File download - Ústav pamäti národa

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the in stitution each important data of the files that can help in research are
saved. The data of people occurring in the documents are also registered
with the help of computer index and besides these we digitalize the most often
used or ruined documents. These three steps of archival processing ensure
that the institution is able to meet the requirements of our time despite
the frag mented documents and the lack of finding aids and the obligation to
supply and to fulfill the requirements of special research.
Let me point out some important characteristics of our archival material.
The Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security and its predecessor
took over the documents of the former state security authorities in a very fragmentary
state. Approximately two thirds of all the remained archival material
are files or dossiers created by these authorities during their investigative processes.
We have inherited just fragments of the original functional documents of
state security organs.
I mean functional documents as correspondence, minutes of meetings,
monthly or yearly reports of certain organizations or organizational units and so
on. Let me give an example of this: the so called State Defence Authority (Államvédelmi
Hatóság in Hungarian) existed between 1950 and 1953 as the central
organ of the intelligence, counter-intelligence, inner-intelligence, and the
military intelligence but it has left just 1 linear meter of functional documents in
connection with it’s activity. Later, upon the decision of the state party the State
Defence Authority was integrated into the Ministry of the Interior. Although
this unified Ministry existed between 1953 and 1956 our archives inherited
just 0.1 linear meter of functional documents from it’s activity. Most probably
the main reason of this deficit is the mass destruction of the documents during
and after the 1956 revolution and in the late 80’s carried out by state security
officers, employees and policemen. Regarding the documents of post-revolution
state security organs of the Ministry of the Interior the situation is more
fa vourable but these collections are fragmented and mainly unprocessed also.
The major obstacle in processing of our archival material is the almost total
lack of original finding aids and above all the lack of the computerized state
security database of the 80’s called Unified Computerized Controlling System
or EGPR in Hungarian acronym.