Certificate concerning teachers and non-commissioned officers of the Buda Teacher Training School, B-listing and people's court proceedings: Part I "The Padányi-Frank affair"

Abstract

During the radical regime changes in Hungary in 1919-1921 and 1945-1948, there were many occasions when prominent, senior teachers in the previous regime were stigmatised and removed from their careers in the course of certification procedures, B-listings, and criminal court proceedings. This was partly at the initiative of the new regime and partly at the initiative of their colleagues. A documentary narrative in two consecutive issues of Neveléstudomány reviews the proceedings against teachers and instructors at the Buda Training School in 1945-1946. The first part recalls the removal, beating, imprisonment and conviction of Antal Padányi-Frank, director of the Buda Teachers' Training College and president of the professional organisation of teachers in training. In the first part, in addition to describing the background, the justification procedure, the police denunciation, the physical abuse and imprisonment, the documents of the People's Prosecution and the People's Court proceedings, the statements of the witnesses for the prosecution and the defence, and the evidence for the prosecution are presented. Both parts pay close attention to the mechanisms of the process, the role of the teachers and students involved, and the drama of the accused headmaster, who has gone from being a favourite of the old regime to being a victim.