Magyar News, 1999. szeptember-2000. augusztus (10. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1999-10-01 / 2. szám
to the northeast and continued down Aulich utca and out of view. After assuming the duties and receiving the keys to the Legation at 7:00 am, I made my initial check of security points. I arrived at my last security point at approximately 7:30am. The last point was the Legation main entrance door with an American flag affixed to it and the electric light above the door that was always kept "on" during hours of darkness to illuminate the flag. As I looked out the door window toward Szabadság tér I noticed the light fog had lifted and daylight had increased. As I was turning "off’1 the electric light above the main door I saw a single military personal carrier type vehicle, headed south, parked on the main two lanes of Szabadság tér south of the monument. Four people were walking from the vehicle to the Legation. Two were Hungarian Army officers flanking the other two who were dressed in clerical black, one wearing trousers the other wearing an ankle length coat. As they approached the Legation I recognized the gentleman wearing the black ankle length coat; that gentleman was Cardinal Mindszenty. I quickly ran up the stairway to the first floor reception area where Legation personnel and media representatives were loitering and found Master Sergeant Dunsworth talking to Colonel Welwyn Dallam, the Legation's Air Attache. Interrupting their conversation, I told Master Sergeant Dunsworth that the Cardinal was walking towards the Legation and asked for guidance should the Cardinal request entry into the Legation since we had not received instructions on this particular issue from the State Department. Master Sergeant Dunsworth stated, "do your duty". I ran down the stairway to the main entrance, looked out the door window and saw the Cardinal about two paces away from the Legation's two front steps. I opened the Legation door, the Cardinal and the other cleric, climbed the front steps and stepped over the Legation threshold. The Cardinal and cleric both nodded a greeting and the cleric said "thank you" in English. The two Hungarian Army officers, nodded, saluted, executed an "about face" movement, and started walking in the direction of their vehicle. As I secured the Legation front door, the Cardinal and cleric were greeted on the stairway by Legation employees who undoubtedly heard my comment to Master Lefi: Uneasy Russian soldiers are patroling with a self-propelled gun in the Baross Square at the Eastern Railroad Station. Below: A T-55 Soviet tank just under the balkony of the marine guards' apartment on Széchényi Rakpart. Sergeant Dunsworth that the Cardinal was walking towards the Legation and gathered on the stairway to see what would happen. The Legation employees were offering the Cardinal greetings and attempting to kiss his ring; I saw that Ferenc Miklausic, a Legation driver, was successful in being the first to kiss the Cardinal's ring. Another Legation employee on the stairway with Ferenc was Lívia Jancsó. At this moment several voices at the top of the stairway shouted, "let him in, let him in"... This event was documented by a Danish motion picture photographer and the film was shown by Movietone News in the United States. Years later, Gaza Katona, a Legation attache, told me that at the time I was performing my assigned tasks and admitting Cardinal Mindszenty into the Legation without proper authorization, a code clerk on the third floor of me 1 legation, had been busy processing cable traffic. One cable caught the clerk's attention and he quickly handed it to a Legation officer to read. After reading the cable the Legation officer urged the code clerk to take the cable to Minister Wailes who was on the first floor mingling with members of the Legation staff and media representatives, the code Page 4 An executed AVH soldier with a photo of Rákosi on his chest. (Right) Quiet in front of the AVH building with dead bodies still in the street. Do/.a A
