EXPERIENCES OF EASTERN GERMANY AND CZECH REPUBLIC IN DISCLOSING SECRET FILES

Abstract

Disclosing of secret service files should be considered as an integral part of the accounting with communist past. In the process of creating a new social order many countries have opted for the approach of discovering dark past while some maintained the principle "what happened in the past, should remain in the past." Whether they have opted for the first or second approach, the states had to solve a series of economical, social and even political issues. The main point of this paper is reviewing the experiences of Eastern Germany and Czech Republic in the disclosing of secret files, with making references to solutions adopted in other former communist countries. The paper demonstrates the differences in the legislative of two countries, which are reflected in the availability of documents and persons having access to them.