Kokin Serhiy

The Process of Opening Access to The Communist Secret Service Documents in Ukraine (mid-1990th – mid-2000th)

Section: Historiographical and sources of research

Abstract: Purpose of the article. The author attempts to find out the historical prerequisites and main factors that led to the process of transfer to state storage and opening access to the archives of the Soviet security agencies inherited by the Security Service of Ukraine and the state archives of Ukraine in 1990th – mid-2000th. In the survey, the author grounds on his experience as a historian and as one of the chiefs of the Archives of the State Security Service of Ukraine. Methodology and methods. While identifying the main stages of opening the archives of the former KGB of the Ukrainian SSR, the author used the problem-chronological method, methods of social-psychological and historical reconstruction, as well as the presentation of material from the first person. Conclusions. One of the essential factors of opening access to archival cases was the process of rehabilitation the victims of political repressions in USSR. After Ukraine got independence, it was decided to transfer the archives of the liquidated KGB for permanent public storage. Due to logistical reasons and physical facilities, this decision was only partially implemented, leading to the spillage of archival documentation. Providing broad access to archival documents began with archival criminal and investigative cases on rehabilitated persons, in particular as part of the program for the preparation of a scientific and documentary series of books ''Rehabilitated by History''. The declassification and disclosure of archival documents stored in the Archives of the State Security Service of Ukraine since 1994 was a part of performing the official tasks by the archive as a unit of the central administration of the Security Service of Ukraine. An important task was to ensure the scientific and publishing activities of the State Security Service of the Security Service of Ukraine, in particular, the publication of the scientific-documentary journal ''From the archives of the VUCHK–GPU–NKVD–KGB''. The fruitful cooperation of historians and archivists has resulted in the expansion of the number of archival holdings, types of archival cases and documents that were introduced before the open circulation. This cooperation created favourable conditions for further opening of broad access to archival documents.

Keywords: archives, State Security Service of Ukraine, opening access, political repressions.

  Full-text PDF    https://doi.org/10.15407/vuchk2019.02.266     Citation

• Kokin Serhiy (Institute of the History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, history_1920-1930@ukr.net) ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2194-7952

Cite:
Kokin Serhiy (2019). The Process of Opening Access to The Communist Secret Service Documents in Ukraine (mid-1990th – mid-2000th). From archives of VUChK–GPU–NKVD–KGB, ( 2 (52)) 266-279. (In Ukrainian). doi: https://doi.org/10.15407/vuchk2019.02.266

References:

1. Bilokin’, S. (1993). Pro taiemnytsi madryds’koho dvoru. In Bilokon’, S. (Ed.). Nashe mynule (pp. 17–38). Kyiv: Vydavnytstvo M. Kotsia [in Ukrainian].