Novi Sad massacre

Novi Sad Raid
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia
Location	Southern Bačka, Hungarian-occupied Yugoslavia
Date	6–23 January 1942
Target	Predominantly Serb and Jewish civilians
Attack type	Mass murder, summary executions
Deaths	3,000–4,000
Perpetrators	Honvédség

The Novi Sad raid, also known as the Novi Sad massacre, the Újvidék massacre, or simply The Raid (Racija), was a military operation carried out by the Honvédség, the armed forces of Hungary, during World War II. It resulted in the deaths of 3,000–4,000 civilians in the southern Bačka region of Hungarian-occupied Yugoslavia.

The Hungarian occupational authorities began raiding towns and villages in southern Bačka as early as 6 January 1942, ostensibly as a means of suppressing Partisan resistance, though the historical record shows that the Hungarian Government was attempting to improve its geopolitical standing vis-à-vis Germany. The first town to be raided was Čurug, followed by Gospođinci, Titel, Temerin and Žabalj. The victims were seemingly detained at random while conducting everyday activities. On 20 January, the city of Novi Sad (Hungarian: Újvidék) was surrounded and placed on curfew; its telephone lines were cut. Over the next several days, the occupational authorities went about arresting "suspicious" individuals. More than 1,000 of the city's residents were killed by the time the raid ended. The victims in both Novi Sad and the wider region were mostly Serbs and Jews, though several Hungarians were killed as well. In Novi Sad, victims were forced to march across the frozen Danube, only to perish when the ice sheet was shattered by shelling from the shore. Some were pushed into holes in the ice sheet, causing them to drown or succumb to hypothermia, while others were shot in the street. The raid only came to an end when László Deák, the Lord Lieutenant of Novi Sad, breached the curfew and informed officials in Budapest of what had transpired.

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