The Tragedy of the Hungarians of Transcarpathia

Administratively linked to the village of Galocs, this hamlet had, in 1944, 221 inhabitants. According to the local KMKSZ (president: Rakajsza Gyula), established on October 15, 1989, "no one was carried off from Batfa by the Stalinists". We could not find any material on this village in the district archives. Nor do we have any information on the number of men drafted into the Hungarian army or how many lost their lives in battle.

Joined administratively to Ungtarnoc, this little settlement had, in 1944, 495 inhabitants. According to the list of July 10, 1945 found in the district archives, 28 people were absent from the village; of these 7 - as per the compilers - were sent to Szambor, Szolyva and Turka.

A communication received from the local KMKSZ (presidents: Korpa Peter, Toth Laszlo) that was established on June 17 1989, of the men sent to concentration camps 3 died and 5 came back. 14 men lost their lives in action during W.W.II.

The activists of the KMKSZ initiated a movement toward the erection of a tombstone in the local graveyard.

Raised to township in 1957, this village, which stretches along the right bank of the Tisza, had 3498 inhabitants in 1944.

After a month of bloody battles and bombings, on November 23, 1944, the soviet army occupied the village, an important railroad junction. Within a few days, the Stalinists gathered the men who reported for field work and carried them off to Szolyva and from there - who knows? In the district archives we found a list which states that as of July 7, 1945, 74 men of military age were absent from the village. We have no information on how many died in W.W.II.

On November 26, 1989, the local KMKSZ (president: Halasz Jozsef) erected a monument in the local cemetery to the memory of the deported Hungarians and particularly to the 36 proven dead. The final list of names is not finished yet; a conscientious group of activists (Laczi Zoltan) is still trying to trace those who disappeared.

In 1944, the inhabitants of this hamlet numbered 505. The local KMKSZ, established April 16, 1989, (president: Gergely Zoltan) did not send us the list of the village's losses. All we know is that they erected a monument; to the memory of the victims of W.W.II and Stalinist terror.

In the district archives we found a list prepared on July 10, 1945 by the local judge and secretary containing 37 names of men, among them 27 subject to military draft, who were absent from the village. They also attached the list of 10 young cadets whose names were obviously kept on file. Their fate is unknown.

The inhabitants of this village amounted to 2526 in 1944. In the autumn of that year, the Stalinists carried off 313 men of whom 94 perished and 219 returned. Fifteen men were put on show trial; two died as political prisoners. During W.W.II, 10 men died in action. Found in the district archives, the list prepared on July 7, 1945 by the local judge and secretary contains the names of 321 men of military age who "resided in unknown 1ocations" at that time.

The local KMKSZ prepared its list with great care, survivors and the village's eminent elders (Fekete Jozsef, Tagyi Klara) checking off each name. The wholly identical names are individual people.

On November 9, 1991, the KMKSZ erected a monument, in the churchyard to the memory of the deportees, martyrs of Stalinism. On September 9 of the some year, they dedicated a memorial plague on the wall of the church honouring Balog Sandor, Protestant pastor, who was also victim of Stalinist tyranny.

Seat of a village council, this hamlet had 529 inhabitants in 1944. According to a communication by the local KMKSZ (president: Molnar Laszlo), "interestingly no one was deported from here" (supposedly thanks to the then local judge). W.W.II took the lives of 9 men.

On October 31, 1990 they dedicated a memorial in the churchyard of the reformed church to those who died in action in W.W.II. (The compilers of the list - Molnar Laszlo, Perjesi Mihaly - did not indicate the year of birth.)

Administratively linked to Kincseshomok, the inhabitants of this hamlet numbered 245 people. As per a communication of the local KMKSZ, established on October 25, 1990, "no deportations took place from this village in November 1944".

A list dated July 7, 1945 found in the district archives contains the names of 30 men of draft age who did not then reside in the village.

In 1944, there were 538 residents in this hamlet.

Established in 1991, the local KMKSZ (presidents: Tarczy Sandor, Komonyi Jozsef) have yet to send us the list of the hamlet's losses.

The material dated July 7, 1945 in the district archives shows that 33 draft-age men resided in unknown locations. It may be assumed that of these 9 were in the labour camps of Szolyva and Szambor. The local judge and secretary compiled the list; their signature is illegible. From these facts we cannot determine how many men lost their lives in action in W.W.II, or how many died in camps as civilians.

Its inhabitants counted 1469 people in 1944. According to an incomplete report dated July 6, 1945 found in the district archives, 52 draft age men resided in unknown places. The local KMKSZ established in 1989, (presidents: Varadi Imre, Bernath Csaba, Ur Sandor) tells us that 154 men were deported in November 1944. Of these 72 died in action or in the Various concentration camps.

On November 26, 1989 a memorial plaque was unveiled in the local cemetery honouring the village's martyrs.

Administratively linked to Nagygejoc, this village had 980 inhabitants in 1944. Two lists were prepared in Kisgejoc on July 7, 1945 and found in the district archives. On one figure the 53 names of men who, as soldiers, were absent from the village. The second list contains 29 names of men who, according to the local judge and secretary, were deported to the Szambor labourcamp.

The list of the village's losses compiled by the local. KMKSZ (president: Fegyverneki Ferenc) tells us that of the 82 men, 16 never returned from the camps and 19 died in action in W.W.II.

In November 1989 a wooden memorial was erected in the cemetery and on November 1. 1991 a memorial was dedicated to the victims of Stalinist tyranny.

Divided by the Ukrainian-Slovak border and administratively linked to Palagykomoroc, this hamlet had 319 residents in 1944. The local KMKSZ (president: Veres Peter) reckons that in the autumn of 1944, 15 men of draft age were carried off by the Stalinists; of these, 10 perished in camp and 3 died in action in W.W.II. We could find no material on Kisszelmenc in the district archives.

In the spring of 1992, the activists of the KMKSZ dedicated a monument in the local cemetery to the memory of the victims of Stalinism and W.W.II.

Belonging to the administration of Kincseshomok, this hamlet had 499 residents in 1944. No KMKSZ has been established here as yet.

A local resident, Totik Lajos reacted to our request and sent us the names of the hamlet's martyrs. In the autumn of 1944, according to the list found in the district archives, 40 draft age men were absent from this settlement. The remarks entered on this list by its compilers, the local judge and secretary, indicate that on December 26, 1944, of the 40 men 38 were deported to the camp in Szolyva. Our informer tells us that 11 of these perished there.

Inhabited by residents of mixed origins, this village had 890 people in 1944. In the autumn of 1944, 24 Hungarian men were carried off; of these, 15 perished in Stalin's camps. In W.W.II, 13 men died in action. The material on Korlathelmec found in the district archives shows that on July 7, 1945, 61 men of the village resided in unknown places.

On April 5, 1990, the KMKSZ of Korlathelmec (president: Sepela Maria) had a memorial dedicated in the local cemetery paid for by public contributions. They also had the names of the victims of W.W.II engraved on the marble plague. Aside from the Hungarians, Ukrainians, Ruthenians too contributed to the public subscription - it did not matter of what religion or whether they were members of the KMKSZ. Sepela Maria and Katona Zsigmond prepared the list of the village's losses. No year of birth was indicated.

Joined administratively to Kincseshonok, this hamlet had 454 inhabitants in 1944. According to the material dated July 11, 1945, found in the district archives, 31 men of draft age were carried off by the Stalinists; of these 28 resided in unknown places. Established on April 18, 1990, the local KMKSZ tells us that 3 men died in the Stalinist camps.

In their honour, a memorial was erected.

This largest village in Transcarpathia had 4007 residents in 1944. We know from documents in the district archives, that as per the list prepared by the local judge and secretary on July 6, 1945, 397 men of draft age resided in unknown places. Of the deportees, 92 died and 152 men lost their lives in W.W.II, as was reported by the local KMKSZ (president: Orosz Ildiko) established on April 9, 1989.

Stories concerning Nagydobrony are still circulating in the countries of Western Europe about the crimes committed by the advancing soviet troops: about how they slaughtered the inhabitants and razed the village to the ground by Napalm bombing. Among the intellectuals, Balla Gyula was the first in Hungary to deny this legend or horror story. Among Hungarians living in the West, Skultety Csaba, political writer, argued that the time has come to relegate this horror story to the other delusions and folk legends of history.

In the autumn of 1989, the activists of the KMKSZ brought from its hiding place in the cemetery the statue commemorating the dead of W.W.I. and restored it to its rightful place in the churchyard in the main square. In June 1991, they also erected a memorial to the martyrs of the village next to the reformed church.

In 1944, this village, which had the right to its own village council, had 1005 inhabitants. The material dated July 7, 1945, found in the district archives indicates that 103 men of draft age did not reside in the village. The local. KMKSZ (president: Rati Ferenc) informs us that among these deported in the autumn of 1944 14 men became victims of Stalinism and that in W.W.II, 24 men died in action.

In October of 1989 they placed a wooden memorial in the local cemetery and are planning a monument to honour their dead.

This village, administered jointly with Ungtarnoc, had 1305 inhabitants in 1944. The documents found in the district archives show that on July 1, 1945, 43 men, subject to military service, were absent from the village.

Nowadays, the number of Hungarians is negligible in this village inhabited mainly by Ukrainians and Slovaks.

Since no KMKSZ was formed here, we have no information on the losses of the village.

Situated along the border and between the Latorca and Ung rivers, the village had 811 inhabitants in 1944.

According to the facts gathered by the local KMKSZ, 21 men were deported in the autumn of 1944, of whom 18 died in camps. In W.W.II, 9 men lost their lives on the battlefield. We could not, unfortunately, find any material in the district archives relating to this village. Szanyi Ilona, the local organisation's president, sent us the list of the village's losses.

The activists of the KMKSZ dedicated a monument in the local churchyard to the memory of the victims of both Stalinist tyranny and the W.W.II.

Joined administratively to Galocs, this settlement had 568 residents in 1944. In November 1944, 42 men were carried off by the Stalinists, of whom 16 perished. Two men died in action in W.W.II.

Upon the urging of President, Ferencz Angela, in November 1989, the activists of the KMKSZ of Pallo erected a memorial in honour of the martyrs. The following survivors authenticated the list of the settlement's losses: Baki Jozsef, Csucska Istvan, Toth Istvan, Nagy Gyula, Kerek Geza, Czurko Imre.

Situated in the immediate vicinity of Szurte, the total inhabitants of Rat (Nagy-, Kis-) numbered 1163 people. The two villages were joined in 1945. Concerning Rat, we found in the district archives a list prepared on July 9, 1945, indicating that 40 men subject to military service did not reside in the village at the time.

A survey by the local KMKSZ (president: Vetroczky Ambrus) shows that 14 men were deported from the village; of these, 11 died in the camps. We have scant information on the victims of W.W.II One resident was brought to show trial.

A monument was erected in the church yard on November 26, 1989 and on October 2,1990 a plaque was unveiled there in memory of the martyrs.

This hamlet, within the administration of Ungtarnoc, had 322 inhabitants in 1944. A list dated July 10, 1945, found in the district archives, shows that 21 draft age non resided in unknown places.

The local KMKSZ (president: Kallai Erika) prepared the list of the hamlet's losses which indicates that in the autumn of 1944, 3 men were deported, of whom one died. Three men lost their lives in W.W.II.

The activists of the KMKSZ started the movement to place a tombstone in the local cemetery.

The inhabitants of this village numbered 829 people in 1944.

The material in the district archives, dated July 7, 1945, shows that 146 draft-age men resided either in the camp at Szolyva or in unknown places. In the autumn of 1944, 108 men were carried off of whom 58 perished. In the W.W.II, 12 men died in action. The committee of the KMKSZ of Szaloka, under the guidance of its president, Soos Kalman, prepared the list of the hamlet's losses on the basis of original sources, as well as the recollections of camp-fellows and ether survivors.

On November 26, 1989, they erected a tombstone in the local cemetery to the memory of the victims.

This village has an important historic past. It was, among other things, the home of Dobo Istvan; the "vanquisher of the Turks" where he lived out his life.

In 1944, its inhabitants numbered 2617 souls. The documents concerning Szerednye in the district archives show that as of July 6, 1945, 88 draft-age men were either in concentration camps or in unknown places.

Since no KMKSZ was formed here, we do not have the list of the village's losses. Nor do we have any information on how many men lost their lives in W.W.II.

The Hungarian families living here became assimilated; many moved to other settlements.

Having their own independent village council, Szurte's inhabitants numbered 1314 people in 1944.

Documents in the district archives indicate that on July 7, 1945, 93 men of military age were absent from the village. The activists of the local KMKSZ, established on October 10, 1989 (presidents: Katko Laszlo, Braun Jozsef) compiled here, also the list of those deported in the autumn of 1944. This shows the names of 21 men that were carried off; of those, 3 escaped on the way; one person was released and 10 never returned. In W.W.II, 23 men lost their lives in battle.

On March 21, 1991, a monument was erected in the churchyard of the local reformed church to the memory of the victims of Stalinist tyranny and those who died in the war.

Administratively linked to Szurte, in 1944 this village had 531 inhabitants. We found nothing concerning this village in the district archives.

Established in May 1990, the local KMKSZ (president: Szucs Sandor) tells us that in the autumn of 1944, 50 people were deported to Stalinist camps from this village. Of these, 5 died there and 45 came back. In W.W.II, 6 men lost their lives in action.

On November 26, 1989, a monument was dedicated to their memory in the local graveyard.

This village joined in administration to Kisdobrony, had 686 residents in 1944.

The documents found in the district archives indicate that as of July 6, 1945, 117 draft-age men were absent from the village. According to the survey of the KMKSZ activist of Kisdobrony, Ur Sandor, about 87 men were deported to Szolyva from this village. Of these, 37 died on the front or in various camps.

At the end of the '40s, the inhabitants of the village - perhaps among the very first in Transcarpathia - erected a monument in the local Protestant cemetery to the memory of all those deceased martyrs who were faithful members of the parish. No KMKSZ was established here.

Situated on the banks of the Tisza, this little settlement had 686 inhabitants in 1944.

From here, in the autumn of 1944, 53 bread-winning tillers of the soil were deported, among them four 17-year olds, that is minors, who never returned. From the material collected by Onodi Geza, president of the local KMKSZ, we can establish that 32 men died in the camps at Boriszovo and Orsa. During 1946-47, 21 drifted back home. Fabian Janos got the farthest from his homeland: he returned from Kom (ASSR). In W.W.II, only 9 soldiers lost their lives in battle. One man was brought to show trial.

Thanks to the KMKSZ of Tiszaasvany, the village erected a monument in the local cemetery to the memory of Stalinist martyrs.

The list in the district archives indicates that on July 9, 1945 94 men from Tiszaasvany, subject to military service, were absent from the village. The compilers of the list, the judge and secretary, made note of the fact that the men were carried off in separate groups to the concentration camp in Szolyva on November 18, 23, and 29, 1944, as well as some on December 3 and 10.

Located near the town of Csap in the area of the triple border, this village had, in 1944, 972 residents. The two lists found in the district archives (prepared by judge Berta Lajos; the secretary's name is illegible) indicate that on July 7, 1945, 62 men of the village were in Szambor or in unknown places.

The survey of the local KMKSZ (president: Balogh Gyula) shows that 43 men were carried off by the Stalinists of whom 19 died and 21 came back. We have no information concerning the losses of W.W.II.

On November 26, 1989 those who perished in the camps were symbolically buried and a wooden memorial was placed in the graveyard. A monument to their memory is planned.

In 1944, the residents of this hamlet lying along the (river) Ung numbered 411 souls. From the documents found in the district archives we learn that on July 6, 1945 48 draft-age men were absent from the village. Of these, 18 were taken to Szambor.

The local KMKSZ (president: Leco Erzsebet) did not send us the list of the village's losses.

Situated in the lower Carpathians along the banks of the river Ung, this town had, in 1944, 35,250 residents of which 27,397 were Hungarians, the rest being Ukrainian, Ruthenian, Russian or Slovakian.

The soviet army occupied Ungvr on October 27, 1944. The infamous resolution #0036 of the 4th Ukrainian Front dated November 13, 1944 ordering the deportation of Hungarian- and German-born men of draft ago was first published here by the Stalinists. It was printed in Hungarian and Russian in the erstwhile Miravcsik printing house. Barat Mihaly, Sr., a survivor, remembers thus the 2nd resolution of the commandant, whereby he orders, under severe penalty, the registration on November 14-16 of all Hungarian-born men at the commandant's office:

"After reading the proclamation stuck on the lampposts, I registered also. They sent us to the Teleki Street school where, after being searched by soldiers and officers, we were locked up in the big hall. We waited there until noon, when they took us through the fence to the churchyard of the Roman Catholic church. On November 19, 1944 at 20h30 we were marched out of the churchyard, opposite the post office, across the temporary bridge of Bozdos Street, then turning left in the direction of the road to Munkacs, toward Szedernye. We were overtaken by the trucks carrying the residents of Ungvar to the big meeting at Munkacs. They asked where we were going I replied: "YOU ought to know!".

Another survivor, Majorosi Bela, relates: "I was 19 years old during these events. I attended the Roman Catholic boys' school. What a strange coincidence that I was deported from this building! I was led to our former principal's office, to a soviet officer who was tall, a fine figure of a man. He asked me what my origins were. It did not even occur to me to deny my being Hungarian. After this, I was searched, then led to where there must have been around 30 other men. We were there the whole night; my mother managed to sneak in some food through the window. What struck us as strange, right from the beginning, was that we were all Hungarians".

We learned from Mrs. Asztalos Istvan that on November 23, 1944, they deported all the railroad men who came to Ungvar from Hungary; - they even carried off the rail maintenance men. Few survived life in the camps during winter.

On January 26, 1945, Hriczko Lajos fell ill and was sent home. His son is still keeping the certificate of release that was given to him when he was freed. This was signed by a colonel Jermilov, commander of the Szolyva concentration camp. The number D-23614 was given as field address of this place of collection.

The unsigned list, prepared by the local authorities in city hall in June 1945, and found in the district archives; speaks of 1266 draft-age men who were at that time in unknown places, or rather, as POWs, in camps in the Soviet Union, in Romania or Moldavia. Next to 217 names of men who, we may assume, were deported as civilians, the prison camps in Szolyva, Perecseny, Szanbor and Szanok are mentioned.

The KMKSZ of Ungvar, established in 1989 (presidents: Kover Gyorgy, Kiszely Tihamer) issued a proclamation asking for help from the citizens in the preparation of the list of the town's losses. As a result, we received several hundred letters. But even so, after 40 years, compiling the camp lists seems to be a daunting task in this overpopulated town where only about 10% of the inhabitants are Hungarians.

With the aid of friends and survivors (Barat Mihaly, Sr., Varga Gyula, Szemrad Emil), we can still form a picture of the events here. More than a hundred men died in W.W.II as Hungarian soldiers. In November 1944, about 1000 men were deported as civilians; of those around 100 perished.

In November 1989, under the leadership of the local KMKSZ, a monument was erected on the Ungvar Calvary to the memory of the victims of W.W.II and Stalinism. The dedication of a memorial is also planned in the same place Since then, a yearly commemorative meeting and ecumenical service are held in recollection of the Hungarian victims.

The Tragedy of the Hungarians of Transcarpathia