Bonyhádvarasd in Tolna County

 

  This article provides a summary of some of the information provided in Heimatbuch von Bonyhád/Warasch published in Budapest in 1995.

 

  As the Habsburg rulers responded to the need to resettle, cultivate and develop the wastelands of Hungary after the defeat and withdrawal of the Turks from the scene after their 150 year occupation, they really saw this as investing in their own family estate as well as the Kings of Hungary.  This huge undertaking would require the efforts of three generations of Habsburgs and masses of people with a pioneering spirit.

 

  For this purpose the Habsburg identified the German peasantry within the Holy Roman Empire, that provided a reservoir of population and economic and technical potential.  The decree of the War Department in Vienna on September 16, 1686 to repopulate Hungary gave birth to the so-called Danube Swabians.  The Commission Neo-Acquistica was established in 1688 by the Emperor Leopold to carry out the repopulation and placed Cardinal Leopold Count Kollonics (1613-1707) at its head.  This Prince of the Church was a clever politician and a Croat who served the Habsburgs well and was unable restrain his hostility towards the Hungarians which was part of his Croatian heritage and his Roman Catholicism’s bitter hatred of all forms of Hungarian Protestantism.

 

    The Commission had to have an overview of the whole operation.  Not only did they need to settle colonists in the wilderness and devastated land but to determine what lands and estates still had an owner and which land had to be expropriated.  To claim any estates in liberated Hungary the former owner was required to present documented title to the lands in question.  Estates that were not claimed or the owners could not validate their claims became the personal possession of the Crown.

 

  The largest part of Hungary came into the possession of the Crown and the Emperor gave the largest estates to his many army commanders and trusted courtiers either as a gift for services rendered or allowed them to purchase them.  In this way the loyalty of the nobles to the House of Habsburg was strengthened thereby.  A large portion of what would become Swabian Turkey (Counties of Baranya, Tolna and Somogy) fell into the hands of veteran military commanders and officers of the Army of Liberation and the Hungarian nobles who had remained loyal to the Habsburgs.

 

  Prince Eugene of Savoy came into possession of the estates of Bellye, Promontor and the island of Csepel, while General Veterani received the estates of Dárda.  The Governor of Croatia a loyal supporter of the Emperor, the Hungarian noble Count Batthyányi made Némétbolly his own principal possession and General Capara set himself up in Siklós.  Count Claudius Florimundus von Mercy purchased Hӧgyész.  The dean of the Cologne cathedral, Philip Ludwig Count Zinzendorf was granted the monastery of Pécsvarad, Count Styrum-Limberg was granted Simontornya, Johann Joseph Count Trautsohn had the abbey in Székszárd from 1718-1757.  Joseph, Count of Hessen, became the Abbot of Fӧldvár, Wilhelm Count Nesselrode became the Bishop of Pécs, and the Counts Wallis had their Tolna estates in their possession.  In addition the Roman Catholic Church and its bishops and abbots were given estates.  Many of the owners sold their landholdings at a very cheap price but seldom found willing buyers.

 

  As far as the new owners were concerned their estates were dead capital and of no value.  They were extremely interested in securing workers to develop their holdings.  They were the most zealous in promoting the government’s “Re-Population Patent”.  Close behind them were the nobles and the churchmen.  The number of private landowners who recruited German settlers was sizable.  This stretched out for several years even in the midst of the government’s own immigration programme.

 

  Much of the unsettled land remained in the hands of the Crown.  These empty and vacant lands were referred to as Prädien, Puszta or Kameralgütter that were administered by the Royal Chamber in Vienna.  The activities of the private landlords were overseen by the Hungarian Royal Chamber.  The largest portion of the Crown Lands were in the Banat and the Batschka where private landlords were few and far between.

 

  The large scale government programme of settlement of Germans in Hungary began after the Peace of Passarovitz in 1718.  The Sava and Danube River formed a natural defence and boundary between the Austrian Monarchy and the Turks in the south.

 

  The Hungarian parliament passed Law 103 in 1723 to invite free peasants to settle in the unpopulated areas of Hungary and would provide a house lot and land with an exemption from taxes for several years and the Emperor was requested to issue a decree to encourage a massive immigration into Hungary.  The handbills and flyers described the possibilities of a new prosperous life in Hungary with the proviso…”and primarily Roman Catholic people will be accepted.”

 

  After the liberation of the Banat it was a sparsely settled wilderness covered with swamps, marshes and bogs.  There was little land dry enough to erect a house or shelter of any kind.  The vast stretch of land between the Tisza and the Danube and Morasz Rivers was all Imperial Crown Land.

 

  The Governor of the Banat, Count von Mercy, had been a Field Marshall in the Army of Eugene of Savoy who earned great honour in the War of Liberation.  He was in charge of the resettlement of the Banat.  The first step for the planned economic development of the land was the draining of the swamps.  The next step was canal building along the Bega and Temes Rivers.  Then settlers were brought in.  They were Germans, Serbs, Croats and some Italians, Spaniards, French and Romanians.  Many died of swamp fever and others left to go back home but despite that fifty settlements were established.

 

  Von Mercy also brought miners and tradesmen into the Banat.  Silk worms and rice were also cultivated.  Von Mercy put magistrates in place as well as local administrators and good roads were built along with schools in each of the villages.  Temesvár became known as “little Vienna”.  The land was made secure against robbers and brigands.  Border posts were strengthened as well as fortifications against Turkish incursions.

 

  A renewed Austrian-Turkish war broke out in 1737-1739 and much of the Banat was destroyed and the Habsburgs had to start all over again under Maria Theresia and her chief advisor Anton von Cothmann who worked extensively in the Batschka which would become the richest of the Danube Swabian settlement areas.

 

  Slavonia was liberated from the Turks by Imperial troops during the 1687 campaign.  On October 5, 1867 Esseg was taken and in 1688 they moved on into Srem.  The Peace of Karlowitz ceded Slavonia and Croatia to Austria.  Later in 1718 Srem was ceded to them in the Peace of Passarowitz.  These lands were also ruled from the Royal Chamber in Vienna.  The nobles had to prove their ownership of their estates.  Few responded.  Many families had died out.  Many were bought out.

 

  In 1700, Slavonia had a population of 140,000 and Srem was unpopulated.  With the retreat of the Turks most the cities lost a large portion of their population.  As a result tradesmen were invited first and then the farmers.  Peterwardein and Esseg were the first new towns to be re-established.  In 1718 colonists established Semlin.  The area was deeply forested with marsh lands that bred swamp fever.

 

  The original name of the future Bonyhádvarasd was probably of Serbo-Croatian origin and then was modified into a Hungarian sounding name.  The name itself may be related to the Croatian town of Varazdin on the Drava River or the small Croatian village of Apatvarasd in Baranya County.  Among its future German inhabitants it would be known as Warasch; the closest they could come to pronouncing the Magyarized Slavic name.  In 1900 it was to be renamed Tolnavarasd but ever since the end of 1903 it has bourn the official name of Bonnyhádvarasd.

 

  Bonyhádvarasd was founded in 1732 and by 1941 it could boast of 140 houses and a resident population of 720 all of whom were German-speaking Roman Catholics.  But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

 

  During the Turkish occupation of the region many of the nobles who owned estates either fled or the family died out without an heir.  The only exceptions in the area was the Morágy family and former owners such as the Szakadáty, Kalaznay, Csefӧy and Berencsy who were replaced by the Bokta, Bezerédy and Székely families and others.  The Habsburgs took over the “liberated” lands as their own personal estates on the basis of having taken them by “force of arms” which the Neo-Acquistica Commission they had established officially recognized.  If one of the former owners could provide the necessary documentation to regain his estates he had to pay a special fee to cover the costs of “liberation”.  If he could not pay the estate reverted to the Crown.  This was a two edged sword.  Either way the former owner was placed in a precarious position.

 

  The various owners of the domains that included Varasd were as follows:  the Botka family from approximately 1596 to 1700; Count von Sinzendorf from 1700-1722 and known as the Apar Domain; Count Claudius Florimundus von Mercy and his heirs from 1722-1773 and Count Apponyi and his heirs from 1773-1927.

 

The Botka Estates

 

  At the end of the 16th Century, a mercenary soldier serving at the border fortress of Pápa, János Botka von Sléplak founded a new estate-owning family dynasty.  He and his heirs, all of whom were in the military, expanded their estates from Pápa to Batáapáti.

 

  The most important role in the life of the family was that of his son Ferenc (Francis) who had a good relationship with the Turkish Begs (governors) during the occupation.  While all of the other Hungarian nobles lost their landholdings Ferenc kept his estates and with Turkish support help expand his cattle ranching activities.  The actual running and administration of the estates of the Botkas was carried out by stewards.

 

  János Botka married the daughter of Peter Huszár, the Commander of the fortress at Pápa which gave him title to numerous villages in Tolna County.  These holdings would be expanded by his offspring.  His heir was his son Ferenc who like his father was a soldier and served at Pápa.  In 1647 he was a representative at the Landtag for Zala County and in 1653 he was the Vice-Governor of Zala County.  He too expanded his land holdings.  He died shortly before 1680 and his three sons divided his estate among themselves.  János, László and Ferenc divided up 25 villages, pusztas, mills and small landholdings in the Counties of Fejér, Somogy and Veszprém as well as in Tolna.  After László’s death his holding were again divided among his brothers.

 

  The following villages and pusztas (undeveloped open prairies) were ceded to János:  Ban, Reketye, Hӧgyész, Dúzs, Mucsi, Nagy and Kis Vejke, Izmény, Kismányok, Varsád, Závód, Apar and the pusztas known as Kistormás, Udvari, Berény, Papd, Bolyata, Mucsfa, Batáapáti and Vaskapu.

 

  Ferenc received:  Kis Székely, Egres, Sár Szentlӧrinc, Csefӧ, Püspӧk (Nagy Székely), Alapsa, Pálfa, Varasd, Felsӧ Nána and the pusztas known as Nagy Tormás, Csetény, Szakadát, Kalaznó and Kӧlesd.

 

  In 1685 only Ferenc was still alive and he inherited all of the combined estates.  These lands would later become the Hӧgyész Domain.

 

  In 1696 only Kis and Nagy Székely, Mucsi, Závód and Apar were inhabited.  The other villages had been abandoned or destroyed by the Turks during the War of Liberation and the population had fled or been dispersed.  With the depopulation of the region the life of the Middle Ages ended.

 

  In 1697 Ferenc died and his widow began to sell off the estates and ran into problems with the Neo-Acquistica Commission.  Ferenc’s son, Adam, was a follower of Rákóczy the leader of the Kurucz rebellion against the Habsburgs.  Adam was accused of treason and along with his brother-in-law was beheaded at Sarospatak in 1708.  Only a sister survived and the management of the estates was taken over by Counts Dӧry and Nádasdy.  On April 17, 1700 the widow of Ferenc sold everything to Count Johann Weinhard Wenceslaus Sinzendorf who was a treasury official and royal falconer to the Emperor.

 

The Sinzendorf Estates

 

  Little is known about the estates during Sinzendorf’s period of ownership.  In a document dated April 27, 1717 the steward of the estate, Georg Wolfart indicated he wanted to settle the villages of Mucsi, Papd, Csefӧ and the puszta of Dúsz.  Nothing is known of any follow up.  Sinzendorf’s sister, the wife of Count Anton Berchtold, was his heir and she sold the estates claiming they were too far away from them to administer.

 

Count von Mercy’s Apar Domains

 

  On April 24, 1722 the Emperor Charles VI validated von Mercy’s purchase of the entire estates of Apar at the Landtag in Pressburg.  The purchase price was 15,000 Forint.  The following villages and pusztas in Tolna County were included:  Nagy Székely, Kiss Székely, Mucsi, Závód and Apar and the following pusztas:  Pálfa, Egres, Sár Szernlӧrincs. Ban, Udvari, Kӧlesd, Kistormás, Nagytormás, Felsӧ Nána, Batátapáti, Kismányok, Izmény, Alapsa, Mucsfa, Varasd, Hӧgyész, Szakadát and Kalaznó.

 

  They were officially turned over to Count von Mercy on May 7, 1722 by the Sinzendorf’s steward and administrator.

 

  On June 30, 1722 Count von Mercy’s adopted son and his heirs were made his legal heirs.  Following the validation of the purchase by the Emperor there were numerous protests and complaints lodged against it but none of them reached the courts.  One of the Botka heirs had a good case but von Mercy settled out of court in 1727 before it ever went to trial.  The Count paid up to 6,000 Forint (almost half of the purchase price.)

 

  Regardless of the documentation of the sale, Kiss and Nagy Székely, Ban and Udvári never became part of the von Mercy Hӧgyész based domains.  A month prior to the agreement between von Mercy and Sinzendorf a side deal had been made with Count Maximilian Styrum-Limburg who provided him with a gift of 1,700 Forint for these communities that became part of his Simontornya estate.  He had been one of the Commanders of the army of Ludwig of Baden during the War of Liberation.

 

  The Counts von Mercy would become the major colonizers of Tolna County in the decades ahead.  The third and final Count was a diplomat and wanted nothing to do with the military unlike his two predecessors. Nor were his estates in Tolna County of any interest to him.  As a result he sought to sell them.  Maria Theresia initially opposed the sale but was eventually won over and on June 12, 1773 Count Georg Apponyi purchased the Domain for 700,000 Gulden.

 

  It was shortly after the purchase of the Domain that the settlement of Varasd had its early beginnings.  A document compiled by officials in the administration of Tolna County reports the following in the year 1732:

 

  “The newly settled village of Varasd first began with the arrival of Johannes Spill who had previously been registered at Lengyel and Niolaus Muttz who arrived earlier in Kiss Dorog in 1724 and had been registered there for taxation purposes.  Michael Spann and Georg Rell from Mucsi who were both registered there in the conscription records and Jacob Plumoschain who came to Hungary from Germany in 1729 have lived here ever since.  In April of 1732 Conrad Jacob, Michael Krajtess, Peter Rass, Ludwig Jacob (a shoemaker) Matthias Piegle and Jacob Szaor (Sauer) came from Germany.

 

  A later document in the Tolna County archives lists the colonists in Varasd in 1770 as follows beginning with those with sessions of land:  Carl Walter, Peter Windischmann, Christian Hainzler, Matthias Rapp, Johannes Majer, Joseph Schunkarth, Joseph Tressler, Christian Schaub, Peter Morian, Marcus Lill, Joseph Fajerstadler, Jakob Keller, Adam Windischmann, Johann Georg Fajerstadler, Wilhelm Jung, Johannes Feirstein, Nicoalus Miller, Nicolaus Roth, Mathias Rang, Theobald Saller, Heinrich Aibeck, Theobald Lill, Heinrich Majer, Peter Hammer, Johannes Szaller, Antony Aibeck, Thaddeus Rapp, Johannes Walter, Sebsstian Czinner, Franciscus Guth, Sebastian Faczi, Johannes Bengh, Michael Lill, Baltasarus Potsli, Simon Koller, Michael Pelcz, Jospeh Tobler, Philip Wolcz, Wilhelm Peringer, Jakob Marschall, Martin Frey, Heinrich Ponner, Johann Georg Schmidt, Peter Aipeck, Johannes Czinner, Philip Thall, Laurentius Thebes, Georg Czinner, Ludwig Hepp, Andreas Kaiser, Thomas Thall and Erasmus Roth.

 

  The cotters (tradesmen with house but no land) included:  Michael Stainer, Johannes Marx, Andreas Kupfer, Gaspar Brandt, Johannes Gottlieb, Antonius Kuhl, Johannes Keller, Johannes Ernhauser, Nicolaus Pell, Jacob Lehmann, Franciscus Pereth, Johannes Keller, Johannes Kaiser, Nicolaus Miller, Nicolaus Strasser, Peter Riegert, Johann Georg Plesz and Joseph Marschall.

 

  The day labourers:  Michael Miller, Antonius Entz, Adam Becker, Michael Lauffer, Johannes Pell, Johannes Faczius, Fiedelius Schutz, Martin Wesser, Bernhard Pauer, Christoph Schmitt and Michael Treger (community miller).

 

  The question with regard to the places of origin of the settlers is difficult to determine but some research has discovered that some of them came from Württemberg:  Johann Hilarius Walther from Dormettinger, Martin Walther from Erlaheim, Simon Koller from Seitingen, Martin Reich from Erlaheim, Gregor Seeburger from Egesheim, Michael Krumm from Wurmlingen and Jacob Streicher from Denkingen.  It has also been established that the Lill family came from the Rheinland-Pfalz (Palatinate).  There were also families from the Black Forest, Franconia, Fulda and Hessen.

 

  What was important for the successful colonization of Swabian Turkey during the 18th Century was that private settlement was left in the hands of the nobles and estate owners.  They turned over their land to the colonists to develop an economic base for their estates.  At first they received a share of their crops and incomes and later monetary equivalents.  They also had a work force to cultivate and harvest their own crops and herd their swine and livestock.  The population increased rapidly and land began to run out and it was no wonder that the earlier settlers complained when newly arrived settlers appeared on the scene.  In fact, they made official protests.  More and more petitions and protests were made with no real results.  Dissatisfied settlers left and sought a better deal elsewhere.  A large scale migration into neighbouring regions began.  The quarrels between the peasants and nobles grew in their intensity.  Violence broke out in some cases.  The major issue for the peasant farmers was the fact that they had to carry the whole burden and weight of taxes from which the Hungarian nobles were exempt.

 

  The difficulties of the peasants were recognized by the Empress Maria Theresia after countless protests brought the matter to her attention.  Against the wishes of the Landtag she proceeded to implement regulations that were biding on all agreements between peasants and landlords.  Swabian Turkey was the initial target of her regulations that went into effect in 1767.  She sought to stabilize a volatile situation.  The new agreements identified the duties of both the peasant and the landlord in order to protect the peasants from the nobles.  The peasants now had a right to the land they worked and could not be driven off of it by the landlord nor could the landlord determine what crops were to be planted or what use the peasant put to the land.  On March 21, 1767 representatives from the village of Varasd appeared before the County Administrator and were granted an audience but were threatened with bodily punishment if they did not sign the contract  that had been issued to them with its nine points.  To all intents and purposes their agreement of 1736 still remained in effect.  The following representative signed the Urbarium:  Carl Valter, Theobald Lill, Matthias Rang, Michael Pelcz, Anton Ajpek and Remigius Wolfer.  Carl Valter was identified as the Richter (head man in the village).

 

  Before the emancipation of the serfs took place in Hungary as a result of the Revolution of 1848, there were additional changes in the lot of the peasants during the reign of Joseph II.  In 1785 he granted the right of all peasants to migrate and move without the consent of their landlords.  The peasant no longer required the consent of the landlord to marry and he could chose whatever occupation he desired without the need for the landlord’s approval.  In terms of any complaints about his position as a subject of his landlord the peasant could appeal to the Emperor directly or the County officials.

 

Religious Life

 

  The occupation of Hungary by the Turks was seen as a punishment from God.  With the liberation of Pécs, the Bishop of the city and diocese, Padanaj, ordered the conversion of all of the local populations.  He brought in Jesuits for this purpose and countless individuals were baptized in the area around the city which included 44 villages.  It is estimated that 15,000 were brought back into the Church of Rome.  (Translator’s Note:  They were primarily Hungarian Calvinists (Reformed) and Serbian Orthodox.)

 

  On March 13, 1714 the Bishop of Pécs, Wilhelm von Nesselrode ordered all of the clergy in the diocese to report to his palace in the city for a Council.  He sought to determine the numbers of priests in the diocese, the number in training, the parishes with priests and where ruined churches were located.  The names of all of the participants are listed as well as those who had absented themselves.  There were 17 parishes and priests and 5 seminarians most of whom were in Baranya County.

 

  But there is also a note to the effect that one priest was present from Tevel in Tolna County, Heinrich Mak, who had no church.  The area had been abandoned but German settlers from Swabia were arriving and had brought their own priest with them and were now building their houses.

 

  According to local researchers the first church built in Varasd was wood in construction with a reed roof and was erected in 1755.  It was dedicated to St. James.  In 1793 at the personal cost of the villagers and some financial support of Count Apponyi a new church was erected as well as a rectory.  The village congregation became a recognized self sustaining parish in 1804.  The first resident priest was Johann Néméth.

 

World War II and Its Aftermath

 

  The villagers were divided in two camps and of two opinions.  Those who belonged to the Volksbund (Translator’s Note:  Nazi front organization) and those whose first loyalty was to their Hungarian homeland.  There were ten families of this opinion and belonged to the Loyalty Movement:  Treu zur Heimat.  The two groups avoided public quarrels as much as possible in light of the political situation in Hungary.

 

  With the full co-operation of the Hungarian government a first recruitment drive for volunteers to serve in the SS was carried out by the Volksbund in 1942.  There were six volunteers from Varasd.  In the second recruitment drive in 1943 there were two.  These were meagre results after a massive propaganda campaign by the Volksbund and its leader Franz Basch.  All of the volunteers came from poor families.  They were promised economic benefits and they knew they also faced a call up to serve in the Hungarian Army.  They would rather serve under German leadership.  It was unthinkable that a farmer’s son would volunteer to go to fight in a far off war when there was ploughing to do, crops to plant and a harvest to bring in.

 

  After the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944 the third SS recruitment drive go under way.  This was not a voluntary recruitment.  All men between the ages of 17 to 62 years were conscripted into the Waffen-SS.  On August 10, 1944 the first of the young men were called up to report for duty.  During August there were 72 young men who were called up  and on October 1st 20 older men received their orders.  As one of these older men put it:  “We old monkeys are Hitler’s new fangled secret weapons we always hear about.”  There were a few men who managed to be accepted into the Hungarian Army.  In all 32 men from Varasd lost their lives on the front in the Second World War.

 

  The Russians arrived in Varasd on November 30, 1944.  The day before Pécs had fallen.  At the beginning of December, Kaposvár fell next.  By mid-December Budapest was surrounded.  The ancient capital of Hungary, Szekésfehevár, would hold out until March 22, 1945.

 

  November 30, 1944 was a Thursday when the Russians arrived.  There was a light rain.  Low dark clouds.  Individual Hungarian soldiers passed through the village heading for Tevel.  They yelled:  “Hurry!  Hide yourselves!”  While they shouted they shot off their rifles into the air.  The villagers hid in their cellars.  No fighting took place.

 

  Varasd was spared the deportation to slave labour in the Soviet Union, although men and women were taken to Kisdorog on January 2, 1945.  They were taken there by horse and wagon.  Arriving at the town hall they waited for an hour when they were told to go home because the Russian officer in charge of the operation had been called to serve on the front.  In returning home they had no idea that they had missed the convoy of hundreds of young German men and women from the area who were being transported to the labour camps in Russia.

 

  On April 26th Varasd was surrounded by Hungarian police from the neighbouring villages.  The entire German population was forced to assemble at the outdoor stations of the cross on a prominent hill by the village cemetery.  The Volksbund members were segregated from the others and taken to Lengyel and imprisoned there in the Apponyi castle.  On the next day April 27th the first of the Csango families from eastern Hungary arrived and took over their homes, livestock and property.  This was also happening in the ten other German villages in the vicinity where 1,500 of these families were resettled.  In May more of them arrived.  New lists were drawn up with the names of those to be dispossessed of their property not only some remaining Volksbund members but all of those families who had claimed German was their mother tongue during the nefarious  Census of 1941.

 

  During Mass on Ascension Day, the Hungarian parish priest warmly welcomed the Csango who were now the “new owners” of Varasd.  “My brothers, the Lord God has given you a new home and houses all of your own.”  But he offered no word of comfort for those Germans in the parish whom he assumed must have deserved to be thrown out of their homes.

 

  On June 6th the village was surrounded by Hungarian police again.  All of the remaining Germans were assembled and about forty were taken and interned at the Lengyel castle.  After five or six days most of them returned having found it easy to escape from there.  Despite all of what was happening the Germans continued working their fields.  The harvest began in July and so did the quarrelling with the new residents.  

 

  Seventeen of the men had managed to return home after the war.  By September there were fifteen more who had returned.  Many of them were among those who had been interned or had to report to the police each week.  They were often arrested at night and were charged with whatever they wanted and were put in jail for a few days.  During October, November and December the Csango went berserk.  They got drunk, looted homes, robbed people on the streets, threw people out of their houses and beat them.  On All Saints Day they priest remembered the dead in Bukovina at Mass but he did not acknowledge that any of the local Germans had died in the war.  By the end of the year 48 men had returned home from the war.

 

  In January 1946 the local German population were told that all of the Germans in Hungary would be driven out of the country.  In the neighbouring villages all former German soldiers were assembled and interned.  The Csango went wild again.  In April the first survivors from the labour camps in Russia from the neighbouring villages came home and the numbers that had died were astounding.  In June the expulsions began.

 

  On July 3, 1946 the Germans in Tevel were loaded onboard cattle cars.  They went as far as Linz in Austria where the American military refused to accept them and they were sent back to Hungary.  But they did not return home.  They were taken to Hajos, then to  Bacsalmas and on to Nemesnadudor.  They were in transit for a month.  Then the expulsions ceased.  There were 23 more men who returned home from the war as more and more people were driven from their homes.

 

  During 1947 and 1948 the Hungarians who had been expelled from Slovakia took up residence in the remaining homes of the Germans.

 

  On August 19, 1947 the beating of drums on the street corners in Varasd announced the expulsions would begin again.  They had two hours to pack.  They were taken to Hidas in open trucks to the railway station.  They headed for Pirna in Saxony.  Of the remaining German population in Varasd, 320 had been sent into exile.  The second group of expellees from Varasd would leave on February 29, 1948.     

One Response to “ Bonyhádvarasd in Tolna County ”

  1. Stephen Ollinger says:

    Can you tell me if any of the Tolna County families travelled further on to Bukovina province or would that have been another group of families?

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