KGB EMPIRE: STATE SECURITY ARCHIVES IN THE FORMER EASTERN BLOC

Abstract

A generation has passed since the fall of Soviet communism, and yet our knowledge about the functioning of the institution at the heart of that system—the chekist state security apparatus—remains highly fragmentary and incomplete. This project will shed light on its history and ongoing legacy through a comparative study of state security archives across a range of East European countries. The project has a double focus, comprising historical work in the archives—using archival documents to advance our understanding of how the security apparatus operated during the late socialist period; and historical work on the archives—investigating how these archives are being used and misused in the reg..