The Biatorbágy train bombing – One of the bloodiest acts of terror in Hungarian history
A lonely, debt-ridden inventor had nothing left to lose when he committed an act that shocked an entire nation.
The failed inventor’s road to the train bombing
In 1931, the name of Szilveszter Matuska spread across Europe after a railway bombing that became one of the most shocking crimes of its time.
Living in Vienna, Matuska had spent years trying to establish himself after a string of failed business ventures, turning instead to various inventions.
One of his ideas was a turbine powered by slow-moving water, designed to generate electricity. He also worked on a railway signaling device meant to warn train drivers from a distance if any obstacle appeared on the tracks. Another of his inventions was a gas shut-off valve that released gas only when it was already burning – this was registered at the patent office under the name “Orlisó.”
These patents were his last attempts to escape mounting financial troubles. But none of his inventions brought the success he hoped for, and Matuska gradually drifted toward bankruptcy.
Some biographers believe this was when he became obsessed with the idea of “shaking the world” – a delusion that would eventually lead to the Biatorbágy bombing.
A tragic night
Just after midnight, on September 13, 1931, one of the most infamous and debated tragedies in Hungarian history took place.
Szilveszter Matuska, a Viennese resident, detonated explosives under the Biatorbágy railway viaduct precisely as the international express train bound for Vienna was crossing it.
The explosion caused the locomotive and several carriages to plunge into the valley below. Seventeen people were killed, and another twenty-two were injured.
At the scene, the perpetrator left behind a letter that read:
“Workers, you have no rights – we will demand them from the capitalists…”
This message still raises questions today about what truly motivated Matuska, and why he chose to act in such a way.
The explosion that shook Hungary
Matuska had experimented with bombings before. During his trial in Vienna, it emerged that he had already attempted to attack trains in Bavaria, near Ansbach, though those attempts were unsuccessful.
For the Biatorbágy attack, he used a military-grade explosive known as ekrazit, around 1.5 to 2 kilograms of it, to damage the viaduct. He carefully prepared and positioned the explosives in advance, using an electrical ignition device that was triggered by the pressure of the passing train – exactly as he had planned.
The aftermath of the bombing
The Biatorbágy attack claimed seventeen lives, but it also caused a political earthquake. Prime Minister Gyula Károlyi’s government tried to portray the act as part of a communist conspiracy, using it as a pretext to impose martial law and launch a crackdown on illegal political movements.
In later confessions, Matuska alternately cited political motives and divine inspiration, but the real reason for his act was never revealed.
During the trials he feigned insanity, and in the public’s memory he remained a deranged, solitary figure.
He received a lighter sentence in Austria, but in Hungary he was condemned to death – later commuted to life imprisonment – and sent to the prison in Vác. In late 1944, as Soviet forces approached, he escaped. From then on, his fate remained a mystery.
The Left: violent and murderous since its very inception.