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„The centre of the world”
Under the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary was forced to abolish the compulsory military service and reduce its army to a minimum, leaving the country without armed protection. To solve this limitation, a special Hungarian institution, the Levente paramilitary youth organization was created, which – officially embedded in the Physical Education Act – was intended to replace the military training. Initially, boys aged between 12 and 21 who had dropped out of school were admitted, and from 1924, all students who had completed their studies were required to complete the training. In addition to physical education, great emphasis was placed on nationalistic education and the fundamental values of the Christian religion. The Levente paramilitary youth organization in Bihar, which was as important as education, was launched in the spring of 1925 with the formation of the Levente Association of Berettyóújfalu District. Due to the county’s efforts by the autumn of 1927, Bihar had become one of the flagships of the national movement. The organization had great successes in the Bihar as it was present in all the municipalities of the county within a year and a half. The rapid expansion and results were resulted by the attitude and work of the organization’s leadership in Bihar, especially Dr. Fráter László. Fráter in his position as chief bailiff and later as Sub-Lieutenant, demonstrated such fanaticism that exceeded central expectations. That proved to be the key to the viability of Truncated Bihar County’s youth policy, which required a well-functioning Levente institution. In consequence of that on 16 October 1927, the first headquarters of the Levente organization in the country was inaugurated, which had special recognition and general resonance at national level. It’s proved by the fact that the institution was personally inaugurated by the Governor, vitéz Horthy Miklós of Nagybánya.