Hódmezővásárhely to erect new memorial to 1919 mass murder

The Hódmezővásárhely city council has decided to erect a new memorial marking the centenary of a massacre, in which 56 civilians were killed.

On July 25, 1919, during the Romanian occupation of the city, Romanian soldiers gunned down 56 people, mostly young men, in what has remained one of the most gruesome 20th-century mass murders in rural Hungary.

The massacre was ordered by László Berényi, a Hungarian posing as an officer of the Romanian army. With the assistance of local resident Géza Nagy, Berényi had established a reign of terror in the city, pillaging and taking members of wealthy families as hostages.

Afraid of a revolt, the Romanian military command later convicted and executed Berényi and Nagy.

The proposal for a new memorial, submitted by Fidesz councillor Gabriella Bálint, was accepted unanimously.

Péter Márki-Zay, the southwest Hungarian city’s mayor, initiated a donation campaign. Several city councillors offered one month’s salary for the cause.

As we wrote a week ago, the statue of Hungarian statesman István Széchenyi was desecrated in Satu Mare (Szatmárnémeti), in northern Romania, the mayor’s office reported, read more HERE.

Also, we wrote a few days ago, a monument to the late Cardinal József Mindszenty was inaugurated in Máriapócs, in north-eastern Hungary, on Saturday, read more HERE .

Source: MTI