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55-666: Born in Székelyudvarhely , the ninth of eleven children in a family of Transylvanian Saxons , his ties to Communism began at an early age when he became a member of the Communist Party of Hungary (KMP). Later he was expelled from his university for his political ideas and would become a building worker, until 1936 when he joined the Popular Front in the Spanish Civil War . He became commissar of

110-500: A prisoner , the State's system of public procurators and courts would be called in to make a ruling on the sentence . This was the norm of operation for the ÁVH, and was diverged from in matters of only utmost state security; for example, the illegal arrest and indefinite solitary detention of the Communist Party of Great Britain operative Edith Bone . Despite the forced nature of confessions, retractions at trial were not considered

165-454: A central park, a large open air pool and several spas. Its main square, flanked by historic public buildings, is Márton Áron Square, or as the locals call it, Horseshoe Square (due to its shape). Odorheiu Secuiesc and the area have some great touristic attractions, such as a bike path to Szejke Spa  [ hu ] (also the burial ground of the Szekler ethnographer Balázs Orbán ) and

220-612: A danger to the process, due to the obvious threat of continued torture during a recess of the trial. The ÁVH also assisted the Soviet sphere security apparatus by staging show trials . In two cases, the ÁVH was given the privilege of leading an attack on undesired elements throughout Hungary. In 1948 the Roman Catholic Cardinal József Mindszenty was tried and imprisoned. In 1949, the ÁVH arrested Hungarian Communist Party member László Rajk , who

275-525: A popular destination for those who love Hungarian pottery and traditional folk patterns, is only 25 km (16 mi) away from the city. The salty Bear Lake in Sovata , a significant resort town that has been recently redeveloped, is also less than one hour's drive away (46 km). The region has seen increased interest in eco-tourism , wildlife hiking and bear-watching, biking, rock climbing, horse riding , photo-tourism and cultural tourism. The town

330-481: A result of Dudás' massacres, and the students' policy of arrest, many ÁVH voluntarily turned themselves in to students' or workers' councils to seek protective custody. This was a reflection of the shared student-worker policy of keeping the revolution pure and bloodless. Dudás was sought for arrest by the students' and workers' councils. Unsurprisingly, when the Warsaw Pact intervened in the revolution to support

385-644: A significant flood in August 2005 . A statue park of historical persons of importance for the Székelys was unveiled in the town on 22 May 2004. This gave rise to controversy, as one of the statues ( The Wandering Szekler ) was interpreted in the Romanian press as being the portrait of controversial writer and poet Albert Wass . The town is renowned in the region for its long and distinguished tradition in secondary education . Its oldest and foremost secondary school

440-642: A supper at the Swedish Embassy building in Gyopár street on January 12, 1945. The next day, January 13, Wallenberg contacted the Russians. By 1953, Ottó Fleischmann had left Hungary, working as a physician in Vienna , Antwerp , Ghent , Milan , Turin & Genoa . On 8 April 1953, Károly Szabó was captured on the street and arrested without any legal procedure. His family had no news of him throughout

495-441: A virtual aristocracy within prisons. Additionally, prior to 1953 certain camps had as their goal the eventual death of inmates due to overwork and maltreatment. In a number of cases, torture was an essential part of camp life and discipline. Imre Nagy's first government from 1953 to 1955 vastly improved conditions in the camps and halted the efforts to exterminate political prisoners. The Hungarian Ministry of Interior created

550-616: Is Liceul Teoretic Tamasi Aron Gimnazium (founded by Jesuits in 1593). The lyceum/gimnazium is one of the oldest Hungarian institutions of learning; its current building is an architectural masterpiece of Art Nouveau . Other notable secondary schools include: Backamadarasi Kis Gergely Reformed College (founded in 1670 as one of the most important places of learning by the Hungarian Reformed Church in Transylvania); Benedek Elek Teachers' College (its main building

605-902: Is a monument); Pallo Imre Art and Music School ; Eotvos Jozsef Agricultural Technological School . Odorheiu Secuiesc currently has one institution of higher education College of Modern Business Studies , an affiliate of Edutus College in Tatabanya (Hungary), with degrees in tourism and hospitality management, business administration, marketing and communication, development and economics, agricultural technology, forestry management and e-business. Dual degrees are also offered with Budapest Business School , University of Pannonia in Keszthely, Óbuda University in Budapest, and Széchenyi István University in Győr (Hungary). The mayor of Odorheiu Secuiesc

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660-597: Is an ideal day-trip destination for tourists exploring the richness and diversity of Transylvania due to its closeness to the Medieval (formerly) Saxon towns of Sighișoara (50 km), Brașov (109 km), Sibiu (150 km), as well as the world-famous Bran Castle , better known as Dracula Castle, (130 km), yet it offers a different cultural experience thanks to its carefully preserved Hungarian culture. The surrounding villages showcase traditional Szekler-Hungarian house-building techniques and woodcraft, such as

715-437: Is one of the historical centers of Székely Land . The first known reference to the city was in a papal register of duties in 1334 when it was mentioned by its Hungarian name, a sacerdos de Oduorhel . Since 1615, when Gabriel Bethlen , Prince of Transylvania, reaffirmed the rights of the town, the place has been referred to as Székelyudvarhely. Udvarhely was the location of the first assembly of Székelys in 1357. A fortress

770-522: Is shown by a note sent by him to First Secretary Mátyás Rákosi (another non-Jewish Jew born as Mátyás Rosenfeld). The show trial was then initiated in Moscow, following Stalin's anti-Zionist campaign . After the death of Stalin and somewhat later execution of the former NKVD chief Lavrentiy Beria , the preparations for the trial were eventually stopped and the arrested persons were released in fall 1953 under condition that they are not to divulge any part of

825-536: Is the second largest municipality in Harghita County , Transylvania , Romania . In its short form, it is also known as Odorhei in Romanian and Udvarhely in Hungarian. The Hungarian name of the town "Udvarhely" means "courtyard place". At the 2011 census , the city had a population of 34,257; among those for whom data were available, 95.8% were ethnic Hungarians , making it the urban settlement with

880-736: Is Árpád Gálfi, re-elected in 2020. At the 2020 elections he represented the Partidul Oamenilor Liberi (Hungarian: Szabad Emberek Pártja , "Party of the Free People"), but he was deprived of membership in that party in April 2021. The city council has 19 members: Odorheiu Secuiesc is a small yet culturally vibrant town. It has a sizeable theater , the Haáz Rezső Museum (featuring permanent and seasonal exhibits dedicated to Szekler village life, Szekler arts and crafts,

935-722: The Ministry of Internal Affairs III . Archived data related to the ÁVH and the Ministry of Internal Affairs III are made available through the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security  [ hu ] . This is a summary of the organisations acting as political police between 1945 and 1956. Between 1945 and 1952, Gábor Péter (Benjamin Eisenberger) was the absolute head of

990-683: The Rakosi Battalion of XIII International Brigade . After the collapse of Republican Spain, he was interned in France until 1941, when he was finally able to return to Hungary, where he became Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee, an underground Communist movement. In December 1944 he was arrested by a detachment of the Arrow Cross Party . He was to be executed, and was transported to

1045-660: The Via Transilvanica long-distance trail passes through the city. Odorheiu Secuiesc is twinned with: State Protection Authority The State Protection Authority ( Hungarian : Államvédelmi Hatóság , ÁVH ) was the secret police of the People's Republic of Hungary from 1945 to 1956. The ÁVH was conceived as an external appendage of the Soviet Union 's KGB in Hungary responsible for supporting

1100-659: The 1956 revolutionaries, an indication of the absence of a political police. Hungary would go on to be the only Warsaw Pact country without a formal intelligence service, since all intelligence and espionage functions were vested in the AVH, and later the Hungarian Ministry of Interior. While the security apparatus was operating, it supported the Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP) directly, with little reference made to Government norms. This support

1155-746: The Mineral Water Trails Museum, the low-Alpine-type ski resort of Madaras Harghita Mountains  [ hu ] (part of the eastern range of the Carpathian Mountains ) as well as charming mountain bungalows and farm guest houses on the mountainous paths and Alpine slopes leading to the Madaras Peak (with genuine farm-to-table dining experiences), in addition to several mineral water springs and pools ( Homorod Spa , Zetelaka Lake  [ hu ] , with great fishing and hunting. The pottery village of Corund ,

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1210-782: The Rajk case. László Rajk: the events of his political and family life, beginning circa 1945, his trial, execution, reburial, atonement, and ending with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the USSR's armed invasion of Hungary, are all portrayed in Robert Ardrey 's 1958 play, Shadow of Heroes . Odorheiu Secuiesc Odorheiu Secuiesc ( Romanian pronunciation: [odorˌheju sekuˈjesk] ; Hungarian : Székelyudvarhely , Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈseːkɛjudvɒrhɛj] ; German : Odorhellen )

1265-516: The Soviet troops in Budapest. Freed from the necessity of immediate combat, the József Dudás militia planned a series of reprisals against ÁVH officers, informants, and on a few occasions against ordinary Communist-party members caught up in the revolution. On October 29, in the second week of the revolution, the Dudás militia attacked the headquarters of the secret police in Budapest, massacring

1320-563: The State Protection Authority (Államvédelmi Hatóság) , responsible for much cruelty, brutality and many political purges. László Rajk, the Communist Minister of Interior played a crucial role in organizing the State Protection Authority (ÁVH), but in 1949 he was one of its victims. ÁVH actions were not subject to judicial review and remained so until the early post-Stalin era. On April 7, 1953, early in

1375-432: The address 60 Andrássy Avenue became the ÁVH Headquarters. The building is now a museum called The House of Terror , commemorating the victims of both political systems. The subsequent government of János Kádár did not wish to resurrect the ÁVH under this name after 1956 (Kádár was tortured by the ÁVH in the 1950s), yet it flourished in the system of the Ministry of Interior (Hungarian BM). This should be considered in

1430-489: The arrest. Lajos Stöckler became severely impaired psychologically from torture. Miksa Domonkos spent a week in hospital and died shortly afterwards at home, mainly due to the torture he had been subjected to. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , elements of the insurgents tracked down and killed both known and suspected ÁVH officers and informants. When the Revolution began, a crowd of some thousand people attacked

1485-466: The building, the surrounding crowd lynched a number of ÁVH officers. Highly visible in photographs of this attack are the party's paybooks displayed on to the corpses, demonstrating that ÁVH soldiers received at least 10 times the wages of a manual worker. When the students' and workers' councils discovered what the Dudás group was doing, they instituted armed patrols to arrest and detain ÁVH members for their own safety, and for future planned trials. As

1540-417: The following six months. A secret trial was conducted against him of which no official record is available to date. After six months of interrogation, the defendants were driven to despair and exhaustion. The idea that the "murderers of Wallenberg" were Budapest Zionists was primarily supported by Hungarian Communist leader and democratic reformer Ernő Gerő (a non-Jewish Jew born as Ernő Singer), which

1595-525: The government, ÁVH officers carried out brutal reprisals against those who had killed their comrades. The ÁVH generally targeted all revolutionaries, and received significant assistance from the Soviet Union's security apparatus, who arrested the Nagy government, General Pál Maléter , and deported one student and workers to the Soviet Union. Shortly after the Arrow Cross Party left it, the building under

1650-445: The history of the region, and a growing collection of Hungarian painters in Transylvania), a philharmonic orchestra of Szeklerland , a local TV studio, and several local newspapers. Throughout the year, there are festivals and youth events, a monthly farmer's market selling local, traditional and organic products. With strong cultural ties to Hungary, the town frequently hosts artists, writers and bands from Hungary. The town also features

1705-533: The large assembly hall of the headquarters of the Metal and Engineering Workers' Trade Union in Budapest, he confessed to all the charges brought against him. After his confession the prosecution decided, against the promise made, to call for the heaviest sentences to be brought down upon him and the other seven men who stood trial with him. Rajk was to be made an example for the beginning of Stalin 's anti-Titoist purges. Rajk, along with Drs Tibor Szönyi and András Szalai,

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1760-572: The latest research, in Bernátkút and Sajóbábony ) were placed under the supervision of the State Protection Authority. The most notorious of these camps were in Recsk , Kistarcsa, Tiszalök and Kazincbarcika. These camps were mixed and varied. Early camps tended to be cruder and more cruel. In particular, the status of ex-party members varied. In camps prior to 1953 they were more harshly treated than other prisoners. After 1953, ex-party members were

1815-411: The light of the use of the Soviet security apparatus directly in Hungary after the 1956 revolution, and in preparation for the trial of Nagy and "his accomplices". Between 1956 and 1963 Kádár, a natural opportunist, fought an inner party battle against hardline Stalinists, although he accepted the services of many cruel former AVH torturers. Kádár's victory was signalled in 1963 by a general amnesty for

1870-794: The morning, Miksa Domonkos, one of the leaders of the Neologue Jewish community in Budapest was kidnapped by ÁVH officials to extract " confessions ". Preparations for a show trial started in Budapest in 1953 to prove that Raoul Wallenberg had not been dragged off in 1945 to the Soviet Union but was the victim of cosmopolitan Zionists . For the purposes of this show trial, two more Jewish leaders – Dr. László Benedek and Lajos Stöckler (a leader of Hungary's Neologue Jews) – as well as two would-be "eyewitnesses" – Pál Szalai and Károly Szabó – were arrested and interrogated by torture. The last people to meet Wallenberg in Budapest were Ottó Fleischmann, Károly Szabó, and Pál Szalai, who were invited to

1925-495: The police headquarters in Budapest , shouting slogans such as "tear down the star!" and "free the prisoners!", referring to the enormous red star that stood on the building's roof, a symbol of communism and to the many prisoners kept inside. Fearing for the lives of both himself and his officers, the chief of the police let the crowd into the building, allowing them to take any political prisoners they wanted. During and after

1980-596: The prison of Sopronkőhida , then into Germany; but the intercession of his elder brother, Endre, a fascist under-secretary, saved his life. László Rajk was released on 13 May 1945. He went home to Hungary and took part in party politics. He became a member of all the leader corporations of the party (MKP) and the Extemporal Parliament. Rajk was a member of the High National Council from 7 December 1945 to 2 February 1946. On 20 March 1946 he

2035-416: The ruling Hungarian Working People's Party and persecuting political criminals . The ÁVH gained a reputation for brutality during a series of purges but was gradually reined in under the government of Imre Nagy , a moderate reformer, after he was appointed Prime Minister of Hungary in 1953. The ÁVH was dissolved by Nagy's revolutionary government during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and succeeded by

2090-574: The siege of the Hungarian Working People's Party headquarters (in Republic Square, Köztársaság tér ), some members of the ÁVH were lynched, a fact later extensively used in party propaganda to back up the claim that the revolution was of a "fascistic, anti-Semitic and reactionary" nature. Attacks on the ÁVH became a significant activity only as informal truces developed between the student-controlled combat organisations and

2145-447: The sort of manual labouring duties usually reserved for skilled professionals. The result left the country with an inadequate infrastructure and unsatisfactorily manufactured goods. The government was also using too many men to search for spies within the country and not enough to perform the productive work to sustain the economy. Dissatisfaction with Rákosi's rule began to surface. On 28 March 1956, following numerous demonstrations, Rajk

2200-756: The stooped Szekler Gates  [ hu ] . The rich and distinctive furniture-carving and painting techniques of villages in Szeklerland were showcased in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 's Hungarian Heritage program in June 2013 in Washington, D.C. , USA. The closest airport is Târgu Mureș International Airport (110 km) with direct flights (Rynair, Wizzair, or Tarom) to Budapest, London, Barcelona, Bergamo, Bologna, Madrid, Rome, Bucharest, Brussels, and Pisa. The route of

2255-599: The third-highest proportion of Hungarians in Romania. The city was also home to communities of ethnic Romanians (2.6%) and Roma (1.5%). According to the 2021 census , Odorheiu Secuiesc had a population of 31,335; of those, 87.29% were Hungarians, 2.3% Romanians, and 1.58% Roma. As of 2011, half the population of the town professed Roman Catholicism (50.05%), while the remaining half was primarily divided between Hungarian Reformed (30.14%), Unitarian (14.71%), and Romanian Orthodox (2.54%) communities. A Roman fortress

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2310-789: The town passed under Romanian administration. After the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, it became part of the Kingdom of Romania and was the seat of Odorhei County during the interwar period. In 1940, the Second Vienna Award granted Northern Transylvania to Hungary. Towards the end of World War II , Romanian and Soviet armies entered the town in September 1944. The territory of Northern Transylvania remained under Soviet military administration until 9 March 1945, after which it became again part of Romania. In 1950, after Communist Romania

2365-553: The ÁVH inside. This event was well documented by both western and eastern journalists and photographers, and constituted the primary evidence against Imre Nagy and other members of his cabinet in the White Books . A Western eyewitness said: The secret police lie twisted in the gutter [...] the Hungarians will not touch the corpse of an ÁVH man, not even to close the eyes or straighten the neck. After Dudás' militia assaulted

2420-575: Was about 1,500), and set up the first show trials . He was reassigned from the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 5 August 1948 to 30 May 1949. Rákosi, who saw Rajk as a threat to his power, decided to accuse him on false charges and had him arrested on 30 May 1949 on trumped-up charges. Rajk, who was popular among the Communists before, soon became the "chained dog" of Tito , Horthy and "the imperialist". László Rajk

2475-482: Was accused of being a " Titoist Spy", an agent for western imperialism and one who planned on restoring capitalism and jeopardizing Hungary's independence. During his time in prison, Rajk was tortured and was promised acquittal if he took responsibility for the charges brought against him. Stalin's NKVD emissary coordinated with Hungarian General Secretary Mátyás Rákosi and his ÁVH to orchestrate Rajk's show trial . At his trial, held between 16 and 24 September 1949, in

2530-626: Was appointed minister of the Interior. In this post he organized the Hungarian Communist Party's private army and secret police (an organization analogous to the KGB , Securitate , Stasi and so on), the ÁVH (originally ÁVO), and he became directly responsible for this. Under the cover of "struggle against fascism and reaction" and "defence of the power of proletariat", he prohibited and liquidated several religious, nationalist, and maverick establishments and groups (the number of these

2585-674: Was built in the town in 1451. It was rebuilt and strengthened by John II Sigismund Zápolya in 1565, in order to control the Székelys. Wallachian Prince Michael the Brave allied with the Szekelys and the Habsburgs destroyed the fortress in 1599 during their campaign in Transylvania. It was repeatedly rebuilt and destroyed again during history. The ruins of the structure are nowadays known as " The Székely-Attacked Fortress ". The town

2640-670: Was established, the city became the headquarters of the Odorhei Raion of Stalin Region . Between 1952 and 1960, the town fell within the Magyar Autonomous Region , between 1960 and 1968 the Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region. After the administrative reform of 1968, the region was abolished, and since then, the town has been part of Harghita County. The town and the surrounding villages were hit by

2695-651: Was found under the ruins of a medieval fort in the centre of the town. A funeral inscription was also found placed by the veteran, Aelius Equester, former centurion, to his wife Aurelia Juiuni and himself. The inscription dates back to the 7th century AD. Stamps with the letters of the Alpinorum equitata cohort and the Ubiorum cohort were also found in Odorhei. The town, as the former seat of the Udvarhely comitatus ,

2750-701: Was historically part of the Szeklerland region of Transylvania . It was the seat of Udvarhelyszék District until the administrative reform of Transylvania in 1876, when it fell within the Udvarhely County in the Kingdom of Hungary . In the aftermath of World War I , the Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared in December 1918. At the start of the Hungarian–Romanian War of 1918–1919,

2805-440: Was primarily through the secret gathering of intelligence, largely through a vast network of informants , like the system used by the Ministry for State Security ( Stasi ) in the German Democratic Republic . The investigation network was supplemented with a mechanism of secret arrests, followed by extensive periods of torture (lasting between 3 and 18 months). When the apparatus had extracted confessions of varying quality from

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2860-485: Was rehabilitated in spite of his responsibility for the excesses of the secret police ÁVH which he had founded in 1946, including initial large purges and executions under his direction. The rehabilitation speech, even though it was not publicized, had vast consequences for Rákosi, who had used the Rajk guilt as an explanation for the other purges that followed. Now that he had to admit that he was, indeed, wrong, it would end up ruining Rákosi's rightful authority. Lászlo Rajk

2915-441: Was sentenced to death. Rajk was executed on 15 October 1949. The Rajk trial marked the beginning of the anti-Titoist drive movement of Stalin. His trial also marked the beginning of the removal of all political parties in Hungary. The purges, however, left the economy in a truly disastrous state whereby a lack of capital inflow doomed the building projects that were underway. A vast number of the intelligentsia were then employed on

2970-425: Was then reburied, before 100,000 mourners, on 6 October 1956, along with two other men who lost their lives during the purges. (This was a precursor to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , which began on 23 October.) Júlia Rajk 's commitment to rehabilitating her late husband's reputation was instrumental to the large turnout for the funeral. 15 people were executed and 78 others were sentenced to prison in relation to

3025-504: Was then tried and executed for nationalism and Titoism in a show trial that signified to the international communist movement that Yugoslavia was now a threat. (László Rajk was the man who had organised the ÁVH.) Following sentence, political prisoners were imprisoned. To serve this purpose, more penal institutions (the prison in Vác, the transit prison, the state security prison in Mosonyi Street) and internment camps (in Kistarcsa , Recsk , Tiszalök , Kazincbarcika and according to

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