From the People’s Court to the State Security Services. Contributions to the Assessment of the Career of Imre Varga, Bishop of the Reformed Christian Church of Hungary

The study aims to provide contributions to the exploration of life course of Imre Varga, former bishop of the Hungarian Reformed Christian Church of Slovakia. The author examines the extent to which the accusations of the People’s Court corresponded to reality, using the documents of Imre Varga’s trial at the People’s Court in 1945–46, which are held in the State Archives in Banská Bystrica. The People’s Court made three main accusations against Varga (his role in the Hungarian political parties, his conduct in relation to the First Vienna Award and his activities between 1938 and 1945). The author finds, on the basis of archival and press sources, that most of the accusations were unfounded and that the fact that Varga was declared guilty by the court but was only given a verbal censure was essentially a moral victory for the pastor.