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Hungary opens secret police files naming about 60,000 people

Hungary has made communist-era informant identities and personal details covering about 60,000 people available in an online database, fulfilling a pledge by Prime Minister Péter Magyar. More detailed recruitment dossiers are due in February. Historians disagree over publishing names before a fuller account of coercion and individual conduct is available, while parts of the archive have been destroyed.

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An anonymous researcher consults the newly opened secret police database at a computer between shelves of closed archival boxes in a Hungarian archive reading room.

Informant identities become searchable

Hungary opened an online database of communist-era secret police files on 4 November. Prime Minister Péter Magyar said the release fulfilled a campaign promise. Personal details and names covering about 60,000 people recruited by the security services are now accessible, with a further release of files planned for February.[1], [2]

The first documents include Form 6 cards, the security services’ forms identifying recruits. These can contain a real name, codename, birth date, address, mother’s name and handling officer, as well as whether recruitment was voluntary or involved coercion or blackmail.[1]

More detailed dossiers are being digitised

The B dossiers, which provide fuller information about recruitment and the value of intelligence supplied, are being digitised for release on 25 February. Historian and European Parliament member Zsuzsanna Borvendég argues that publishing identities without sufficiently explaining recruitment and conduct risks misleading the public. Some recruits faced threats involving work, education or access to medicines.[1]

Decades of restricted access leave gaps

People have been able to request their own files since 1998, while historians could seek access for research, but many names remained concealed and some documents were withheld. Files were also destroyed as communist rule weakened in 1988–1989. Historian Krisztián Ungváry supports wider access as a citizen’s right. Magyar urged dignity and humanity toward disclosures that could distress relatives.[1]

References

  1. News sourceBBC NewsHungary opens communist-era secret police files to the public↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceDWHungary releases communist-era informant files online↩
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