Hungary opens communist-era informer files in belated reckoning with Cold War past
The searchable archive names about 50,000 to 60,000 people and will add detailed recruitment files in a second phase next year.
- On November 4, Hungary will begin publishing tens of thousands of communist-era informant records via a new online database. Prime Minister Peter Magyar called this a key pledge of the "2026 regime change," settling a 36-year debt to those surveilled or blackmailed.
- The release date marks the 70th anniversary of the Soviet suppression of the 1956 revolution. Hungary remains the last major former Soviet-bloc country in Central and Eastern Europe to fully declassify comprehensive secret police records.
- Gergo Bendeguz Cseh, director-general of the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security Services, expects around 50,000 records to be published. However, only one in ten detailed files have survived due to historical looting and destruction.
- Prime Minister Peter Magyar urged citizens to approach the disclosures with understanding, noting people may find relatives among those named. He stated, "We must learn to ask the right questions, confront what happened and find the strength to listen to the answers."
- The release process will continue until February 25, 2027, the memorial day for victims of communism. Successive governments previously resisted opening archives, fearing the material could be used to discredit or blackmail political opponents.
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Hungary has opened access to the political police files of the communist era, containing the names of tens of thousands of informants.
The Hungarian government has opened the archives of the communist secret police, making the files of tens of thousands of informants available to the public. The database, which contains information on 50,000 to 60,000 state security informants, went live at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Hungarian State Security Service documents of the times of socialism have been declassified and made freely available, as reported by the Prime Minister of the country, Peter Madyar. The digitized material on the activities of the Hungarian intelligence services, its staff and agents has been published and posted on a special website, wrote TASS. Speaking at a press conference in Budapest, the Prime Minister of the country, Peter Madyar, not…
The historic move comes more than 36 years after the collapse of the communist regime and implements the commitment made by Prime Minister Peter Maillard during his election campaign.
HUNGARY is finally confronting its repressive communist past by opening secret archives and publishing the names of thousands of informants.
Hungary opens communist-era secret police files – But does a name in the database mean someone was an informer?
Hungary has opened its communist-era secret police files. Anyone can now search the new database – but what does a name actually reveal? Continue reading: https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary-communist-era-secret-police-files/
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