Files on the Vatican and the Italian Communist Party: A Hypothesis

The first time I heard about Blinken OSA was in spring 2019, when I was spending a semester in Budapest as an Erasmus+ exchange student in my second year of the master’s degree in “Library and Archival Studies.” I had a meeting with Csaba Szilágyi and Örs Lehel Tari, to discuss the possibility of starting an internship at the Archives after my graduation, in the frame of the Erasmus+ Traineeship program.

Blinken OSA • July 23, 2020

Unintentional Effect: the 45th Anniversary of the Helsinki Accords

August 1 will mark the 45th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, which, owing to its human rights principle, became a catalyst of the 1989 regime change.

Blinken OSA • July 16, 2020

Constant Change and Eternal Immutability – Gallery Reopens with Lenke Szilágyi's Exhibition

On July 17, the Archive's gallery space reopens, presenting the exhibition POST-SOVIET – Photos by Lenke Szilágyi 1990–2002. Lenke Szilágyi (who has also been working as a photo-archivist in the Archives for a number of years) has regularly traveled to the (former) Soviet Union, witnessing and documenting the fall of Communism and Post-Soviet realities. Her photos are sensitive imprints of an era of constant change and a territory of eternal immutability.

Csaba Szilágyi • July 10, 2020

Discussion About the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide Begins in the Archives

The systematic execution of 8,372 Bosnian Muslim men and boys by the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) in July 1995 in the larger Srebrenica area, dubbed by former Chief Investigator of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Jean-René Ruez "the Axis of Death," constituted genocide.

Robert Parnica • July 09, 2020

Ivo Banac – In Memoriam

The CEU and Blinken OSA community is mourning the passing of renowned Croatian historian, former distinguished professor at Yale University, and memorable professor at CEU. After a long and grave illness, Professor Ivo Banac passed away in Zagreb on June 30, at the age of 73.

Elizabeth R. Hardiman • May 15, 2020

A Unique Position to Better Understand Struggles

In January, 2020, I was thrilled to begin the internship program at the Blinken Open Society Archives. I had just been accepted into the Budapest Semester Program at George Mason University, and I was thrilled at the prospect of exploring a new city, and learning from faculty at Central European University and the Archives.

Csaba Szilágyi • April 05, 2020

“Sarajevo, the biggest concentration camp in the world"

“Sarajevo, the biggest concentration camp in the world,” wrote Arma Tanović at the age of 15. Arma was one of the Sarajevan kids and teenagers, who, a year into the siege, sent letters to their American pen pals, in which they introduced themselves and their daily challenges hardly imaginable for others, and asked their unknown friends to do everything they could to stop the war.

Balázs Leposa • April 03, 2020

New Collection on Hungarian Emigré Circles in the US

Providing insight into the publishing and academic activities of Hungarian emigré circles in the US, the Peter Pastor Collection was donated to Blinken OSA in 2018 by Peter Pastor, a professor emeritus of history at Montclair State University, New Jersey. After being processed and cataloged, the collection is now ready for research (and will be physically available once the Archives can reopen after the outbreak is over).

Blinken OSA, Hidden Galleries Project • March 30, 2020

Replica of a Distorted Reality

As the exhibition Faith – Trust – Secrecy is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, the OSA blog will present segments of the show with links to the Hidden Galleries Digital Archive, where the featured stories and themes can be explored in more detail. More on the exhibition from the OSA blog:

Blinken OSA • March 25, 2020

Brotherhood and Self-Esteem – On Béla Bartók's Birthday

March 25 is the birthday of Béla Bartók. We honor the memory of Bartók with a lecture by József Mélyi, a 1931 letter the composer wrote to Octavian Beu, and a 1988 radio report on the preparations for the return of Bartók's ashes to Hungary.