Государственный архив Орловской области

Archive was established in 1920 as the Orel Gubernial Archive. In 1934, due to the administrative reorganization of the Soviet State Archives it became local branch of the Kursk Oblast Archival Authority. In included pre-1917 documents from the Orel Oblast as well as ones created in post-revolutionary period.

In 1937 due to the next administrative reorganization of the Soviet State, Orel Oblast was created, and its archive was divided into two institutions: Orel Oblast Historical Archive with documents from period before 1917 and Archive of October Revolution with the documents from 1917 and after. Both archives were reunited into the one State Archive in 1941.

In the same year, due to the German invasion most of the documents of the archive were evacuated to the town of Volsk in Saratov Oblast and town of Uralsk in Western Kazakhstan Oblast. 90% of the remaining documents were destroyed, some of the most valuable ones, were taken to Germany.

State Archive of the Orel Oblast was reestablished in 1944. It was moved to the new building in 1964.

Archive holds documents from Oryol region from the period between 1614 to present.

Archive is operating on the basis of following legals acts:

• Federal Law "On Archiwal Work in the Russian Federation" № 125–ФЗ, from 27.10.2004,

• Law of the Orel Oblast № 585-ОЗ, from 09.03.2006 "On Archiwal work in Orel Oblast"

• Its statute "State Archive of the Orel Oblast" (it is available online: http://www.gosarchiv-orel.ru/docs/ustav.pdf)

• •"Laws of organization, preservation, acquisition, registration and usage of documents of the Russian Federation archival resource in the state and municipial archives, libraries and branches of the Russian Academy of Science" from 19 January 2007

Archive is divided into 6 departments:

• Securing and preservation of the documents

• Usage and publication of the documents

• Department of scholar reference system

• Administration and industrial archives

• Implementation and operation of archive information technologies and restoration of documents

• Maintance

Archive holds 6 824 record groups, encompassing 1 304 801 archival folders.

Two oldest collections of the archive are referring to the local administration, legal decisions and feudal structure of Czarist Russia, from the years 1614-1752, and 1686-1896. Other documents from pre-revolutionary period are referring to the political, social, religious and cultural history of the province.

Documents from 1917 and post-revolutionary period refer to the most important political and social processes taking place in the province, such as collectivization and industrialization.

Archive has a big collection referring to the history of World War II and German occupation of the province (e.g. partisan groups, letters from the war front, newspapers, leaflets, German administration, war atrocities)

Two main published finding aids to the resources of the archive are:

• Путеводитель «Государственный архив Орловской области». Орел, 1973 [Guide "State Archive of the Orel Oblast", Orel 1973]

• Путеводитель «Государственный архив Орловской области». Орел, 1998 [Guide "State Archive of the Orel Oblast", Orel 1998]

Full information about all catalogues and scientific aparatus used in the archive can be found online, at:

http://www.gosarchiv-orel.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=18&limitstart=2