Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
SPIRIT AND MOOD - On a Roller Coaster-the institution in the 1940s
216 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST MARGINALIZATION The actor Sándor Pécsi (1922-1972) studied in Sárospatak. A statue dedicated to his memory can be found in the School Park. (László Marton, 1984) ON A ROLLER COASTER - THE INSTITUTION IN THE 1940s Although there was no battlefront anywhere near the area, from the middle of World War II onwards, daily life was regularly hobbled with problems. For a certain length of time, the institution succeeded in keeping its budget balanced, but the number of exceptional tasks and measures increased. For example, compliance with the regulations pertaining to air-raids forced the school to make an investment worth one hundred thousand pengős. Financial difficulties, however, did not figure among the most serious of the school’s problems. It was with personnel issues that the school was struggling. More and more teachers and officers were called in for military service and the school had no means to replace them. At the Teacher Training School in the 1942-43 school year, of eleven teachers, four had been called to serve in the army. Two years later, the number called rose to six. One of the teachers did not even return from captivity; another two were able to teach again no sooner than September 1947. According to József Ködöböcz’s report, between 1940 and 1947, the school had to release teachers for military duty on twenty-four occasions. Teachers who were not conscripted and stayed in Patak had to fill in for the missing teachers. In some cases, the secondary school teachers were able to provide partial relief. But it was not only the teachers who were affected by conscription, but the students, also. At first, “only” the fathers and older brothers were called in, which meant that many boys had to go home from school to do the work of those who were conscripted and, in this way, provide for the family. Later, beginning in 1944, the younger boys also received their notice for military duty. Soon the school had to surrender the use of several rooms. Certain dormitory rooms and classrooms in the Residential School were requisitioned by the military and, in April of 1944, Sárospatak was declared a war zone. The entire building of the Teacher Training School was used for military purposes until the following January. During this time, the general condition of the building deteriorated greatly, the school’s teaching equipment and supplies disappeared or perished; in better cases things were only damaged. The school year was grievously shortened and, as such, subverted the students’ moral standards, too. Home schooling had to be organized for the students given that the new, temporary curriculum called for a school year of only five months and, for the remaining time, teachers gave detailed instructions via mail to the parents and students at home. Unfortunately though, this progressive distance-learning scheme, which was very advanced and reflected a high degree of flexibility, was ultimately unable to prevail. Due to the escalated military situation, the sending out of the bulletins and circulars soon fell behind schedule and thus the school could not even provide the conditions for the necessary exams. By then the school ran out of options to implement even the usual, planned activities. In the school year of 1942-43, the program for the Friday Nights activities was set, but none of the invited famous writers (József Erdélyi, Gyula Illyés, Sándor Márai, László Németh, Lőrinc Szabó, Lajos Zilahy, Áron Tamási) wanted to undertake the long journey to Sárospatak. Once again, it was the local teachers who gave presentations at these meetings. The interest of the locals for such events was still high and there was always a demanding and perceptive
