Magyarország politikai viszonya a kisegyházakhoz az 1930-as évek végén és az 1940-es évek első felében

Abstract

In the article, the author analyzes the state-church relations in Hungary during the regency of M. Horthy, in particular, the political attitude of the Hungarian government in the end of the 30s and at the first part of the 40s to the small churches. The author characterizes the Hungarian model of the state-church relations as a set of certain factors, primarily such as – thehistorical national traditions, relationships of political forces within the state, which determined in a certain historical period the nature of state ideology, external political influence and the real situation of the subjects of these relations - on the one hand,the Hungarian state, on the other hand, religious denominations and corresponding communities with different legal status: “accepted by law” (traditional), “recognized by law” and “unrecognized”. The author emphasizes that the division of the religions into “accepted by law”, “recognized by law” and “unrecognized” in the conditions of the development of authoritarian tendencies in the political life of Hungary led to the persecution of the socalled “sects” (small churches) by the state. In the article, the author provides comprehensive information, based on archival materials, that from the point of view of the authoritarian state, the very existence and activity of small religious groups posed a threat both to the political regime of that time and to traditional religions and churches. In the article, the author proves that in Hungary at the end of the 30s and at the first part of the 40s in the 20th century, the division of the religions into “true” and “false”, “good” and “bad”, “beneficial” and “harmful” actually took place.The protection and support of the so-called historical churches by the state occurred to the detriment of other religions and denominations (Jehovah‘s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, Nazarenes, etc.), which were unfairly defined as dangerous and hostile “sects”. The author cites the facts of the active participation of the Hungarian police and gendarmerie in brutal measures to suppress the activities of religious denominations and communities.The article gives examples of persecution and harassment by state authorities of the leaders of small churches, their accusations of dangerous political activities and fabricated trials and harsh and unjust sentences. The author emphasizes that the suppression, and later the complete ban of the activities of small churches had its own carefully developed legal basis, which was especially actively developed at the end of the 30s and at the first part of the 40sand it meant the expansion of discriminatory measures and sometimes direct force, directed against representatives of the religious denominations and their communities. In the article, the author concludes that the so-called “sectarian issue” must be considered as an important component of the development of national political processes and geopolitical realities in Hungary on the eve and during the Second World War. In order to study the issue of the formation of state policy regarding the activities of the small churches in Hungary at the end of the 30s and at the first part of the 40s in the 20th century, the article deals Hungarian-language archival materials and scientific works.