Język Polski
English
Audiovisual collections by the communist secret services in the Nation’s Memory Institute in Slovakia
Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, No. 9 (2016), pages: 141-149
Publication date: 2023-04-05
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Abstract
The Ministry for State Security of the German Democratic Republic (the Stasi) left behind a huge archival collection. Although files are its core resource, they are stored with millions of photographs, thousands of films and audio recordings in the current archive of the Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the German Democratic Republic (BStU). Scientists dealing with the history of the German Democratic Republic acknowledge the significance of the audio-visual collections from the former Stasi. Photographs, films and sound material may be an important source to study the dictatorship of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), the activities of the democratic opposition and the operations of the East German Security Service. However, their use in scientific studies in Germany is still relatively new, if compared with the use of the files. Therefore, this article presents the status, preparation and securing methods, as well as the historic value of the audio-visual collection which is currently stored in the archives of the State Security Service.
