Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 426

Title

Lajos Jakab Samizdat Collection

Date(s)

1979 - 2016

Description Level

Fonds

Extent and medium (processed)

7 Archival boxes, 0.88 linear meters
1 Oversized box (40 cm), 0.4 linear meters

Context

Name of creator(s)

Jakab, Lajos

Archival history

The collection was accumulated by Lajos Jakab during the 1980s. In addition to the publications, books, card and wall calendars issued by Áramlat [Stream] and Szabad Idő [Free Time] managed by Jakab, the collection containing classical samizdat material of the era came to the Blinken OSA Archive in 2016 and became available to researchers after being arranged and described in 2019.

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)

The fonds contains documents related to the Samizdat activities of Lajos Jakab.

Scope and Content (Narrative)

Lajos Jakab was a prominent figure in the Samizdat circles in Budapest in the 1980s. His involvement in Samizdat production and distribution is described in his own account of this period of his life (Lajos Jakab: The Samizdat Inside: http://www.osaarchivum.org/curated-collections/digital-state-security-archive/jakab-lajos). In the early '80s, he went to many concerts of Hungarian oppositional underground bands, such as Beatrice and met acquaintances who had already been part of the Samizdat writing, producing, and distributing circles; at that time he was only a "consumer", who bought and distributed Samizdat books and periodicals. His trip to Poland in the summer of 1983 including a demonstration related to the visit of the Pope where he was witness to the confrontation between the protesters and the police (at that time such demonstrations were unknown in Hungary) proved to be a decisive event. Returning from this trip, he decided to join the oppositional movement. He visited Gábor Demszky and offered him help find access to a printing facility through personal contacts. Demszky entrusted him with the reproduction of the supplement of his newspaper entitled Hírmondó.The first job was soon followed by another to print a new batch of the 8th issue of the most popular Samizdat journal Beszélő. Previous attempts at producing the issue by Demszky failed due to police persecution. Through his contact (unknown by the police), Jakab managed to print it, although in a different size and with different printing method. Reproduction and binding were also taken care of by Jakab, the latter at someone’s home, in late 1983 and early 1984.In the second half of 1984, he decided to set up a samizdat publisher with his friends Péter Égerszegi, József Géher, Zoltán Kurdi, with Lajos Jakab responsible for printing exclusively. Jakab wanted to call the organization Áramlat [Stream], but the other members outvoted him, and the name became Szabad Idő [Free Time]. While carrying out the first printing job, they made a lot of printing errors which they discussed over the phone. The police must have intercepted these conversations, found Jakab and seized the freshly printed material. Jakab was fined and lost his job.At the end of 1985, after Szabad Idő came out with its second publication, Jakab decided to work alone and published 14 more works under his preferred name Áramlat, and continued his samizdat activity until 1990..The materials structured in five series consist of Jakab’s own samizdat products, samizdat publications and ephemera and artifacts by others and various documents related to Jakab’s samizdat activities. The first series includes Samizdat products produced by Jakab’ brands (Áramlat [Stream], Szabad Idő [Free Time] publishers). In the second series Jakab’s legal files are available, while the third series contains the samizdat books he collected. The fourth series includes periodicals published in the 1980s, posters from the Inconnu Group, and badges.The fifth series contains the oversized documents of the four thematic series.The essay entitled A szamizdat belülről [Inside Samizdat] written by Jakab discusses the lifestyle of the opposition and samizdat intellectuals of the 1980s, the organization of the printing and distribution tasks of the volumes to be released, the fight with the police and the state security agents, and the author's motivations.

Accruals

Expected

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

Not Restricted

Languages

Hungarian

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

In addition to books and journals, the collection contains photocopied and typewritten documents in good physical condition. Some of the documents are oversized, these are preserved in their original form in a separate series.

Allied Materials

Publication note

How did the “underground” publishing worked during the difficult years of socialism? Illegal demonstrations before the change of regime. Documents, data, briefly. Personal experiences. (https://szamizdat.org/, date of downloading April 11, 2019)

Notes

Note

The essay titled A szamizdat belülről [Inside Samizdat] written by Jakab writes about the style of the opposition and samizdat intellectuals of the 1980s, the organization of the print and distribution tasks of the volumes to be released, the fighting with the police and the state security agents, and the author's motivations. Read more: http://www.osaarchivum.org/curated-collections/digital-state-security-archive/jakab-lajos

Description Control

Archivist's note

Processed by Balazs Leposa, April 11, 2019.