The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1982 (9. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1982-04-01 / 4. szám
PETITION of the Transylvanian World Federation Ladies Auxiliary in Cleveland, Ohio We, the undersigned, are concerned about the Hungarian native population of Rumania. Over 3 million Hungarians live in the Transylvanian portion of Rumania, a land that for almost 1,000 years was an integral part of Hungary. These people are not immigrants nor minorities in this region but part of the Hungarian majority inhabiting the Carphathian Basin. The Rumanian government, due to misguided nationalistic tendencies and prejudices, has constantly violated the basic human and national rights of these Hungarians. In light of the tragic situation, we hereby petition our government, the government of the United States of America, to take action on behalf of these people. We ask, as an immediate measure, that the Trade Agreement with Rumania signed originally in August 1975 not to be renewed again. We ask this on the grounds that the Rumanian government is not in compliance with the Helsinki Final Act. The Trade Agreement cannot override the provisions of the Helsinki Final Agreement that requires the protection of human rights, rights that include national and nationality rights also. It is well documented that the Rumanian government has not inadé any effort to change its policy of repression against the Hungarian and German populations of Transylvania. We believe that through the proper interpretation and application of the Trade Act, the United States could better promote its own principles and at the same time do much to encourage Compliance with the Helsinki Final Agreement human rights provisions. We submit our Petition for serious consideration. Respectfully, Mrs. Dora T. Dombrady, president and 668 signatures. FACTS AND FIGURES (Reprinted from the book “Documented Facts and Figures on Transylvania”, Danubian Press, 1978). In 1941 the German-Italian Officer’s Commission, established for the supervision of the implications and applications of the provisions of the “Vienna Treaty” concerning the treatment of minorities, examined 387 complaints of abuses in Southern Transylvania committed by Rumanian authorities against the Hungarian population, and 26 complaints of Hungarian abuses against the Rumanians in Northern Transylvania. In 1942 Rumanian atrocities against Hungarians in Southern Transylvania reached the number 1372, while registered Rumanian complaints in Northern Transylvania numbered only 87. Cases examined by the Commission in Southern Transylvania included 273 murders, 687 severe beatings by the Rumanian police, the arrests of 48 Hungarian Clergymen, 6 newsmen and 317 professionals. All Hungarian men in Southern Transylvania, between the ages of 17 to 45 were called into service by the Rumanian army, and sent under deplorable conditions into the labor camps of Besarabia and Bukovina. In 1943 though Rumania entered the war on June 22, 1941 as a full-fledged ally of Germany, and recaptured with German aid Besarabia and Bukovina from the Russians, after the German disaster at Stalingrad the Rumanian leaders engaged themselves in secret negotiations with the Allies. In the same time the Hungarian Government attempted to make a separate peace with the West. However, the Teheran Conference (Nov. 28,1943 - Jan. 12, 1944) brought about the unfortunate decision that Eastern and East Central Europe, including Rumania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland constituted the “special sphere of regional interest” of the Soviet Union, therefore negotiations, concerning these countries, had to be pursued exclusively with the Soviet Union. In 1944, March 21, German forces occupied Hungary. August 24, Rumania surrendered to and joined forces with the invading Russians. Together with the Russian army, regular Rumanian troops as well as guerilla-bands entered Transylvania, creating the most ferocious bloodbath in history. Thousands and thousands of Hungarians were killed, tortured, imprisoned and deported into forced labor camps. THE TRANSYLVANIAN QUARTERLY YU
