Dr OSB Placid Olofsson (born as Károly Olofsson; 23 December 1916 – 15 January 2017) was a Hungarian

Benedictine monk The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they ...

, priest, teacher and Gulag victim. In 1946, he was interned in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in a

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

labour camp on the basis of fake charges, where he spent ten years. He found there his new vocation: to keep the other prisoners in countenance. After his return to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

with his teachings, lectures and books, he gave faith and hope for life to thousands of people.

Life

Early years

On his father's side he was of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

descent, on his mother's side of

Danube Swabian The Danube Swabians ( ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in east-central Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in greater numbers in the 17 ...

. His father, Gusztáv Olofsson, was a professor of

descriptive geometry Descriptive geometry is the branch of geometry which allows the representation of three-dimensional objects in two dimensions by using a specific set of procedures. The resulting techniques are important for engineering, architecture, design an ...

at the

Technical University of Budapest The Budapest University of Technology and Economics ( or in short ), official abbreviation BME, is a public research university located in Budapest, Hungary. It is the most significant university of technology in the country and is considered t ...

and later high school teacher in Budapest, who converted from

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. His mother was Jusztina Reihardt. He had only one sister, Jusztina who became a nun in

Pressbaum Pressbaum is a town in the district of St. Pölten-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. In 1881, Johannes Brahms completed his Second Piano Concerto while in the town. It belonged to Wien-Umgebung District Bezirk Wien-Umgebung was a D ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. After completing the four years of elementary school, his father enrolled him in the Szent Benedek Benedictine Secondary School. His head teacher was the famous Benedictine monk Ferenc Xavér Szunyogh. During his high school years, the spirit of the school and scouting greatly influenced him. In 1933, he took part on the

4th World Scout Jamboree The 4th World Scout Jamboree (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''4. Cserkész Világdzsembori''), a gathering of Boy Scouts from all over the world, was hosted by Hungary and held from 2 to 13 August 1933. It was attended by 25,792 Boy Scout, Scou ...

Gödöllő Gödöllő, officially the City of Gödöllő, is a city in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary, about northeast from the outskirts of Budapest. Its population is 34,396 according to the 2010 census and is growing rapidly. It can b ...

Studies

As a teenager Olofsson did not want to become a monk. His role models were his teachers at school, whom he looked up to. But over time he realised that he should join monasticism, so he applied to the

Pannonhalma Archabbey The Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey or Territorial Abbey of Saint Martin on Mount Pannonhalma (lat. ''Archiabbatia'' or ''Abbatia Territorialis Sancti Martini in Monte Pannoniae'') is a medieval building in Pannonhalma and is one of the oldest ...

. His

noviciate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monasticism, monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking Religious vows, vows ...

started on 6 August 1933. He enrolled at the

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

and besides

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

studied

Germanistics The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as sta ...

Hungarian studies Hungarian studies is a field of study concerned with the Hungarian language, Hungarian literature, literature, ethnology, Hungarian culture, culture, Hungarian history, history or society. According to the current philosophy of Hungarian Studies, ...

and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

. He also received a doctorate. In 1935 Olofsson studied at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

for two semesters. He was ordained on 18 June 1939 and took the monk name ''Placid'' after

Saint Placidus Placidus (also known as Placid) was a disciple of Benedict of Nursia. He was the son of the patrician Tertullus, was brought as a child to Benedict at Sublaqueum ( Subiaco) and dedicated to God as provided for in chapter 69 of the Rule of St. ...

, a disciple of

Saint Benedict Benedict of Nursia (; ; 2 March 480 – 21 March 547), often known as Saint Benedict, was a Great Church, Christian monk. He is famed in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Communion, and Old ...

Monte Cassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...

. His motto became:

Second World War

Olofsson worked as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

for a year in

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

, but shortly afterwards became a priest in the army because the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out. He gave the injured people spiritual support in the

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile ...

Komárom Komárom (Hungarian: ; or ; , later ; ) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárom fortress played an important role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and many contemporary English sources r ...

. One time during his time preaching in the church he sharply criticized the officer corps with examples he heard from the injured. As a consequence of that he was brought before the military court and was officially decommissioned. Then Olofsson became a teacher in

Sopron Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

where, besides teaching humanities, he held worldview lectures on

Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

Socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

, Nationalsocialism, and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, until the occupation by Germany. Then he was relocated to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

where he also worked as a teacher until the end of the war.

Soviet occupation

In 1945,

Jusztinián György Serédi Jusztinián György Serédi OSB (23 April 1884 – 29 March 1945) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Esztergom and Prince Primate of Hungary. He helped save many thousands of Polish refugees, including thousands of Po ...

named him as the cardinal advisor of

Margit Slachta Margit Slachta (or ''Schlachta'', September 18, 1884 – January 6, 1974) was a Hungarian nun, social activist, politician, and member of parliament of the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1920 she was the first woman to be elected to the Diet of Hungary ...

Sisters of Social Service The Sisters of Social Service (SSS; , ) are a Roman Catholic religious institute of women founded in Hungary in 1923 by Margit Slachta. The sisters adopted the social mission of the Catholic Church and Benedictine spirituality with a special devoti ...

. So he candidated at the first free election after the end of the German occupation on the party list of the

Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party The Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (), known mostly by its acronym FKgP or its shortened form Independent Smallholders' Party (), is a political party in Budapest, Hungary. During its existence, the party participated ...

under Slachta's political party, the Christian Women's League. He campaigned hard for the organisation. The

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

was a great success for the conservatives. After winning one seat, Olofsson passed it on to another candidate of the Christian Women's League. After the

Soviet occupation of Hungary During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...

the majority of the media came under Soviet control. Articles appeared in the news criticizing Placid Olofsson and his activity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olofsson, Placid 20th-century Hungarian Roman Catholic priests Hungarian people of Swedish descent Hungarian people of German descent Danube-Swabian people 1916 births 2017 deaths Hungarian men centenarians Hungarian torture victims Victims of human rights abuses Victims of anti-Catholic violence Victims of anti-Christian violence Hungarian Benedictines