retaliation, between 152 and 158 ethnic Romanians were killed. The commander of the Hungarian troops who perpetrated the massacre of civilians was lieutenant Zoltán Vasváry. Some sources have stated that the Hungarian Army was supported by local vigilantes. The soldiers went house-to-house and shot everybody indiscriminately. On 14 September, in Somlyócsehi (present-day Cehei), one person was killed. In the nearby Felsőkaznacs and Szilágcseres forests (present-day Cosniciu de Sus and Cerișa) 55 persons were killed. According to some other sources, the area most affected was Sălaj, where 477 Romanians were massacred. On September 14, at the order of Lt. Vasvári, a pit 24 meters long by 4 meters wide was dug in the village cemetery; the corpses of those killed in the massacre were buried head-to-head in two rows, with no religious ceremony. Trial The facts were established by Decision no. 1 of the Northern Transylvania People's Tribunal (which sat in Cluj and was presided by Justice Nicolae Matei), in a public sentence from 13 March 1946. The findings of the Tribunal were as follows: Lieutenant colonel Carol Lehotcsky, the military commander of Șimleu Silvaniei district, was found guilty of ordering reprisals against the Romanian inhabitants of Ip and nearby villages. Ștefan Farago, a landowner from Ip and commander of a local militia was convicted for inducing Lehotcsky to order those repressive measures. (Adalbert Ujhaly was also found to have participated in this inducement, but he had died before the trial.) Lt. Vasváry was found guilty of commanding the unit that carried out the massacre. Fifteen locals (Nicolae Bereș, Sigismund P. Bereș, Francisc Borzási, Vasile K. Dereș, Biro Emeric Jr., Biro Emeric Sr., Alexandru Csepe, Francisc I. Csepei, Sigismund Csepei, Paul B. Fazekas, Alexandru Kisfaluși, Bálint Kisfaluși, Arpád Ösz, Ștefan Pinces, and Mihai Soos) were found guilty of cooperating with the Hungarian soldiers in perpetrating the massacre. See also List of massacres in Hungary List of massacres in Romania Luduș massacre Nușfalău massacre Sărmașu massacre Treznea massacre References External links Ip massacre September 1940 events Massacres in 1940 World War II massacres 20th century in Transylvania World War II crimes in Romania Massacres in Romania Massacres in Hungary Military history of Hungary 1940 in Romania 1940 murders in Hungary Massacres of Romanians Hungary–Romania relations September 1940 events in Romania Hungarian war crimes