The International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online

16
The International Newsletter of Communist Studies Online
• The People’s Archives maintained by the Social Archives Foundation is the central archives
of the Finnish left-wing labour movement and popular organisations. The People’s Archives
was established in 1945, right after the Second World War to be the central archives of the
Communist Party of Finland (The Communist Party of Finland was created after civil war 1918
and it was prohibited in Finland during 1918-1944). The institution has received statutory aid
since 1975.
• The People’s Archives collects, preserves, arranges and catalogues archives and other
material related to the social and cultural history of the left-wing labour movement, popular
organisations and the working class in Finland. There are actual archival material 3006 metres
of shelving over more than 9600 record creators.
• The archival collections include 4203 archives of labour organisations (such as the Finnish
Communist Party and its local associations from all over the country, organisations of the
people’s democratic movement and trade union organisations), 1269 archives of popular
organisations (cultural associations, theatres, house committees, educational institutions,
hobby clubs, societies, peace organisations). Special collections include, among other files,
the Finnish civil war 1918 and political imprisonments 1919-1944. The Collections of personal
papers include papers of 300 activists of the labour movement, artists, writers and working
class families. Memoirs and interviews, biographical material and sound recordings of 4000
persons are also available.
Kansan Arkisto, Vetehisenkuja 1, 00530 Helsinki.
http://www.kansanarkisto.fi/
Pierre Broué Archives and Library, Grenoble.
The Archives of the late french historian of international communism, Pierre Broué, are
deposited in the BibliothÈque de documentation internationale et contemporaine (BDIC) in
Nanterre. His library has been deposited in the Central Library of the University of Grenoble.
Comprehensive guides to contemporary History of the GDR and Eastern
Europe.
• Together with east-european partners in Hungary, The Czech Republic, Poland and
Romania, the Berlin „Stiftung zur Aufarbeitung der DDR-Diktatur“ has issued a collection of
guides to archives, research institutions, libraries, associations, museums and places of
memorial („Vademecums“) concerning the Infrastructure for contemporary History studies.
The guides may be downloaded just as the „Vademekum“ concerning research on the German
Democratic Republic wich lists more than 550 Archives, Libraries, Research institutions,
Institutions of politcal education, historical societies, Museums, Memorials, specialized
journals and supporting institutions in Germany and abroad (see: Ulrich Mählert: Vademekum
DDR-Forschung. Ein Leitfaden zu Archiven, Forschungsinstituten, Bibliotheken, Einrichtungen
der politischen Bildung, Vereinen, Museen und Gedenkstätten; Ch. Links Verlag 2002, 300 p.).