Thirteen: The Execution of the Martyrs of Arad

On October 6, 1849, the execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad took place. From the article:

"Arad, 1849. The morning of October 6th, just before 7 in the morning. This moment, chosen by Julius Jacob von Haynau, Austrian general and military governor of a defeated Hungary, was a symbolic one, as it was the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of the Vienna uprising. On this day, 13 military leaders of the failed Hungarian War for Independence, the ‘martyrs of Arad,’ would be executed in a painful and humiliating fashion. At daybreak, soldiers were placed on high alert. Artillerymen stood behind their cannons with burning wicks atop the city walls. They were afraid of Arad’s citizenry—as some of those to be executed were particularly popular in the city—and for this reason, the executions were to take place on the southern side of the Maros River, and crossing it was forbidden."