Dénesi Tamás (szerk.): Collectanea Sancti Martini - A Pannonhalmi Főapátság Gyűjteményeinek Értesítője 3. (Pannonhalma, 2015)
II.Közlemények
FORRADALOM ÉS MEGTORLÁS A PANNONHALMI BENCÉS GIMNÁZIUMBAN 207 Gábor Bajnóczi: Revolution and Revenge in the Benedictine Secondary School of Pannonhalma In connection with the fight for freedom in 1956, the state power conducted two proceedings in Pannonhalma. In 1957, the school’s headmaster was carried off; and in the spring of 1962, with reference to the commemoration of its fifth anniversary, Benedictine teachers and pupils were expelled from the school. Based on the documents to be found and the recollections, it cannot be pointed out why the headmaster, Dávid Söveges was carried off in 1957. The rest of his life was indelibly determined by his being slandered, the show trial against him and the years he spent in prison. This teacher of Hungarian language and literature much loved and highly respected by his pupils was not allowed to teach for years; his life was accompanied by tortures and tribulations. About the proceedings and his prison experiences – with one exception – he never spoke. The reasons had never been disclosed for him either. He accepted and bore the cross of his life with humility: “This is the way I have become a hero and victim of the revolution – without merit.” On the fifth anniversary of the revolution, 23 October 1961, at the beginning of the lesson in Hungarian, with reference to the national mourning, the pupils of form 3 A asked their Benedictine teacher to offer a prayer together for the victims of the revolution of 1956 and sing the national anthem. Géza Karsai agreed and complied with this wish of theirs. The revenge for the commemoration in 1961 was exacted according to another concept, different from the case of Dávid Söveges. The state security had many prepared documents against the accused to be used in due time. The proceedings were conducted by the State Office for Church Affairs (ÁÉH) whose methods were approved of by the state security as well: a situation of extortion was created to weaken the opportunities of the Order and its Superiors. After some initial attempts, the ÁÉH relatively soon gave up the idea of involving Archabbot Norbert Legányi into any collaborations with the state. The Archabbot did not want to know about the agent among the Benedictines. The state decided to remove the Archabbot, however, its timing was not settled: the first and very serious start of this process was marked by the slandering of the school’s teachers and pupils in 1962. The accumulated effect of a great number of cases and reports – having no direct relevance to the topic of the present paper – led to the point when Archabbot Norbert Legányi resigned his office, which was evaluated by the state security as one of the most significant successes in their activity against the ecclesiastical reaction in the 1960s.
