Hungary has placed tens of thousands of secret police files from the communist era online, revealing the names, aliases and personal details of nearly 60,000 former informants who spied on citizens between 1945 and 1989, NOS Nieuws reported.
The digitized documents are stored at the Historical Archive of the Hungarian State Security in Budapest.
What the Files Contain
Each entry lists the informant’s real name, code name, date of birth, address and mother’s name, along with the secret service’s stated reason for recruitment. Some sections are blacked out to protect privacy, including descriptions of health conditions and sexual orientation, NOS Nieuws reported.
The database remains incomplete.
How the Secret Police Recruited
Informants were drawn from all walks of life, including people with foreign contacts, hospitality workers, taxi drivers, intellectuals and athletes. Some were blackmailed into spying on their surroundings because the secret police held sensitive information about them; others were lured with promises of medical care or university admission, NOS Nieuws reported.
Those recruited were tasked with identifying dissidents or anyone resisting the regime and reporting them. Targets could include family members, friends or colleagues.
Magyar’s Call for Dignity
At a press conference, Magyar urged Hungarians to handle the released documents with “dignity and humanity,” warning that “many families will be confronted with painful information, often about a now-deceased family member.” He added: “It is impossible to process a trauma without engaging in conversation and asking questions.”
Orbán’s Revelation
Viktor Orbán said Tuesday that communist secret services tried to recruit him as an informant during his military service, but he refused and subsequently became the target of intensive police surveillance, NOS Nieuws reported.
More Files Coming in 2027
The government plans to upload details of another 25,000 recruited individuals by February 2027, NOS Nieuws reported.
Public Gains Expanded Access to Informant Records
Can anyone search the database?
Yes. Since Wednesday, all Hungarians can access the website to search for information on informants, whereas previously ordinary citizens could only view files about themselves or close family members, NOS Nieuws reported.
Are all 60,000 names verified informants?
Not necessarily. NOS Nieuws notes that some people named in the dossiers were not active informants but individuals who had merely drawn the authorities’ attention.
Why is the database incomplete?
Many documents were destroyed during the 1956 Hungarian uprising and during the regime’s collapse between 1988 and 1989, according to NOS Nieuws.
The release marks a break from decades of delay: although communism ended in Hungary in 1989, successive governments postponed opening the archives for lack of political will, NOS Nieuws reported.
Related reading