TERROR RETURNS

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 January 1947, Page 10

TERROR RETURNS

CONDITIONS IN SOUTHERN SLOVAKIA CZECHS OUST MAGYARS. By Irvine Douglas Sydney Morning Herald Correspondent in London A reign of terror has returned to southern Slovakia, whore Czecn troops are rooting out Magyar peasants and deporting them across the border into Hungary- Many peasants have fled across the border rather than await the arrival of Czech soldiers. Publication in Budapest of a personal letter of protest by Count Karolyi, a former Hungarian president, to President Benes of Czechoslovakia, has aroused the Hungarian Press and people to an outburst of strong indignation. i Presedential Decree I Tim epochs in.e acting nnde” _•“ Presidential decree of 1945, which provides for the compulsory direction of labour. This agreement, signed by Czechoslovakia and Hungary last February, provided that the deportation of Magyars from Slovakia was to cease, except under the decree. Subsequently, at the Paris Conference, under strong pressure from the big Powers, including even Russia, Czechoslovakia agreed to withdraw her proposal to transfer 200,000 Magyars across the frontier over and above the 150.000 who are being exchanged for Slovaks and the 200.000 who are being “re-Sl'ovatised.” It seemed that peace and security had come at last to Magyar peasants, who had been deprived of their civic rights since the conquest of Germany, and who had been given two days to declare themselves Slovaks if they wanted “a quiet life and prosperity.” But a steady stream of dispossessed Magyars began to move across the frontiers with stories of brutality and terror in ther villages. The latest estimate from Hungarian sources (which may be exaggerated) is that the total of deported Magyars now exceeds 25,000. Czech Convoys Arrive!

The new deportations began when convoys of Czech police and troops arrived in the district west of Bratislava. Villages were first surrounded, so that nobody could escape. Those selected were then given 24 hours to leave their homes.

The principle of selection varied. In one village all poor persons were told to pack. In another, the Slovak inhabitants selected those whom they alleged had been collaborators with the Germans.

In northern Hungary 2,500 refugees have rea'ched fronties villages, and the number is swelling. The Czechs claim that they are merely enforcing the labour mobilisation decree, which js being resisted “on encouragement from Hungary.”