2 . Archival storage of the Blinken OSA Archivum | Edit Blaumann / Budapest100
Set in this contemporary geopolitical context , the Archivum ’ s largest foundational collection , that of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty ’ s Research Institute , epitomizes the struggle of oppressed societies and individuals of the communist bloc for fundamental rights and freedoms . Established in Munich ( then West Germany ) at the height of the Cold War , the two American radio stations were intended to counterbalance the information hegemony of the Soviet Union , while the Research Institute collected background information and provided analysis for their broadcasting services . Besides airing what they considered “ real and truthful ” news to audiences behind the Iron Curtain , their growing archives quickly became a repository of systemic human rights violations and state sponsored political violence , censorship and propaganda , dissident and political opposition movements , and religious and cultural resistance , and — following the fall of communism — the transition to constitutional democracies .
Concurrently , the Archivum acquired and built a significant collection on global human rights , including records on forced internal displacement and migration , persecution of dissidents and minorities , attacks on civilian population during armed conflicts , war crimes , and genocide . One of the strengths of this documentation is the Yugoslavia Archive Project with over 35,000 records covering the post WWII history of the region , a large part of which cover human rights abuses committed during the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia and subsequent criminal trials and forensic investigations . The donors include international organizations , human rights NGOs , and private individuals , such as the UN Expert Commission on Investigating War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia , Physicians for Human Rights , the American Refugee Committee ’ s Balkan Chapter , and the American journalist David Rohde .
These documents are proving increasingly meaningful and useful sources for critical inquiry and memory work given the democratic backsliding of ( Southern and Eastern ) European countries , the resurfacing of new ( but in fact , old and reinterpreted ) conflict zones and the emergence of authoritarian and populist trends globally , the increasing need to understand what went wrong subsequent to the collapse of communism , the roots and causes of these antidemocratic changes , and to find antidotes by examining past forms of oppression and rights violations , and instances of resistance and resilience .
The three examples below illustrate how the Archivum turns its records inside out , uses its expertise and archival space in support of memory work applied to contemporary phenomena that are of concern in our society .
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Observing Memories Issue 8