Communism -- Hungary; Hungary -- History -- Revolution, 1918-1919 -- Personal narratives; Tormay, Cécile, 1876-1937 -- Diaries
A table was placed in the open, and the prisoners were led before
Számuelly one after another. He examined nobody and only asked who was
possessed of property. Then he ordered some to the left and some to the
right. No witnesses were called: Számuelly alone represented the
tribunal. “To death!” he shouted to those on the left, and eighty
started for the square in front of the church.
One of the men sentenced, a journeyman bootmaker, collapsed on the way
and was left there. The others were beaten with rifle-butts and spat
upon by their hangmen. The eye-glasses of Lieut. Takács were thrust into
his eyes until the eyeball was forced out of its socket, and while he
walked on they even tore his handkerchief away so that his eyeball hung
on his cheek. They boxed the ears of Gyula Akics, a mill-owner, while he
stood under the gallows, and then Stephen Tárcsay, Louis Laffer, Gyula
Németh and Francis Glaser were hanged. No doctor was present at the
execution. Before the corpses were cold the Lenin Boys stripped them and
made the other prisoners bury them. Számuelly watched the execution and
made jokes.
Next day he went to Kapuvár and entered the place with a band of a
hundred and fifty Terrorists armed with machine-guns and hand grenades.
All he asked the prisoners was their name. “Hang them!” he cried. The
mayor, the police sergeant and three others were led in front of the
Catholic Church. He reprieved one of them on the way, because he was
told he was the president of the Jewish congregation. In this place,
too, the prisoners were beaten on their way to execution. The rope broke
when police sergeant Pintér was hanged. His two little children ran up
and implored mercy, but Számuelly would not relent. He then imposed a
fine of millions on the town, and all the cattle he could lay hands on
were driven away. Then he went on, without remorse, calmly, in his
princely special train.
This death train passes through Hungary day and night, and wherever it
stops men are hanged on the trees and blood is spilt on the pavements.
Along its track people often find naked and mutilated corpses. In the
Pullman car Számuelly sits in judgment. I heard this from a reliable
man, who had gone over with the Socialist party to the Communists to
save his own skin. He had to report to Számuelly in Szolnok, and it was
then that he saw the train.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account