About

Until the 1990s, Western scholars had no access to postwar archival materials in the former Eastern bloc. During the Communist era, the only people who were allowed to consult secret postwar documents in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were trusted employees of the Communist Party or central government. The main responsibility of archival officials in these countries was to ensure that no items, no matter how inconsequential, fell into the hands of unauthorized researchers.

Immense opportunities for primary research on all aspects of the last years of Cold War became available from the early 1990s. Despite lingering obstacles in some of the former East-bloc archives, the vast amount of newly released documentation and first-hand accounts has enabled scholars to gain a much better understanding of events that once seemed inscrutable.