PLEASE NOTE: This book contains graphic description ... - HUNSOR

The appointed public defense attorney acted as prosecutor. The accused were thrownprey to the Serb population of Curog and Zabalj, who supported the partisans. The Hungarianswho had159fled; who had survived the partisans revenge could not participate in the trial due to theirinnocence. The atmosphere of the trial grew dense from anti-Hungarian hatred. According to thepractice of communist jurisprudence, not the prosecutor who was to prove the guilt of theaccused, but the latter has to prove his innocence.The district and the hall was full of militiamen and OZNA agents. During the trial theencouraging shout echoed in every fifth minute: "Na vesab snjima! Hang them!"After a one week trial, the accused were all sentenced to death in the name of the people.Szombathelyi, Feketehalmy, Grassy and Zoldy were hanged, Popovic, Perepatic and Nagy werewere shot. Execution by hanging was to be public. Szombathelyi and Zoldy were hanged infront of the Serb Cemetery at Novi Sad, called "Almaska Groblje". Feketehalmy was executed inCurog, Grassy in Zabalj."The new Vajdasagi Magyar Szo relates the statement of Ferenc Szombathelyi made bythe right of the last word: "I do not feel guilty; my conscience is clear!" In spite of this theverdict pronounced on October 31, on the stage of the Cultural Centre was death for all theaccused. Feketehalmy and Grassy scolded each other, Zoldy limped, which he had not done inthe people's court of Budapest. According to the report of the Hungarian daily, Grassy andZoldy were considered deserving of being hanged, and Szombathelyi of being shot. It seems as ifthe newspaper had forgotten about Feketehalmy-Czeydner.There is some difference in the place and way of execution in the oral account we have.Grassy and Zoldy were hanged publicly in the end of Kiszacsi Street. The executions byshooting, including Szombathelyi's, according to the Vajdasagi Magyar Szo - were carried outwithout an audience in the Fort of Petervarad.There are only unconfirmed reports today of the three generals execution; there were noknown witnesses. These reports have been included in the memoirs of General Geza Lakatos,too. According to them, Ferenc Szombathelyi was impaled at Novi Sad. Feketehalmy at Curogand Grassy at Zabalj were buried in the ground alive up to the ears, and made even with theground by a tank.The Hungarian Department of Justice had delivered their guilty citizens to theYugoslavians, on condition that the new sentence imposed on the condemned would not exceedthe previous one in severity. This promise could have defended Szombathelyi, since hisHungarian sentence was only life imprisonment.The Hungarian judicial authorities did not protest the "announcement" of the executionof their citizens.160Officially they did not even seem to have realized that the war criminals who had beenextradited from the Western Allied Authorities the previous year or before had slipped fromtheir province of authority of administering justice.