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The “European Network of Official Authorities in Charge of the Secret Police Files” A Reader on the Legal Foundations, Structures and Activities Second and Revised Edition www.bstu.de The “European Network of Official Authorities in Charge of the Secret Police Files” A Reader on the Legal Foundations, Structures and Activities Second and Revised Edition Contents 3 Contents Foreword 4 The Committee on Disclosure of Documents and Announcing Affiliation 6 of Bulgarian Citizens to the State Security and the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Army Bulgaria Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and Security Services Archive 18 Czech Republic The Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service 28 of the former German Democratic Republic Germany Historical Archive of the Hungarian State Security 40 Hungary The Institute of National Remembrance 48 Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation Poland The National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives 58 Romania Nation’s Memory Institute 68 Slovakia Appendix 78 Foundation paper “European Network of Official Authorities in Charge of the Secret Police Files” 78 Addresses of the Members of the “European Network” 80 Addresses of Local Offices 81 Observer at the European Network 83 Imprint 84 4 Foreword Foreword Dear Readers, research on the cooperative efforts between secret po- lice agencies and serving as a forum to exchange ideas The files are open. This is a great achievement of the about appropriate forms of educational work. Most im- revolution of 1989/1990 in the communist states of portantly, joining forces in a network has made it easier Eastern Europe. People courageously secured the files to clarify the fates of people who suffered under the of the secret police. In doing so they were able to es- communist dictatorship. The people’s access to the ar- tablish the conditions for making the files accessible to chives in other countries has also improved. the citizens. The situations in the seven countries are not identical – The records are used in accordance with constitutional and consequentially their approaches for dealing with rules by citizens and government agencies dealing with the past also differ. This updated edition of the Reader issues concerning the past. They are used, for example, shows how the work has evolved over the last few years. in examinations to determine whether an individual In some of the member countries, the archives were collaborated with the secret police in the past and to able to acquire additional holdings. Some amended establish whether someone qualifies for rehabilitation. their legal tasks. Others acquired new directors. Some Media representatives and researchers can also use the made progress in the digitalisation of documents. And records as a source of information. The different com- significantly, the close work between the network rep- munist secret police agencies collaborated closely. This resentatives helped prevent concerted efforts to en- is why it is important that the East European countries croach upon the authority of certain institutions. today also cooperate using the available records in their efforts to address their own dictatorial pasts. When we look at other countries with a history of dic- tatorship, in southern Europe or Latin Americafor ex- The “European Network of Official Authorities in ample, we see how sluggishly their confrontations with Charge of the Secret Police Files” was founded five the past advance. This helps us to better appreciate and years ago. This publication is the second, revised edi- acknowledge what has been achieved together with tion providing an overview of the work of the network. the help of these institutions through the persevering The institutions working together in this network rep- work to come to terms with the past. It is our hope that resent seven countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, in other countries in the world that are experiencing Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) a democratic awakening, the strong civilian forces and have each been called upon to use the available within society will engage in their own investigations archives of their secret police agencies to make an im- of the impact of their secret police agencies. People ac- portant contribution toward coming to terms with the tively involved in the “Arab Spring” in particular have past communist dictatorships in their countries. To paid visits to member institutions to learn from their become a member, the following prerequisites must be experiences in addressing the past. met: a) The institution must be a government organiza- In the following publication, the seven institutions tion. working together within the network provide a report b) It must be established by the parliament and work on their legal foundations, their organisational struc- on the basis of special legal norms. ture and their work. Each institution is responsible for c) It must be independent of other government ar- the content of its own text. The Federal Commissioner chival administrations, have independent author- for the Stasi Records assumed responsibility for the ity over the documents left behind by the secret editorial coordination and the production. police agencies and make these documents acces- I thank our partners for the very successful coopera- sible. tion. During the four years of cooperation through the net- Roland Jahn work, joint exhibitions have been produced to inform Commissioner for the Records the public about the methods employed by the secret of the State Security Service of the former police. Conferences were also organised, promoting German Democratic Republic 6 Bulgaria Bulgaria 7 The Committee on Disclosure of Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens the powers of the Bonev Committee were hampered to the State Security and the Intelligence Services by force of Ruling No. 10 of the Constitutional Court. The decision stated that if a registration file is the only of the Bulgarian National Army evidence left connecting a person to the former secret services (that is, if a person fell within the category of Bulgaria the so-called indexed persons), announcement of affili- ation to the secret police would not be allowed. Four years later, in 2001, amendments were made to the Law on Access to the Documents of the Former State Security and the Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff. The scope of examinations was extend- 1. Founding History Fax Newspaper announcing the names of 33 members ed to include the documents of the former intelligence of parliament, who had collaborated with the Sixth Di- department of the Border Troops. Two new bodies were The issue of opening access to the archives of the for- rectorate of the SS. This was not an official document, established in place of the Bonev Committee: a seven- mer Bulgarian secret services was raised in the wake but it caused a scandal and the process of opening the member permanent body, chaired by Metodi Andreev, Evtim Kostadinov, Chairman of the Committee of the democratic changes in the country. Many infor- files of the former political police was brought to a and a non-permanent body, under Chairman Georgi mal civil society organisations which emerged on the deadlock. Ananiev. The latter could be summoned at the request Information Protection Act violated the Constitution. national scene at the end of the 1980s decided as their of Chairman Andreev and had the ultimate authority That same month, the Supreme Court of Cassation priority to dismantle the former State Security. Their In 1992, action was taken against Reserve General to determine affiliation to the former SS or the Intel- sentenced General Atanas Semerdzhiev and General main interest was in identifying the names in the se- Atanas Semerdzhiev and Reserve General Nanka Ser- ligence Directorate of the General Staff. According to Nanka Serkedzhieva to imprisonment for four years cret files of political informers, who had covertly re- kedzhieva for destroying 144,235 files of the former this law, the files were to remain in possession of the and six months, and two years, respectively, on charges ported on opponents of the regime. The opposition en- State Security. On 13 December of that year, the retir- special services. of destruction of SS files. gaged in the first mass democratic protests in late 1989 ing Prime Minister, Philip Dimitrov issued Ordinance and early 1990, mostly under the motto ‘Expose State No. KB 215, which specified that for a payment of 100 On 6 December 2006, the 40th National Assembly Security informers’. The secret files of collaborators of Bulgarian leva members of parliament could receive adopted a new Law on Access to and Disclosure of the the State Security’s Sixth Directorate (also known as a certificate from the Ministry of the Interior, stating Documents and Announcement of Affiliation of Bul- the political police) were a focus of the hotly debated whether or not they had collaborated with the former garian Citizens to the State Security and the Intelli- topics in the then-emerging free press. The subject State Security. gence Services of the Bulgarian National Army . This remained relevant during the talks at the round table was the outcome of a long and intense discussion on (January–May 1990). In 1993, the 36th National Assembly, acting on a pro- involvement with the special services and the marked posal by Lyubomir Pavlov (member of the Union of the On 30 May of that year, the Constitutional Court was participation of the community. The nine-member It was at that time that the process of dissolving the Democratic Forces and of parliament), adopted Reso- once more approached by 54 members of parliament committee presided over by Evtim Kostadinov was repressive organs of the State Security began. Most lution No. 14, which stated that: ‘the information on who contested the legality of some passages of the new elected by the National Assembly on 5 April 2007.

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