COURAGE

connecting collections

The Open Society Institute - Sofia is a public non-governmental organization established in 1990 as part of the Open Society Foundation founded by George Soros. The organization aims to uphold the values ​​of the open society in Bulgaria, to support democratization in all fields of public and political life, to support civil society structures, to work for the extension and guaranteeing of civil freedoms and the respect for fundamental human rights, for improving strategic approaches to the integration of vulnerable groups and minorities. Building on Carl Popper's views that "open societies do not support a single view of ‘truth’", the organization supports research and applied projects aimed at unfolding a public debate on key issues for Bulgaria.

At the moment, Open Society Institute - Sofia is working on the following programs: Governance and Public Policies; European Policies and Civic Participation; Roma Program; Legal Program; Public Debate Program.

For a self-description of its mission and work see: http://www.osf.bg/?cy=25&lang=2

Lay Catholic Association Opus bonum was founded in 1972 in Frankfurt am Main by Jan Anastáz Opasek, who was initially also the chairman of the association. It aimed to preserve and develop the Czech and Slovak Christian culture in exile. Activities included spiritual care, lectures and conferences that were held in Franken, North Bavaria. Soon, Opus bonum became a unique ideological confrontation of various opinion streams within Czechoslovak exile. Opus bonum's activities caused a disinformation reaction in Czechoslovakia when regime officials attempted to misinterpret events and activities of Opus bonum.

Opus bonum was founded as a group mainly focused on questions of human existence, at least in the same way as one of its founders, Vladimir Neuwirth. During the second half of the 1970s, disputes over the future focus of OB arose. Opasek's opinion was essential, as he was the chairman of the association, who, in response to the Charter 77, decided that Opus Bonum would be an open and all-exile-friendly platform. This also led to Opasek's belief that Opus bonum should "support the Christians" of Charter 77. He knew that the human and civil rights for which the Charter was built also concerned the churches in Czechoslovakia and, in general, the position of religion. At the end of February 1977 Opus Bonum stood on Charter 77 and expressed the conviction that "the release of Charter 77 was the biggest event since the death of Jan Palach in Czechoslovakia."

Then, according to the example Charter 77 set, Opus bonum began to organise symposiums and invited personalities from those in exile from Czechoslovakia. They tried to select personalities beyond the ideological streams, besides Christian conservatives, they also invited progressively-minded, ex-communists, as well as liberals, socialists, etc. Ivan Medek wrote about the symposiums in Franken, "There were a number of topics in Franken that would not have been discussed at all, such as February 1948, the problem of collaboration, the relationship with the former Communists, the role of Edvard Beneš, the Munich surrender, etc. Sometimes conflicts occurred, but they were mostly worked out in a small bar or in a local pub, but the fact that at least for that moment, the integration of the various views of Czechoslovak exile could literally be posed by their representatives as one table during a debate, I think is extremely important." (Medek: Thank you, I'm fine, pp. 95-96).

The symposiums in Franken and the Opus bonum activity was followed by mass disinformation in Czechoslovakia from the government and secret police, but also some exasperation among exiles, largely from political prisoners, anti-communists and resistance activists. The first meeting in Franken had already sparked controversy. It was held in 1978 at the anniversary of the Communist coup (23 to 26 February) and the theme was "February 1948 through the eyes of the winners and losers after thirty years."

The main goal of Opus bonum was to mediate dialogue, creating space and prerequisites for it. Opus bonum continues to hold meetings today.

Oradea University Library is affiliated to the University of Oradea. The library is financed by and subordinated to the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research. It has a collection of more than 336,000 books, magazines, newspapers, CDs, and DVDs. The collection is constantly growing through acquisitions, exchanges with more than sixty partners, and donations from professors of the University of Oradea and from other universities and personalities of Romanian cultural and political life. The library also houses many items of cultural heritage, such as manuscripts, old books, prints, and photographs.

The history of Oradea University Library started in 1963. In that year an Institute of Pedagogy was founded in Oradea and a new library was created to serve the needs of its students. Due to the interest of the communist regime in technical education, the Institute of Pedagogy was reorganised in 1976 as a branch of the Polytehnic Institute in Cluj-Napoca. Its educational programmes focused on training the future sub-engineers needed by the growing Romanian industry. As a result, the library, which already held an impressive number of volumes on the humanities, was forced to enrich its collection mainly with technical publications. After the fall of the communist regime, the educational institution in Oradea was transformed into the Technical University (1990), to become one year later the University of Oradea. The development of the higher educational system in Oradea, which now includes fifteen faculties, has impacted on the structure of the University Library. From a small library holding mainly technical publications it has become one of the most important libraries in Romania, whose collections manage to meet the demands of the growing number of students in university city of Oradea. Since 2010 the library has been housed in a new modern building with five large reading rooms and six book depositories (Barta and Culiciu 2013, 130–174).

Oradea University Library is made up of a central unit and branches serving 15 faculties of the University of Oradea. The central unit is also divided into departments on the basis of their activity, and includes units such as: “Acquisitions and inventory of publications office”; “Public relations office”;“Periodicals office”; and “Information technology office.” Oradea University Library hosts many collections which reflect the cultural opposition against the communist regime, such as the Monica Lovinescu–Virgil Ierunca Collection and the Mircea Zaciu Collection.

In January 2000, the department of the Institute for Contemporary History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic was established to ensure the systematic development of an oral history method and its application in Czech historiography under the title Oral History Center (COH). The main focus of COH activities is on the basic research of the recent past, which is primarily conducted in various projects, using the method of oral history; the Center's other activities are various forms of education, archiving and administration of collections of interviews and providing theoretical and methodological consultations and services to researchers and people interested in oral history.

As part of basic research, COH focuses on both collecting materials, but also on its analysis and interpretation and integration into the general historical context. This research is financially supported by the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.

The Foundation does not have a stable income or any budget; instead it relies on voluntary work of its members. Nonetheless, some of the activities, e.g. organisation of the Museum of the Orange Alternative, benefited from public funding, such as National Audiovisual Institute’s “Digital heritage” programme and subsidies from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.