A Békés Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 36. (Békéscsaba, 2012)
Németh Csaba: Miért halt meg Mány Erzsébet?
Miért halt meg Mátxy Erzsébet? leadership of Farkas, they took a firing position at the Gyulavári bridgehead of the river Fehér-Körös. Having waited one and a half hours, the youngsters returned the guns. However, political authorities brought the young people to summary military court. The defenders tried to bring the case under a civil trial but their arguments were ignored. The offence of abuse by weapons having been found proven, Erzsébet Mány and Mihály Farkas, who had been found principals, were sentenced to death. Why did they have to die for such a nothing? By mid-December, resistance in Békés county was declining. The making of order was disturbed by the unexpected attempt to resist by those living in Gyulavári. Political authorities were afraid that, inspired by the event, others may follow the example. This encouraged those in power to stabilize their influence by intimidation. This justified the intervention of the top-level politicians: György Marosán and Ferenc Miinnich. Due to this, what happened in the small cross-border village, became an event of national scope and the martyrs of Békés county were among the first victims of the Kádár regime. Németh Csaba E-mail: nemcsab@freemail. hu 239
