The Fate of Western Hungary 1918-1921 - Corvinus Library ...

and travelled the country by trucks and trains, hanging and executing hundreds
of Hungarians they accused of being ‘counter-revolutionary.’ They would
arrive unexpectedly at various settlements and begin their killings at the train
stations. Often, they would murder in unison with the other ‘political terror
group,’ organized and led by József Cserny (1892-1919). 82 This notorious 200man
unit, wearing their ‘uniform’ black leather jackets and sailor hats, named
the “Lenin boys,” travelled the country in a special armored train that the
people named the “death train.” Assistant District Attorney Albert Váry
published in 1922 the names of those butchered by the Red Terror. His book
lists 587 names. 83 The number of brutal rapes committed is unidentified.
Szamuely, to escape arrest and the subsequent judgment, shot himself at the
border with his pistol and died. They tried to bury him in the Jewish cemetery
of Wiener Neustadt on the Austrian side but the congregation objected with
indignation. His earthly remains were taken back to Savanyúkút in secrecy. On
hearing of it, the villagers mobbed the cemetery and pelted the coffin with
rocks, swearing and cursing the deceased. The local police then tried to bury
Szamuely in the neighboring cemetery of Pecsenyéd, then Lajtaszentmiklós,
but both villages also objected strenuously. Finally, the police buried him along
a forested stretch of road between Savanyúkút and Pecsenyéd, in an unmarked
grave. 84
82 Vádbeszéd gyilkosság, rablás stb. bűntettével vádolt Cserny József és társai
bűnügyében. Elmondotta Dr. Váry Albert főállamügyész, a B[uda]pesti
Államügyészség vezetője 1919. december hó 6-án a Budapesti Törvényszék előtt
[Jozsef Cserny and accomplices, charged with the crimes of murder, robbery, etc.
Recounted by Dr. Albert Vary, head of the state attorney general’s office of Budapest,
on December 6, 1919, before the court in Budapest]. Kiadja Rákosi Jenő Budapesti
Hírlap Ujságvállalata R.-T. Budapest, 1919, p. 48.
83 A vörös uralom áldozatai Magyarországon. Hivatalos jelentések és bírói ítéletek
alapján írta és kiadja Dr. Váry Albert koronaügyészhelyettes [The Hungarian victims of
the Red regime. Based on official reports and judicial rulings, written and published by
Dr. Albert Vary, assistandt District Attorney]. Budapest, 1922. Váci Kir. Országos
Fegyintézet Könyvnyomdája, p. 172. Of the Karolyi Peoples Republic and the
subsequent Hungarian Soviet Republic’s everyday affairs, the dictatorship, the terror,
the expropriations and ruthless confiscations in Western-Hungary, read: A vörös dúlás
nálunk. Sopron és [a] vármegye a két forradalom alatt [Red devastation. Sopron and the
county during the two revolutions]. Coll. by Mayer, Géza. Sopron, no date (1920?), p.
144; Bajzik, Zsolt: Vasi kastélyok a tanácsköztársaság idején. I. rész [Castles of Vas
County during the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Part I]. In: Vasi Szemle, 2000, issue 5,
pp. 636–660; Part II. Ibid, issue 6, pp.793–812; Feiszt, György: Ahogy az iskolákból
látták. 1919 Vas megyében [As they saw it from the schools. 1919 in Vas County]. In:
Vasi Szemle, 1994, issue 4, pp. 573–584.
84 Nemeskürty, István: Mi történt velünk [What happened to us]? Budapest, 2002, pp.
70–74. Later, in the spring of 1945, the Soviet Army occupying Austria did everything
to find Szamuely’s eartly remains, without success. After the fall of the Proletarian
Dictatorship, József Cserny was arrested in Hungary, sentenced and executed on
December 24, 1919.
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