Annual Report

Dear senators, I am honored to present the Senate of the Czech Republic with the second annual report of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. As I have already said last time, this report is the first proper annual report since it covers the time period of the first 11 months of the existence of our institution legally established on 1 February 2008. Despite a very complicated situation in all of the fields, the finishing of the handover process, parallel foundation of both the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and the Security Services Archive, determining the organizational structure of both units, initiation of their finance and operations section, preparation of the budget for the chapter no. 355, publication of a series of internal management acts including the plan of activities for 2008, hiring of the new expert personnel, their training, etc., it can be concluded that we were able to fulfill our initial plan. Despite a variety of purpose-built, more or less insightful, media discussion and attacks, the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes began to fulfill the tasks assigned by law without a „hundred days of protection“. The tasks included organization of an expert discussion concerning both totalitarian regimes; organization of seminars, international conferences and both travelling and static exhibitions; support of the teaching of the 20th century history at primary and secondary schools; publication of the results of the Institute‘s research through studies, monographs, editions of documents and website presentations. Except for remembering a number of both Communist and Nazi regimes‘ victims, the research department of the Institute focused on the power structures and their representatives responsible for a long-term devastation of social values and the entire democratic constitutional system. To conclude, I would like to repeat that the first hectic year of the existence of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes has, in fact, established a stable and solid institution dedicated to expertly fulfilling its role in our public life as assigned by law.