Materialy Samizdata Digitized
We have fully digitized the RFE/RL bulletin Materialy Samizdata, and made it available online. This publication, a crucial information resource concerning political prisoners in the USSR, played a significant role in the struggle for human rights during the Cold War, allowing researchers today to reconstruct individual stories and grasp the scale of political repression. In the present context, when political repression has once again become a governmental tool in Russia and Belarus, Materialy Samizdata illustrates the importance of the meticulous documentation of state crimes against citizens.
In the late 1960s, a specialized research department was created at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), called the Samizdat Archives, providing the Radios with sources concerning dissent in the USSR. Peter Dornan, who played a key role in establishing the department and managing its collection, also initiated a weekly bulletin highlighting selected documents on human rights violations in the Soviet Union. The publication Materialy Samizdata (Samizdat materials), now digitized and available online, reflects not only the chronology, diversity, and intensity of the struggle for human rights in the USSR, but also demonstrates a professional approach to information verification and data systematization.
How did the idea of creating a weekly bulletin emerge?
Documents that had arrived at the Samizdat Archives were systematized and made accessible to RFE/RL personnel in copies, with additional commentary. Similarly to other research units at the Radios, one primary task of the Samizdat Archives department was to organize its collection into document sets, so-called Subject and Biographical Files. These incorporated information from various sources, whether official Soviet periodicals, international press, and news agency releases, or private correspondence and samizdat publications. This effort resulted in the creation of a vast database that could serve as a crucial verification tool.
Soon, however, Samizdat Archives employees also realized that, on the one hand, the volume of incoming material was so large that it was worth highlighting main events, and, on the other, a more human-centered approach in portraying human rights violations would be more effective. This is what Materialy Samizdata pursued.
What was published in Materialy Samizdata?
The bulletin featured a wide range of content, including evidence of human rights violations in the USSR, materials related to the activities of the dissident movement, persecution of religious and national groups, texts from political prisoners along with their biographies, court transcripts, reports on searches, statements by human rights activists, and collective letters defending political prisoners. Additionally, it included letters and appeals to Western organizations, articles intended for publication in Western media, materials from the Chronicle of Current Events, notes from prison camps, and information about political prisoners in psychiatric hospitals—among many other topics.
The bulletin was produced from 1971 to 1992; initially, it was circulated within RFE/RL only, later it was also distributed externally on subscription. Over 6,600 documents were published through Materialy Samizdata; instead of publishing samizdat fiction, its purpose was to document and work with factual events, primarily related to human rights violations and the persecution of dissidents.
How was information gathered and processed?
The documents included in Materialy Samizdata were obtained by the Samizdat Archives from individuals and organizations—in particuar, representatives of the Russian emigration and European human rights groups—eager to disseminate specific information via the Radios. The department primarily focused on content, rather than format; the majority of the documents were copies and texts reprinted on Samizdat Archives letterhead paper. Materialy Samizdata was compiled in such a way that a system of links, citations, and commentary allowed recipients to form the most complete picture about cases.
As previously mentioned, thematic blocks of documents the department had received were assigned an ID, designated as AS (Samizdat Archive). Occasionally, a complete issue of Materialy Samizdata would focus exclusively on a single case, including information about the arrest, letters of support, trial details, public appeals, and so on. If the Samizdat Archives later received updated information about an individual’s situation, it would be published in a subsequent bulletin. However, this new material was often included under the same AS number originally given to the case.
Issue 1980/8, for example, is entirely dedicated to the arrest of Tatyana Velikanova, who, for nine years, led the publication of the Chronicle of Current Events; she was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison and an additional five years in exile. The issue includes documents related to the formation of a defense committee, official protests to the Soviet government from groups supporting the Helsinki Accords, statements from family and friends, petitions, and more.
We have fully digitized the Materialy Samizdata series, and made it available, without registration, in our online Catalog. This publication, which played a significant role in the struggle for human rights, has become a valuable information resource for many concerned individuals, who have, in turn, disseminated this information further across the world. Thus, the bulletin helped save and support political prisoners behind the Iron Curtain. Today, thanks to this archival series, we can access detailed information about individual stories and grasp the scale of political repression in the USSR. In the current context, when political repression has once again become a governmental tool in Russia and Belarus, Materialy Samizdata serves as a crucial example of the importance of a personalized approach and the meticulous documentation of state crimes against individuals.
