Cseh Valentin szerk.: „70 éve alakult a MAORT” – tanulmányok egy bányavállalat történetéből (2009)

Lajos Srágli: Hungary's Economy, Politics and MAORT

MA( )RT's management received promises recognising their points of view from Antal Bán, the Minister of Industry, as well as Zoltán Vas, Secretary General of the Economic High Council on several occasions in the course of the reconciliatory negotiations that were held almost on a weekly basis during 1947 and the start of 1948."° These promises, however, remained no more than just that. In the background, the gathering of "evidence" as to MAORT committing sabotage was already underway since the summer of 1946, under the direction of Zoltán Gombosi, the Ministerial Commissioner for petroleum management."'

6 Various officials from state organs engaging in crude oil management were not looking to find the solution of the situation that came about on account of the decline in crude oil production, increasing exports, restitution, and the hitches in satisfying domestic needs in the parsimonious management of natural resources, they rather saw it in obliging MAORT to intensify its production. Instead of accepting sober arguments, a whole armada of state inspectors was dispatched to MAORT starting from the spring of 1947 to investigate whether or not it was honouring its obligations.

16 Needless to sav these 'instructed' auditors - with but a few exceptions - had an eve for nothing but errors in an attempt to prove the fact that the decline in production was intentional. In more than one case, they attempted to bring up reasons supporting the necessity for taking more forceful steps against MAORT. Observing guidelines set bv the Ministerial Commissioner for petroleum management, certain auditors used their statements to report about non-existent "phenomena" that were subsequently regurgitated in the false allegations of the AÍAORT trial.""

s These were in fact general arguments lacking any specifics whatsoever. Not everybody who participated in the audit conducted in 1947 saw things in this light, so much so, that officially the final conclusion of the inspection was that it was not possible to find any traces suggesting sabotage or wilful damaging."''' On May 8, 1948, the Minister of Industry appointed dr. Pál Székelv, as MAORT's state auditor with extraordinarily wide powers, and this brought a decisive change in the sequence of events.'

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" Pál Székely had the full confidence of the Party (bv this time called the Hungarian Workers' Party - MDP), and liaised intensively with the Central Leadership. While the battles concerning production and oil prices were raging, Pál Székelv and AYH, the State Protection Authority (i.e. the secret police) w'as busy gathering incriminatory data about MAORT's managers. The direction and objective of their data collection was determined bv the foregone conclusion that the reduction of output was a consequence of wilful sabotage which had political reasons. MAORT was none other than the agency' of American imperialism, its management and engineers the "mercenaries" of American imperialist interests, furthermore MAORT was making its financial situation impossible intentionally The concrete events of the MAORT trial began on August 12, 1948, with the arrest of Simon Papp, retired Director General, university professor, academician.' 1 Arrests continued during the following days. Bód< >g Abel - the retired head of MA( )RT's procurement department - was taken to the emblematic Andrássv Street 60, AVH's headquarters, along with mining engineer • MOIM Arch. ( iy. 45/3., 46/4., 26/4., PS. 18/7., MAC>RT weekly rep.>rts 1948. ( JLXJX-f-l-oo 4.d. 14., XIX-F-l-l 9.d 2"., M( )1M Arch. Oy. 26/4. (July 3, 1947) '*' OLXDÍ-f-l-oo2,d3.,ÖLZ356.pack. 10.83, OLXIX-F-l-oo l.a. 2„ 4M. K, 2d6., 9.d. 27. "'" Ol. XIX I 1 i 9.,i. 27., MOIM Arch. PS. 49/4. '"" MOIM Arch. PS. 49/3.; Ol. Z 356 pack. 1. 2. ''' MOIM Arch. Gy. 53/1.; PS. 27/2.; PAPP 2000., 193-205.