Bratislava, February 12, 1919: Shooting into the crowd in Prešporok

 

The peaceful crowd's chanting and shouts of "Long live Hungary!" were considered provocation by the Czechoslovak legionnaires, so they opened machine gun fire on the demonstrators and then attacked the fleeing people with bayonets. The number of fatal victims of the shooting was nine, namely:

 

• Gusztáv Luntzer, 19-year-old worker

 

In addition to the nine fatalities, there were 23 seriously wounded and more than 100 victims who suffered minor injuries. Although the Czechoslovak authorities later launched an investigation into the events, no one was held accountable, and the victims of the tragedy have not been rehabilitated to this day.

 

The victims of the tragedy, known as the “Pozsony shooting”, are commemorated annually by Hungarian organizations in Bratislava. At the commemorations, local historian and tour guide Mihály Brogyányi regularly recalls the historical events related to the tragedy. 

 

It is well known that the authorities of that time tried to present the events as if they were the consequences of provocation by Pozsony Hungarians, although the population simply did not want to give up their freedom and did not want to change their social ties, which they made known to the occupying Czechoslovak troops through protests and various other forms.

 

Writer and publicist Rezső Peéry, former Pozsony resident and participant in the demonstration, remembers that day as follows: 

 

 

Finally, here is an authentic report, dated October 21st, 1997, from nearly thirty years ago, from a letter written by Dr. Payer to Tihamér Zilizi. Dr. Payer had already reached his 100th year at that time; in 1919, he was a university student studying medicine in Pozsony: 

 

“I don’t really have much to comment on your kind words, because I went skiing on that February 12th, 1919, and only later, as a second-year medical student, was I assigned by anatomy to perform autopsies on those who had died in the demonstrations. There, however, I saw an acquaintance from the artillery barracks contingent. As a native of Pozsony, this memory remained a forever-bleeding wound for me, along with the picture of Czechs dressed in Italian uniforms. Due to the missed census, the city has remained in the hands of usurpers to this day. ... Moreover, Trianon continued thanks to the friendship between Masaryk and France, as even the areas south of the Danube were subsequently handed over. Now we can only believe in miracles. Having no more to add, please attribute the errors, etc. to my hundred years of age and my old typewriter. Asking for your kind understanding, greetings, Dr. Payer." (Bratislava, October 21, 1997)

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We are still coming to terms with our criminal past. If we cannot come to terms with it, it will continue to haunt us in the future. Boys up there in heaven, we cannot apologize to you, it is inexcusable, which makes it all the more binding.

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Google did not find a single photo...  Even after 107 years, we are still unable to remember our own crimes against humanity. The very creation of Czechoslovakia was accompanied by injustice, and the rights of national minorities guaranteed by the Treaty of St. Germain were not respected. The largest ethnic group of Czech Germans was replaced by an artificially created "Czechoslovak". The Kadaň massacre of March 4, 1919, was the result of a policy that was far from true democracy. Let us also remember the Czech and German nobility, who were stripped of their titles and a considerable part of their property, which had belonged to them for centuries and served the country. Nevertheless, representatives of the Czech and German nobility went to Prague Castle in 1938 to express their full support for President Dr. Edvard Beneš and their determination to stand up to Nazism in direct combat. 

 

Let us not be surprised by the current state of Czech society. There is an absolute lack of good morals, cowardice, and plebeianism at all levels. We lack a true elite. We must all start with ourselves. There are values that cannot be bought. They are created through education, upbringing, personal example, and honest work. Without them, human life has no meaning and a nation has no right to permanent existence. 

 

Nature will always eliminate everything that does not respect its immutable, eternal laws. We all bear our share of responsibility, including for passing on the legacy of our ancestors to our descendants. 

JŠ