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Hungarians in Vojvodina
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Hungarians are the second largest ethnic group in the Vojvodina province, Serbia.
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Hungarians are the second largest ethnic group in the Vojvodina province, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, there are 295.000 ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina who compose 14.5% of the provincial population. The number of ethnic Hungarians in the whole of Serbia is 300,000, and their participation for the overall population of Serbia is 4%. Like all other Hungarians, they speak the Hungarian language, and the majority are Roman Catholics by faith; smaller numbers of those in Serbia are Calvinist. Hungarian is one of the six official languages of Vojvodina.
Geography
Most of the Hungarians (59.71% of the total) live in the northern part of Vojvodina, in the eight municipalities where they form the absolute or relative majority. The municipalities with an absolute Hungarian majority are: Kanjia (86.5%), Senta (80.5%), Ada (76.5%), Backa Topola (59%), Mali Ido (56%) and Coka (51.5%). The ethnically mixed municipalities with relative Hungarian majority are Becej (49%) and Subotica (38.5%). The city of Subotica is a cultural and political centre for the Hungarians in Vojvodina.
Settlements with Hungarian majority
This is a list of the settlements in Vojvodina with absolute or relative Hungarian majority based on the 2002 census data.
Subotica municipality:
Backa Topola municipality:
Mali Ido municipality:
Kanjia municipality:
Senta municipality:
Ada municipality:
- Ada (Hungarian: Ada)
- Mol (Hungarian: Mohol)
- Utrine (Hungarian: Törökfalu)
- Obornjaca (Hungarian: Völgypart-Nagyvölgy)
- Sterijino (Hungarian: Valkaisor/Sterijino)
Becej municipality:
Coka municipality:
Novi Kneevac municipality:
- Majdan (Hungarian: Magyarmajdány)
- Rabe (Hungarian: Rábé)
Kikinda municipality:
- Sajan (Hungarian: Szaján)
Nova Crnja municipality:
itite municipality:
Zrenjanin municipality:
Secanj municipality:
Kovacica municipality:
Plandite municipality:
Vrac municipality:
- uara (Hungarian: Fejértelep)
Bela Crkva municipality:
Kovin municipality:
Pancevo municipality:
Irig municipality:
Odaci municipality:
Sombor municipality:
- Doroslovo (Hungarian: Doroszló)
- Telecka (Hungarian: Bácsgyulafalva)
- Bezdan (Hungarian: Bezdán)
- Svetozar Miletic (Hungarian: Nemesmillitics)
Apatin municipality:
History
Parts of the Vojvodina region were included into the Hungarian Kingdom in the 10th century, and Hungarians then began to settle in the region. Following the Ottoman conquest in the 16th century, most of the Hungarian population fled from the region. New Hungarian settlers started to come to the region with the establishment of the Habsburg rule at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century.
Count Imre Csáky settled Hungarians in his possessions in Backa in 1712. In 1745, Hungarian colonists settled in Senta, in 1750 in Topola, in 1752 in Doroslovo, in 1772 in Bogojevo, in 1760 in Stara Kanjia, in 1762 in Davod, in 1764 in Ido, in 1767 in Petrovo Selo, in 1776 in Martono, in 1786 in Pacir and Turski Sentmiklo, in 1787 in Piro, in 1789 in Feketic. Between 1782 and 1786, Hungarians settled in Crvenka and Stara Moravica, and in 1794 in Kula.
Hungarians of Roman Catholic faith originated mostly from Dunántúl, while Hungarians of Protestant faith originated mostly from Alföld. Between 1751 and 1753, Hungarians settled in Mol and Ada (Those originated mostly from Szeged and Jászság). In 17641767, Hungarians settled in Subotica, Bajmok and Cantavir, and in 1770 again in Kanjia, Mol, Ada, and Petrovo Selo, as well as in Feldvarac, Sentoma, and Turija.
In Banat, the settling of Hungarians started later. In 1784 Hungarians settled in Padej and Nakovo, in 1776 in Torda, in 1786 in Donji Itebej, in 1796 in Beodra and Coka, in 1782 in Monotor, in 1798 in Madarska Crnja, in 1773 in Krstur and Majdan, in 1774 in Debeljaca, in 17551760 in Beckerek, in 1766 in Vrac. In 1790, 14 Hungarian families from Transylvania settled in Banat.
In the 19th century, the Hungarian colonization increased. From the beginning of the century, the Hungarian individuals and small groups of settlers from Alföld constantly immigrating to Backa. In the first half of the 19th century larger and smaller groups of the colonists settled in Mol (in 1805), in Feldvarac, Temerin, and Novi Sad (in 1806). In 1884, Hungarian colonists settled in ajkaka and in Mali Stapar near Sombor. In 1889, Hungarians were settled in Svilojevo near Apatin, in 1892 in Gombo, while another group settled in Gombo in 1898. Many Hungarian settlers from Gombo moved to Backa Palanka. After the abolishment of the Military Frontier, Hungarian colonists were settled in Potisje, Curug, abalj, ajkaki Sveti Ivan, Titel, and Moorin. In 1883 around 1,000 Székely Hungarians settled in Kula, Stara Kanjia, Stari Becej, and Titel.
In 1800, smaller groups of Hungarian colonists from Dunántúl settled in Coka, while in the same time colonists from Csanád and Csongrád counties settled in area around Itebej and Crnja, where they at first lived in scattered small settlements, and later they moved to one single settlement - Madarska Crnja. In 1824, one group of colonists from Cestereg also settled in Madarska Crnja. In 1829 Hungarians settled in Mokrin, and in 1880 an even larger number of Hungarians settled in this municipality. In 1804, Hungarian colonists from Csongrád county settled in Firidhaza (which was then joined with Turska Kanjia), as well as in Sajan and Torda. Even a larger group of Hungarians from Csongrád settled in 1804 in Debeljaca. In 18171818 Hungarians settled in Veliki Bikac, and in 18201840 smaller groups of Hungarians settled in Vranjevo. In 1826, colonists from Jászság and Kunság settled in Arac near Beodra. In 1830, Hungarians from Alföld settled in Veliki Lec, in 1831 in Ostojicevo, in 1832 in Malencino Selo near Veliki Gaj, in 1839 and 1870 in Padej, in 1840 in Jermenovci and Madarski Sentmihalj, in 18401841 in Duanovac, in 1841 in Hetin, in 1859 in Sanad, in 1869 in Đurdevo (later moved to Skorenovac), and in 1890 in Gornja Mulja. In 1883-1886, Székely Hungarians from Bukovina were settled in Vojlovica, Skorenovac, Ivanovo, and Đurdevo. Total number of Székely colonists was 3,520.
The first Hungarian settlers in Srem moved there during 1860s from neighbouring counties, especially from Backa.
According to the 1880 census, the Hungarians were third largest ethnic group in the Vojvodina region and made up 22.6% in the population (the largest group were Serbs with 35.5%, and the second largest were Germans with 24.4%). In the next census, in 1890, the Hungarians were the second largest group, having increased to 24.4% (The Serb participation was 34.4%, and German were 24.2%). By the 1910 census, the percent of ethnic Hungarians had increased to 28.1% (with the percent of Serbs at 33.8%, and the percent of Germans at 21.4%).
The new temporary borders established in 1918 and permanent ones defined by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 put an end to Hungarian immigration. After World War I, present-day Vojvodina was included into the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), and settling of Hungarians declined. On the contrary, many Hungarians of Vojvodina wanted to live in the post-Trianon Hungarian state, and immigrated to Hungary, which was to be one of several emigration waves from Vojvodina. The inter war years was generally marked by a standstill of the Hungarian population. During these times, their numbers were at around 370,000 - 413,000 and they constituted 24-26% of the entire population of Vojvodina. The outbreak of the Second World War caused some disruptions in population numbers, but more importantly it created brutal tensions between the Hungarian and Serb communities.
With the onset of World War II, the Hungarian and Serb relations were at an all time low. Nazi Germany, in accordance to their "Operation Punishment" plan, invaded Yugoslavia, and subsequently, Axis Hungarian forces occupied Backa. This region was annexed by Hungary, and it was colonized by new Hungarian settlers, at which time their numbers grew considerably, while in the same time many Serbs were expelled from the region. The brutal conduct of the Axis Hungarian occupying forces, and more notably the Royal Hungarian Gendarmes, has extremely polarized both Hungarian and Serb communities. Under the Axis Hungarian authority, 19,573 people were killed in Backa, of which the majority of victims were of Serb, Jewish and Roma origin.
Although, part of the local Hungarian population supported Hungarian Axis authorities, many other local Hungarians opposed Axis rule and fought against it together with Serbs and other peoples of Vojvodina in the partisan resistance movement organized by the communist party. In some places of Vojvodina (Backa Topola, Senta), most of the members of the communist party were ethnic Hungarians. In Subotica, the party secretary and most of the leadership were either ethnic Hungarians either Hungarian-speaking Jews. In the Backa Topola municipality, 95% of communists were ethnic Hungarians. One of the leaders of the partisan resistance movement in Vojvodina was Erne Ki, ethnic Hungarian, who was captured by the Axis authorities, sentenced to death by the court in Szeged and executed.
The first corn stacks were burned near Futog by five communists, among whom two were ethnic Hungarians - Antal Nemet and Đerd Nemet. Antal Nemet was killed there, together with his Serb comrade, in the fighting against gendarmes, while his brother was captured and killed in Novi Sad because he did not reveal any information about resistance movement. The corn stacks were soon also burned near Subotica. The communists that burned these corn stacks were arrested, tortured and sent to court. The court sentenced two of them to death (Ferenc Hegedi and Joef Liht), while five other were sentenced to prison (those five members of the group could not be sentenced to death because they were not adult).
The Axis authorities also arrested many Hungarian communists in Backa Topola, Cantavir, Senta, Subotica, and Novi Sad. Many of them were sent to investigation centre in Backa Topola, where part of them was killed, while other part committed suicide. Among those Hungarian communists who were sent to the centre were Otmar Majer, Đula Varga, Pal Karas, Jano Koci, and others. Because of the size of the communist movement among Hungarians, new investigation centres were opened in Cantavir, Senta, Ada, and Subotica. In the investigation centre in Subotica, almost 1,000 people were tortured, and part of them killed, among whom were Maca Vukovic and Daniel Sabo. Among those communists sentenced to death were Otmar Majer, Roku imokovic, and Itvan Lukac from Subotica, Peter Molnar from Senta, Đula Varga, Rudi Klaus, Pal Karas, and Jano Koci from Novi Sad. In Petrovo Selo, Mihalj amu was killed during his attempt to escape. These actions of the Axis authorities were a hard struck on the resistance movement in Backa, especially on its Hungarian component. The Hungarian component of the resistance movement was impinged so hard that it could not recuperate until the end of the war.
In 1944, the Soviet Red Army and the Yugoslav partisans took control of Vojvodina, which in turn initiated a number of killings against a part of the Hungarian population that either collaborated with the Axis authorities or was viewed as a threat to the new regime (see: 1944-1945 Killings in Backa). Estimates of the number of Hungarians killed range from thousands to tens of thousands. The other part of the Hungarian population that supported new authorities was not only treated well by the new regime, but also participated in administration and army. For example, the 15th Vojvodinian partisan brigade that was founded in 1944 was composed entirely of Vojvodinian Hungarians.
Ever since the end of the Second World War, the Hungarian population has been steadily declining, mainly due to low birthrates and emigration. In 1974, the Yugoslav constitution was modified giving Vojvodina a very high level of autonomy. With this major reform, Hungarians were given the opportunity to keep their culture and language alive; they had their own schools, and cultural institutions. During the Tito years, life in Vojvodina was peaceful for Hungarians as well as for others. The socialist regime heavily cracked down upon nationalist flareups.
As the Yugoslav wars were raging, more Hungarians left Vojvodina. One of the reasons for this emigration was the ruined economy of the country and inability for employment, which was the reason why many Serbs as well as others also emigrated from Vojvodina. Although the province was peaceful and calm compared to other areas of Yugoslavia, some Hungarians felt threatened, especially that Vojvodina was near the front lines, during the War in Croatia. With an emigration of Hungarians from Vojvodina, part of their houses was used to resettle refugees from other parts of Yugoslavia. This created a change of the ethnic structure in some parts of the region. The Hungarian population has fallen from 340,946 (16.9%) in 1991, to 290,207 (14.28%) in 2002. In recent years (mostly in 2004 and 2005), some members of the ethnic Hungarian community have sometimes been the targets of anti-Hungarian sentiments.
Many Hungarians in Vojvodina want their political rights to be extended. Some Hungarian politicians proposing the creation of new autonomous region in northern part of Vojvodina inhabited mainly by Hungarians (see: Hungarian Regional Autonomy). They also want to attain Hungarian citizenship, without being Hungarian residents, as this would automatically make them EU citizens, giving many benefits. However, a referendum on this issue in Hungary failed. The future of Vojvodinian Hungarians is uncertain, as their community is characterized by low birthrates and a dwindling population.
Culture
Famous Hungarians from Vojvodina
- Dezso Kosztolányi (1885-1936), one of the most famous Hungarian writers.
- Géza Csáth (1887-1919), a tragic physician-writer.
- László Moholy-Nagy, a Hungarian painter and photographer, notable professor of the Bauhaus school
- John Marlyn, a Canadian writer of ethnic Hungarian origin. He was born in 1912 in Beckerek (Hungarian: Nagybecskerek), the modern Zrenjanin.
- Mónika Szeles, a former World No.1 female tennis player. She was born in 1973, in Novi Sad.
- Péter Lékó (b. 1979 in Subotica), Hungary's number one chess player.
- Félix Lajkó (b. 1974 in Subotica), a "world music" violinist and composer.
- Sylvester Levay, a Hungarian composer. He was born in 1945 in Subotica.
- Zoltán Dani, soldier in Yugoslav army.
- Danilo Ki, a Yugoslavian/Serbian writer of Hungarian/JewishSerbian origin
- Eva Ras (née Balazs/Bala), an Serbian actress
- Đula Meter, a Yugoslav/Serbian volleyball player
- Arpad terbik (Árpád Sterbik), Yugoslav/Serbian handball player
- Magdolna Rúzsa, a singer who won the title of the third season of Megasztár (Hungarian Idol).
Politics
Three largest ethnic Hungarian political parties in Vojvodina are:
All three parties advocating the establishment of the territorial autonomy for Hungarians in the northern part of Vojvodina, which would include the municipalities with Hungarian majority (See Hungarian Regional Autonomy for details).
See also
Further reading
External links
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