South Slavs of Hercegszántó in the light of state security documents (1945–1955)

Abstract

The history of Hungarian–Yugoslav relations can be characterized by frequent changes after 1945 that had a profound and often dramatic impact on the everyday lives of those Hungarians and ethnic South Slavs who lived in the vicinity of the Hungarian–Yugoslav border. In this article, through the prism of state police sources, I will examine some aspects of everyday life of South Slavic minorities who were living at a particular village in the so-called Baja triangle, Hercegszántó. In the first part of my paper, I will provide a reader with some background information on the history of Hungarian–Yugoslav relations with particular emphasis on the minorities, then, in the second part, I will analyse the ethnic and social composition of the village, the effects of the rapidly deteriorating Hungarian–Yugoslav relations after 1948 and, finally, the hopes and fears of the local Magyars and South Slavs during the period of normalization.