- Published
Hungary has opened communist-era secret police files to the public, in a controversial move the government says will help Hungarian society heal itself from the traumas of 45 years of communist rule.
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society → publish → rule
Critics say it has come too late, that the files themselves are incomplete, and that the move risks sowing division and causing unnecessary anguish to family members.
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move → say → members
The date of the opening is symbolic - on 4 November 1956 Soviet tanks rolled through Budapest and other cities, to crush Hungary's short-lived revolution.
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tanks → roll → revolution
"I ask everyone to treat this long overdue publication of documents with dignity and humanity," Prime Minister Péter Magyar told reporters at the state archives in Budapest.
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Magyar → ask → Budapest
"Many families will now face difficult information, often related to a deceased relative," he added.
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he → face → relative
"It is impossible to process a trauma without discussion and asking questions."
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It → process → questions
Magyar defended the move, which was a central promise of his election campaign ahead of his landslide victory in April elections, as the fulfilment of a promise made by those who toppled the Communist party in 1989 in Hungary.
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who → defend → Hungary
In the ensuing decades, conservative, Socialist-Liberal, and Fidesz-led governments have all contemplated, but ultimately refused to open the files.
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governments → ensue → files
Since 1998, it has been possible to apply for your own file, and for historians to research those of others.
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historians → apply → others
But many names were blacked out, and many files withheld by the post-communist secret services for their own use.
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files → black → use
Over the past 36 years, there have been frequent leaks of data from the files, as successive governments tried to damage their opponents.
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governments → try → opponents
Many files were also shredded, as the Communist party lost its grip in 1988-89.
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party → shred → 1988
From Wednesday, the names and personal data of around 60,000 people recruited by the communist-era secret services have become available on the nyitottaktak.hu website, external.
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names → recruit → website
A typical entry records the real name of the informer, their codename, date of birth, address and mother's name, their motive for recruitment - whether voluntary or because they were blackmailed or coerced - and the name of their handling officer.
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they → record → officer
Another batch of files, known as the "B-dossiers" are currently being digitalised, and will be made available on 25 February.
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batch → know → February
These will offer much more detail about the recruitment process, and the high or low value of the information they provided.
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they → offer → information
Critics of the opening of the files emphasise this point - that people will be too quick to judge those they find in the files, and unwilling to understand the nuances.
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they → emphasise → nuances
Around 150-160,000 people are estimated to have been recruited as informers between December 1944 and February 1990 in Hungary.
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people → estimate → Hungary
Many were blackmailed, with threats including loss of work or study opportunities, loss of access to medicines, or the leaking of information about their sex lives or addictions.
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Many → blackmail → lives
Such intimate details will be carefully edited out of the current disclosures too.
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details → edit → disclosures
Krisztian Ungváry, a historian who has long campaigned for the full release of the files, says access to information on what is recorded by the state against the citizen is a citizens' right, and should not depend on the whims of those in power.
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what → campaign → power
"In the overwhelming majority of surviving agent reports, it isn't even possible to identify the agent, let alone their motives," counters an opponent of today's move, Zsuzsanna Borvendég, a historian and MEP of the far-right Our Homeland party.
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opponent → survive → party
Publishing the names of informers without fully explaining the circumstances of their recruitment and their activities risks misleading the public, she told Hungarian media.
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she → publish → media
The Aporia
