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Beginning to the Present]. Part three covers wobbly. There are all sorts of reports (often
tute for the History of the Workers Move-
the period from 1945 through 1979. This rather funny, from the point of view of a non-
ment (known in German as IfGA, ZPA, for
book covers a broad range of sources on East Communist outsider) sent to the party lead-
Institut fur Geschichte der Arbeiter-
German-Soviet relations culled from the files ership about workers or teachers or soldiers
bewegung, Zentrales Parteiarchiv) in Ber-
of many officials and party and state organi- having false views or being confused about
lin.1 As with most formerly Communist
zations. this or that aspect of East German or Soviet
archives, conducting research there is not
For the files of some officials and issues, policy and needing clearer explanations.6
particularly easy. There is no published
the archives has little card drawers (Kartei). For example, Comrade Langer of the
overview of the archival holdings and this
There is a Kartei for security questions con- Flakregiment (anti-aircraft regiment) asked,
is, of course, part of the game. You quickly
taining much detailed information, but it Wouldn t the Soviet proposal for a peace
learn that, although the archivists are very
seems to have been sanitized of the most treaty deepen the division of Germany? 7
nice, they don t really want to make it easy
sensitive files. The files include some infor- Noncommissioned Officer Lauschke of the
for you to find any remotely sensitive docu-
mation on the Ministry of State Security National People s Army gave another cri-
ments (assuming, of course, that such docu-
(Stasi), the Ministry of National Defense, the tique of Soviet policy: The eternal notes of
ments are in fact there). A researcher has to
Ministry of the Interior, and various military the USSR to the Western powers are point-
be patient, on the one hand, yet persistent
units. I have seen a few safe files from the less anyway. The Western powers aren t the
and a bit insistent on the other. What fol-
old Stasi chief, Wilhelm Zaisser, from his so-called Auswärtige Abteilungen, which
lows here, after an overview of some of the
Kartei, NL 277. There are also Kartei on were in charge of the official relations be
archive s holdings, is a diary (some of the
Hermann Matern (NL 76), Fred Oelßner (NL Continued on page 28
dates are real and some estimated from
215), Anton Ackermann (NL 109), Heinrich
memory) of my experiences working in the
Rau (NL 62), Georg Handke (NL 128), and
Archives in the Ne
former SED archives on Soviet policy to-
others. Memoirs begin with the letters EA.
wards Germany in the 1950s through the By Axel
Recently some files from the Internes
building of the Berlin wall in 1961.2
Parteiarchiv (Internal Party Archive) have
One of the most interesting sources for
been opened up (J IV 2/2J). This could be a
[Editor s note: The following report by Axel
critical years like 1953, 1956, and 1957 is
goldmine and contains, for example, files
Frohn on the East German archives appeared in
the stenographic protocols of the Central
from Ulbricht s office.
the Spring 1992 Bulletin of the German Historical
Committee plenums. There is now a refer-
There are many other files, but these are
Institute. It is reprinted here, with the institute s
ence book on the Central Committee ple-
the key categories that I have seen. Although
permission, along with updated material in
nums,3 and for Politbüro meetings (files
I have not listed any files specifically on
endnotes supplied by Stephen Connors, a research
beginning with J IV 2/2) there are lists of the
economics, the poor state of the economy
associate of the Cold War International History
resolutions, which usually give minimal
was at the top of the government s agenda,
Project.]
information. Occasionally, some back-
and the Central Committee plenums and the
East German archives are presently undergo-
ground papers for the Politbüro meetings
files of individual officials are filled with
ing a period of profound change. Some have been
are included, and these can be helpful. I
economic concerns. And now to the diary.
or are in the process of being absorbed by federal
have heard a rumor that Politbüro meetings
or other major archives in order to reunite and
were recorded, but I do not know if this is
October 16, 1991
consolidate collections that, as a result of World
true. Books (Findbücher) list reference
I am overwhelmed at the government s
War II, were arbitrarily or coincidentally sepa-
numbers for files concerning some key offi-
totalitarian efforts it attempted to control
rated.1 Access to the Stasi files is now governed
cials, such as Walter Ulbricht (NL 182),
everything: the press,4 the economy, the
by a federal law, but other questions of highest
Wilhelm Pieck (NL 36), and Otto Grotewohl
schools,5 culture, every aspect of life down to
concern still need to be settled such as where the
(NL 90). There are similar books on Inter-
the smallest detail. It s unbelievable. Maybe
records of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei
national Relations (IV 2/20), the Central
that s why it never worked it s impossible
Deutschlands (SED), the former state party, will
Party Control Commission, and Party Or-
to control so much. The East German regime
remain and under whose custody. The same is
gans. The International Relations book lists
really tried to indoctrinate every single East
files on relations between East Germany
2 COLD WAR INTERNATIONAL HISTORY PROJECT BULLETIN
for gaining access to internal documentation were unwilling to release documents that
New Sources on the Berlin
on the other side were even worse; Soviet revealed fallback negotiating positions and
Crisis, 1958-1962
policy-making remained opaque due to the contingency plans so long as Germany and
virtual absence of high-quality primary Berlin remained divided. Because these
By William Burr*
sources with the exception of Khrushchev s records also disclosed the views of Allied
tape-recorded and posthumously published governments including France, the U.K.,
The Berlin Crisis of 1958-1962 is one of
memoirs.3 But scholars have recently begun and West Germany declassifiers were even
the most under-studied Cold War crises in
to explore the archives of the East German more reluctant to release material.
the scholarly literature.1 This relative inat-
Socialist Unity Party (SED), and of the Cen- With the reunification of Germany (and
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