The information collected by the Stasi was to be made available to help people understand their personal fates. The Stasi Records Archive was also established to immediately address the injustices committed by the communist dictatorship in the GDR.
The BStU was rather alone when it began addressing its special task in 1990. Now, however, many changes have taken place internationally in this area, especially in Eastern Europe. In late 2008, a network was established between secret police archives in Eastern Europe to coordinate their work and promote exchanges. Several other archives and initiatives are also currently involved in the historical reappraisal of communist dictatorships.
If you have any questions or suggestions about international cooperation, we look forward to receiving your email at
Internationales.stasiunterlagenarchiv@bundesarchiv.de
Additionally, many efforts are being made to address past military dictatorships and other tyrannical regimes in Latin America, Asia and Africa. This includes the UN in Ruanda and ex-Yugoslavia and the efforts to come to terms with the end of Apartheid in South Africa. During visits to the Stasi Records Archive or at conferences organized by the Archive, the German example is frequently cited as a model for providing access to secret police files.
The Seven Founding Members
In Germany, the demands made during the Peaceful Revolution to make the Stasi files publicly accessible were fulfilled when Germany was reunified on 3 October 1990 and the Special Commissioner for the Stasi Records began his work. The position of Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records was established when the Stasi Records Act was passed on 29 December 1991. The Eastern European states required more time to get started.
Poland: IPN (1998/2000)
The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (Instytut Pamieci Narodowej, IPN) was established by the Polish Parliament through the act of 18 December 1998. It began operations in mid 2000. One of its four main departments is involved in activities that go beyond archival work. The "Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation" is part of the IPN, but also a special branch of the public prosecutor’s office of the Republic of Poland. It investigates the war crimes and crimes against humanity that were committed when Poland was under German occupation and when it was ruled by a communist dictatorship.
Website: Instytut Pamieci Narodowej
Romania: CNSAS (2000)
The National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives (Consiliul National pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securitatii – CNSAS) was founded in 2000 following a long and heated debate. The "Law on Access to personal files and to expose the Securitate as a political police," passed by the Romanian parliament in December 1999, formed its legal basis.
Webseite: Consiliul National pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securitatii
Hungary: ABTL (1997/2003)
After the Hungarian Lustration law was found to be unconstitutional, the investigation law was amended and the "Historical Office" was founded in 1997. The latter was an archive providing citizens access to information about them that had been gathered and stored by state security organisations. Its work came into question in 2003 when it became known that the former prime minister had been involved with the Stasi. In reaction to this scandal, the parliament passed a new law in 2003 calling for the foundation of the "Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security Service" (ABTL).
Slovakia: UPN (2003)
The Slovakian "Institute of National Memory" (Ustav Pamäti Naroda – UPN) began operating in 2003. It was created in 2000 from the Ministry of Justice’s "Division for Documenting Communist Crimes." Overriding the former president’s veto, in 2002, the National Council of the Slovakian Council passed Law no. 553/2002, calling for the establishment of this institution.
Website: Ustav Pamäti Naroda
Bulgaria: COMDOS (2003)
On 19 December 2006, the Bulgarian Parliament passed the "act on access to and disclosure of documents and on announcing affiliation of Bulgarian citizens with the state security and intelligence services of the Bulgarian national army." Following many years during which efforts were made both to open and to destroy the files, the time was right for the "commission for access to and disclosure of documents and on announcing affiliation of Bulgarian citizens with the state security and intelligence services of the Bulgarian national army" (COMDOS).
Website: COMDOS
Czech Republic: USTR (2007)
On 1 August 2007, law no. 181/2007 on the "Institute for the Research of Totalitarian Regimes, the Security Services Archive and the amendment of a few laws" came into effect in the Czech Republic. It provided the legal basis for establishing extensive public access to the secret police files. The Institute for the Research of Totalitarian Regimes and the Security Services Archive (USTR) began operations in February 2008.
Website: Ústav pro studium totalitnich rezimú
Six Guest Members
In 2013 the Network granted additional countries guest status at its annual conferences. Since then representatives of the three Baltic states, as well as two institutions from Slovenia, have participated in the conferences: Recentely Urkraine has joyned.
European Initiatives and Archives
On the European level there are numerous initiatives dealing with the legacy of communist dictatorships or other violent regimes and conflicts post World War II.
The following selection specifically lists institutions that base their memory work on documents, records and recollections of witnesses. In addition it lists further networking initiatives in the European context.
Initiatives and Archives
Germany: After the dictatorship. A project of the University of Würzburg
Albania: Since 2017 the "Authority for Information about former State Security Documents" (AIDISSH) makes records of the Albanian secret police Sigurimi from 1944 to 1991 accessible.
Croatia: Documenta. Centre for Dealing with the Past
France: European Memories of the Gulag. Sound Archives. Virtual museum with reports from surviving witnesses of the work camps and special settlements in Soviet gulags.
Irland: Prison Memory Archives
Northern Ireland: Conflict and Politics in Northern Ireland
Kosovo: Memory Book
Latvia: Latvijas Okupacjias Muzejs
Russia: International Memorial Society
Networking Organisaions
European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS)
International Initiatives
Although the Stasi Records Archive statutory mandate does not specifically call for the archive’s support of historical reappraisal in other countries, the work of th Stasi Records Archive has sparked strong international interest. Efforts to address past injustice by making secret police files that document human rights violations publicly accessible has become an established instrument of "transitional justice." Germany’s Stasi Records Agency was the first institution to do this and it has been pleased to share its experiences with guests from all over the world.
Th Stasi Records Archive follows the activities of other countries in this field through these direct exchanges and by participating in international conferences. Making the archives of secret police institutions, other security service agencies and witness documentation accessible, allows past injustices to be identified and helps new societies find ways to address them. Here is a partial list of institutions, with whom the Stasi Records Archive has or had contact:
International Network on Human Rights Archives (INHRA)
Since 2019 the Stasi Records Archive is part of a pool of International Network on Human Rights Archives. This effort, funded by the German Robert Bosch Foundation with a secretariat at Swiss Peace, brings together different actors working at the nexus of archives, human rights and dealing with the past in different contexts across the globe. It fosters peer to peer exchange and support among different actors by strengthening their capacities and their expertise, and thus contributing to the professionalization of the field.
Visit the provisional website of the network:
One of the first efforts in knowledge exchange is an expert workshop on access to national security / intelligence documentation held online on July 15, 2020.
