Exhibitions, education
In addition to its priority tasks the Historical Archives aims to make the operation of the political police of the communist dictatorship get known and be perceived to the public. The Historical Archives complies with the requirements for public cultural activities within the Zoltán Szabó Free University and a filmclub. The filmclub called „Bevetítés“ (which means introjection) took the name of Hungarian famous director Lívia Gyarmathy. The Historical Archives screen a film once a month, followed by a discussion with experts and guests.
EDUCATION
Guided archives and stacks tour:
This program helps visitors get to know the types of documents kept in the Archives and the organization and operation of the secret services of the communist dictatorship. Our guided stacks tour is also a special experience.
„Legacy of a dictatorship“ – State security documents and stories. Interactive guided tour:
The permanent interactive exhibition of Historical Archives presents the operation of the secret services through the documents of the Archives, the objects seized during investigations and specific historical events of the period between 1945 and 1990.
Career guidance day in the Historical Archives:
On the career guidance day, students can get an insight into the professions of an archivist, a historian and a librarian through interactiveactivities.
Life-sized board game:
In this giant board game, the more questions the players can answer to they move forward faster.
„Fish in the Net“ – role-play games
Can be chosen from three role-play games:
- „Up, March!“- Demonstration of 15th of March 1972
- Clumsy spies - Espionage in the Rákosi era
- „Word of Arms“ - Hiding weapons after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
„The Agent's Library Room“ –escape room
The goal ofthe game is to get proof that a friend is working forthe secret service.
„Shadowed City” – outdoor escape game
An outdoor game around the Historical Archives’ building challenges the visitors to guess when, where, against whom and by what means a secret investigation is taking place. Information hidden in the streets of Budapest will help.
„Tolerate or Ban” – movie quiz
After watching the selections of films from the Kádár era, the visitors have to guess whether the film in question was classified as tolerated or banned.
„One Picture, One Destiny“ –How the state security operated
Get to know the tools of the retaliatory apparatus.
”We’ll Start Again in March“ – Activities related to anniversaries and national holidays (The Memorial Day for the Victims of Communism, 15th of March 1848, 23rd of October 1956):
Students can experience the events related to the anniversaries through group activities and interactive games.
Special sessions to help the students prepare for graduation:
The Historical Archives offer archival lectures to help the students prepare for graduation, by using contemporary documents to explore a topic related to the period between 1945 and 1990.
Special history lecture for students:
The Historical Archives undertake to hold special history lessons on 20th-century history in the schools. Focusing on the functioning of the communist dictatorship between 1945 and 1990, the specificities of the Rákosi and Kádár eras, the role of the secret services of the regime and forms of social resistance.
Anniversaries:
The colleagues of the Historical Archives give presentationsand lectures related to national holidays and anniversaries.
Programs for teachers:
The Historical Archives gives a special presentation for teachers about its educational activities, as well as the institution and its documents. Upon request, the Archives provide the opportunity to the teachers as a part of retraining to learn more deeply about a topic of the period between 1945 and 1990 through lectures by the researchers of the period.
Történelmi KávéháZ
In February 2011, the Historical Archives introduced a series of lectures titled Történelmi KávéháZ (“Historical Caffé”), where every second Thursday of the month, employees of the Archives and invited professors present the processes of scientific research and document processing at the Archives to the public. Visitors are welcome to attend the afternoon lectures and participate in discussions.
Researchers of the Historical Archives also give lectures of their research topics to schools upon request to support high school historical education, and as per prior agreements, such lectures may be held to Grade 12 students at any secondary education institute in Hungary.
EXHIBITIONS
Based on the cooperation between the Historical Archives and the Municipality of Recsk, the Archives' exhibition "Recsk - forced labour camps, 1950-1953" is open to the public between 1st of May and 15th of November every year. The exhibition, which is housed in the main building of the former labour camp guards and is accompanied by a professional guide, presents the history and operation of the internment and forced labour camps through contemporary archival documents, photographs and artefacts. 15 000 people visit the National Memorial Park every year.
Címeres Forradalom / Coat of Arms Revolution
In September and October 2006, the Archives also organized an exhibition together with the Municipal Picture Gallery and the Kiscelli Museum for the same anniversary titled Címeres Forradalom / Coat of Arms Revolution, which was showcased at the oratory of the Kiscelli Museum and then transferred to the Historical Museum of Pécs. In 2008, the Historical Archives, the Hungarian National Archives, the Historical Interview Collection of the National Széchenyi Library and Idom 2000 Konzulens Zrt. jointly published the entire documentation of the trial of Prime Minister Imre Nagy and his associates in digital form. Other publications and activities are also annually published in a report and made available on the website of the Archives.
Temporary and travelling exhibitions
Ever since its foundation, the Historical Archives has organized exhibitions that serve both public education and dissemination purposes, the most notable of which are as follows:
On 2 May 2 2006, the Historical Archives organized a travelling document and photograph exhibition titled Élünk! Okt. 23. Ijfúság, forradalom és megtorlás (“We live! October 23: Youth, Revolution and Reprisal”) in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The exhibition was showcased among other places at the Village House in Leányfalu, the Friendship Cultural Center in Százhalombatta, the University of Debrecen. The Historical Archives also compiled another 1956-themed exhibition titled Fényképek (“Photographs”) using archived photographs, which were showcased at the Gallery of Cluj-Napoca. In 2018 the Historical Archives made a newer travelling exhibition on the topic 1956 with the title A remény napjai – Magyarország 1956 (The days of hope – Hungary 1956).
The Archives have been presenting a traveling exhibition entitled István Bibó, the political scientist and statesman, in Hungary and in the neighboring countries, since 2016.
There is another traveling exhibition entitled The Collier Files from the Rákosi Era has been touring the country since 2017; it presents how the dictatorship of the 1950s affected a particular group of intellectuals, the mining engineers.
The permanent exhibition
The permanent exhibition of the Historical Archives of the State Security Services presents the operation of the political police between 1945 and 1990 through particular historical events, focusing on records and with the help of objects. Visitors can follow the state security work organized into six thematic units: the target group under control (that is to say, the forms of social resistance), the agent network, the methods of secret surveillance and the ways or areas of violence and reprisal. A survey of the types of records generated by state security work is presented in the centre of the exhibition.