Hungary plans to make tens of thousands of archival files on Communist-era officers, informants and recruitment targets searchable online. The first batch is scheduled for release on November 4.
Hungary’s Historical Archives of the State Security Services (ÁBTL) is preparing a public database that will allow searches by names and other details. Until now, people could request their own files or those of close relatives, while researchers also had access. The planned database would open the search to everyone.
ÁBTL director-general Bendegúz Gergő Cseh called the reform a historic step. He said a law adopted by parliament in September provides broader access than measures in other former Eastern Bloc countries. The archive holds records relating to about 50,000 to 60,000 people connected with the state-security system. They include not only informants and officers but also people targeted for recruitment.
The release is planned in two phases. The first is scheduled for November 4, the anniversary of Soviet troops entering Budapest and crushing the 1956 uprising that began on October 23. A second phase is planned for February 25 and is expected to include about 9,000 so-called B dossiers with detailed files on recruits and recruitment targets.
Some personal information, including health records, addictions and sexual orientation, will be redacted. Cseh said such details should not be used to judge people, while arguing that opening the records could help society confront its totalitarian past. The Associated Press previously reported that disclosure of the files had remained contentious since Hungary’s transition to democracy.