ABSTRACT
One of the most severe transgressions about censorship was to reveal its very existence. This chapter deals only with the description of the very complicated mechanism of Hungarian censorship and mentions specific cases only to illustrate the methods of this censorship. The Hungarian elections of November 1945, after World War II, demonstrated the deep division within the country. In the first free and secret elections the Left won only 42 percent of the votes, but the Smallholders Party alone won 57 percent. Stalinism brought terror and fear to Hungary. To be accused of bourgeois mentality was enough to cost people their jobs. Many intellectuals were forced to purify themselves of their sins by joining the ranks of the working class. The secret police constantly looked for agents of imperialism—and because those agents had to be found, many innocent people were sent to concentration camps, some of them were condemned to death and executed, and others were imprisoned for long periods.
