Dénesi Tamás (szerk.): Collectanea Sancti Martini - A Pannonhalmi Főapátság Gyűjteményeinek Értesítője 6. (Pannonhalma, 2018)
II. Közlemények
200 Gereben Ferenc: „Hív a harc és hív az élet...” Ferenc Gereben “Being called by fight and life...” The social integration of Class B graduating in Pannonhalma in 1960 (Document-analysis) The present paper demonstrates what odds a class-community of 35 pupils – having come from different social backgrounds and graduated in the Benedictine Secondary Boarding School of Pannonhalma in 1960 – had to cope with the communist dictatorship after the suppression of the revolution of 1956. The author, himself also a member of the class in question, recalls the events between 1960 and 1965 – in addition to the secondary sources about history and the data of the school archives – based on letters by class-mates received in the specified period, the author’s private diary-entries, and the written memoirs (as well as photos of the time) of fellowpupils. The given period belongs to the Kádár-era – it is still the hard phase, although just about to start softening –, pupils having graduated from church schools were still punished with severe discrimination at university entrance examinations. The documents disclose the tribulations, disappointments, achievements and failures of these years of starting a career or profession, they also announce the virtual co hes ion of the members of the class-community being scattered all over the coun try (and all the world over). In addition, these writings provide an interesting retrospective image of Pannonhalma, as well, whose characteristic feature is that the place having been scolded by many during the school-years later became a “longed for” asylum. The introduction and analysis of the documents ends with the reunion party after five years. The “Epilogue” concluding the paper states the “final outcome”: in spite of the discrimination, the overwhelming majority of the class earned a diploma, a third of them earned a doctoral degree, and they have preserved their integrity identified with Pannonhalma.
