The Conflict

Backed by the Soviet Union, the governments of eastern Europe were taken over by national Communist Parties after World War II. Chief among the repressive instruments used by totalitarian governments in Eastern Europe was the secret police force. These state agencies cultivated informants from among the populace, in addition to using techniques such as wiretapping, eavesdropping, and infiltrating suspected dissident groups. With the downfall of communist governments after 1989 in eastern Europe and the transition to democratic rule, conflicts arose over the disposition of secret police files as well as the question of retribution against the network of secret police bureaucrats and informants.

Political

• There have been vigorous debates over how widely the information contained in secret police files should be disseminated.
• Those who argue for the widest possible dissemination of the files...