File download - Ústav pamäti národa

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stitute must perform extensive indexing, work out summaries, create a superior
database, and begin the reconstruction of damaged documents that underwent
massive obliteration in Czechoslovakia in the late 1980’s and thus met with the
same fate as similar documents in several other socialist countries. The operative
documents can be reconstructed by various means. I really like the process
the Nation’s Memory Institute has developed to reconstruct the file agenda of
the StB counterintelligence, which is listed in the latest issue of the Nation’s
Memory magazine. 2
Another subject matter of first significance is the legal framework for archival
law enactments. I was very glad we had an opportunity to hear our Russian
colleague’s opinion of the archival laws in his country. He pointed out
the irony that although the archival laws are on the one hand rather liberal, the
state clerks often lack the will to carry them out and to accommodate people’s
needs. We were experiencing something very similar in the Czech Republic
not so long ago, even though the circumstances in both countries do not really
stand on an equal footing. The key to high quality archival administration and
a democratic approach to open disclosure to common citizens lies in establishing
a state institution, which for one would be not be a secret, for two should be
as independent from executive power as possible, and for three should be under
effective control of a democratic parliament. That is the general model of
such institutions in several countries in Central Europe, which naturally feature
specific divergences. Similar institutions have also been established in some
states of the former Soviet Union. Here, it is crucial that they be supported by
as liberal archival standards as possible.
In the early 1990’s, Czech society was concerned that the disclosure of the
State Security documents might cause great human tragedies, including suicides.
None of these speculations proved valid. For two years, the Czech Republic
has had the most liberal act among all countries of the former Soviet
Bloc, one that allows minimal limitations on disclosing documents from the
Communist era. Some limits, however, have not been clarified here – e.g. protection
of personal data, and of course security aspects. Every state has its own
interests in terms of security, which must be respected; nonetheless, I believe
2
Compare. ĎURINA, Ľubomír – RAGAČ, Radoslav: Reconstruction of files in the
ÚPN Archive, In: Nation’s Memory, vol. 3, č. 3 (2007), pp. 77 – 84.