My opinion is that is virtually impossible to establish the truth about that particular execution. If it indeed happened in the gruesome style the Hungarians say, I sincerely doubt there are materials proofs for the allegation, like a photo or something similar. As for the eyewitness reports, we again have none. Hungarian officers were certainly not present and I doubt an ex-Yugoslav official will come out and say "Yes, we did impale him." Nor will the "new historians" from Serbia, keen on proving the depraved nature of communist regime, make such a statement-after all, Grassy was notorious for letting his troops loose on the Serbs.Larry D. wrote:Thank you for that, David. I am 95% sure that is the war crime I was referring to as it is the main one that occurred in that part of the former Yugoslavia that was occupied by the Hungarians. Grassy must have been the senior Hungarian officer on the scene and may have ordered the massacre on his own authority. If he was indeed executed in some gruesome fashion, then the impalation story may be true since that form of execution has an unfortunate history in that area dating back to the Ottoman conquest in the early 1500's. There is testimony in Nürnberg Case 7 (Southeast Case) of Chetniks and Partisans occasionally using that method on particularly hated enemies, so I would not rule it out in the matter of Grassy or whoever the general was.
L.
Such allegations are notoriously hard to prove, whether it be invaders bayoneting babies or guerrillas crucifying their captives. Unfortunately for us researchers, few such episodes are documented by the perpetrating side; I immediately think of the beheading of two partisans by "Karstjägers", for which we have both authentic photos and a report openly stating the way in which the executions were carried out. As rare are also eyewitness accounts, like Djilas remembering he tacitly approved the execution of an Ustasha by decapitation, or Jovan Kapicic admitting he and his comrades doused dead Italians in Montenegro with gasoline and set them on fire for no other reason than "we haven't had enough".
Cheers,
Gaius