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

We bade farewell with a strong handshake. Although he had learned in front of the tentthat a dedication is a "gift" of honour from the writer to the reader, he did not wish to obtain iteven after our conversation. Only later did I understand that he was afraid of telling me hisname. He felt that even this could be dangerous for him.I put down the story of my meeting with the Man of Bezdan on the same day. A coupleof days later, I told the audience of the University Theatre all I knew about the murder of the118 people. My audience was shocked by this unknown tragedy.I hoped that I could publish the account of this experience soon after the appearance of"Cold Days". Unfortunately, only years later could I find a periodical, "Kortars" whichdared to publish the story the Man of Bezdan told me. Our mutual boldness was followed byan international diplomatic conflict, Tito's impending visit to Budapest was postponedbecause of us and the association of Yugoslav partisans declared me persona non grata.That was the reaction to breaking the obligatory silence.2.Dr. Andras Varga, an engineer by profession and head of the department at theUniversity of Heidelberg, came to Germany from Bacska. Fortunately, he does not have toworry about the vengeful retaliation and, as a "foreigner", he was able to gather a lot ofinformation about the events of that horrible autumn including the massacre in Bezdan. Healso managed to identify28the bloodthirsty and murderous Serbian partisan squad. He shared his knowledge and theresults of his research with Miklos Zelei, who published the still dangerous historical data inthe Sept. 15, 1990 issue of the weekly "Kepes 7".According to the Hungarian professor, the Hungarian armed forces, the police and thegendarmerie abandoned the city of Subotica (Szabadka) in northern Bacska on Oct. 8, 1944,and the Soviet troops marched in from the direction of Szeged on Oct. 14. They reachedZombor on Oct. 20, and Novi Sad two days later, on Oct. 22. The Serbian troops, the partisansquads of Tito, infiltrated Bacska only after the fight ended in the region.The report pays special attention to Bezdan, this Hungarian village on the left bank of theDanube. To the best of Dr. Varga´s knowledge, the villagers, men, women and children alike,were summoned to the soccer field at 9 a.m. on Nov. 3, 1944, under the pretext that importantpublic works should be carried out and therefore everybody must show up under penalty ofdeath. The partisans separated all 18 and 19 year-old young men from the crowd, includingthe players of the well-known soccer team, the BFC. By this cynical move, the partisancommander wanted to mislead the remaining population and make it possible to drive thegroup away without disturbance.Equipped with spades and hoes, 122 men were led along the road to Zombor to the edgeof the Isterbac woods. Armed with machine guns, only 15 partisans escorted the obedient andslightly worried group. Once there, they were forced to dig two large, wide pits, each 2 metersdeep. At that point, some of them may have begun to suspect the purpose of the work. Theirapprehension could have been reinforced by the fact that a kind-hearted partisan tried to send