This Was the Final Stop

This was the final stop

Actions against
Germans and Hungarians leading to fatalities in the Carpathian Basin

1944

1949

and

between

Title

“Tꢋꢅꢇ w ꢊꢇ ꢈꢋꢃ ﬁꢆꢊ l ꢇꢈꢀ p ”
A c ꢈꢅꢀꢆꢇ ꢊꢂꢊꢅꢆꢇꢈ Gꢃꢁꢌꢊꢆꢇ ꢊꢆ d H u ꢆꢂꢊꢁꢅꢊꢆꢇ l ꢃꢊ d ꢅꢆꢂ ꢈꢀ ꢍꢊꢈꢊ l ꢅꢈꢅꢃꢇ
ꢅꢆ ꢈꢋꢃ Cꢊꢁ p ꢊꢈꢋꢅꢊꢆ Bꢊꢇꢅꢆ ꢉꢃꢈ w ꢃꢃꢆ 1944 ꢊꢆ d 1949

Published by the Pécs-Baranya Ethnic Circle of Germans in Hungary with the support of the book publishing of

Head of publication

Matkovits-Kreꢀ Eleonóra

Editor-in-chief

Bognár Zalán

Editor

Márkus Beáta

Translator

Papp Eszter

Cover

M. Lovász Noémi’s work of art titled “Fꢀꢁꢂꢃꢄꢅꢆꢂ ꢅꢇ ꢈꢀ ꢉꢊꢆꢅꢇꢋ, ꢁꢃꢌꢃꢌꢉꢃꢁꢅꢆꢂ ꢅꢇ ꢈꢀ ꢍꢁꢃꢃ...”

Published by

Kontraszt Plusz Kft. www.kontraszt.hu

ISBN 978-963-88716-6-4
Pécs-Baranya Ethnic Circle of Germans in Hungary

Postal address: 55 Rákóczi str. H - 7621
Tel./fax: +36 72 213 453
Tax ID: 19031202-1-02 Bank account no: 50400113-11000695

www.nemetkor.hu [email protected]

Pécs, 2015.
English edition 2016.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................................................................5 Foreword....................................................................................................................................................................................6

Mass deportation of civilians from the Carpathian Basin to the Soviet Union – Malenky Robot��9

Zꢊ l áꢆ Bꢀꢂꢆáꢁ Mꢊꢇꢇ d ꢃ p ꢀꢁꢈꢊꢈꢅꢀꢆ ꢀꢍ c ꢅvꢅ l ꢅꢊꢆꢇ ꢍꢁꢀꢌ ꢈꢋꢃ Cꢊꢁ p ꢊꢈꢋꢅꢊꢆ Bꢊꢇꢅꢆ ꢍꢀꢁ ꢍꢀꢁ c ꢃ d l ꢊꢉꢀ u ꢁ ꢅꢆ ꢈꢋꢃ Sꢀvꢅꢃꢈ Uꢆꢅꢀꢆ, w ꢅꢈꢋ p ꢃꢁꢇ p ꢃ c ꢈꢅvꢃꢇ ꢈꢀ Cꢃꢆꢈꢁꢊ l -Eꢊꢇꢈꢃꢁꢆ ꢊꢆ d Sꢀ u ꢈꢋ-Eꢊꢇꢈꢃꢁꢆ E u ꢁꢀ p ꢃ................................................................................................. 1 0

Zꢊ l áꢆ Bꢀꢂꢆáꢁ Mꢊꢇꢇ d ꢃ p ꢀꢁꢈꢊꢈꢅꢀꢆ ꢀꢍ c ꢅvꢅ l ꢅꢊꢆꢇ ꢍꢁꢀꢌ p ꢀꢇꢈ-Tꢁꢅꢊꢆꢀꢆ H u ꢆꢂꢊꢁy ꢍꢀꢁ ꢍꢀꢁ c ꢃ d l ꢊꢉꢀ u ꢁ ꢅꢆ ꢈꢋꢃ Sꢀvꢅꢃꢈ Uꢆꢅꢀꢆ .................................2 4

Láꢇz l ó Köꢈꢃ l ꢃꢇ Tꢋꢃ d ꢃ p ꢀꢁꢈꢊꢈꢅꢀꢆ ꢀꢍ H u ꢆꢂꢊꢁꢅꢊꢆꢇ ꢊꢆ d Gꢃꢁꢌꢊꢆꢇ ꢍꢁꢀꢌ Fꢃ l vꢅ d ék ꢍꢀꢁ ꢍꢀꢁ c ꢃ d l ꢊꢉꢀ u ꢁ ꢅꢆꢈꢀ ꢈꢋꢃ Sꢀvꢅꢃꢈ Uꢆꢅꢀꢆ............................. 63

Gyöꢁꢂy D up kꢊ S u ꢉ-Cꢊꢁ p ꢊꢈꢋꢅꢊꢆ d ꢃ p ꢀꢁꢈꢊꢈꢅꢀꢆꢇ ꢍꢀꢁ “Mꢊ l ꢃꢆky ꢁꢀꢉꢀꢈ”...........................................................................................................7 1

Jáꢆꢀꢇ Kꢁꢅꢇꢈóꢍ M u ꢁá d ꢅꢆ Dꢃ p ꢀꢁꢈꢊꢈꢅꢀꢆ ꢍꢀꢁ “ꢌꢊ l ꢃꢆky ꢁꢀꢉꢀꢈ” ꢍꢁꢀꢌ ꢈꢋꢃ ꢊꢁꢃꢊꢇ ꢊꢆꢆꢃxꢃ d ꢈꢀ Rꢀꢌꢊꢆꢅ ꢊ . ............................................................................ 9 0

R ud ꢀ l ꢍ Wꢃꢅꢇꢇ Dꢃ p ꢀꢁꢈꢊꢈꢅꢀꢆ ꢀꢍ Gꢃꢁꢌꢊꢆꢇ ꢀꢍ ꢈꢋꢃ H u ꢆꢂꢊꢁꢅꢊꢆ Sꢀ u ꢈꢋ l ꢊꢆ d ꢇ ꢈꢀ ꢈꢋꢃ Sꢀvꢅꢃꢈ Uꢆꢅꢀꢆ 1944 - 194 5................................................ 1 06

Concentration camps in the Soviet Union and their captives........................................................................................108

Gyöꢁꢂy D up kꢊ Cꢀꢆ c ꢃꢆꢈꢁꢊꢈꢅꢀꢆ ꢊꢆ d l ꢊꢉꢀ u ꢁ c ꢊꢌ p ꢇ ꢅꢆ ꢈꢋꢃ Sꢀvꢅꢃꢈ Uꢆꢅꢀꢆ .................................................................................................... 1 08

Jáꢆꢀꢇ Kꢁꢅꢇꢈóꢍ M u ꢁá d ꢅꢆ Lꢅꢍꢃ ꢊꢆ d d ꢃꢊꢈꢋ ꢅꢆ p ꢀ w ꢊꢆ d ꢅꢆꢈꢃꢁꢆꢌꢃꢆꢈ c ꢊꢌ p ꢇ ꢀꢍ ꢈꢋꢃ Sꢀvꢅꢃꢈ Uꢆꢅꢀꢆ ................................................................................. 1 2 4

Eﬀorts made in the interest of forced labourers,

their return home per each region .....................................................................................................................................140

Zꢊ l áꢆ Bꢀꢂꢆáꢁ Iꢆ H u ꢆꢂꢊꢁ y . ..................................................................................................................................................................... 141

Gyöꢁꢂy D up kꢊ Iꢆ S u ꢉ-Cꢊꢁ p ꢊꢈꢋꢅꢊ ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 58

Jáꢆꢀꢇ Kꢁꢅꢇꢈóꢍ M u ꢁá d ꢅꢆ Iꢆ Rꢀꢌꢊꢆꢅꢊ ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1 6 9

Regional Afterlife of Malenky Robot – in documentaries, in public view, monuments............................................176

Zꢊ l áꢆ Bꢀꢂꢆáꢁ Iꢆ H u ꢆꢂꢊꢁy w ꢅꢈꢋ ꢊꢆ ꢀ u ꢈ l ꢀꢀk ꢉꢃyꢀꢆ d ꢈꢋꢃ ꢉꢀꢁ d ꢃꢁꢇ............................................................................................................. 1 76

Gyöꢁꢂy D up kꢊ Iꢆ S u ꢉ-Cꢊꢁ p ꢊꢈꢋꢅꢊ w ꢅꢈꢋ ꢊꢆ ꢀ u ꢈ l ꢀꢀk ꢉꢃyꢀꢆ d ꢈꢋꢃ ꢁꢃꢂꢅꢀꢆ......................................................................................................203

Jáꢆꢀꢇ Kꢁꢅꢇꢈóꢍ M u ꢁá d ꢅꢆ Iꢆ Rꢀꢌꢊꢆꢅꢊ ......................................................................................................................................................................235

Other actions and measures with fatalities against Germans and Hungarians,

not linked to “Malenky robot”��241

Felvidék (Czechoslovakia) ..................................................................................................................................................242

Láꢇz l ó Dꢃák Dꢃ p ꢀꢁꢈꢊꢈꢅꢀꢆ ꢊꢆ d ꢍꢀꢁ c ꢃ d l ꢊꢉꢀ u ꢁ ꢀꢍ ꢈꢋꢃ H u ꢆꢂꢊꢁꢅꢊꢆ ꢃꢈꢋꢆꢅ c ꢌꢅꢆꢀꢁꢅꢈy ꢍꢁꢀꢌ Fꢃ l vꢅ d ék/U pp ꢃꢁ H u ꢆꢂꢊꢁy ꢈꢀ Bꢀꢋꢃꢌꢅꢊ ꢊꢆ d Mꢀꢁꢊvꢅꢊ, 194 5- 1949 ............................................................................2 4 2

Sub-Carpathia (Soviet Union).............................................................................................................................................258

Gyöꢁꢂy Dꢐ p kꢊ NKVD ꢀꢁꢎꢃꢁ ꢈꢀ ﬁꢏꢈꢃꢁ ꢀꢐꢈ ꢋꢅꢂꢋꢏy ꢋꢊzꢊꢁꢎꢀꢐꢇ ꢃꢏꢃꢌꢃꢆꢈꢇ......................................................................................................258

Gyöꢁꢂy Dꢐ p kꢊ NKVD’ꢇ ꢁꢃꢈꢊꢏꢅꢊꢈꢅꢀꢆꢇ ꢊꢂꢊꢅꢆꢇꢈ ꢏꢃꢊꢎꢅꢆꢂ ꢅꢆꢈꢃꢏꢏꢃ c ꢈꢐꢊꢏꢇ..........................................................................................................260

Gyöꢁꢂy Dꢐ p kꢊ Tꢋꢃ ꢐꢆꢏꢊ w ꢍꢐꢏ ꢁꢐꢏꢅꢆꢂꢇ ꢀꢍ ꢈꢋꢃ Eꢌꢃꢁꢂꢃꢆ c y Cꢀꢐꢁꢈ................................................................................................................26 1

Gyöꢁꢂy Dꢐ p kꢊ Tꢋꢃ ꢀꢁꢎꢃꢁ ꢀꢍ ꢁꢃꢇꢃꢄꢏꢃꢌꢃꢆꢈ ꢀꢍ Gꢃꢁꢌꢊꢆ ꢊꢆꢎ Hꢐꢆꢂꢊꢁꢅꢊꢆ ꢍꢊꢌꢅꢏꢅꢃ ꢇ . .......................................................................................265

Transylvania, Partium, Eastern part of Banat, Southern part of Maramures (Romania)...........................................267

Lꢃvꢃꢆꢈꢃ Bꢃꢆkő Aꢆꢈꢅ-Hꢐꢆꢂꢊꢁꢅꢊꢆ ꢊꢈꢁꢀ c ꢅꢈꢅꢃꢇ ꢅꢆ ꢈꢋꢃ ꢊꢐꢈꢐꢌꢆ ꢀꢍ 1944 ꢅꢆ Tꢁꢊꢆꢇyꢏvꢊꢆꢅ ꢊ . .............................................................................. 267

Lꢃvꢃꢆꢈꢃ Bꢃꢆkő Hꢐꢆꢂꢊꢁꢅꢊꢆꢇ ꢊꢆꢎ Gꢃꢁꢌꢊꢆꢇ ꢅꢆꢈꢃꢁꢆꢃꢎ ꢅꢆ ꢈꢋꢃ ꢊꢐꢈꢐꢌꢆ ꢀꢍ 1944 ............................................................................................285

Lꢃvꢃꢆꢈꢃ Bꢃꢆkő Cꢊ p ꢈꢅvꢅꢈy ꢅꢆ ꢈꢋꢃ Rꢀꢌꢊꢆꢅꢊꢆ c ꢊꢌ p ꢇ ꢊꢇ ꢁꢃﬂꢃ c ꢈꢃꢎ ꢉy ꢌꢃꢌꢀꢁꢅꢃꢇ ...........................................................................................306

Délvidék (Yugoslavia) .........................................................................................................................................................327

Rꢐꢎꢀꢏꢍ Wꢃꢅꢇꢇ Cꢀꢌꢌꢐꢆꢅꢇꢈ ꢂꢃꢆꢀ c ꢅꢎꢃ ꢊꢂꢊꢅꢆꢇꢈ ꢈꢋꢃ Gꢃꢁꢌꢊꢆꢇ ꢀꢍ ꢈꢋꢃ Déꢏvꢅꢎé k . ........................................................................................... 327

Bꢊꢁꢉꢊꢁꢊ Bꢊꢆk Fꢁꢀꢌ ꢈꢋꢃ ꢇꢃ c ꢁꢃꢈ ꢁꢊꢅꢎ ꢈꢀ ꢈꢋꢃ c ꢊꢌ p ꢇ – Tꢋꢀꢐꢂꢋꢈꢇ ꢀꢆ ꢈꢋꢃ ꢌꢊꢇꢇ kꢅꢏꢏꢅꢆꢂ ꢀꢍ ꢈꢋꢃ Hꢐꢆꢂꢊꢁꢅꢊꢆꢇ ꢏꢅvꢅꢆꢂ ꢅꢆ ꢈꢋꢃ Déꢏvꢅꢎék (Sꢀꢐꢈꢋꢃꢁꢆ Tꢃꢁꢁꢅꢈꢀꢁy ) . .....................................................................................33 1

Resumes��341 Bibliography ��348

Mass deportation of civilians from the Carpathian Basin to the Soviet Union – Malenky Robot................................................................................................................................349

Other actions and measures with fatalities against Germans and Hungarians, not linked to “Malenky robot” ...........................................................................................359

Supplement��362

Acknowledgements

The Pécs-Baranya Ethnic Circle for Hungarian Germans would like to express its thanks to all those who contributed to this volume and thus to the expanding literature on “malenky robot”, the topic we have been researching for years.

Years have passed since we ﬁrst set the aim to thoroughly research and then present to the general public the forgoꢁen history of the deportation of civilian population into la-

bour camps at the end and following the second world war. Our work has been quite fruitful, which is well illustrated by the recently published books, inaugurated monu-

ments, ﬁlms, and events organized (conferences, book presentations, reader-writer meetings, and the Trauma exhibition opened in 2013 in Pécs). We have met hundreds of the

victims and interviewed them almost in the last hour; we have visited the places of the

tragedies on our field trips even though at most places there are no monuments or even flowers on the silent graves of the victims. We aimed to involve as many people into the research as possible, be it members of different generations, or people living across bor-

ders; we wished to reach isolated researchers who are working on the topic. The present volume is the result of this work. Just a glance at the table of contents tells the reader that the majority of the book is about regions that no longer belong to Hungary, yet the civilian population that found themselves outside the new borders became the victims of various atrocities exactly because they were born Hungarian or German. Their only guilt was their origin, to quote the title of one of our previous books. The present volume is not a monograph; we are proud to introduce is as the product of international cooperation, only made possible thanks to the help and research of our partners. Therefore, I ought to start the acknowledgements with them: I need to express

our thanks to the researchers who contributed their valuable papers to this volume. We

also express our thanks to those who made our research possible, especially the Interna-

tional Association of Gulag Researchers. We also appreciate the help of the German ethnic minority local governments that helped us, those who presented their talks, ﬁlms,

articles and comments at our events, and those who participated in our study trips.

We wish to thank the survivors who shared those tragic memories with us, and by doing so helped us beꢁer understand the events and consequently we could present them to

the younger generations more accurately, and at the same time lending courage to other survivors who are still silent about what happened to them, as those events caused deep scars and a fear that lasts even today in those who experienced them.

We are also grateful to the public collections, research sites, publications and educational institutions that contributed to the scientiﬁc value of this volume, and helped us reveal

the historical context beyond the personal experiences, the international connections and

political background that were unknown to the survivors, so that we can beꢁer under-

stand the underlying reasons of the events. Although a detailed understanding does not undo the past, we need to understand what happened, so that we can draw the correct conclusions, and then state: nothing like this can ever happen again. Finally, we would like to express our thanks to the book publishing fund of the Na-

tional Cultural Fund of Hungary that provided ﬁnancial support for the publication of

this volume.

Bꢃáꢈꢊ Máꢁkꢐꢇ, ꢃꢎꢅꢈꢀꢁ
Pé c ꢇ-Bꢊꢁꢊꢆyꢊ Eꢈꢋꢆꢅ c Cꢅꢁ c ꢏꢃ ꢍꢀꢁ Hꢐꢆꢂꢊꢁꢅꢊꢆ Gꢃꢁꢌꢊꢆꢇ

5

Foreword

“The truth will set you free”¹
Just the same way as the truth will set you free, lies or keeping quiet about the truth will shackle you. These kinds of mental and spiritual shackles were forced upon Hungary by the Soviet oppression and the subsequent communist-socialist dictatorship. This dictatorship had the aim of erasing our past, and rewriting it according to its own interest, and was quite successful in doing so. Thus generations grew up learning about a suppressed

or falsiﬁed history which deprived people of their real historical past, their roots. During

the more than 40 years of the socialist era in Hungary and in the surrounding countries it was forbidden to talk about the masses of innocent people who were deported to the Soviet Union without any court sentence. They were collected for identity check or with the

pretext of “Malenky Robot”, i.e. a liꢁle work, and they were deported; or they were con-

victed on made-up charges and sentenced to serve in a work camp. Also, the Hungari-

ans and Germans who found themselves outside the Trianon borders suﬀered atrocities,

internment and even murder. All these were parts of the history of the Carpathian Basin

that were doomed to be forgoꢁen. What is more, the victims were considered the guilty

ones. It is a shame on our nation that we did not pay tribute to the victims. The lack or scarcity of historical remembering distorts our national identity, which leads to bad decisions and eventually the moral and economic deterioration of the nation. And those who dared talk about these undisclosed tragedies soon experienced the initially deadly and later (after the 60ies) easing terror of the socialist periods of Rákosi and then Kádár. Instead of democratic elections, that system was based on fear, as a consequence of which people only dared to talk about these tragedies at home, even if these

tragedies aﬀected hundreds of thousands of families.

However, the communist-socialist terror is not the only reason why there was no book published before about the deadly actions against Germans and Hungarians. The other

reason was that both nations ﬁnished the Second World War on the defeated side. Vae victis! Which means: woe to the vanquished! Indeed, at the end of the Second World War the Germans and Hungarians experienced the harsh reality of this ancient Roman

saying, which lead to a certain feeling of common destiny of Germans and Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin. This is so even if the Soviet Union defeated Romania, Slovakia

and Croatia, too, not only Germany and Hungary. Well, Romania joined the Allied Pow-

ers, more precisely the Soviet Union on 23^rdAugust 1944, and with this step it could partly make the Allied Powers forget that it used to be the loyal ally of Hitler. It also needed

to be forgoꢁen that a military fascist dictatorship was introduced in Romania based on

the Iron Guard and led by Marshal Antonescu, who wanted himself to be called Lead-

er (conducator), just like the Führer. It also had to be forgoꢁen that starting from 22^ndJune 1941 it joined forces with Germany and aꢁacked the Soviet Union, it took part in the

war with two full armies on the side of the biggest German allied forces, and annexed Bessarabia, North-Bukovina and Transdniestria from the Soviet Union and carried out bloody pogroms lead by the Iron Guard against the Jews living in the occupied territories and in Romania. However, Slovakia did not switch sides, and did not even sign a cease

ﬁre agreement with the Allied Powers as Hungary did. What is more, the fascist Slovakia

1

John 8:32

6

lead by Tiso was considered to be an example state of Hitler’s, joined forces with the Nazi

Germany and aꢁacked Poland in September 1939. Hitler awarded the head of the Slovak Forces, Ferdinand Čatloš with an Iron Cross for this. Slovakia was one of the ﬁrst states to start deporting Jews in 1942. Eventually it became a victorious state and the winning

powers forced Hungary to pay damages to this country. The independent Croatia was al-

so organised on the Nazi example, its leader Ante Pavelić also had himself called Leader

(poglavnik) – just like Hitler. The Croatian troops were the last to surrender in Europe, one week after the capitulation of Germany, on 15^thMay 1945. In the end, as part of Yugoslavia it also became a victorious state and therefore Hungary had to pay damages to

that country, too. History is wriꢁen by the victors – the saying goes. Indeed, the above al-

so serve as proof. But sooner or later the truth is revealed. I believe that no nation is inferior to another. As a consequence, there are no guilty nations, and there are no innocent ones, either. And still, ignoring the principles articulated in and accepted by the Atlantic Charter and the United Nations Declaration, the Soviets and their allies in the region applied the untrue principle of collective guilt and punished people of German and Hungarian ethnicity mother tongue or origins living in the Car-