Letter to Mr. Jimmy Carter, former President of United States Of America

 The Carter Center Human Rights Program

 One Coppenhill - 453 Freedom Parkway Atlanta, Georgia, 30307

 The Romanian American National Congress,

 The Romanian Association of South Florida,

 and The Romanian Historical Studies,

 presents:

 A short history of Transylvania

    In order to better understand the situation, please allow us to present just a short history of Transylvania and on the demographic situation of this Romanian province.

 1. According to the last Census from 1992, Romania's population comprises 22.760.449 inhabitants. The Romanians represent 89.4% of the population, the Hungarians 7.1% and the Germans 0.5%, etc. In Transylvania itself the Romanians represent over 77% of the population, while the Hungarians are less than 23%.

 2. The Romanians have been living in this territory since pre-historic times. It is safe to say that Transylvania is the cradle of the Romanian nation.

 3. Transylvania was reunited with motherland, the Romanian Kingdom, after the collapse of the obsolete Austro- Hungarian Empire at the end of the WWI, due to the overwhelming majority of the Romanian population who, at their "Great National Assembly" of Alba Iulia, held on December 1, 1918, expressed their will to be reunited with Motherland Romania. The Germans, (Saxons) from Transylvania, (6.1% at that time) at their own National Assembly, held in Medias on January 9, 1919, voted also for the reunion of Transylvania with Motherland Romania.

 4. The reunion of Transylvania with Motherland Romania was based on the right of self determination and was sanctioned by two International Treaties in the 20 Century, i.e The Peace Treaty of Trianon after WWI, in 1920, and the Peace Treaty of Paris, after WWII, in 1947. Both treaties were signed by the U.S.A., Great Britain, France, and by Hungary itself. A third Treaty with the aim to promote good neighborhood relations between Romania and Hungary -implicit recognizing the reunion of Transylvania with Motherland Romania - was signed in 1996.

 5. Hungary itself, after the battle of Mohacs (1526), had totally disappeared as a country from the map of Europe, partly becoming a Turkish province (Pashalick), with the capital in Budapest, and the rest was put under Austrian rulership.

 6. During that period of time, when Hungary was partly Turkish province (Pashalick) and partly Austrian province, Transylvania had preserved its status as The Autonomous Principality Transylvania, under Turkish suzerainty.

 7. After 1690 when the Turks were defeated by the Austrian Empire, Hungary became part of Austrian Empire, while Transylvania remained still as Autonomous Principality of Transylvania under Austrian suzerainty, ruled by a Governor appointed by the Emperor of Austria. The governors of Transylvania were either Austrians or Saxons, but never Hungarians. The first Governor was the Saxon Baron Samuel von Bruckental, from the Transilvanian city of Sibiu.

 8. But the socio-economic, political and ethnic contradictions in which Transylvania was floundering could not be resolved peacefully, for the bourgeoisie and dominant Hungarian nobility rejected any demand of serfs and non-Magyar peoples, (Prof. Stefan Pascu, A History of Transylvania, pag. 191, Dorset Press, New York). In January 1848, the revolution broke out in Sicily and most of Europe, including Transylvania. Romanian peasant expressed impatient haste to be freed of serfdom and social and economic burdens of feudal obligations. (Idem,ibidem, page 192). The Romanians in Transylvania wanted restored their national rights which has been stripped off by the dominant Hungarian nobility, in order to promote a more equitable social relations. They were asking for a new constitution, based on principle of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. The revolution of the Transylvanian Romanians started in May 1848 at Blaj, with a National Assembly which gathered the impressive number of over 40,000 participants and where the goals of the revolution were formulated and proclaimed. But the Hungarian nobility refused to grant liberties for the serfs and non-Magyar population of Transylvania, proclaiming the marshall law and recurring to beatings, hangings and imprisonment of the peasants, to force them work. Thus, conditions in Transylvania worsened and in a petition to Austrian Emperor they protested against terrorism. In October 1848 the latent war in Transylvania burst into a open armed struggle. The Hungarian army, having at their disposal the armed national guards and new military units, seized this advantage, arresting and hanging many Romanians. They destroyed around 230 (two hundred thirty) Romanian villages, killing around 30,000 Romanians. At the end, in June 1849, under the command of Field Marechal Ivan Theodorovici Paskevici, with the agreement of the Austrian Emperor, Russian troops entered Transylvania and put an end to the Hungarian terrorism, (Idem, ibidem).

 9. Twenty years later, in 1867, due to the financiaL power of the Hungarian nobility, the Austrian Emperor agreed to set up a Dual Empire of Austro-Hungary and in this way Hungary reappeared on the map of Europe, after an absence of 341 (three hundred and forty one) years. Same year Transylvania was forcibly incorporated into Austro-Hungarian Empire under Hungarian administration, in spite of many vehement protests of the overwhelming Romanian majority.

 10. This annexation lasted just 51 years, from 1867 to 1918, when the Romanian majority voted the reunion of Transylvania with motherland, the Romanian Kingdom. If you are interested in this topic, we could provide you more details and refer to many books.

 Sincerely yours,

 George Duma, Ph.D.

 President Romanian American National Congress

 1730 3rd Ave., Apt. #1202 San Diego, CA. 92101, U.S.A.

 Traian Golea

 President Romanian Association of South Florida

 901 NE 14th Ave., Apt. #601 Hallandale, FL 33009,U.S.A.

 * * *

    After the revolution of 1989 and the fall of the communist regime, the Hungarians in Romania are represented in the Romanian Parliament by the UDMR (Democratic Union of the Hungarians in Romania), and are also taking part in the government coalition. But the UDMR (HUDR) is an ethnic Union, which means, an organization of all and only Hungarians, and consequently it comprises all possible political orientations, many of them even racist. Ever since 1945, when the communists took over Romania, the Hungarian Community of Transylvania, organized in an ethnic Popular Union of the Hungarians, was part of the communist ruling apparatus in Romania. Due to their rush and massive adherence to the communist oppressive regime, they delivered 80% of the oppressive communist apparatus (see "History of the Romanian Communist Party, by Robert King, Hoover Institute, California, 1979, pag. 38). After the revolution of 1989, the communist Popular Union of the Hungarians of Romania only changed its official name to become the "Democratic Union of the Hungarians Romania", and entered, with all that heterogenous political orientations (even a racist wing, as represented by Bishop Laszlo Tokes, Verestoy Atila, a.o.) the Democratic Coalition which rules Romania today. It is this racist wing of the UDMR which is asking for the autonomy or federalization of Transylvania and in pursuing that goal, they are using all possible means, trying to discredit Romania (please see as an example the Attachments 2 and 3). The racist wing of the UDMR caused the ethnic conflicts in the County of Mures in 1990 and they went even so far after the fall of the communism, as to conceive and apply an ethnic cleansing operation. They pressured and threatened the Romanians by extreme means, succeeding in creating an atmosphere of terror, which caused about 4.000 Romanians, teachers, engineers, priests, workers, artists, etc., to leave their homes and get out of these two counties. A list with the names, professions and the specific reasons for leaving homes and jobs of these unfortunate people, was put together in the Report of a Hearing Committee of the Romanian Parliament in 1991, report which can be provided on demand. According to this Report, Romanian schools were closed in many parts of these counties and thus Romanian children were forced to attend Hungarian language schools in order to be magyarized. The same ethnic cleansing operation was executed in Odorhei in 1997, the case regarding the Romanian Greek-Catholic nuns, when the local authorities behavior was and still is very abusive. Anyway, the actions of these extremists of nazi-horthyst orientation is totally unacceptable and this is also contrary to the Helsinki Final Act. These extremist Hungarians now living in Romania seem to be a retarded fascist-horthyst faction, trying to revive the horthyst racist ideology. This faction went even so far as to try to install a Memorial Plaque to honor the late Daday Lorand, a notorious inciter to genocide, who under the pseudonym of Ducso Csaba wrote the "No Mercy", published in Budapest, Hungary, in 1939 with Horthy's approval. This book was used as a textbook by all para-military Hungarian organizations that accompanied the Hungarian Army when they occupied and implemented the Hungarian Administration in the occupied Northern Transylvania in 1940. This book incited the Hungarians to such a horrible genocide that finally even the Hungarian authorities have decided to deny its very existence (see Attachment). At the same time, we want to remind and emphasize the fact that the 4.000 Romanians driven out of the two counties by the racist Hungarians could never return, what means that these Hungarian racists managed to accomplish their goal, namely the "ethnic cleansing operation". Therefor we are asking the whole civilized world to blame these racist instigators and trouble makers who is trying to torpedo the accord of UDMR (HUDR) with the Romanian Government in order to destabilize the present political situation in Romania and thus, creating appropriate political conditions, they can declare the autonomy of Transylvania which, as you know, is also contrary to the Helsinki Final Act. We believe in your spirit of Justice and that's why we are trying to make public the above facts and figures.

 Sincerely yours,

 George Duma, Ph.D.

 President Romanian American National Congress

 1730 3rd Ave., Apt. # 1202 San Diego, CA. 92101, U.S.A.

 Traian Golea

 President Romanian Association of South Florida

 901 NE 14th Ave., Apt. # 601 Hallandale, FL 33009,U.S.A.

 THE ROMANIAN AMERICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

 THE ROMANIAN ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH FLORIDA

 March 20, 1998

 To The Carter Center Human Rights Program

One Coppenhill - 453 Freedom Parkway Atlanta, Georgia, 30307

    Thanking you for your letter dated Feb. 13,'98. (received Feb. 28,'98) we are pleased to give you some more information and details, as required by you, regarding the events in Odorhei which are a sourse of troubling situation in Romania. In order to better understand the situation, please allow us to make just a short consideration about the history of Transylvania and about the demographic situation of this Romanian province.

 1. According to the last Census from 1992, the total amount of Romania's population is 22.760.449 inhabitants. The Romanians represent 89.4% of the population and the Hungarians 7.1% (see Attachment 1). Only in Transylvania the Romanians reopresent over 77% of the population, while the Hungarians are less than 23%.

 2. The Romanians are living in this territories since pre-historic times. It is safe to say that Transylvania is the cradle of the Romanian nation.

 3. Transylvania was reunited with the motherland Romanian Kingdom after the colapse of the obsolete Austro-Hungarian Empire (at the end of the WWI), due to the overwhelming majority of the Romanian populationwho voted at the "Great Natioonal Assembly" of Alba Iulia, on December 1, 1918, to be reunited with the Motherland Romania.

 4. The reunion of Transylvania with Motherland Romania, based on the right of self determination, was sanctioned by two International Treaties in 20 Century, i.e. Peace Treaty of Trianon after WWI, in 1920, and the Peace Treaty of Paris", after WWII, in 1947. Both treaties were signed by U.S.A., Great Britain, France, etc.

 5. Hungary itself, after the battle of Mohacs (1526), has totally disapeared as a country from the map of Europe and became partly a Turkish province (Pashalick), with the capital in Budapest, and partly was under Austrian administration.

 6. During that period of time, when Hungary was a Turkish province (Pashalick), Transylvania preservedits status of Autonomous Principality under Turkish suzerainty.

 7. After the Turks were defeated by the Austrians in 1690, and the Turks were pushed out of the territory of Hungary, this country became part of Austria under Austrian Administration, while Transylvania, always a Autonomous Principality, went under Austrian suzerainty, ruled by a Governor nominayed by the Emperor of Austria.

 8. When in 1867 Hungary reapeared on the map of Europe under the name of Austro-Hungary, after an absence of 341 (three hundred and forty one) years, Transylvania was forcible annexed to Hungary.

 9. This annexation lasted just 51 years, from 1867 to 1918, when the Romanian majority in Transylvania voted for the reunion with the Motherland Romanian Kingdom. If you are interested in this topic, we could provide you more details and refer you to many books.

 * * *

   After the revolution of 1989 and the fall of the communist regime, the Hungarians in Romania are represented in the Romanian Parliament by the UDMR (Democratic Union of the Hungarians in Romania), and also are taking part in the government coalition. But the UDMR (HUDR) is a etrhnic Union, which means, an organiuzation of all and only Hungarians, and consequently it comprises all possible political orientations, many of them even racists. Even since 1945, when the communists took over Romania, the Hungarian Community of Transylvania, organized in an ethnic Popular Union of the Hungarians, were part of the communist rule in Romania, Because of their massice adherence with their organization to the communist, in Tranbsylvania they delivered 80% of the govermning communist aparatus (see "History of the Romanian Communist Party, Robert King. Hoover Institutem California, 1979, pag. 38). After the revolution of 1989, the communist Popular Union of the Hungarian of Romania just changed the name, and became the ÃDemocratic Union of the Hungarians of Romania, and entered, with all that heterogenous politiovcal orientations (even a racist wing, asreoresented by Bishop Laszlo Tokes, Verestoy Atila, a.o.) the Demovcratic Coalition which rules Romania today. It is this racist wing of the UDMR which is asking for the autonomy or federalization of Transylvania and in order to pursue this goal, they are using all possible means, trying to discredit Romania (please see as an example the Attachment 2 and 3). They were the trouble makers in the County of Mures in 1990 and they were also who went so far in 1990, after the fall of the communism, as to concieve and apply an ethnic cleansing operation in the counties of Harghita and Covasna. To reach that goal, they threatened and pressured the Romanians by all possible means, determining about 4.000 of them to move out of these two counties; they were of different professions, like teachers, engineers, priests, workers, artists, etc. If you need, we can provide you the lists with the names, their profession and the reason for leaving of these unfortunate people who had to leave their homes and their jobs, put together in a Report of a Hearing Committee of the Romanian Parliament in 1991. After this Report, Romanian schools were closed in different parts of these counties and in this way the Romanian pupils had to go to different Hungarian schools in order to be magyarized. The same ethnic cleansing opoeration was executed in Odorhei in 1997, the case regarding the Romanian Greek-Catholic nuns, as reported. Anyway, the actions of these extremists and nazi-horthyst orientation people is totally unaccepotable and this is also against the Helsinki Final Act. This extremists Hungarians living now in Romania seem to be a retarded fascist-hothyst faction trying to revive the horthyst racist ideology. They went even so far nowdays to try to install a Memorial Plaque to honor the late Daday Lorand, who under the pseudonime of Ducso Csaba wrote the book "No Mercy", published in Budapest, Hungary, in 1939 with the Horthy's approval. This book was used as a textbook by all para-military Hungarian organizations that accompanied the Hungarian Army when they occupied and implemented the Hungarian Administration in the occupied Northern Transylvania in 1940. This book incited the Hungarians to such a horrible genocide that finally even the Hungarian authorities have decided to deny its very existence (see Attachment 4). Taking in consideration this very short reference of the situation and the very serious Human Rights Violations, answering your two questions of your letter, we want to inform you as follows: First: About the update of the progress regarding the Odorhei case, we want to inform you that this case was brought to the attention of the Association of Human Rights in Romania -Helsinki Committee, Oct. 1997 - and the conclusions were as follows:

 1. The nuns were forced to evacuate the building which was supposed to become an orphanage;

 2. The local authorities manifested against the right of the Immaculate Heart Congregation nuns. The local authorities contested the universal right confirmed by the Constitution of Romania, based on which every person can live on any place on the territory of the Country, no matter the ethnic, religious and national demographic composition of the locality.

 3. The local authorities' behavior was abusive. The racist attitude and actions of these Hungarian racists in Odorhei managed for a while to chase the nuns, but finally they were obliged to "accept" them in their city and after one year of trouble and time waste, at the present time the nuns are repairing and preparing the building for the openninf of the orphanage, which was due on September 1997. On the other side, to mention is the fact that the Mayor of Odorhei, Mr. Szasz Jeno, and councilman Bardoczi, who incited the population against the nuns and against Mr. Cyrill Burgel himself, are still in charge. Second: Taking in consideration the above mentioned, we think that the Carter Center could have a very important rolle in helping the Romanian people as follows:

 1. To analyse the situation in the counties of Harghita, Covasna and Mures and conclude if there is or is not a necessity to monitorize these counties to prevent new abuses against the Romanian population.

 2. At the same time, we want to remember and emphasize the fact that the 4.000 Romanians driven out of the counties by the racists Hungarians, never returned back and in this way these racists managed to accomplish their goal in regard to the "ethnic cleansing operation".

 3. We are asking your help to make sure that the Romanian Greek-Catholic nuns will not be pressured again later to leave the orphanage.

 4. We are asking also for international recognition and blaming the racist ethnic cleansing operation as such, the actions of the nazi-horthyst elements who are acting under the cover of the UDMR, actions which are also contrary to Helsinki Final Act, which says that all people are free to live in their country wherever they want and they must not be submitted to ethnic cleansing operations."

 5. We are asking also the whole civilized world to blame these extremists racists trouble makers.

 * * *

    We believe in the spirit of Justice of Carter Center and that's why we are trying to make public the above mentioned. These troublemakers want to torpedo the accord of UDMR (HUDR) with the Romanian Government, to destabilize the political situation and to declare the autonomy of Transylvania, contrary to the Helsinki Final Act.

 Sincerely yours,

 

 George Duma, Ph.D.

 President Romanian American National Congress

 1730 3rd Ave., Apt. # 1202 San Diego, CA. 92101, U.S.A.

 

 Traian Golea

 President Romanian Association of South Florida

 901 NE 14th Ave., Apt. # 601 Hallandale, FL 33009, U.S.A.