Bevezető

The Yugoslav War that was not theirs: The case of national minority millennials

“…This might have been recorded as an act of unloyalty; however, as Rácz (2018) argues, the obligations of a minority ethnic group in a war fought by a country of which it is a citizen and on whose territory it is based are very complex (Rácz, 2018). However, what was very obvious at that moment was that the number of Hungarians in Vojvodina rapidly decreased due to the military conscription (Gönz, 2004; Vékás, 2008) as many of the Hungarian ethnic minority migrated (Márton, 2014). By May 1992, 25,000 Hungarians had fled to Hungary (and were later deprived of their rights of inheritance in Serbia), and those who refused to serve at ‘home’ were dismissed from their jobs (Vékás, 2008, p. 356).…”

“…By May 1992, 25,000 Hungarians had fled to Hungary (and were later deprived of their rights of inheritance in Serbia), and those who refused to serve at ‘home’ were dismissed from their jobs (Vékás, 2008, p. 356). Attila Márton (2014), in the introductory part of a book by Angéla Szabó, 9 titled Holtszezon (The Off‐Season), elaborates on who the victims were among the Vojvodinian Hungarians regarding the Yugoslav Wars. In his opinion, there were different kinds of victims: first, those who were fooled by the propaganda which fostered the idea of Serbian ethnic ‘purity’ and went to war voluntarily 10 .…”

“…The victims were also men who were forcibly mobilised and died in the Slavonian cornfields fighting under the flag of a country that no longer existed. However, those who managed to escape across borders and avoid being mobilised but whose health deteriorated due to the banging on doors at dawn and ambushes by military police were also victims (Márton, 2014). In her book, Szabó (2014) writes about the 63 Vojvodinian Hungarian men who died during the 1990s wars and NATO bombing (Szerbhorváth, 2018).…”

“…Almost half of the respondents narrated how their father had been conscripted, although five of those conscriptions were not successfully served as the fathers had avoided being at home when the postman came or had hidden in the garden, which was a tension‐filled and stressful period for the whole family. As Márton (2014) stated, those men who needed to hide in gardens or basements were also victims of the war as they lived in fear and anxiety. Avoiding the postman became routine for the whole family, or the family lied to them frequently.…”

“…10 10 Márton (2014) explains that those men were mostly factory workers who, under peer pressure, volunteered to fight in the war with their fellow Serb workers who an masse joined the army.…”