In the 1960s samizdat, that is a system of underground publishing of uncensored materials, became an important factor of public life in the Soviet Union. At the end of the 1960s, the Soviet Research Department of the RFE/RL Research Institute started to systematically collect samizdat documents that reached the West. Those documents were considered a valuable first-hand source from inside the Soviet Union and were actively used to prepare radio programs. In 1970, the Samizdat Archives was set up as a separate unit within the Research Institute. The SA staff was responsible for collecting, cataloguing and checking the new arrivals to separate potential forgeries and verify the information in authentic documents.
In the 1960s samizdat, that is a system of underground publishing of uncensored materials, became an important factor of public life in the Soviet Union. At the end of the 1960s, the Soviet Research Department of the RFE/RL Research Institute started to systematically collect samizdat documents that reached the West. Those documents were considered a valuable first-hand source from inside the Soviet Union and were actively used to prepare radio programs. In 1970, the Samizdat Archives was set up as a separate unit within the Research Institute. The SA staff was responsible for collecting, cataloguing and checking the new arrivals to separate potential forgeries and verify the information in authentic documents.