Egy összeférhetetlen vidéki megbízott 1956 utáni karrierje. Borai Emil, az ÁEH egri egyházügyi főelőadójának tevékenysége 1956–1969 között
The Post-1956 Career of a Contentious Country Deputy. The Activity of Emil Borai, the Administrator of the State Office of Church Affairs between 1956 and 1969

Summary/Abstract: The paper gives an insight into the career path of the person who “operated” the state socialist church policy in Eger. Emil Borai worked as an administrator of church affairs for the State Office of Church Affairs (ÁEH) between 1952 and 1969. However, the surviving archival sources allow us to reconstruct mostly his post-1956 activity. Due to the characteristics of the source material, the present paper focuses on studying the period following the 1956 revolution and war of independence. Through the personal example of Emil Borai, it describes the everyday tasks, the successes and the difficulties of a country cadre fighting on the “front” of church affairs. It shows how these tasks were constantly changing according to the varying demands of Kádár’s ecclesiastical policy. When it comes to the difficulties, the revolution and war of independence is in focus as this was a traumatic experience even for the communist cadre and his colleagues. In the meantime, the paper gives an insight into how the mechanism of the restrictions and persecution targeting the Catholic church worked in the country, relying on cases the author selected and analyzes on the basis of his experiences gathered through years of research. It also makes an attempt to answer the question how the career progression and the wages of an official dealing with church affairs looked in the period, and what further allowances ÁEH provided to its employees in the country. Finally, Borai’s personality is an important factor: we describe the picture the office formed of him, which became more and more negative with the passing of time, and the more and more frequent criticism from his superiors, which gradually replaced the words of praises.

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