Hungary to reveal names of communist-era informants — The Guardian
On November 4, Hungary is expected to publish the names of tens of thousands of informants for the state security agencies of the communist regime. The country’s new government seeks to help society come to terms with the past and restore trust by opening the archives, The Guardian reports.
Searchable archive database
Between 1945 and 1989, Hungary’s state security agencies used an extensive network of informants to monitor society and suppress dissent. Some people were blackmailed or forced to report on neighbours, friends, colleagues and even family members, while others were recruited with promises of various benefits.
The archives of agent files remained largely inaccessible to the public for decades. Previously, only researchers and relatives of victims had access to reports on informants. In September, the government of Péter Magyar passed a law paving the way for the publication of the materials. According to polls, more than two-thirds of the country’s population supported the move.
Minister of Social Relations and Culture Zoltán Tarr wrote on Facebook that a democratic society has the right to know its past. Researchers believe that the new searchable online database will make Hungary’s former security service archives the most transparent among the countries of the former Eastern Bloc.
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Incomplete materials and privacy protection
Historians estimate that the documents mention between 50,000 and 60,000 people, about 10% of whom are alive today. At the same time, the archive contains detailed files, records and testimonies on only 9,000 people. They are planned to be published in February after personal data are removed, including information on health, addictions and sexuality, as well as information about victims.
Historian and head of the archive’s academic department István Papp noted that many materials will be incomplete: documents do not always explain the motives for cooperation or the extent of information provided by informants. Some archives were destroyed during the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, while others disappeared during the 1989 transition period.
Public reaction
Historian Domokos Sokolai expressed hope that the publication would not turn into public humiliation but would help people understand the complexity of such stories. His father, poet and politician Zoltán Sokolai, was named as an informant on an unofficial list published in 2005. According to the historian, learning about one’s family past can be painful, but it is better to know about it.
