Sándor Joó (1910-1970) was a well-known pastor of the Reformed Church of Hungary. He managed to develop an affiliate into a full-right parish in one of the well-to-do districts of Budapest and built a new church for his parish as well. Reverend Joó up to date is one of the most read religious authors. He took some part in the anti-Nazi resistance, provided proofs of babtism for those who turned to his parish and offered shelter to some notable leftist politicians as well. Nonetheless, after the war he became a target of the Communist State Security.  In my paper, I would like to focus on his case after the 1956 revolution. How should we approach the state security files? What were the methods of the state security to „manage reality”? What were their preconceptions? And finally, what is the meaning of „informer”?

[1] Draskóczy István, “Nékem az élet Krisztus – és a meghalás nyereség.” Dr. Joó Sándor élettörténete [“For me, life is Christ - and death is gain.” Life story of Dr. Sándor Joó] (Budapest: Parakletos Könyvesház, 1994), 42.

[2] Imola Máthé was the great-aunt of Áron Máthé, the author of this article.

[3] For baptisms, see Szász Lajos, “…Aki bűnt követett el bűn nélkül. A református lelkész és az izraelita felekezetűek megkeresztelése Gégényben 1943/44-ben” [“He who committed a sin without sin. The baptism of the Reformed minister and the members of the Israelite denomination in Gégény in 1943/44”], Kommentar, no. 6 (2015): 27.

[4] Majsai Tamás, A protestáns egyházak az üldözés ellen Megjelent: Magyarország 1944. Üldöztetés–embermentés [Protestant churches against persecution. Published: Hungary 1944. Persecution–saving people] (Budapest: Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó – Pro Homine – 1944 Emlékbizottság, Szerkesztette: Szita Szabolcs 1994), 169.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid., 101.

[7] Bolyki János, “Joó Sándor a kiemelkedő igehirdető és lelkigondozó” [Sándor Joó, the Prominent Preacher and Pastor], in Reformátusok Budapesten 1. Tanulmányok a magyar főváros reformátusságáról. [Calvinists in Budapest 2. Studies on Calvinism in the Hungarian Capital] (Budapest: Ed. Kósa László. Argumentum–ELTE BTK Művelődéstörténeti Tanszék, 2006), 652.

[8] Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security [hereafter ÁBTL], 3.1.5. O-9185/1, 1. The Hungarian Community (Magyar Közösség, MK) was a secret patriotic organisation that actively resisted both the German and Soviet occupation. The “exposure” of the Community was the pretext for the 1947 witchhunt against politicians of the largest ruling party, the Independent Smallholders’ Party, during which Béla Kovács, the party’s general secretary, was arrested by the Soviet secret service on 25 February and, despite his immunity, taken to the Soviet Union and forced to give a confession under torture. These events led to the resignation of Prime Minister Ferenc Nagy and the Communist takeover. Many of the Independent Smallholders’ Party’s members were convicted in two trials, and some were executed.

[9] See Kiss et al., eds., Hogyan üldözzünk egyházakat? - Állambiztonsági tankönyv tartótiszteknek [How to persecute churches - A State Security textbook for prison officers] (L’Harmattan Kiadó, 2012), 174.

[10] Horváth Erzsébet: A Magyarországi Református Egyház története a kommunista időkben (1945-1989) [The history of the Hungarian Reformed Church in communist times (1945-1989)], accessed October 29, 2023, http://zsinatileveltar.hu/a-magyarorszagi-reformatus-egyhaz-tortenete-a-kommunista-idokben-1945-1989.

[11] Published by Confessio 13, no. 2 (1989), 118-121.

[12] See more Bertalan Péter, Az "ellenállástól" a kompromisszumig - Az állam és az egyházak küzdelme a Kádár-korszakban 1957-1968 [De la „rezistență” la compromis - Lupta dintre stat și biserici în epoca Kádár 1957-1968] (L’Harmattan Kiadó, 2018) 68-78.

[13] Jelentés az egyházpolitika helyzetéről és javaslatok a helyzet javítására. [Report on the state of church policy and proposals to improve the situation.] National Archives of Hungary, XIX-A-21-d-002-4/1958, 8.

[14] See summary of retaliation data Kiss Sándor, Utak 56-hoz, utak 56 után [Roads to 56, roads after 56] (Mundus Magyar Egyetemi Kiadó, 2006), 64.

[15] Realisation (realizálás) is the term used by the State Security, meaning that a covertly prepared case is moved forward to the overt phase.

[16] In 1962, some of the most obscure members of the State Security cadre were relieved, because the work of the reprisal for the 1956 revolution was almost complete, and the Communist regime of János Kádár wanted to step forward to a somewhat reconciliatory policy, called Kádár’s consolidation. Those removed were called „leftists”, „sectarians”; in modern literature: hard-liners or ultras. The restructuring of the State Security was a part of a wider campaign to make a distance from the so-called „Stalinist period”, following the initiatives of Khrushchev in the USSR.

[17] The name given to the establishment in the period between the two world wars.

[18] Berényi István kézikönyve [Handbook by István Berényi] in Kiss, Hogyan üldözzünk egyházakat?, 173-174.

[19] Múltfeltárás, kipellengérezés nélkül – Interjú Kutrucz Katalinnal [Digging up the past, without blanching – Interview with Katalin Kutrucz], Magyar Nemzet (20 February 2015.

[20] ÁBTL 3.1.5. O-13586/2, 2-3.

[21] Lajos Várady was an agent under the pseudonym “István Papp” from January 1957 until his death in 1971. His work file M-32400 contains about 1,800 pages of reports in six volumes. In his reports he reports on the internal affairs of the Evangelical Church (mainly on personal matters), but also on almost all aspects of church life (e.g., pastors’ meetings, elections of deans, press matters, plans of his fellow pastors, visits of foreigners to Hungary, etc.). He constantly reported on his conversations with pastors who visited him or were visited by him, with non-clergy members of the church, with foreigners, on private conversations between pastors in private, and wrote characterizations of his fellow pastors. A report on the work of the Evangelical [Lutheran] Fact-Finding Commission in 2005-2006 reads: “The Evangelical Church is the first to confront the agency past of some former church leaders.” Az evangélikus egyház elsőként néz szembe egyes volt egyházi vezetők bűneivel, accessed October 12, 2023, https://gondola.hu/cikkek/48365- Az_evangelikus_egyhaz_elsokent_nez_szembe_egyes_volt_egyhazi_vezetok.html

[22] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400, 10.

[23] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400, 12.

[24] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400, 7.

[25] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400, 7.

[26] ÁBTL 3.1.9. V-146100 /281, 1.

[27] ÁBTL 3.1.5. O-13586/2 /78, 6.

[28] Ibid., 12.

[29] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-14620, 1.

[30] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400/1. 1-2.

[31] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400/1, 3.

[32] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400/1, 5.

[33] Ibid., 11; ÁBTL   3.1.5. O–13586/4. Repelling enemies in the area of the Reformed Church reaction. 278-278/a. Report on hostile activities within the Protestant churches, Budapest, 16 June 1961.

[34] ÁBTL 3.1.5 O-13586/ 2/ 85, 13.

[35] ÁBTL 3.1.2 M-24443/ 271.

[36] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400/1., 7.

[37] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-25802/1 /415, 3.

[38] Ibid., 549, 5.

[39] ÁBTL 3.1.2 M-28954, 11. Report on the Situation of the Reformed Theology (Budapest, 14th January 1966.)    

[40] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-25802/1 /549, 7.

[41] Association of Christian Youth, in Hungarian: Keresztyén Ifjak Egyesület (KIE): An affiliate of the American Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was founded in Budapest 1883. State control over the KIE was established in 1946, and in 1950 the association was dissolved. KIE leaders were prosecuted in 1951 and 1967, cases ending with harsh sentences. One of them (István Pógyor) was killed in prison in 1953.

[42] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400/6, 3.

[43] ÁBTL 3.1.2. M-32400/6, 1.

[44] ÁBTL 3.1.5. O-9185/1, 1.

[45] Cseri Kálmán 2004. július 4-i emlékezése elődjére [Kálmán Cseri's remembrance of his predecessor on 4 July 2004], accessed October 11, 2023, http://joosandor.hu/dr-joo-sandor.

[46] How do we cast out the demons of the church? by Tamás Kodácsy, accessed October 12, 2023, http://www.parokia.hu/hirek/v/hogyan-uzzuk-el-az-egyhazi-demonokat/.

[47] Speaking at a meeting of the Communist Party's political committee, Zoltán Komócsin criticised the low level of education and skills of the cadres. “Then it was a general problem that the operative worker is sometimes embarrassed in relation to the agent, because the agent is much more intelligent than we are – otherwise, our brave comrades who know how to live and die for people's democracy.” Quoted by Kiss et al ed., Hogyan üldözzünk egyházakat?, 55.