LOCUL ARHIVELOR ŞI AL ARHIVISTULUI ÎN PERIOADA 1951-1989 ÎNTRE DISCURSUL OFICIAL ŞI MEMORIA COLECTIVĂ EXEMPLUL CLUJEAN
Archives and the Status of the Archivist During 1951-1989 Between Oficial and Collective Memory - Cluj Archives -

Summary/Abstract: Considering this theme some assignations are very important: our aim was neither a positive reconstitution of the specific activities of the institution during 1951-1989, nor a discussion regarding the archivist’ status according to Romanian laws, but to underline some important aspects related to the role of the archives in the Romanian realities, to reveal the place of the archivist as a keeper of the written memory of the Romanians, self perception and point of view about the institution he was serving during the communist regime. According to the sources we used, the study is structured in two parts: in the first part we took into consideration bibliography and documents found in the Archives of Cluj and in the second part we took some interviews with actual or former archivists who were in charge during the communist regime. In this way, one could know the place of the archives within the communist regime, connections with communist propaganda, the status of the employees, their hopes and disappointments, their regrets or pride regarding their fulfillments. During April 14 – July 25, 2006 we carried out ten interviews with actual or former archivists from Cluj. They had to answer to two open questions: “What was the role of the Archives (as an institution) before 1989?” and “What was the status of the archivist before 1989?” These questions presumed elaborated answers full of data, events and details. The results are real testimonies about the institution during a very harsh time and about the collective destiny of the employees. All the interviewees told their stories without difficulties as if they were waiting for such a process. The Archives Institution had to line up according to the regime but the communists hardly understood its designation and used it as an official mechanism of communist propaganda. On the other side, archivists always worked hard to value the main feature of the archives: that of a confident keeper of the national thesaurus.

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