Imré and Agnes Madarasz Fight for Freedom in Hungary

By David McNair

In 1990, Rutherford Institute president John W. Whitehead traveled to Hungary to participate in a conference on problems facing Eastern Europe after the lifting of the Iron Curtain in 1989. There he and his wife Carol met Imré Madarasz, an attorney who had opposed the Nazis, fought anti-Semitism, and then resisted the Soviets. Imré and his wife Agnes were part of an effort to reclaim and rebuild Hungary’s legal, constitutional, and spiritual foundations after more than thirty years of brutal Communist rule.

But it would not be an easy task to restore what the Soviets had destroyed. As Whitehead observed in his autobiography Slaying Dragons, "The long years of Communist rule had left their mark … through years of fear, torture, and inhumane treatment, they had trained an entire society to believe they were not human." As they passed a building riddled with bullet holes upon their arrival, Imré told the Whiteheads, "Most of these came from the Communist takeover in 1956, when the Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest and crushed the people’s uprising. Thousands were massacred."

In addition, the Soviets had destroyed all title ownership records, which made it difficult for schools, churches, and individuals to reclaim their property from the government. Inspired by the Madaraszes’ courage and determination in the face of such odds, Whitehead decided to help them push for the constitutional and legal reforms their country so desperately needed by establishing a chapter of The Rutherford Institute in Eastern Europe and asking the Madaraszes to act as its representatives. With educational materials, legal advice, and money from The Rutherford Institute, the Madaraszes went to work organizing protests and marches to convince the government to restore property and assets to schools and churches. They also wrote editorials and pamphlets encouraging a wide range of constitutional reforms and often petitioned the Hungarian Parliament.

In 1991, Arpad Gönz, the president of Hungary, awarded the Hungarian Medal of Freedom to John W. Whitehead and The Rutherford Institute in recognition of the Institute’s efforts and the Madaraszes’ dedication to liberty.

Throughout the 1990s, the Madaraszes and The Rutherford Institute continued to petition President Gönz and pressure the Hungarian government to return property and assets to churches and schools. As Imré said, it was the only way "to repair both the moral and legal damage" caused by the Soviet occupation. In 1999, the Hungarian government finally paid churches $21 million in restitution and is expected by 2011 to pay an estimated total of $179 million to churches for buildings not returned. In addition, according to a 2002 U.S. Department of State Religious Freedom Report on Hungary, religious freedom in general has greatly expanded throughout Hungary, with discrimination on the decline and churches showing "a great willingness to work together to achieve common social or political goals." Although money alone can’t heal the wounds of the past and much work still remains in restoring full religious and constitutional freedoms to Hungary, Imré and Agnes Madarasz and their fellow Hungarians have come a long way in the years since the fall of Communism.

In a recent letter to John W. Whitehead, Imré relayed the news that he had been elected a member of the supervising board for the Hungarian Broadcasting Company. In this new position, Imré hopes to have some influence on promoting free speech and Christian values to the people of Hungry. "Our goal is to put an end to the atheist spirit of the age," Imré writes. "And we really appreciate all your attention and concern. … We are holding you and your family in our prayers. God bless you all!"

Good luck, Imré and Agnes. And God bless you as well!