Reappraisal of the SED dictatorship: survey on holdings of Soviet Occupation Zone/GDR provenance in Berlin
The project forms part of an overarching status report on the reappraisal of the SED dictatorship in the state of Berlin: the aim is to evaluate the reappraisal and consequences of the SED dictatorship based on a resolution adopted by the Berlin House of Representatives, with implementation assigned to the Berlin Commissioner for Reappraisal by the Berlin Senate.
The study to be prepared by Facts & Files on the archiving and documentation of holdings of Soviet Occupation Zone/GDR provenance in the state of Berlin in the period from 1990 to 2021 is devoted to questions such as the following:
- What archival holdings (written material, photographs, posters, films and audiovisual material) of Soviet Occupation Zone/GDR provenance are available in the Berlin archives?
- How have these holdings been handed down and what conservation, indexing and digitisation measures have been carried out since 1990?
- Where do archivists see a need for action?
Facts & Files prepared the above-mentioned study based on the analysis of a questionnaire survey, interviews with experts and documents from the archives. It contains concrete recommendations for action by policymakers and administrators based on experience of archival practice and participants’ wishes. For this reason, Facts & Files needs support in preparing the study, since it is the archive experts themselves who are familiar with the histories of the collections and are aware not just of how to meet current challenges in terms of conservation, digitisation and use, but also what resources are required for this purpose. Based on this expertise it will be possible to improve the situation of the Berlin state archives in the long term.
The following questionnaire contains the main questions on these priority topics. It can be completed online.
A draw will be held among participating institutions with the chance to win three prizes consisting of 500 euros worth of material for archival work.
For questions about the project or the questionnaire, please get in touch with the Facts & Files contacts Frank Drauschke and Henrike Voigtländer, archivstudie@factsandfiles.com, Tel. (030) 48 09 86 20.