad, 1991. (pages 146, 147)]

The victims included 2,578 ethnic Serbs, 1,068 Jews, 64 Roma, 31 Rusyns, 21 Hungarians, and 15 Russians.

In January 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 region of Vojvodina. Serbian nationalist historian Zvonimir Golubović in his book about the raid claimed that Horthy himself was aware of the raid and approved its being carried out [Zvonimir Golubović, "Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj 1942. godine", Novi Sad, 1991. (page 194)] , despite this was denied half a century ago, immediately after WWII [Horthy was a witness at the Nuremberg Trials, all accusations were dropped against him. Horthy was never tried despite demands from Yugoslavia, both Americans, and Stalin denied those claims] [ 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)] Ilona Edelsheim-Gyulai: "Becsület és kötelesség", part I p.236 (Európa press, Budapest, 2001.) ISBN 963-07-6544-6] [http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/horthy/horthy.pdf Miklós Horthy: "Memoirs"] p. 235-236 ISBN 0966573439 (PDF)] . When Horthy later ordered an investigation about the raid, 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.

In 1943, the Hungarian leaders attempted to revive relations with western Allies, thus as part of such aims, Hungary organized a trial to several officers that were among those responsible for the raid. However, the officers were allowed to escape to Germany before their sentences were pronounced, and no matter that court proved their guilt, their sentences were not delivered since they were no longer in the country. [Zvonimir Golubović, "Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj 1942. godine", Novi Sad, 1991. (page 187)] 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 were also among those responsible for the raid, were never convicted.

Liberation struggle

The resistance movement against Axis occupation was started in summer of 1941 by the communists. However, the resistance in Banat and Bačka was soon defeated, while resistance in Syrmia had more success. Syrmian resistance movement was pulped into a mass people's uprising and a large liberated territory (that included about 40 villages) was created in Syrmia. On liberated territory, a partisan authority was organized, which included mass anti-fascist organizations, publishing activity, and education. Experiences of the resistance movement in Syrmia were in summer of 1944 transferred to Banat and Bačka, therefore before Soviet Red Army arrived in October 1944, Vojvodina already had its new institutions of people's administration. 15,000 fighters of the resistance movement were killed during the liberation struggle. The liberation movement was organized into 18 Vojvodinian brigades divided into 3 squadrons.

References

*Zvonimir Golubović, "Racija u Južnoj Bačkoj", 1942. godine, Novi Sad, 1991.
*Slobodan Ćurčić, "Broj stanovnika Vojvodine", Novi Sad, 1996.
*"Enciklopedija Novog Sada", Sveska 5, Novi Sad, 1996.
*Dimitrije Boarov, "Politička istorija Vojvodine", Novi Sad, 2001.
*"Autonomija Vojvodine - izabrani spisi, Politička teorija i praksa - knjiga 4", Centar PK SKV za političke studije i marksističko obrazovanje, Novi Sad, 1976.
*"Ustanak 1941. - 60 godina posle, govori i članci", Novi Sad, 2002.
*"Vojvodina u borbi - zbirka članaka iz narodnooslobodilačke borbe", Novi Sad, 1951.
* 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)

Notes

ee also

*Greater Hungary
*Greater Croatia
*Independent State of Croatia
*Banat, 1941-1944
*1944-1945 Killings in Bačka

External links

* [http://www.serbianna.com/columns/savich/058.shtml Carl Savich: Genocide in Vojvodina and Greater Hungary, 1941-1944.]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/world/europe/01hungary.html?_r=2&oref=login&oref=slogin Hungarian Is Faced With Evidence of Role in ’42 Atrocity]
* [http://www.balkan-archive.org.yu/kosta/ndh/ndh-chronology_of_fascism.html Chronology of the development of fascism and the anti-fascist struggle of the peoples of Yugoslavia 1941-1945]
* [http://belgrade.indymedia.org/print.php?id=17 Krv je tekla Novim Sadom] (in Serbian)
* [http://www.srpska-mreza.com/MAPS/Yugoslavia/YU-Nazi-division.jpgMap - occupation zones in Vojvodina]
* [http://terkepek.adatbank.transindex.ro/kepek/netre/211.gifMap - occupation zones in Vojvodina]
* [http://www.marxists.org/subject/yugoslavia/images/maps/1943-territories.jpgMap - liberated and semi-liberated territories in Vojvodina]