I Was in Prison with Cardinal Mindszenty

By: Brantley Burcham and Fr. John Szabo

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Synopsis: This book tells of the personal experiences by Father John Szabo, who spent five years in prison alongside Cardinal József Mindszenty (29 March 1892 - 6 May 1975), who was the Prince Primate, Archbishop of Esztergom, cardinal, and leader of the Catholic Church in Hungary from 2 October 1945 to 18 December 1973.For five decades, Cardinal Mindszenty “personified uncompromising opposition to fascism and communism in Hungary.” He was imprisoned by the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross Party during World War II and, after the war, opposed communism and the communist persecution in his country. As a result, he was tortured and given a life sentence in a 1949 show trial that generated worldwide condemnation, including a United Nations resolution. After eight years in prison, he was freed in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and granted political asylum by the United States embassy in Budapest, where Mindszenty lived for the next fifteen years. He was finally allowed to leave the country in 1971. He died in exile in 1975 in Vienna, Austria.“In simple, understandable language, he has told in his own words of the harrowing experiences, of suffering, of bravery and death. The author’s style is intriguing in its directness and conversational approach.”—Brantley Burcham, Foreword