In January 1942 , the Hungarian army and gendarmerie undertook a major raid in southern Bačka , during which they massacred 2,550 Serbs , 743 Jews and 47 other people in places such as Bečej , Srbobran and Novi Sad , under the pretext that they were searching for Partisans . Other sources place the number of Serbs and Jews massacred in Novi Sad as being much lower , at around 879 . Raids were carried out in Šajkaš ( Sajkásvidék ) over 4 – 19 January ; in Novi Sad ( Újvidék ) over 21 – 23 January ; and in Bečej ( Óbecse ) over 25 – 29 January . Over the period 4 – 24 January , massacres were carried out by the Hungarian 15th Light Division commanded by Major General József Grassy and units of the Royal Gendarmerie . The operations were ordered by Grassy , Lieutenant General Ferenc Feketehalmy-Czeydner , Colonel László Deák , and Royal Gendarmerie Captain Dr. Márton Zöldi . In addition to Serbs and Jews , members of other ethnicities were also victims : Roma people , a small number of Russian refugees who had fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution , and some local Hungarians . In mid-1942 , the Yugoslav government-in-exile reported that churches had been looted and destroyed , and that Serbian Orthodox holy days had been prohibited by the Hungarian administration . These reports stated that the a camp in Novi Sad held 13,000 Serb and Jewish men , women and children
a major raid in southern Bačka
Novi Sad raid
Hungarian occupation of Yugoslav territories