Church of the Turan Believers of One God

Item set

Title

Church of the Turan Believers of One God

Description

The Church of the Turan Believers of One God was a radically nationalist, racist, anti-Christian and anti-western movement founded in the 1930’s. Its theoreticians wanted to return to a form of “true Hungarian religion” which built on the ancient, pre-Christian veneration of natural laws, but also fitted with the rationalistic thinking of contemporary society. They believed in the cultural and moral supremacy of the Turanian people and their resurgence to world leadership. For Hungarians to occupy a leading role among Turanian nations, they believed it necessary to “revert” people from Christianity to their “original” religion. Although the number of followers is estimated to be rather low (some hundred people), the interwar authorities categorised them as a sect and made efforts to control them due to their very vocal opposition to mainstream Christianity and the ruling regime.

Creator

Agnes Hesz

Publisher

Hidden Galleries (ERC project no. 677355)

Items

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  • List of confiscated items from Church of Turan Believers of One God

    The image shows a typewritten copy of a list of confiscated items that were taken from the home and workshop of Mihály Virasztó during a house search on 5 March 1957. He was a former member and táltos (ritual specialist) of the Church of the Turan Believers of One God. The list contains several items that are directly linked to the group: a “turan stamp”, a “turul” stamp (turul is a mythological bird used as a national symbol in modern Hungary), a book of ceremony, a book written by the groups founder, Zoltán Bencsi, and various copies of “Turanist journals”, possibly referring to the radical

  • Intercepted materials from Church of Turan Believers of One God Hungary

    These images have been selected from the photo-documentation of materials sent by post to Mihály Virasztó, a former religious specialist of the Church of the Turan Believers of One God. The first photo shows the cover page of the Keleti Figyelő [Orient Observer], the short-lived journal of the Turáni Történelmi Társaság [Turan Historical Society] founded by immigrant Hungarians in Melbourne, Australia. The second photo shows a certificate of honorary membership of Mihály Virasztó for supporting the study of Hungarian history, issued by the same society in 1962. The images come from a documenta