Historians Anna Chlebina, Adam Hradilek, and Jaroslav Formánek from The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (ÚSTR) visited partner institutions in Ukraine. The main aim of the visit was to sign a cooperation agreement with the Central State Archives of Public Organizations of Ukraine (TsDAGO of Ukraine).

On 1 May 2022, Ladislav Kudrna was appointed director of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. The ÚSTR Council elected him director on 2 March 2022 following a selection procedure.

Our thoughts are with our Ukrainian friends and colleagues, whose cooperation and help allowed the better in-depth exploration of our shared history of communist dictatorship.

The  conference 100 Years Since the Founding of the KSČ. The Legacy of Czechoslovak Communism took place online on 13 and 19-21 May 2021.

The academic journal Securitas Imperii: Journal for the Study of Modern Dictatorships is launching a call for papers for a monothematic issue marking the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The deadline for submissions is July 31, 2021.

In the past 18 months, ÚSTR underwent an independent international research assessment, which focused on the first decade of the Institute’s existence. The assessment summary is now available in Czech and English on our website.

We are launching English, Russian and Ukrainian versions of the Czechoslovaks in the Gulag website. It gives people in other countries access to research into documentation on political repression of expatriates (not only Czechs, but also Ukrainians, Germans, Ruthenians, Jews, Hungarians and Slovaks) in the USSR.

The conference focuses on perception of heritage, the development of heritage preservation, and crucial themes and key personalities in the field of heritage in Central European countries belonging with the Eastern bloc after 1945. Date: 26–29 April 2021. Venue: On-line

In The Warsaw Pact, 1969-1985: The Pinnacle and Path to Dissolution, Matěj Bílý analyzes the internal tensions of the Soviet-led Cold War alliance as its careened toward its end. Rooted in detailed research in Czech, Polish, and German archives, this book presents much previously unknown information about the alliance’s mechanisms as it served as one of the Kremlin’s increasingly ineffective tools for managing the Eastern Bloc.

The conference focuses on both national and international context of the fall and transformation of the communist regime. Self-perception of the then student generation, transformative journey of Czech media, changes in Czech society etc. will be topics of the conference’s lectures and discussions. Date: 6–8 November 2019. Venue: Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.