The National Archives of Hungary (Budapest, 2006)

THE ARCHIVES OF SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS - Archives of History of Politics and Trade Union by Katalin Zalai

Workers' trade unions' fond in which 80 % of the material constitute the collection. In 1988, we took over the documents of the trade union movements after 1945 after the Central Archives of Trade Unions were abolished in 1998. We can find the documents of central leader organizations and machinery of trade unions and the documents of professional trade unions and industrial branches from between 1948 and 1989. At present, it forms the fond main group no. XI. In the 1980s, our Archives and National Trade Unions (SZOT in Hungarian ) Archives that still was in operation at the time decided to publish the most important documents of trade union movement. Several volumes were published with the title of 'The Most Important Documents of the History of Trade Union Movement.' In our fond nearly 200 personal fonds can be found that are various both in quantity and combination. The largest and the most well-known personal fond is connected to Mihály Révész, the social democratic journalist and historian who collected the documents of working-class movement. Our predecessor formed several significant fonds from his bequests in a questionable way. For example, the collection of MSZDE Népszava, / The opinion of people. (Translation of the title of the periodical

) or the personal collection of Gyula Peidl. We are able to follow the activity of the politician, journalist, teacherMihály Révész from his surviving material and documents derived from his various personal relationships. Today we can apply the fond principle in relation with personal fond, too. Besides the collection of Mihály Révész, bequests of other social democratic and trade union leaders provide abundant information for the researchers of working-class history. These are the fond of Árpád Szakasits, the Bresztovszky siblings, Manó Buchionger and Szeréna Ladányi, Ervin Szabó, Armin Ladányi, Imre Bárd, Ede Hébeli. We should emphasizet hat the document collection of Mihály Károlyi and his wife, Katinka Andrássy was acquired by our archives at different times. The last desposit was the year of 2000, after the death of Sára Karig, who maintained the Katinka Andrássy'

's document bequests as the president of Károlyi Association. The most valuable part of the fond is the political correspondence. Among the correspondents 1 Letter from the poet Attila József to Ede Bresztovszky, the editor of the newspaper, Népszava