YUGOSLAV MINORITIES IN HUNGARY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700160382-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 8, 2011
• Sequence Number: 382
• Publication Date: March 5, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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MAR 1952 SS-OC
COUNTRY Hungary
SU6JECT Sociological - Yugoslav minorities
HOW
PUBLISHED Quarterly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Belgrade
DATE
PUBLISHED Tul-Sep 1953
DATE DfSF.SmAR 195k
N0. OF PAGES 6
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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Med,junarodni problemi (International AS'fairs), Vol 5, No 3
YUGOSLAV MCNORITIES IN HUNGARY
The followin re ort Miodrag Vlahovic
8 p presents the Yugoslav point of viex on
Yugoslav minorities Sn Hungary_]
Geography and Population
Yugoslav minorities in Hungary are scattered S'rom the Yugoslav-Hungarian
border to Budapest and from the Austrian-Hungarian border to Czechoslovakia,
as follows:
1. The Baja triangle -- comprising Baja, Bacsalmas, and vicinity -- is
an imaginary triangle formed by the Danube River and the Yugoslav-Hungarian
border on the left bank of the Danube. The area is populated by approximately
26,000 Croatians, whose national consciousness is fairly high.
2? Hungarian Baranya, mostly settled by Croatians; there are also a small
number of Serbians, totaling approximately 36,000.
3? Csanad Megye, settled by approximately 5,000 Serbians, whose national
consciousness is very high.
4. Somogy Megye, settled by 27,000 Croatians.
5? Zals Megye, settled by appraximstely 5,000 Croatians, who have been
considerably Hungarianized.
6. The Raba River valley, a triangle formed by the Austrian-Hungarian-
Yugoslav borders, settled by approximately 6,000 Slovenians. In contrast to
most of the other areas, the Raba valley is a compact settlement.
STATE
ARMY
NAVY NSRB ~~
AIR FBI
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valley and the Austrian-HunuW strip of land, extending from the Mura River
According to the Austrian censusnofolder, over Neusiedler Inke, to Bratislava.
the entire population, were Croatians.3~gfter~WorlasWBr'I?Ta18 Percent of
18,000 Croatians scattered in three me , PProximately
Hungarian census lists a much smaller numberrof Burgenland CroatiansWe Accorde
ing to Hungarian official figures for 1930, there xere 10,432 Croatians in
all three rnegyek.
8? A total of 7,000 Croatians and Serbians are settled in the Budapest
area. National consciousness is not very high in this group.
The size of the Yugoslav minority in Hungary has been influenced by vari-
ous factors. After the Turkish defeat ir. Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries,
some of the Serbians living in northern and central Hungary moved to the
Yugoslav sections of Barka, Baranja, Srem, and the Banat. In like manner, ap-
proximately l0,Op0 Serbians moved from Hungary to Yugoslavia after World War I.
Although figures on Yugoslav minorities in Hungary vary according to the
source, unofficial figures since World War II place the total at 130,000.
Hungarian iknationnlizat'on Policies
Although denationalization policies were initiated before World War I,
such as the law passed in 1379 which called i'or all tenchers to know Hungarian,
the most stringent treasures were enacted in the period between the two world
wars.
In the latter part of the 19th Century, there was some Southern Slav
cultural life in Baja. There were cultural societies, and books and other
publications. In ndditiar, there was a strong movement under way to intro-
duce the Serbo-Croatian lmrguage into the schools and churches. In August
121, after Serbian Artr~ units withdrew from Baja, nil forms of cultural activ-
ity either died or were suppressed. There were no minority schools, except in
-the larger'villat;es (BiY,uc, Iiacr?~rr, Szentivnn, and others) of the Bajn triangle.
Instead, there were so-called "Christian rending rooms" and similar organi-
zations. Ire addition, Lhere were a number of amateur societies which occasion-
ally put on some type of entertainment or show.
Croatians in Burgenland lived under mere favorable circumstances. Courses
were taught in their own lan~-uage, although the textbooYs used dated back to
the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The Slovenians of the Raba River valley lived under difficult conditions .?
Before 'Aorld War I, Sloveninn books had been published in Monostor, but after
the war, the Sloveninn language was used only in liturgical books.
The Serbians had 14 parochial schools of their own, with approximately 18
tenchers. In 1937, 150 pupils of the Serbian nunority were registered in Hun-
garian secondary schools. These pupils and approximately 100 Serbian elemen-
tary school pupils received religious instruction 2 hours per week in Serbo-
Croatian. In addition, there were small farm cooperatives, choral groups, and
similar groups.
Hungarian policies were obviously directed toward Hungarlanizing the Yugo-
slav minority. For example, the requirement that members of the Yugoslav
minority who wanted a government post were obliged to Hungarianize their
first name and surname.
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As a result of this expression of confidence and for the following reasons,
Yugoslavia's popularity in Rungary increased greatly after World War II.
German concentration camps in iiungary were filled with members of the Yugoslav
minority as well as Hungarian citizens. Victories of the Yugoslav Arr,~y af-
fected the Yugoslavs in Hungary, particularly those settled in the Baja tri-
angle and northern Baranya. Approximately 300 volunteered for the Yugoslav
Army and fought in battles along the Srem and on other fronts, while a con-
siderable number ,Joined the Red Arcryy.
Immediately following the war, the desire of the Yugoslavs in Hungary to
have their own schools became obvious. The status of schools for the Yugo-
slav minorit;; was as follows:
Year
No of Schools and Departments
T
otal No of Pupils
191+5
25
5a5
1946
32
bU0
194f3
60
1, OSO
In addition, there was a Serbo-Crostian teachers' school in Pecs.
The education of the Yugoslavs in the national spirit was visibly improved
with the formation of the Anti-Fascist Front of Slavs in Hungary and, later,
with the publication of Nase novine (Our Newspaper).
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coxFl~~y
The Anti-Fascist Front of Slavs in Hungary, which ch
October 1947, to DSJS (D
anged its name in
emokratski Savez Juznih Slovens u Madarako
cratic Association of Southern Slave in Hungary), was founded in early 1945,
It was the onl J, Demo-
gY 1946, it coy political orga,iization of the Yugoslav minority in Hungary,
had its own sta~tutee whichoitl organizations and a membership of 13,000,
promulgated in ray 1946 at the Congress in gala,
The association was divided into a Yugoslav and a Slovak section, headed
by a central administration. The basic aims of the organization were to cam-
provide support to the
paign for the implementpa~o~essivedemocratie Yugoslav national minority and
Until the publication of LcO~nist7 forces in Hun
in $ungar Nase n~ as the the organ of the southern Slavs.
y, Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian artirlea had. appeared in the Slovak-
language newspaper Sloboda. On 20 October 1 46
as a weekly with a circulation of 9 ,Nase novine be
3,500? The editor-i~ of ~sn Publication
Antun Rob:
The life of the Yugoslav national minority began to develo
fields. Amateur sad folklore groups sprang up Sn all areas where
lived. By early 1948 P in other
these a , there were 18 theater groups and 2 Yugoslavs
yeas. 5 reading rooms in
Publishing activities were more trying. Until the publication of the
Cominform Resolution in mid-1948, only three publications had n
These included two almanacs in Serbo-Croatian and a brochure for Slovenians
of the Raba River valle PPeared..
Book Y, entitled Slovensaa narodna kn
The scarcity of reading setter was due to the faclathatlthene People's
went would not appropriate funds for the cultural life of the
The lack, however, was alleviated to a certain extent b gOVern-
publications from Y minorities.
ugoslavia. Y Bifte of books and
After World War II, the political situation in Hungary was such that for
a long time it was hard to tell who was ir, power, This was most obvious in
small towns and villages, where there was no organized democratic
strengthen the government, The Yugoslav minority undertook to fipbt for their
t?ighta and to Power to
wns assumed wouldvsue support to the Communist Party of Hungary, which it
pport the interests of the proletariat. At the Second
Provincial Conference held on 5 October 1947 in Bacsalmas, the DSJS
resolution on the following points:
passed a
1. Enemy remnants in the state organization prevent the execution of
laws and decrees on the position of the national minorities, and it is requested
that these remnants be purged.
2. Discrimination based on sex, religion, or nationality is severely
punishable by law,
3? The People's Republic of Hungary assures every nations,lity living
within its borders of educational possibilities in its native .Language and
development of its ,national culture.
The conference also protested that the Ministry of Education had not ful-
filled its promises. Approximately half the localities settled by Yugoslavs
had not been given schools of their own, and Yugoslav youth were being Hungar-
ianized. There was not a single school for the Yugoslav minority in Somogy,
Zala, Gyor, and Sopron megyek.
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50X1-HUM ,, ,,,,;~?
The conference toot. n stand on the question of employment of representa-
tives of the minorities by the government, sa follows:
1. If the Slavs were to have representation in autonomous agencies and
in the government, terrorization and denationalization of the Slavs could
not go unpunished.
2? The Southern Slavs must have proportionate representation in town,
jaras, and mete councils.
3? The law on minorities must be implen~rted Sn all areas inhabited by.
the Southern Slav minority.
In l1Y.e rranner, the official policies of the Hungarian Communist Party,
later Down as the MDP (Magyar Dolgozok Partja, Hungarian WorY.ers' Party),
demonstrated that it was a cover for the ordinary police.
On 9 Nay 191+8, the MDP announced the following: "As regards national
minorities (Southern S1ava, Rumanians, Slova};s, etc.) who live in Hungary,
the party will pledge itself to gradually assure their cultural advancement;
education in their native tongue; full freedom for their cultural, social,
and political organizations; and freedom of cultural e:cchange and covm:uiica-
tions with their neighboring mother countries."
Barely 2 months passed before lenders of the MDP becar>r ringleaders in
suppressing the rights of the Yugoslav minority, and in carrying out incredi-
ble police terrorism dictated from Moscow.
Yugoslav Minority-Victim of the Cominform Resolution
When the Cominform Resolution was published, Yugoslavia and everything
pertaining to it xas attacked by the Kreril.in. The Yugoslav national minority
sided witJ~ the Yugoslav people.
The police, particularly the AVH (Allanrvedelmi Hatosag, State Security
Authority) and the party leadership had the i'inal word in the campaign against
the Southern Slav minority. The trouble began when Mihaly Farkas, deputy
general secretary of the party and m?nister of the Hungarian government, called
upon Anton Rob, general secretary of the DSJS and the only representative of
the Yugoslav minority in the parliament. Farkas attempted to convince Rob
that he should declare him,elf against the Central Conmdttee of the Yugoslav
Communist Pax?ty, and contribute artlcles in this vein to Szabad Nep and Nase
novine.. Unsuccessful in this attempt, Farkas xithdrew Robs mandate. Other
members of the Executive Council of the DSJS were pressured to state that they
opposed the Yugoslav Con?nunist Party, end xere imprisoned if they refused.
Zn July 1948, tkre Minister of Internal Affairs issued nn order abolishing the
autonomy of the DSJS.
A bitter struggle developed between the powerful police system and the
defenseless minority. The following is a faint picture of what ensued. On
10 July 1948, a few days prior to the order to abolish the DSJS, the Central
Administration of the DSJS made an ennouncemeut that Milutin Brcan, member
of the Central Administration of the DSJS, called on Aladar Karpinski, owner
of the printing office where Nase novine was being published. The issue was
to publish the DSJS protest against the withdrawal oi' Rob's mandate, other
protest material, and a resolution made by Southern Slav teachers in Pecs and
some DSJS organizations. Brcan was informed that earlier a police major had
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corrrl_ D~~L
visited the ofi'ice and descended to see rdase novine. idhenhe suw that the
was in Serbo-Croatian, he upset the type an~ rbada the
He had no written order to su Paper
consult the PPort his action, but said thatethe DSJSication.
police if it had any complaint. should
Tn a note dated 27 August 1948, the Yugoslav government made a formal
protest against suspension of the paper and abolishment of the DSJS.
stated that on 16 July Janos Duska was assigned as co
administration b The note
y the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Duskaiforcedlytorga~zed
a congress of the DSJS; those who attempted to defend Antun Rob and the former
management were thrown out.
Until the publication of the Cominform Resolution, the Y
in Iiungary had been one of the pillars of Hungary's pro
the gun ugoslav minority
The garian police system saw its greatest ene gi'essive forces, but
police organized a campaign mobilizing lessen authoritiesoinflamedowith
chauvinist rage. In the spring of 1949, the police organized a census of the
Yugoslav minority. The census was verified by organs of the Ministry of Inter-
nal Afi'airs. In the census, answers had to be supplied to the following
questionc: (1) Does the undersigned have relatives in Yugoslavia? (2) Does
he have contact with these relatives or anybody else in Yugoslavia
is the nature of such contact? (3) ;d}iat is his attitude toward Yugoslavia
after the Comini'orm Resolution;' + and xhst
As a result of the census, difficult days ensued for the Y i
Many were arrested, searched, flogged, or removed f
knew that the minority in the Ba'a ugos_av minority.
rom :.heir posts. The police
though "resolutio:s" were ~ triangle supported Yugoslav policies. A1_
Yugoslav leadership, the mernberc of p1,etNungariansCominform knewitYL~ta beset
resolutions were the result of police pressure,
In their tyranny over the Yugoslav minority, members of the Hungarian
Cominform resorted to the assistance of military units. In the village of
Cikerij,homes were searched by soldie:?s and public hearit:gs were held. By
nud-1949, Persecution of the Yugoslavs had assumed such proportions Chat it
become necessary for Ffungariar. internal and foreign propaganda to try to justii'
its inimical policies toward minorities. In September 1949, t:he Hwigariun
Cominform with the ucs'~ y
i..tnnce of ldoscow organized the Rajk trials. However,
neither t},e Raj]: trials, similar trials, mass arrests of the Yugoslav minority,
nor other ,,aces mes could bring about the desired results.
Hungarian authorities considered it necessary to undertake more stringent
reprisals. In the sun~ner of 1949, rumors were spread that because of pro-Tito
sympathies many Southern Slavs would be imorisoned or deported into the
interior of Hw:t;ary? In the latter part oi' July 1950, these rt,mors turned
into reality. On 23 July, the police drove into the city of Bacsalnas all
families ciesi~nated 1'or deportation from the border sector between the Danube
and Tisza :?ivers? On the following day, approxirately 2,000 members of the
minority were accompanied by several police groups to an un}:nown destination.
Other megyek (Baranya, Somogy, Zala, and others) soon fell under she Coffinform
attack.
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