Date Wed, 4 May 1994 14 55 46 -0500
Reply-To: H-GERMAN MODERATOR Dan Rogers
Sender: German History list
From: H-GERMAN MODERATOR Dan Rogers
Subject: Berlin Document Center
Submitted by: Charles E. McClelland
Dear Colleagues,
There was a long and interesting article in a recent New Yorker
(March 14) by Gerald Posner that, inter alia, included an interview with
Marwell of the BDC.
Posner raised (which the Reuters dispatch did not address much)
the important issue of differing laws of privacy protection under German
and American law/usage. The article is worth reading for examples of the
kinds of documents that cannot or may not be accessed under the German
Datenschutz law. It also points out some seemingly "arcane" differences
between the original Berlin Document Center paper documents and the
National Archives film version, which is in black-and-white: different
colored notations and checkmarks (which have meaning) will not be
reproduced in the B/W version. All librarians I have talked to are
appalled by this reduction of textuality, which has been done presumably
to save money.
It may be too late and even unnecessary to prevent the handover
of the BDC to German archivists on July 1. It may not be too late to
press for these documents to be considered as coming under an
as-yet-unwritten kind of international Datenschutz. They do not merely
involve German history.
Sincerely,
Charles McClelland
****************
Submitted by: John Heineman
Friends:
If history is any guide (and of course we are all biased in favor of the
assumption that it is), even iron-clad guarantees can be of little help in
working with German archivists. In researching my book on Constantin
Freiherr von Neurath, I was completely unable to get access to his Foreign
Office "personnel" file. Despite the fact that I had permission from both
Neurath's son and daughter, AND the support of the American Embassy in
Bonn (who cited the agreement under which these non-microfilmed files were
returned to the Federal Republic), access was simply denied. I am very
concerned lest similar actions occur in respect to the Berlin Document
Center.
John L. Heineman
History Department
Boston College
Heineman@BCVMS.BC.EDU
[moderator's note: I have the Gerald Posner article in front of me as I
type. It is in the New Yorker, 14 March 1994, pp. 39-47. My
congressman's office is on the ball and has promised to Fedex the prepared
testimony from last week's Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on the BDC
by tomorrow. Hope to have the first excerpts from it for you then. D.R.]