Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes publicizes lists of staff servicemen of SNB Directorate I and II

Prague, November 9, 2009

– On the day marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and the Security Services Archive are presenting the latest additions to the Institute’s Web project dedicated to the landmark year 1989 in Czechoslovakia.

Photogallery

The following new information is now available at the Project 1989 Web address (http://www.ustrcr.cz/en/project-the-events-of-1989-in-czechoslovakia):

  • Photo archive of Jiří Venclík More than 40 photographs from the course of the November 1989 strike at Charles University’s Faculty of Social Sciences (FSV UK). Should anyone have additional photographs or documents with which they would like to provide us, we would be glad to add them to the project’s Web site.
  • Over three dozen video clips from the suppression of protests in the year 1988 and in January, October and November 1989.
  • List of servicemen of the Main Intelligence Directorate (SNB Directorate I) This one-of-a-kind project from within post-communist countries is publicizing the list of communist foreign intelligence servicemen who were in active service as of November 17, 1989. In 1989, the Main SNB (National Security Corps – Sbor národní bezpečnosti) Foreign Intelligence Directorate was an important section of the State Security Service (Státní bezpečnost – StB) operating not only within the ČSSR but also abroad, and was an inseparable component of the Soviet intelligence apparatus. Under the control of advisers of KGB Main Directorate I, it attempted to penetrate important places in the democratic west and countries of the third world. It also subversively operated against representatives of the political exile. Until the end of the Communist totalitarian regime it functioned actively on the European continent, especially in Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany.
  • List of servicemen of the Main Counterintelligence Directorate (SNB Directorate II) List of names of counterintelligence servicemen whose job was to reveal anti-state activities not only of Czechoslovak citizens, but also of foreigners residing in Czechoslovakia. The Web page http://www.ustrcr.cz/en/personnel-1989 offers a complete list of counterintelligence servicemen who were involved in the persecution of the activities of “independent initiatives” (including Charter 77, the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Persecuted [VONS], the Movement for Civic Freedom, and the Society for a Democratic Socialism), including their personnel cards.
  • Daily situation reports
    These primary sources are already frequently used in the writing of news articles. Until now, however, only the reports of the highest security authority – the Federal Ministry of the Interior, or FMV – had been made public. As of today, the daily situation reports of SNB Directorate II (Counterintelligence) and the Prague StB Directorate are being added. The reports of regional directorates will be gradually added, as well.
    The following is an overview of the daily situation reports available today:

    • Daily situation reports of the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR) (03-12/1989)
    • Daily situation reports of StB Directorate II (Counterintelligence) (01-12/1989)
    • Daily situation reports of the Prague StB Directorate (11-12/1989)
  • Records from meetings of the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the ČSSR (01-12/1989) and Records from Collegia meetings of the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the ČSSR (01-12/1989) Until now, Project 1989 visitors have been able to view a part of the materials from the Collegia (through September 1989) and operative meetings (through May 1989) of the Ministry of the Interior. As of today, visitors can find here complete overviews of these meetings for the duration of 1989, including material on individual points of negotiations and minutes from meetings, at: http://www.ustrcr.cz/en/orders-1989. Both of these bodies were advisory organs of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Operative meetings were attended by deputy ministers of the Interior and – as the name indicates – were convened to address current problems requiring speedy discussion. Similar documents can be found within the Collegia materials. The composition of the Collegia was wider; in addition to deputies, chiefs of some directorates as well as other Ministry of the Interior units participated. Additional guests could have been invited both to the operative meetings as well as the Collegia. The Collegia dealt with conceptual questions and issues of primary significance. Anyone inquiring into the functioning of the security services will not get by without studying the materials of these two organs. The originals of today’s publicized archive materials are deposited in the Security Service Archive’s Department of Archival Collections of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, at the Archive’s Prague-Struha research center.
  • Personnel file of the “dead student Martin Šmíd – StB serviceman Ludvík Zifčák” Igor Chaun’s documentary film, which premieres on Czech Television on November 17 within the scope of a live broadcast from the past in which the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes is also participating, is devoted to this topic.

The Web Project 1989 is being continually updated with additional information. Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have further questions. Jiří Reichl, spokesperson