Documents on the Arrest of Mária Jassó in March 1973

Series

Mária Jassó

On March 15, 1973, Mária Jassó participated at the official rally organized in front of the National Museum in downtown Budapest on the occasion of the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1848-49 Hungarian Revolution. Following the rally, a group of youths, including Mária Jassó, spontaneously decided to march to Lajos Kossuth Square (Kossuth Lajos tér) to voice their discontent with the régime in front of the Hungarian Parliament. Somewhere on the way the group was encircled by police and several dozen youths were arrested. Mária Jassó was, too, taken to a police station. Following her identification, she was, however, released later that night. A few days later, on March 21, 1973, Mária Jassó was arrested again and sentenced – without trial – to 30 days in prison. She served her sentence at the Pálhalma prison in Dunaújváros between March 23 and April 23, 1973.
In 1993, following the adoption of Law XXXII. of 1992, Mária Jassó requested compensation for the time served in prison for political reasons. In June 1994, her request was turned down. Mária Jassó appealed the decision and took the issue to court.
On April 4, 1997, the Metropolitan Court (Fővárosi Bíróság) closed the case and quasi upheld the earlier decision of the office in charge of compensations (Országos Kárrendezési és Kárpótlási Hivatal).
In December 1997, Mária Jassó started her own research into her arrest and detention back in 1973 at the Historical Office (Történeti Hivatal), and at its successor, the State Security Services Historical Archive (Állambiztonsági Szolgálatok Történeti Levéltára - ÁBTL). Two decades later, in 2018, she received from ÁBTL copies of Ministry of the Interior documents on the March 15, 1973, rally. In one of the documents released to her, Mária Jassó is listed as one of the 55 persons detained in the aftermath of that rally. This series documenting Mária Jassó's arrest and detention in 1973, as well as her later efforts to seek justice, consists of only five folders holding less then 50 items. Its importance, however, should not be underestimated, as these documents provide the researcher with well more than a mere glimpse into the workings of the Hungarian Socialist state and its dealing with its opposition. Mária Jassó's papers will interest any researcher of Hungary during the 1970s. More details about the documents are included in the folder-level descriptions.

Not Expected

Not Restricted

Third party rights are to be cleared.

Processed by Mark László-Herbert, March 14, 2023.