Why the digitization of archives is critically important in times of war: Anatoly Khromov
Psychologists assure us that our memory is the ability not only to remember, but also to forget information that is redundant and fleeting. Archivists work according to the same principle and determine which document is needed only here and now, and which should be kept forever.
In the information society, where the amount of data increases every second, such a selective approach is justified. However, only specialists can determine the true value of a document, draw a conclusion about its uniqueness, non-commitment and completeness.
In the digital age, we all want openness and accessibility. Therefore, Ukrainian archivists are actively working on digitizing and making documents available online. And they succeed – our state archive is one of the leaders in converting documents into digital format.
How do our archivists do it? Why does digitization become especially important in times of war? Anatoly Khromov, candidate of historical sciences, who has been the head of the State Archives Service since December 2019, answered these questions of the “FACT” IA. We publish the first part of the interview.
From assembly to digitization
People think that an archive is some kind of permanent collection that should be used for inquiries or for work in a reading room. In fact, archives begin with acquisition — attracting new information resources to the National Archives Fund. The nomenclature of cases is checked, an examination of the value of the document is carried out, which archives should be kept for what time is determined. And those documents that have the appropriate value acquire the status of the national archival fund.
Digitization has been a priority area for the past five years. A full-scale invasion proved him right, because war is the quintessential threat to cultural heritage. Even now, Ukraine demonstrates the best indicators for the digitization of archives, despite the fact that the state does not actually allocate funds for this procedure. We achieve high performance thanks to cooperation with various international partners.
Even from the documents that were lost already after 2022, we have digitized a significant part. From our service, the Ministry of Justice issued an order according to which Ukraine became the first country in the world to legalize digital copies on a par with the original. If the public authorities are unable to control the document, say it is stolen, destroyed or damaged, the archives have the right to issue an official certificate, extract or certified copy to the customer so that the person can perform a certain act or protect his rights. It is about property, proving the degree of kinship with certain persons, etc.
At what pace is digitization progressing?
Last year, the entire system of state archives of Ukraine digitized more than 21 million sheets. This is our all-time record. And this is 20 times more than before I took this position. Despite the difficult situation with electricity, we plan to reach 30 million digital copies by 2024. We are progressively following this path and increasing the pace of digitization.
How do you do it?
Thanks to the involvement of international aid. Grant assistance and joint projects on digitization of archives. I am meeting with foreign institutions that are interested in digitizing Ukrainian archives. Openness is our strength. There was a certain post-Soviet tradition when access to archives was restricted in various ways. We want to demonstrate leadership in the post-Soviet space in access to documents. Because of this, our partners understand that the preservation of Ukrainian archives is not only the preservation of Ukrainian culture. This is part of the preservation of the history of many European nations. After all, there were certain waves of migration from the territory of Ukraine, many descendants of Ukrainians now live in America and other countries.
Our largest partner is the American non-profit corporation FamilySearch. It is the world leader in the digitization of genealogical documents. They create one of the largest databases in the world, have access to tens of millions of digital copies from various archives of the world. Anyone willing, using these documents, can build their family tree.
In 2020, the State Archives signed a memorandum of understanding with FamilySearch, and state archives began contracting to digitize family history records. The State Archive of Luhansk Oblast was one of the first to sign the agreement, but for objective reasons the project did not start on time. Currently, the archive has been relocated to Dnipro. It is expected that FamilySearch specialists will visit him within a month and join the large-scale project.
The start of digitization of the archive of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast will take place simultaneously with the digitization of the archive of Luhansk Oblast. Cameras will visit two institutions in Dnipro at the same time. This is logistically justified. Why is such a project useful? Archives are also digitizing their documents on their own. But it is difficult, because they perform a lot of other tasks and you have to allocate a certain number of personnel for these processes. Few people understand that digitization, i.e. directly scanning, is only part of the work. A lot of time is spent on preparing cases. It is necessary to check the completeness and numbering of the sheets, if necessary, repair the media. Why do we provide such high rates? Because archives switch their activity to preparatory procedures. And partners provide high rates of digitization. It is also beneficial to archives because they receive funds for preparing documents for scanning, which compensates for part of the costs. These funds become one of the sources of improving the material and technical base of the archives. They can be used to purchase machinery, cartons, racks and other equipment that is not provided by the state.
It takes 80 years to digitize what is in the archives
Thanks to the cooperation with FamilySearch, we achieve a high rate of publication. Through the Internet, documents are sent to centers that verify them and check the quality of digitization. And in a few weeks, the documents are available, at least, on the partners’ website. With the money earned, archives buy licenses for computer tools that allow these scans to be published on their platforms as well. In particular, 9 archives are already presented on the basis of the interarchival search portal available on the website of the State Archives Service. By the end of the year, 10 archives and 10 million copies are expected.
In total, we have several hundred archival institutions and all of them store more than 86 million files of the national archival fund. That’s billions of pages.
That is why we care about increasing the rate of digitization. At the current rate, we need at least 80 years to digitize it all. When I took office, it was about a term of a thousand years. So there is a positive dynamic.
How accessible are the state archives to the media?
As for accessibility, online access is only one form of it. Every citizen has the right to work for free in the reading rooms of archives. The same applies to journalists: they can directly work with documents and make copies on their phone absolutely free of charge. However, if a media person requests a professional copy, this will already be a paid service. 99.7% of the documents of the national archival fund do not have access restriction marks – almost everything is declassified. There are enough materials to work with. However, there are laws that may limit access, for example due to the protection of personal data. Personal information is guaranteed to restrict access for 75 years. Such data can only be accessed with the consent of that individual.
All documents created by the organs of the repressive machine of the Soviet Union are not subject to the law on the protection of personal data. It is about everything related to archival criminal cases, deportation, decommunization according to the law adopted in 2015 as part of the decommunization package. This is the law on access to the archives of the repressive organs of the communist totalitarian regime. The documents of the KGB and other penal authorities from 1917 to 1991 are open, and we are one of the leaders not only in Eastern, but also in Central Europe in terms of access to such documents.
Belarus and Russia consider these documents state secrets, which creates an extraordinary contrast. With us, all documents are completely accessible, and journalists are not even obliged to explain the purpose for which they get to know the documents.
Not every document is a historical fact
Let’s say there is information that during the Second World War a certain person was an elder, a criminal, we need to clarify the details and establish the truth…
You can easily work with these documents, but you need to have special skills, which are taught at the history faculty in the course “Source Studies”. This includes criticism of the sources. It is important to understand that not all documents of the NKVD, KGB, MGB, UGPU and other bodies are absolutely reliable. They may contain targeted misinformation, provocations and other distortions. For example, we often see traces of blood on interrogation protocols. The information included in the protocol was beaten out of people. Many people could talk themselves out of it under the influence of torture. Therefore, when working with any documents, you need to apply critical thinking and compare several sources of information. It should also be understood that the document does not always reflect a historical fact, but can only be a certain interpretation.
In Russia, archival documents are used for propaganda
In Ukraine, all documents are available, but in Russia, on the contrary, they are still classified. They even classified the terms during which the documents remain under the seal of secrecy. A researcher working on a certain topic does not know when he will be able to get acquainted with the necessary documents. This fully corresponds to the logic of the totalitarian system. It is obvious that the Federal Archival Agency of Russia is directly subordinated to the Administration of President Putin. As the latest news shows, archives in Russia are used for aggressive propaganda. Theses such as “Lenin invented Ukraine” are then confirmed by archivists with the help of documents on federal channels. The archival database is subject to pseudo-historical theses…
Are archival documents of the Second World War digitized?
Differently. There are many funds. They are contained in various archives. These are the so-called occupation funds created by the Nazis and their allies. These are documents of partisans, headquarters, both Soviet and Ukrainian nationalist underground, for example, in the west of Ukraine. These are also Communist Party documents. We digitize them. There are projects that help digitize documents from this period. In particular, various international and Ukrainian Jewish organizations that study the subject of the Holocaust are participating in the digitization. They help digitize such funds. Obviously, they are primarily interested in the fate of the Jewish population during the Nazi occupation, but they digitize the entire documentary context of the Second World War.
What about the archives of the deportation of the Tatars?
Everything is open, but not everything is under our control. Unfortunately, almost all funds of the state archive of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea were lost. These archives are not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. However, we have national level documents. For example, in the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine, the documents of the Soviet law enforcement agencies, which were largely the organizers of these processes, are kept. There are documents on many deportations, including the deportation of Crimean Tatars. But these documents mainly concern the organization of these crimes — plans, instructions, orders, etc. Almost no personal data, lists of resettled and evacuees have been preserved.
Unfortunately, we lost a significant part of the funds of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions back in 2014. The main array of genealogical information was stored precisely in the buildings of Luhansk and Donetsk. Thanks to the efforts of archivists, it was possible to save some documents. Today I was shown metrical books from Lysychansk, which have been preserved in churches. Archivists convinced religious communities to hand over these documents to the state, and therefore this valuable genealogical source ended up in state custody. However, this is rather an exception rather than a rule.
Read about the continuation of our conversation in the following article.
