Solidarity Collection at the British Library

The collection is the second largest repository of Polish independent publications on the British Isles. Its origins date back to the late 1970s when the British Library acquired first issues of underground newsletters and periodicals released by opposition groups. The collection consists of books, periodicals and ephemeral publications and demonstrates the strength, proliferation and domestic and international impact of the underground publishing in Poland from 1976 to 1989.

lasīt vairāk

Atrašanās vieta:
- London Euston Road 96, United Kingdom NW1 2DB
Temati:
Izveidošanas datums:
- 1977
Nozīmīgi vienumi:

Soros Foundation–Hungary Records

The Hungarian Soros Foundation (HSF), founded in May 1984, was George Soros's first pilot enterprise in the one-time communist bloc, years before he opened his similar Beijing, Moscow, and Warsaw offices in the late 1980s or establish his foundation network in the early 1990s throughout Central and Eastern Europe. During its 23 years of public operation, the HSF spent more than 150 million dollars by providing grants, stipends and other means of support for artists, writers, scholars, and students, and it ran several new cultural and educational, social, and health projects and remained the main supporter of NGOs and civil society in Hungary. By breaking many taboos before and after 1990 with its challenging new policies, especially in the cultural field, the HSF was strongly opposed by both the communist and nationalist protagonists of state-controlled culture. Its grantees and supporters saw its main mission as the preservation and nurturing of the spirit and values of ongoing cultural resistance.

lasīt vairāk

Atrašanās vieta:
- Budapest Arany János utca 32, Hungary 1051
Temati:
Izveidošanas datums:
- 1984
Nozīmīgi vienumi:

Strazdelis Underground University

The collection holds documentation on the activities of the Strazdelis University, which operated underground in Lithuania in the 1970s. The aim of the Strazdelis University was to provide alternative education on a voluntary basis, organising and inspiring self-education in the humanities and social sciences. Much attention was paid to ethnography and the study of Karl Marx, interpreting his works differently to how Soviet ideology did. The Strazdelis University was the first step in anti-Soviet or non-Soviet actions for a group of people who later, during the period of Sąjūdis (the Lithuanian national movement, 1988-1990), became activists and founders of modern political parties.
The collection is stored in the private papers of Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, the EU commissioner, who was a member and dean of the university.

lasīt vairāk

Atrašanās vieta:
- Vilnius , Lithuania
Temati:
- alternatīvas izglītības formas (piem., “skrejošās universitātes”)
Izveidošanas datums:
- 1976
Nozīmīgi vienumi:
- Flag of Strazdelis Underground University

The Word of Master Petar Danov

This collection is a valuable source of knowledge about a religious and philosophical doctrine of great cultural influence. The Christian Esoteric School of the so-called Universal White Brotherhood, created by Petar Danov / Beinsa Douno in 1922, was registered as a religious community after the establishment of Communist rule in 1948. In practice, however, the Brotherhood, referred to by the socialist state as “the Danovists’ Sect", led a semi-legal existence: their properties were seized and so-called "reactionary literature by author P. Danov" was confiscated, members of the Brotherhood and supporters were subjected to persecution, sentenced in prison and forced labour camps. State Security agents also infiltrated the spiritual community and a number of publications were published to rebut the "antiscientific and reactionary nature of Danovism". Despite these harsh conditions, followers of Petar Danov / Beinsa Douno managed to preserve their movement. This collection, which covers a wide period from the end of the 19th century through the present day, documents the activities of Petar Danov and his followers. Additionally, the collection demonstrates the increased interest and importance of the spiritual movement after the political events of 1989.

lasīt vairāk

Atrašanās vieta:
- Varna, Bulgaria
Temati:
Izveidošanas datums:
- 2010
Nozīmīgi vienumi:
- The Testament of the Color Rays of Light by Master Beinsa Douno
- Top Secret

The bequest of Lajos Szabó

In 1946, Lajos Szabó, a philosopher who defined his position as Biblicism (understood as an approach to philosophy which includes all aspects of culture and life), held exclusive seminars for young people in private apartments. The seminars were held periodically and covered subjects like psychology, economics, value theory, existentialism, Indian traditions, set theory, language mathesis, history, and movement theory. Together with his friend, György Kunszt regularly took notes on these events and a lifelong master-disciple relationship evolved between them. Kunszt actively participated in the maintenance of Szabo’s bequest. The materials donated by him to the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books consists of the notebooks of Lajos Szabó on philosophical subjects made during his years in emigration and the documents on systemization of the oeuvre, which were made by Kunszt.

lasīt vairāk

Atrašanās vieta:
- Budapest Széchenyi István tér 9, Hungary 1051
Temati:
Izveidošanas datums:
- 1946
Nozīmīgi vienumi:
- A page from the notebooks of Lajos Szabó
- Index, compiled by György Kunszt