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Text originally published in 1962 under the same title.
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I WAS IN PRISON WITH CARDINAL MINDSZENTY
By
FATHER JOHN SZABO
Doctor of Canon LawFormer 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
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 authors 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 authors 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.
