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The KGB is the most commonly used acronym for Soviet Russia’s (and subsequently the USSR’s) political police, which was named Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti (Committee for State Security) for most of its post-war existence, more precisely between 1954 and 1991. The KGB was originally established in December 1917 as the Cheka (Russian acronym for the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Repression of the Counter-revolution and Sabotage), which functioned as the coercive instrument of the dictatorship of the Communist Party over Russia and all Soviet republics. It successively bore the names of GPU (an acronym for the State Political Administration) and NKVD (an acronym for the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs).  Immediately after the end of the Second World War, on 16 March1946, the People’s Commissariat for State Security, which had been established in 1941, became the MGB (Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti – Ministry for State Security). In March 1953, after Stalin’s death, the MGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) merged into a common institution under the latter name, which was headed by Lavrenti Beria. In the MSSR, the new MVD continued to function under the republic’s notorious first security chief, Iosif Mordovets, who was heavily involved in the massive campaigns of repression and deportation in the late 1940s and early 1950s. A year later, on 13 March 1954, a decision of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU created a new structure of the security apparatus which remained basically unchanged until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. State security was now entrusted to the Committee for State Security (KGB) and its branches in the republics, separated from the MVD. Mordovets remained head of the new committee for another year, after which he was replaced by one of Khrushchev’s loyalists.

The structure of the central apparatus of the Moldavian KGB was typical for the general pattern prevalent throughout the USSR. It was divided into the following sections: Section I (general intelligence), Section II (counter-intelligence activity), Section III (operative collaboration with the MVD), Section IV (operative activity concerning the sphere of transportation), Section V (struggle against ideological deviations, later known as Section “Z” – defence of the constitutional Soviet order), Section VI (operative activity in the industrial sphere), Section VII (surveillance), the technical-operative division, and several auxiliary services. For our purposes, the most interesting and relevant subdivision of the Moldavian KGB was Section V, which dealt directly with the repression and “re-education” of potential dissidents, unreliable and untrustworthy persons. This section was responsible for controlling and keeping under close surveillance all those opposed to the regime, including those who expressed dissenting views in the sphere of culture and identity issues. It thus combined a repressive dimension with an aspect of propaganda that overlapped with the party’s own Agitprop department. At the end of the 1980s, the Moldavian KGB had around 300 permanent employees. Out of this total number, approximately two thirds worked in the central apparatus of the organisation. Seventy employees worked in the five city branches of the Moldavian KGB (Chişinău, Bălţi, Bender, Tiraspol, and Ungheni), while another sixty operatives were divided among the nineteen district bureaus (as a rule, each bureau was responsible for two districts). Around forty KGB operatives were working in Transnistria, and another ten people in the Gagauz region.

The Moldavian KGB had an excellent reputation at the all-Union level and was deemed one of the most effective branches of the Soviet security apparatus. In Soviet Moldavia, the KGB’s record (like that of its predecessor organisations) was that of a pivotal instrument of communist nation-building, political control, and repression, with its key positions entrusted, as a rule, to Russian or Ukrainian officers. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Moldavian KGB was especially preoccupied with the purported threat of “local nationalism,” investing a lot of resources and efforts to combat this phenomenon. After the breakup of the USSR, the assets and part of the personnel of the KGB in the MSSR were transferred to Moldova’s Ministry of National Security, a predecessor of the Information and Security Service, the country’s intelligence agency since 1999. According to 1997 official reports, some 30 percent of the personnel working in Moldova’s Ministry of National Security were hired before 1990 as KGB officers. The KGB was officially disbanded by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in October 1991. 

The St. Cyril and St.Methodius National Library is currently the largest public library in Bulgaria. It is the oldest cultural institution of Bulgaria, established in 1878 as the "Sofia Public Library". The library received its own building in 1900.  In 1939, the construction of a new building began, but in 1944 both the new and old buildings were destroyed during allied bombardments of Sofia. In 1953, the National Library opened its new building under the name "People’s Library Vasil Kolarov", named after one of the leading Bulgarian communists, who was a leading functionary in the Communist International, and prime minister of Bulgaria from 1949 to his death in 1950. In 1963, as part of the process of strengthening national identity and reaffirmation of Bulgarian Mediaval history,  the library was renamed into "Cyril and Methodius" library, named after the famous monk, who created the Glagolitic alphabet for their translation of the Bible into Slavic. The Cyrilic alphabet is named after Cyril. The so-called "Apostles to the Slavs" are honored in Bulgaria with festivities on 24th of May, which is the official state holiday "Day of the Slavonic Script and Bulgarian culture". After the collapse of the communist regime, "Saints" was added to the names of the two missionaries in the official designation of the library.

In 1994, the National Library was declared a cultural institute of national importance. In 2009, with the Law for Public Libraries, the institution's name changed from "People’s Library" (Narodna Biblioteka) to "National Library" (Natsionalna Biblioteka).  

The National Library is a mandatory depository for all documents published in Bulgaria: books and periodicals. It contains also special collecitons with items from the Bulgarian cultural heritage, such as manuscripts, incunabula, old books, maps, prints, photographs, and private archives donated to the library. The National Library collects and stores official editions; cartographic and graphic publications, musical publications and others from countries around the world, and functions as a national information center. The library fund contained 8,040,804 registered units at the end of 2016.

During the communist regime, public access to many publications, books, and magazines, was forbidden, as they were placed in the so-called Special Collection. But the literary (and partly musical) legacy of the period of socialism is kept; the Library hosts many collections which reflect the cultural opposition against the communist regime. Through a range of cultural, educational and informational initiatives and events, the characteristics of the culture from the period of state socialism and the forms of opposition are discussed and popularized.

The National Library performs various public activities. Only in 2016, there have been more than 130 exhibitions. NCBM also conducts extensive research activities and participates in national and international projects and programs: Europeana. Culture. Denken; The European Library; World Digital Library; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Memory of the World. The library organizes public outreach activities, such as the literary event series "Club Pismena" and "Galeria da dumite".

Since 2006 the library implemented digitization programs, with the result that many documents of cultural value and old periodicals have become accessible online (http://www.nationallibrary.bg/wp/?page_id=1337).

Državni arhiv u Osijeku (DAO) obavlja organiziranu zaštitu arhivskoga gradiva i nadzor nad arhivskim gradivom u nastajanju (na terenu) na području Osječko-baranjske županije. Sastoji se od osam odjela, ima čitaonicu s osam mjesta, malu predavaonicu s 30-ak mjesta, dok su ostalo spremišni prostori prepuni gradivom. U njegovim spremištima čuva se 1720 arhivskih fondova i zbirki u ukupnoj količini od 7300 d/m. Najstarije sačuvano arhivsko gradivo u Arhivu potječe od kraja 17. stoljeća. Gradivo nastalo do 1848. pisano je na latinskom koji je dotad bio službeni jezik, no postoji znatno gradivo i na njemačkom jeziku u pisanoj kurzivnoj gotici. Od 1848. gradivo je uglavnom na hrvatskom jeziku, manje na njemačkom, te vrlo malo na mađarskom i srpskom jeziku (na ćirilici).

Tradicija arhiviranja spisa na području Osijeka datira od kraja 17. stoljeća kad je u Gradskom statutu Osijeka iz 1698. u točki 15. donesena odredba da se „porezni i upravni spisi, gotov novac i gradski pečat moraju čuvati na sigurnom mjestu.“ Osijek je 1809. postao slobodni i kraljevski grad te je tada organizirao i svoj arhiv i arhivista/arhivara koji se brinuo za čuvanje i uporabu spisa koji su nastali radom Gradskoga poglavarstva. Nadležnost Arhiva u Osijeku tada je obuhvaćala tadašnji „veliki kotar Osijek“ tj. današnju Osječko-baranjsku, Vukovarsko-srijemsku i Virovitičko-podravsku županiju.

Nakon Drugog svjetskog rata primijenjen je novi pristup u postupanju s arhivskim gradivom kao kulturnom baštinom, pa je 1947., odobrenjem Ministarstva prosvjete od 18. studenog u Osijeku osnovana Ispostava Državnog arhiva u Zagrebu (arhivsko spremište). Otad se može govoriti sustavnoj nadležnosti obavljanja organizirane zaštite i nadzora nad arhivskim gradivom. Godine 1956. odlučeno je da Arhiv postane samostalnom ustanovom pod nazivom Arhiv u Osijeku koji je bio nadležan za područje tadašnjih kotara Osijek, Vinkovci, Našice i Virovitica. Pri Arhivu je 1957. godine osnovan zaseban Partijski arhiv, koji je prikupljao, obrađivao i objavljivao povijesne izvore važne za povijest radničkog pokreta, Komunističku partiju i partizansku vlast za vrijeme Drugoga svjetskog rata. Taj je Arhiv 1962. godine pripojen tadašnjemu Historijskom arhivu u Osijeku.

Obveznim Naputkom Ministarstva kulture i prosvjete Republike Hrvatske 1993. regionalni arhivi, pa tako i osječki Arhiv, mijenjaju nazive u Povijesne arhive. Do nove promjene naziva dolazi stupanjem na snagu Zakona o arhivskom gradivu i arhivima (NN 105/1997), što je provedeno u travnju 1998. otkad Arhiv nosi svoj današnji naziv - Državni arhiv u Osijeku. Nadležnost Arhiva u Osijeku obuhvaćala je područje današnje Osječko-baranjske, Vukovarsko-srijemske i Virovitičko-podravske županije, a od 1. svibnja 2009. teritorijalna nadležnost je ograničena na područje Osječko-baranjske županije.

Prvo sjedište Arhiva u Osijeku nalazilo se u današnjoj Tvrđi, u Kuhačevoj 27. Zbog sve veće potrebe za arhivskim spremištem, Općina Osijek je 1971. godine od vojske kupila i predala Arhivu nekadašnju vojarnu u današnjoj ulici Kamila Firingera 1 u koju se Arhiv preselio u razdoblju od 1972. do 1975. Zgrada ima 2000 kvadratnih metara prostora, od čega na spremište otpada 1500 kvadratnih metara, na radionicu 100 kvadratnih metara, a ostalo su službene i radne prostorije. Zgrada Arhiva teško je stradala u Domovinskom ratu 1991/1992., no potpuno je sanirana 1996. Ona je spomenik kulture prve kategorije u sastavu osječke Tvrđe, kao cjelovito zaštićene spomeničke urbane jezgre. 

Državni arhiv u Vukovaru utemeljen je Uredbom o osnivanju Državnog arhiva Ministarstva kulture Republike Hrvatske u Vukovaru 11. siječnja 2007. godine (NN 7/2007), sa sjedištem u Vukovaru, u Županijskoj ulici 66, a započeo je djelovati iduće godine. Kada je osnovana samostalna arhivska ustanova, stvoreni su uvjeti za  samostalno  i  neometano  obavljanje  arhivske  službe  na  čitavom teritoriju Vukovarsko-srijemske županije. Do tog vremena arhivsku službu obavljao je Arhivski sabirni centar u Vinkovcima, kao odjel u sastavu Državnog arhiva u Osijeku u Vojarskoj 1. Osnovom iste Uredbe, Državni arhiv u Vukovaru uredio je s Državnim arhivom u Osijeku Sporazum o razgraničenju koji je stupio na snagu 1. siječnja 2009. godine, temeljem kojega je imovina  (objekt  Arhivskog  sabirnog  centra  u  Vinkovcima),  djelatnici  i  arhivsko  gradivo s područja nadležnosti novoosnovanog Arhiva, a trenutno u posjedu Arhiva u Osijeku, prešlo u nadležnost Državnog arhiva u Vukovaru. Arhiv posjeduje građu za socijalističko razdoblje na osnovu kojih je moguće pratiti državnu kontrolu nad društvom i to putem različitih javnih i partijskih ustanova, škola, općina, narodnih odbora, kotareva, gradskih komiteta, socijalističkog saveza za područje Vukovarsko-srijemske županije.