Federal Archives Research Articles

ТРАЛЬЩИК Т.252 «ОЛЬГА» ЧЕРНОМОРСКОГО ФЛОТА В 1916–1918 гг. (ПО ДАННЫМ РУССКИХ ДОКУМЕНТОВ ИЗ НЕМЕЦКОГО АРХИВА)

The article is devoted to the service of the minesweeper T.252 (T.352) «Olga» on the Black Sea during the First World War, the revolutionary events of 1917 and the beginning of foreign intervention in 1918. The publication is based on the minesweeper’s logbooks. In 1918, these documents were seized by the Germans and are currently stored in the military-history department of the Federal Archive of Germany. The article describes the process of work on the conversion of the mobilized steamship «Olga» into a minesweeper. Thanks to the logbooks, a chronology of the ship’s service, its execution of control trawling, transport operations, guard duty, installation of navigation support signs, etc. was built. The events of the 1917 Revolution in which the ship’s crew participated are described. The course and results of the elections of the command staff of the minesweeper in December 1917 are considered. A gradual decline in combat effectiveness can be observed. The ship’s service in the Russian fleet ends with the fact that in April 1918, «Olga» was captured by the German submarine UC-23.

История организационно-управленческой деятельности советского микробиолога Зинаиды Виссарионовны Ермольевой

The study aims to reconstruct the organizational and managerial aspect in the scientific biography of Zinaida Vissarionovna Ermolyeva (1898-1974), a prominent Soviet microbiologist who produced the first Soviet antibiotic penicillin. The paper analyzes Ermolyeva’s work leading various scientific units and institutions: the Department of Microbial Biochemistry at the A. N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry, followed by the A. M. Gorky All-Union Institute of Experimental Medicine, the Institute of Biological Prophylaxis of Infections, and the Department of Microbiology at the Central Institute for Advanced Medical Training. The study is novel in that it is the first one to shed light on the role of Z. V. Ermolyeva as an organizer of science and a leader of a scientific team, based on the analysis of a number of unpublished documents from three federal archives. As a result of the study, Ermolyeva’s scientific-organizational activity has been reconstructed and it has been established that for half a century her professional activity was associated not only with research in the field of microbiology and medicine, but also with the successful organization of Soviet science within academic and educational institutions, where she managed to create cohesive teams of talented researchers who made a significant contribution to the development of Soviet microbiology and medicine.

ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЕ АРХИВНОГО ХРАНЕНИЯ ЭЛЕКТРОННЫХ ДОКУМЕНТОВ

The practice of using electronic document management in Russia, an electronic document and its storage of the document in an electronic archive is considered. The current state of electronic signature and ways of its development are presented. An assessment is made of the state project for the mutual recognition of qualified electronic signatures in cross-border transactions. Aspects of the use of electronic document management systems and electronic archive systems are revealed, taking into account their institutionalization, the stages of the formation of electronic signatures and electronic document management are formalized. The current requirements of Russian legislation regarding the regulation of electronic archives are considered. The practice of applying Order 77 of the Federal Archive, which covered not only the sphere of public administration, but also the sphere of commercial organizations, is analyzed. As an example of automation of archival storage of electronic documents, the Russian information system 1C:Archive is considered.

“LORD” OF STARA RAŠKA: WAR BIOGRAPHY OF SS-STANDARTENFÜHRER KARL VON KREMPLER (1939–1945)

The paper chronicles the life of Karl von Krempler, a war criminal who was a Yugoslav “Volksdeutscher”. The emphasis is on the period of the Second World War, when he attained high positions within the structure of SS and police in the occupied Serbia. Besides his pre-war, war and post-war career, the attention is devoted to the analysis of Krempler’s intriguing personality. The paper is prepared on the basis of the archival documentation preserved at: the Archives of Yugoslavia, The State Archives of Serbia, Historical Archives of Belgrade, the Military Archives, Historical Archives “Ras” in Novi Pazar, Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Political Archive of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and Federal Archives in Berlin.

Why Did the German Offensive on Kursk Not Take Place in May 1943? New Documents

The Battle of Kursk went down in world military history as a key stage in the USSR’s struggle against Nazi Germany. However, the peculiarity of this large-scale event lies not only in this, but also in the unique period of its planning and preparation, which lasted three months, relative to other battles and major battles. During this period only one offensive operation, Operation Citadel, was being developed in Berlin, which was to form the core of the summer campaign. The author analyses documents preserved in the Federal Archives of the Federal Republic of Germany, which reveal the course of the meeting in Munich on May 4, 1943, where the potential of two Wehrmacht strike groups concentrated in the Kursk Bulge area at the end of April 1943 was discussed, successfully implementing the plan of encirclement of Soviet troops in early May 1943, and the opinions expressed by Hitlers, generals and field marshals who were privy to its essence, on this issue. The meeting went down in history as the most important event in the planning process of the 1943 Wehrmacht summer campaign on the Soviet-German front, as it resulted in Hitler making a number of important decisions that, according to some of its participants, significantly influenced its results.

Academician of medicine Z.V. Ermolyeva and the Department of Microbiology of the Central Institute for Advanced Medical Training: the main directions of scientific research in the early 1970s

The very difficult geopolitical situation of recent years has once again confirmed the need for our state to focus on its internal and self-sufficient development in its development. The story of the coronavirus pandemic that swept the whole world has shown a fairly high level of domestic virology, and microbiology in general. But, undoubtedly, we are still far from the Soviet level of science development today. In this regard, it seems advisable to pay attention to the generalization of the Soviet experience in the development of biomedical sciences. We have made an attempt to analyze the development of Soviet microbiology through an analysis of the scientific and organizational activities of the domestic scientist, Academician of Medicine Zinaida Vissarionovna Ermolyeva, carried out by her at the Department of Microbiology of the Central Institute of Advanced Medical Training in the first half of the 1970s. The source base of the publication was unpublished documents of the federal archives (the Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation and the Russian State Archive of Economics), most of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The article examines the scientific activity of Z.V. Ermolyeva herself, as well as those research areas that were developed by teachers and research staff of the department headed by her.

Trends in NCCN enforcement of financial conflict of interest policies for guidelines panelists.

11070 Background: Financial conflict of interest (FCOI) among authors of clinical practice guidelines is a potential concern for the independence and integrity of guideline recommendations. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines policy stipulates limits on physician-industry FCOI among its panelists (<$50,000 overall and <$20,000 from each individual company, annually). Those in violation will be asked to resign. However, COI policies reliant on physician self-report may be difficult to enforce. The increased transparency of FCOI resulting from Open Payments – and the ensuing attention in 2016 on high levels of FCOI among guideline-writing bodies including the NCCN – may have enabled and motivated increased enforcement of existing FCOI policy. We describe trends in FCOI among NCCN Guidelines panelists and in enforcement when violations occur. Methods: We manually extracted NCCN Guidelines panelist names and terms of service for the 20 most prevalent cancers, 2013-22. We manually linked each physician to their Open Payments records, a federal archive of financial transactions from industry to physicians. For each panelist, we included only the categories of industry payments deemed relevant by the NCCN COI policy: ownership payments and some General Payments categories (eg., speaking fees, consulting) but not others (eg., free meals). We measured payments during each full calendar year of service. If a panelist received payments above NCCN limits (“violation”), we assessed whether their term of service continued for at least 1 additional full calendar year (“retained"), inferring that panelists who were retained had not been asked to resign as stipulated. We assessed whether retention post-violation was less likely after 2016. Results: There were 978 eligible physician-guideline pairs. Mean industry payments increased from $6175 in 2014 to $9169 in 2019, then declined to $6492 in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 143 panelist-years in violation of NCCN FCOI limits. Violations occurred among 99 unique panelists; 32 panelists had multiple observed violations. Across the full study period, panelists with a violation were less likely to be retained versus those without a violation (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.15-0.31). However, likelihood of post-violation retention was lower after 2016 compared to before. 81% were retained during 2014-15 (versus 89% for those without violation, OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.26-1.31) compared to 47% during 2017-20 (versus 89% without violation, OR 0.10, 95% CI 0.06-0.17). Conclusions: Lower retention among panelists receiving excessive industry payments is consistent with NCCN enforcement of its COI policy. Lower post-violation retention after 2016 is consistent with stricter enforcement following that year. However, even in 2017-20, in 47% of violations, the panelist continued to serve, suggesting that enforcement remains incomplete.

Workers and Employees of Bashkiria and Udmurtia in 1940-1955: Employment Figures and Wages

This comparative analysis examines data on the workforce in two regional economies (Bashkiria and Udmurtia) during the years 1940-1955. The selected period is unique due to the extreme transition from peacetime to wartime economies and back. Special attention is given to analyzing the indicator of “average monthly wage levels”. Materials from leading federal archives and one regional archive were utilized. A detailed comparison of indicators between the two regions is conducted. It was found that before the war, industry played a significantly larger role in Udmurtia's economic structure compared to Bashkiria, but during the war years, the proportion of industrial workers in Udmurtia only slightly increased, while in Bashkiria it more than doubled (a consequence of evacuees being relocated). The study reveals that during the examined period, sectors such as construction and geological exploration developed at a significantly faster pace in Bashkiria compared to Udmurtia. In 1940, the largest sector by number of workers and employees was the industrial sector, with the educational system coming in second place, playing a key role in preparing the workforce. The conclusion drawn is that by the end of the study period, a positive outcome was achieved with living standards surpassing pre-war levels.

A ‘heavy hammer to crack a small nut'? The creation of the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC), 1963–1970

ABSTRACT This article reconstructs the complex diplomatic negotiations that led to the peculiar organization of molecular biology at the European level, by focusing in particular on the establishment of the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC), the intergovernmental structure founded in 1969–70 to support the scientific program of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). By combining the analysis of the informal decision-making kept in the Nobel Prize laureate John C. Kendrew’s personal papers (Oxford) with the in-depth exploration of the institutional documentation available in the EMBO and CERN archives (Heidelberg and Geneva) and the Swiss Federal Archives (Bern), the article sheds light on the importance of the EMBC not only for the construction of molecular biology as a scientific, social, and political field in the European context, but also for the broader process of definition of the European research policy. Far from being just a mere replica of CERN, the EMBO/EMBC inaugurated in fact an alternative and flexible ‘bottom-up’ model of science policy in the European context, based on competition, networking, and scientific excellence, which paved the way to the establishment of the European Research Council (ERC) in the early 2000s.

22 Players Run After the Ball for 90 Minutes, and in the End England Wins. German Views of the 1935 and 1938 Germany–England Football Matches

This article studies the politico-diplomatic dimension of the 1935 and 1938 Germany-England football matches played during the National Socialist era. Despite being represented in both countries as international friendlies, these games proved highly politicized affairs because of the centrality of the British-German relationship in international affairs and the politization and diplomatization of international sport during the 1930s. The 1935 game, played in London, became the focus for a high-profile public campaign, led by trade union, Jewish, and other lobbying groups hostile to Nazi Germany, to ban the match. In turn, the 1938 fixture is famed for the Nazi salute, the ‘infamous gesture’ that British diplomats and Football Association officials instructed the England team to give before the beginning of the match. Using the archives of the Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Ministry) and Bundesarchiv (Federal Archives) as well as a selection of German newspapers, this article provides an informed German perspective on both matches, which hitherto have been studied principally from a British perspective. Focused upon German aims, perceptions, political influences, and propaganda goals, this case study highlights the ‘soft power’ methods of totalitarianism in terms of both the adaptation of totalitarianism to football and the adaptation of football to totalitarianism.

The management of international boycotts in historical perspective: Volkswagen and the Arab League boycott, 1960–1977

Research has shown that multinational enterprises (MNEs) manage international boycotts by demonstrating commitment to shared social values. However, international boycotts often revolve around contentious issues and values that are not universally embraced, requiring firms to implement different strategies to maintain legitimacy across markets. This paper analyses Volkswagen’s management of the Arab League boycott of Israel to develop a typology of MNEs’ management strategies for international boycotts. The Arab League boycott posed a business dilemma: non-compliance endangered revenues in Arab League member states, but compliance risked counterboycotting in the US and Israel. Analysis of corporate and federal archives reveals that Volkswagen used three overarching strategies: prevention, delay, and negotiation. Volkswagen first camouflaged its engagement in Israel to prevent the boycott. When facing the boycott threat, Volkswagen pursued delaying strategies to create room for negotiations with actors from home, host, and third countries that eventually preserved the firm’s legitimacy across markets.

The Soviet microbiologist Zinaida Vissarionovna Ermolyeva is the founder of the national scientific school of physicians on antibiotics

The history of any science is, in many ways, the history of the development of a scientific school. Belonging of an individual scientist to a particular school allows us to characterize those ideas, principles and methodological guidelines of fundamental and applied scientific branches that he is guided by in his research. This article examines the role of the famous Soviet microbiologist Z.V. Ermolyeva in the creation and development of a scientific medical school on antibiotics. As the first Soviet scientist to receive the domestic antibiotic penicillin-krustosin, she was at the forefront of antibiotic research from the standpoint of microbiology, pharmacology and medicine. She also took part in the organization of the Soviet antibiotic industry. For thirty years, the scientific biography of the scientist has been associated with the study, production, improvement and application of these antibacterial drugs. Based on the analysis of documents from federal archives (the Russian State Archive of Economics, the Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation, the Russian State Archive in Samara), as well as abstracts of dissertations by Z.V. Ermolyeva’s students, staff and followers, the main directions of her scientific school of physicians on antibiotics are analyzed, and the contribution of individual scientists to the experimental and clinical study of antibiotics is considered.

“Solidarity Is a Matter of the Heart”: Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Donations in GDR Children's Magazines

AbstractThe article examines the role of children's magazines in promoting internationalism and solidarity in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Analysing the magazines ABC-Zeitung, Bummi, and Frösi, it sheds light on their contribution to the GDR's system for collecting and distributing charitable donations and to cultivating children's commitment to countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The article uncovers multifaceted layers of meaning associated with internationalism and emphasizes the significance of the connection between the state-ideological and the everyday levels. Its analysis of primary sources, including articles from the children's magazines, files from the Federal Archives, and historical publications, reveals that the magazines played a crucial role in fostering international solidarity and shaping the political consciousness of young readers. The use of techniques such as suggestion, competition, and renunciation in the magazines not only evoked a sense of collective responsibility, but also positioned children as active contributors to shaping an international socialist future. The children's magazine Bummi is particularly significant in the GDR's charitable donations system as it shows the involvement of other parts of society and thus raises issues of transgenerational education through the medium of children's magazines. By shifting away from the narrative of indoctrination, this article highlights the broader understanding of internationalism in the GDR and its integration into everyday life. It therefore underscores the vital role of children's magazines not only in fostering a stance of anti-imperialist solidarity among young readers, but also in shaping the GDR's vision of an international socialist future.

Зарубежный опыт организации архивного хранения электронных документов

The article attempts to analyze what organizational and technological solutions are used by archivists of different countries to organize archival storage of electronic documents in state archives. The widespread introduction of document management information systems in the activities of organizations has led to the accumulation of significant volumes of electronic documents that represent value. The most significant documents are subject to long-term storage in state archives. Archivists are called upon to answer the questions of how organizationally and technologically archival electronic documents should be stored, ensuring that professional procedures are followed in accordance with current legal standards. In the USA, a special division has been created within the structure of the National Archives and Records Management, which performs the whole range of functions to organize the storage of electronic documents. The Federal Republic of Germany has a two-stage system of organizing archival storage of electronic documents. From federal institutions, electronic documents are deposited in the Intermediate Archive of Electronic Documents, from where they are transferred to the Federal Archive for permanent storage. The creation of special state archives for the preservation of electronic documents in some countries has not become an effective form of organizing archival preservation of electronic documents due to the lack of their own sources of acquisition and uncertainty of the legal basis for their functioning. On the example of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Slovenia, a network information system for electronic documents storage is considered, which is based on a single technological solution for archives of all levels, both individual organizations and state archives, providing automation of the main functions of the archive and their interaction. Based on the conducted research, three main approaches to the organization of electronic documents storage can be distinguished: as part of national archives; in specialized archives; through the creation of a network infrastructure for electronic documents storage. In any case, it is necessary to create a full-fledged regulatory framework, to ensure the integration of information systems in management and in the archive. It is also necessary to harmonize the conceptual apparatus of various normative acts regulating the procedures of organization and technologies of archival preservation of electronic documents. The study of foreign experience will make it possible to use the best organizational and technological solutions for archival storage of electronic documents in the Russian Federation.

Specifics of electronic documentary editions of foreign archives

The active use of digital and network technologies by archival institutions for the effective implementation of one of the key activities of the archive, namely, the popularization and use of documentary heritage by society in the digital space determines the relevance of the problem. Information technology has assumed the role of the keeper of archives, the information carrier of archive documents and their publication. They change archival theories and ensure the transformation of the public memory and cultural heritage of the country. Documentary edition in the electronic environment of foreign archival business has different approaches and practices. The models of archived information differ in digital form. The purpose of the article is to assess the trends in the popularization of documentary heritage on the web archive of foreign countries. The research strategy will contribute to the analysis of concepts and problems in the scientific research of foreign authors, the definition of types and features of the creation of electronic editions and methods of describing metadata. The research materials include foreign regulatory and methodological documents; websites of a number of foreign archives: The National Archives of Great Britain, the Federal Archives of Germany, the National Archives and Records Administration of the USA (NARA), and the French National Archives. The research results will be both recommendations to archival institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the positive experience of popularization of documentary heritage and the creation of software products.

Hungarian Volunteer Anti-Fascist Armed Groups during the Great Patriotic War

Using the example of the history of Hungarian volunteer anti-fascist groups created during the Great Patriotic War, the author identifies the factors that became decisive in the formation of a “foreign” military unit. The source base used in the research includes both published and unpublished documents from three federal archives - the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, the Russian State Military Archive, and the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The creation of Hungarian military units was complicated by the lack of an organized anti-fascist movement among prisoners of war, who for the most part remained loyal to the regime of Miklós Horthy. The changes in the domestic and foreign political situation of Hungary in 1944 contributed to the development of the volunteer movement and the beginning of the process of forming Hungarian volunteer anti-fascist groups. The author comes to the conclusion that the decisive factors that influenced the formation of the Hungarian volunteer units were the external ones. They contributed to the growth of anti-fascist and anti-German sentiment among prisoners of war, which led to a change in the attitude of the Hungarians to the idea of creating volunteer units; it allowed the Soviet command to begin their deployment at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War.

Mary Ashraf and the “Research Group on Working Class Literature”: The Programmatic Pursuit of a New Research Field in the GDR Anglistik

Abstract Aiming to contribute to the historiography of English Studies, this essay explores the research agenda and collective work of a particular network of academics that made a committed and systematic effort to implement working-class literature and culture as a new research field in (GDR) English Studies. Set up as a “Research Group on Working Class Literature” in 1965, its key actors were a group of academics based at the Humboldt University or Pädagogische Hochschule Potsdam who had come to the GDR from the UK or US as immigrants or remigrants. The driving force was Dr. Mary Ashraf, whose papers contained in the Bundesarchiv [Federal Archives] shed light on the Group’s work. On the basis of these archival papers and the Group’s publications, this essay studies the programmatic and conceptual nature as well as the praxeological dimension of their work, including their teaching legacy.

The enlightenment committee Hamburg-Bremen and covert Propaganda of Weimar Germany abroad, 1923-1932

The subject of the study is the activity of the enlightenment committee Hamburg-Bremen, an organization created after the outbreak of the Ruhr crisis in 1923 by the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce to conduct export propaganda abroad. The article analyzes documents from the funds of the Russian State Military Archive and the German Federal Archives related to the functioning of this structure in 1923-1932. The purpose of the study is to determine how the Hamburg organization managed to deploy large—scale propaganda activity that spread to almost all countries of the world and acquired national significance in Weimar Germany. Special attention is paid to the characteristics of various areas of work, interaction with official departments and the impact of the world economic crisis of 1929-1933 on the activities of the enlightenment committee Hamburg-Bremen. Based on the study, it was revealed that the organization formed in Hamburg published various printed products, an information service was created abroad, and the key direction was covert penetration into the foreign press. The article shows that the reason for such activity lay in the interest of the economic circles of the region in improving the image of the country abroad in order to normalize foreign trade relations, and the possibility of its implementation — in the presence of the necessary connections for propaganda in foreign countries. One of the results of the study is the conclusion that the activities of the enlightenment committee Hamburg-Bremen affected not only export, but also cultural and political propaganda and was supported by the government interested in carrying out propaganda activities in a hidden form and through private structures. Over the years, the Hamburg-based organization has increasingly come under the influence of the state, whose assistance has become especially urgent after the global economic crisis of 1929-1933.

“The Ice Mother”: Figure Skating Coach Jutta Müller as Contributor and Profiteer of the East German’s Sport Performance System

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the roles, responsibilities, struggles, constraints, and freedoms of coaches within the German Democratic Republic’s (GDR) hierarchical, performance-focused sport system. The paper focuses on Jutta Müller, one of the most successful figure skating coaches of all time. We show how Müller had to become an actor in political power games within the GDR’s sport system, therewith reproducing existing power relations, shaping them, and using them to her advantage. Based on archival sources collected from the German federal archive, we concentrate on the time period between the late 1960s and mid-1980s, when Müller’s athletes achieved great international success. In revealing how Müller dealt with the challenges of the GDR’s sport system, our results are insightful for current elite coaches, who work within the constraint of national systems.

Women education in the Soviet prophylactoria and the care homes for sexually transmitted disease patients in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany.

In the 1920s, so-called prophylactoria were established in the USSR. In these institutions, sex workers with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were treated. After the end of World War II, care homes for patients with STDs were established in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany (SOZ). These institutions were also intended to treat people suffering from STDs. This article compares these two types of medical institutions. Sources from the State Archive of the Russian Federation in Moscow, the German Federal Archives in Berlin and the City Archive Zwickau were used. The analysed sources were evaluated by using the historical-critical method. The prophylactoria were novel institutions that combined education and medical treatment of people with STDs. Similar strategies were followed in the care homes for STD patients. In both institutions, the sick persons had to follow a regular daily routine and work every day. The political indoctrination served to educate 'socialist personalities'. Nevertheless, various differences can be found between the facilities: the length of stay was different. The women in Soviet prophylactoria were cared for there for up to 2 years. However, the standard duration of stay in the care homes for STD patients was 3-6 months. The prophylactoria had a long-term programme not only to treat sick women but also to reeducate them. The aim was to enlighten and integrate them into the new Soviet society. The care homes for STD patients had a short-term programme of combating venereal diseases. Their main goal was to treat patients with STDs as quickly as possible, while education was an additional measure. Whether both institutions were successful in educating and treating these patients can hardly be assessed from today's perspective.