The Trials and Tribulations of the Students and Teachers of the Esztergom Archbishop's Teacher Training College in Connection with the Struggles around the Nationalisation of 1948 I. From a Student Prank to a Conceptual Lawsuit

Abstract

In June 1948, as part of the struggle with Cardinal Archbishop Mindszenty and the Catholic Church over the nationalisation of schools, the case of the students and teachers of the Esztergom Archbishop Teachers’ College became the focus of national attention of the state security services and political propaganda. On 12 June, a company of military academics marched in front of the school building in an intimidating manner. Some students criticised their march with adolescent fervour through the open window and made disparaging remarks about soldiers and the army in the tense atmosphere surrounding nationalisation. They filed a complaint, and on 14 June, the police and military entered the school, searched the premises and detained the students suspected of being involved in the remarks. During their interrogation, they were forced to take responsibility for things they had not said and to blame the Archbishop’s training school and their teachers’ actual or perceived anti-democratic statements to release them quickly. The first part of the documentary narrative describes the circumstances of the events and the process of the accusations against the teachers in the Concepcion trial based on contemporary memories, five archives and the contemporary press.