Case #2: Géza Kádas in 1957
Kádas was a silver medal relay swimmer at the 1948 Olympic Games. In 1957 he was arrested in the city of Eger and charged with “active participation” in the 1956 Revolution. On May 31st, 1957, the Main Secretary of the Hungarian Swimming Association, István Bárány, submitted two letters in support of Kádas, including details about Kádas’s swimming accomplishments and his receiving of the “Outstanding Athlete of the Hungarian People’s Republic” award.[1] At this point, it is not entirely clear why Bárány submitted these documents of support for Kádas in May of 1957. Based on what happened later, it appears as though Bárány was attempting to shore support for Kádas, to prevent him from being severely punished.
In July of 1957, Bertil Salfors, the head of the International Swimming Federation (hereafter FINA) wrote a letter to Bárány on the behalf of Kádas. Salfors wrote that he heard of Kádas’s arrest and that he was, “…likely to get the death penalty.”[2] The middle paragraph of Salfors’s letter reads:
The attempt on FINA's part to exert influence onto a nation's domestic politics was unique in its time. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and international sport federations avoid meddling in politics at all costs. No more evidence of communication exists between Salfors and Bárány. But the final result of Kádas’s case speaks volumes: rather than receive the death penalty, authorities sentenced Kádas to eight years in prison, and released him after four years in 1961. The lessening of Kádas’s sentence illustrates that Bárány and the OTSH leadership took Salfors’ letter and threat very seriously. Yet in reality, Kádas’s punishment did not end there. After being released from prison, the HSA and OTSH seemingly banned Kádas from the world of Hungarian swimming. Although it is not clear if Kádas retired from swimming before 1956 or not, he never worked as a coach or official within the swimming community after his release. He worked instead at the lowest possible profession, as a unskilled laborer. His demotion from an Olympic swimmer to an unskilled laborer, the only position still available to him and most other 1956 prisoners, effectively cut him off from his prior community and life.
