’56-os politikai elítéltek „nyugalmat adó menedéke” : Bibó István szakfordító és társai az állami fordítóirodában

Abstract

This paper not only sets a new framework for the role of political prisoners of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, who served as language intermediaries for the state, including István Bibó, but also presents the history and operation of the Hungarian Office for Translation and Attestation Ltd. (OFFI) in the same period. The employment of intellectuals, who had been imprisoned and later released through amnesty or upon completion of their prison sentences, as translators is examined from the unique standpoint of their roles as professional translators.The paper also provides insights into the state’s translation orders by the state and the legislative background in the decades under study. This paper does not intend to go into more detail than is necessary for understanding the theoretical aspects of the functioning of the power in the 1950-60-70s, but it may well provide further insights into the subject. The tasks performed by translation trainees and proofreaders at the ‘Bibó Chair’ in the prison of Vác, as well as the actions of the leaders of OFFI at that time, who exhibited solidarity within the limits permitted by the period, continue to have a lasting impact even after six decades. These all point towards the targeted and controlled employment of political prisoners, the creation of a kind of internal Samizdat, and, during the decades after the amnesty, the exploitation of the mental resources of intellectuals, writers, university professors, lawyers and military leaders critical of the regime, as specialist translators for low pay. While, at the same time, the complicity, wit, intelligent humour, camaraderie and loyalty of the political intelligentsia concerned remained still evident.