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    I Was in Prison with Cardinal Mindszenty
    I Was in Prison with Cardinal Mindszenty
    I Was in Prison with Cardinal Mindszenty
    Ebook147 pages2 hours

    I Was in Prison with Cardinal Mindszenty

    By Fr. John Szabo and Brantley Burcham

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    This book tells of the personal experiences by Father John Szabo, who spent five years in prison alongside Cardinal József Mindszenty (29 March 1892 - 6 May 1975), who was the Prince Primate, Archbishop of Esztergom, cardinal, and leader of the Catholic Church in Hungary from 2 October 1945 to 18 December 1973.

    For five decades, Cardinal Mindszenty “personified uncompromising opposition to fascism and communism in Hungary.” He was imprisoned by the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party during World War II and, after the war, opposed communism and the communist persecution in his country. As a result, he was tortured and given a life sentence in a 1949 show trial that generated worldwide condemnation, including a United Nations resolution. After eight years in prison, he was freed in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and granted political asylum by the United States embassy in Budapest, where Mindszenty lived for the next fifteen years. He was finally allowed to leave the country in 1971. He died in exile in 1975 in Vienna, Austria.

    “In simple, understandable language, he has told in his own words of the harrowing experiences, of suffering, of bravery and death. The author’s style is intriguing in its directness and conversational approach.”—Brantley Burcham, Foreword
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMuriwai Books
    Release dateJul 11, 2017
    ISBN9781787206311
    I Was in Prison with Cardinal Mindszenty
    Author

    Fr. John Szabo

    FATHER JOHN SZABO (1885-1972) was a Doctor of Canon Law and Former Consulter of the Archdiocese of Cardinal Mindszenty. He was arrested as a “pro American spy” and tried behind the iron curtain. He spent almost five years in prison. He died in 1972 and is buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park, Gotha, Orange County, Florida. BRANTLEY BURCHAM, A.M., LLB. (November 3, 1897 - January 27, 1978) was an American attorney, municipal judge (1942-1944), writer and lecturer. He was the author of “Red Challenge to America: A Guide for Intelligent Action” (1955). He was married to Caroline K. Burcham (1902-1997) and together the couple had two daughters. Burcham served on the Orange County School board for 30 years. He died in 1978 at the age of 80 and is also buried in Woodlawn Memorial Park, Gotha, Orange County, Florida.

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      Book preview

      I Was in Prison with Cardinal Mindszenty - Fr. John Szabo

      This edition is published by Muriwai Books – www.pp-publishing.com

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      Text originally published in 1962 under the same title.

      © Muriwai Books 2017, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      I WAS IN PRISON WITH CARDINAL MINDSZENTY

      By

      FATHER JOHN SZABO

      Doctor of Canon Law—Former Consulter of the Archdiocese of Cardinal Mindszenty

      With Foreword by

      BRANTLEY BURCHAM, A.M., LLB.

      Writer and Lecturer

      Nihil Obstat:

      REV. JOSEPH DAWSON, S.T.D.,

      Censor Librorum

      Imprimatur:

      MOST REV. JOSEPH P. HURLEY, D.D.,

      Archbishop, Bishop of St. Augustine

      St. Augustine, Fla., May 30, 1962.

      The nihil obstat and imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free from doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the nihil obstat and imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      DEDICATION 5

      FOREWORD 6

      INTRODUCTION 7

      CHAPTER ONE — Early Life of Cardinal Mindszenty 8

      CHAPTER TWO — Bishop Mindszenty Becomes A Cardinal 10

      CHAPTER THREE — State Office For Church Affairs 13

      CHAPTER FOUR — An Invitation to Accompany Cardinal Mindszenty to America 17

      CHAPTER FIVE — Cardinal Mindszenty Arrives in America 21

      CHAPTER SIX — I Return to Darkness 23

      CHAPTER SEVEN — Adolf Hitler Moves on Hungary 25

      CHAPTER EIGHT — The Evil Hand of Adolf Eichmann 27

      CHAPTER NINE — Dachau—A Hell on Earth 29

      CHAPTER TEN — The $50,000 Spy Offer 30

      CHAPTER ELEVEN — The Russians Arrive 32

      CHAPTER TWELVE — I Meet Mikoyan 34

      CHAPTER THIRTEEN — Cardinal Mindszentys’ Arrest and Trial 36

      CHAPTER FOURTEEN — The Cardinal Goes to Prison 39

      CHAPTER FIFTEEN — The Cardinal’s Own Story of His Liberation 41

      CHAPTER SIXTEEN — Under the Protection of the Stars and Stripes 43

      CHAPTER SEVENTEEN — My Arrest and Imprisonment 45

      CHAPTER EIGHTEEN — Cell Number 412 My Home for Over Four Years 48

      CHAPTER NINETEEN — Torture—Unbelievable Torture 52

      CHAPTER TWENTY — My First Christmas In Prison 57

      CHAPTER TWENTY ONE — Morse Code Tapping On The Prison Wall 61

      CHAPTER TWENTY TWO — Beginning My Fourth Year In Prison 64

      CHAPTER TWENTY THREE — I Don’t Want To Die As A Communist 67

      CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR — Before The Firing Squad 69

      CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE — I Was Taken To Moscow 73

      CHAPTER TWENTY SIX — My Dramatic Ouster From Moscow 77

      CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN — My Trial In Court 79

      CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT — Liberated By The Freedom Fighters 82

      CHAPTER TWENTY NINE — My Escape From Hungary 83

      CHAPTER THIRTY — My Leap To Freedom 86

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 89

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 90

      DEDICATION

      This volume is dedicated with the esteem and great gratitude of

      THE AUTHOR

      To His Grace, The Most Reverend Joseph P. Hurley, D.D. Archbishop Bishop of St. Augustine

      FOREWORD

      History is made from such evidence as is available. We must fit the parts into a pattern. Conclusions, often incorrect, naturally follow.

      Such is not the case with this book. Fortunately, a man still living, a man of the cloth, lived through every experience here related. In simple, understandable language, he has told in his own words of the harrowing experiences, of suffering, of bravery and death. The author’s style is intriguing in its directness and conversational approach.

      This writing comes from the laboratory of history through the eyes of one who was there when history was being made. The author served Cardinal Mindszenty in many capacities. He witnessed the Cardinal in his hours of decision; he saw him take a positive stand against the Nazis and then the communists. For both of which he suffered imprisonment. The author’s devotion to the Cardinal was unmeasurable, and for that devotion he suffered long years in prison.

      Although the author has tried to minimize the part he played in the episodes concerning Cardinal Mindszenty it was necessary in the preparation of this book to recite some of his own personal experiences. The brutality which he suffered, his trial and sentence and finally his escape are most gripping bits which the reader would like to hear in greater detail. Perhaps personal modesty has reduced that part to the minimum.

      Nothing in this book is second-hand or fiction. No personal benefits could possibly accrue to a man in the field of religious service. His compensation is restricted to the satisfaction of recording certain events of his life which may be useful in leading historians to proper conclusions. The knowledge of human suffering, of terrorism, of cruelty of man toward man, is always useful in the eternal struggle for universal peace and freedom.

      Father John Szabo was arrested as a pro American spy. He was tried as all accused are tried behind the iron curtain. He spent almost five years in prison. By providence he lives today and by this splendid book he has made a substantial contribution, not only to the ecclesiastical students but to society generally.

      BRANTLEY BURCHAM

      Orlando, Florida

      Author of

      "Red Challenge to America"

      and

      "Age of Peril"

      INTRODUCTION

      To millions of people all over the world Cardinal Mindszenty is a symbol of spiritual strength, self-sacrifice and the rarest courage. He was arrested and imprisoned by the communists as an American spy. For eight years he endured horrible hardships, then he was liberated by the Hungarian Freedom Fighters. When the Soviet troops crushed the Hungarian revolution he took refuge in the American Legation in Budapest where he presently remains under the protection of the Stars and Stripes of the United States.

      At the Mock Trial he was accused of spying for the United States of America, consequently he is practically incommunicado. The American Legation does not want to give the communists an excuse for saying that Cardinal Mindszenty is using the Legation as a political base against the regime. American diplomats are reluctant to talk about their House Guest, as they sometimes call the Cardinal in private conversation.

      The Cardinal talks with no one outside the Legation, living like a hermit in his self-exile. An exception was made for his mother during her lifetime. He who spoke so often and so eloquently before the public, and whose voice was so strong and powerful, can speak no more. The voice which expressed the views of the Church and the people is silent.

      We cannot go to see him and he cannot speak to us, but I, as his former disciple, wish to speak out for him. I feel that I am somehow justified in so doing. As a priest and former Dioceasan consultor of Cardinal Mindszenty and as his traveling companion in Canada and the United States, I wish to speak of this great man as I saw him.

      Following the trial of the Cardinal I was imprisoned as an accomplice. Part of the time I was on the same floor with him, my cell being directly across from his. Although I never had a chance to see him or to talk with him, one of the guards, whom I shall mention later, told me much about the Cardinal. I remember the guard spoke of him as a living saint. He was right. It is my earnest hope and belief that some day, after his death, Cardinal Mindszenty will be canonized by the Catholic Church.

      Heaping abuse upon people of importance is a part of the communist ‘modus operandi.’ The Cardinal was accused of being a traitor, a fanatic, an agent provocateur, a fighting priest, a spy, a counter-revolutioner, an imperialist agent of the United States and Britain.

      Cardinal Mindszenty is a man of God. Those were the words of the late Pope Pius XII in his allocution to the Secret Consistory of Cardinals held on February 28, 1949, in connection with the Mock Trial at which the Cardinal was sentenced to life in prison.

      The episodes in this book contain small, but colorful bits of stones, which I humbly offer as background in the great mosaic pattern of the living saint, Cardinal Mindszenty.

      CHAPTER ONE — Early Life of Cardinal Mindszenty

      Times of storm and turmoil often produce great leaders. Heroes and saints come forward to meet the challenge. It was such a time when Joseph Mindszenty emerged like a comet on the dark horizon of Hungary.

      Count Leo Tolstoy, the great humanitarian, throughout his life sought a satisfactory answer to the fundamental question: Does history make men great, or does man make great history? The answer in Mindszenty’s life is, to my mind, quite simple. He was born to be great under any circumstances and at any time.

      Cardinal Mindszenty was born Joseph Pehm, March 29, 1892 in the small Hungarian village of Cseh-Mindszenty. John Pehm, father of Joseph, was a poor farmer and magistrate in the little village. He owned a corn farm where Joseph as a boy worked in the fields. When Joseph was old enough he left home for the seminary to prepare for the Priesthood.

      Joseph was ordained a priest at the age of twenty-three. Soon after his ordination he dropped his German name, Pehm, and adopted the Hungarian name of Mindszenty, which in Hungarian, means All Saints.

      On August 15, 1915 he was sent as an assistant to the town of Zalaegerszeg, where three years later he became the parish priest.

      As an active young pastor, he worked hard in his parish. He was a preacher, writer, teacher and above all a good shepherd to his flock.

      MINDSZENTY BECOMES A BISHOP

      In the summer of 1944, shortly after the Nazi occupation of Hungary, he was consecrated Bishop of Veszprem. By that time his strong and vigorous opposition to the Nazis was well

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