„Kár volt ezt csinálni, mert a románok majd a helyi magyarokon fogják ezt megbosszulni”. Etnikai konfliktusok Nagysármáson 1944 őszén
“It Was a Mistake to Do This, Because the Romanians Will Take Revenge on the Local Hungarians”: Ethnic Conflicts in Nagysármás/Sărmaşu in the Autumn of 1944

Summary/Abstract: On 23 August 1944, Romania changed sides in the Second World War, abandoning the German alliance and declaring war on the German Reich. The Hungarian political leadership subsequently joined in a plan for an offensive against Southern Transylvania, aimed at closing the southern Carpathian passes to the advancing Soviet troops. The operation was carried out in several waves, the first being a joint German-Hungarian offensive launched on 5 September in what was, in fact, the territory of Southern Transylvania. In my study, I examine how the advance of the front line affected the power dynamics in the ethnically mixed settlement of Nagysármás/Sărmaşu. According to my preliminary hypothesis, the power relations between the two ethnic groups in the village, which was almost equally populated by Romanians and Hungarians, shifted depending on which administration (Romanian or Hungarian) was in control. However, the Jewish population in Nagysármás/Sărmaşu faced continuous discrimination, and the events during the Hungarian occupation led to a tragedy. The mutual grievances endured poisoned Romanian-Hungarian inter-ethnic relations for decades.

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