VILNIUS - Top secret documents compiled by the KGB and its predecessor, the NKVD, during the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states are to be made available to the public via a new website.
The site [www.kgbdocuments.eu] is the work of the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Center and compiles a large amount of material from across the Baltic states including surveillance reports, informers' reports and the notorious 'denunciations' that could swiftly lead their subjects to prison or Siberia.
Documents reveal the sophisticated methods often employed by the KGB in order to discredit 'suspect' individuals and groups and include evidence of collusion with media outlets and various other parties. They are presented as direct scans of original documents. The signatures, marginal notes, official stamps and faded typescript only add to the feeling of eerie authenticity.
"Our aim is to make KGB documents available to the public in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia," Ricardas Cekutis, a spokesperson for the project, told the AFP news agency.
The site will also showcase academic articles relevant to the history of KGB activities in the Baltics. Despite the large amount of material available, it is tiny compared to the voluminous files compiled by the secret police over 50 years, most of which were destroyed or spirited away to Moscow when the Baltics regained independence in 1991.
