The Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovine reside in the building of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina (political administrative body). It is not to be confused with the Archive of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which does not hold Holocaust-related material.
The archival records held by the Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina, as the mutual heritage of the citizens and people of Bosnia-Herzegovina, may be used for official, legal, teaching, scientific, cultural, publishing and evidential purposes, as well as evidence for constitutional and legal rights of citizens. The archives are accessible to all interested parties under the same conditions, in accordance with the provisions of Archives and Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina Act («Službeni glasnik BiH» No 16/2001), Recommendations of Council of Europe on Archives and Act of freedom of access to information in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Public archives are, in principle, accessible 30 years after their creation, if there are no special requests by their creator. Public archives related to particular persons may be used 10 years after death of person, or earlier if it is approved by his / her spouse, children or parents. If, for scientific or other justified reasons, the use of archival material that relates to individual persons is necessary, this material can be used in a way that guarantees the protection of concerned persons' interests. In other words, data must be presented in an appropriate manner and without mention of names. Private archives that have come into the possession of the competent archival institution by deposit, donation or purchase, are available for use under the same conditions as those dictating access to public archives, unless this has been otherwise regulated by transfer agreement or contract. Terms of access and use of archival records in Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina are defined by the Archives and the Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina Act, Regulations for the use of archives in the Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Regulations on Reading Room. Consulting public archives (at the same time access to information) is reduced or prohibited if: 1. it harms the interests of Bosnia-Herzegovina or its entities, especially: interests of defence and security; foreign affairs, financial policy and public security; 2. it has harmful consequences to corporate bodies of persons; 3. it is used in contravention to requests of their owner and creator, or if depositor restricts access; 4. there are indications of manipulation to the archives; 5. if the archives are damaged, in archival processing, in process of restoration, or if they are being consulted by another user Unclassified and damaged archival material as well as that undergoing processing is, in principle, not accessible. In special cases, this material may be consulted, but only with a special approval issued by the Archives' Director.
For an overview of the Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina's records management and collecting policies, see: http://www.arhivbih.gov.ba/en/records-management
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Yad Vashem
Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The Archives in Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina are stored in fonds and collections. An archival fond is an organic whole. In other words, it is created through activities of one corporate body or person. A collection is group of documents, created by interests of their collector or by mutual character of documents. The Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina have obtained their collections by officially taking responsibility for archival material generated by government bodies and institutions, as well as through purchases, donations or deposits. In the case of deposits, the depositing party maintains ownership rights and may remove them after their agreement with the Archives has expired. The institution also has a significant number of copy archives related to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the originals of which are held in foreign archives.
The Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the first modern archival institution in Bosnia-Herzegovina was established in by decision of the Government of Peoples Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina No. 1061 on December 12, 1947. Nowadays, this date is known as Archives Day in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1965, by provision of Archives Act, name of the institution was changed the Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Today, in the independent state of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Archives works under this name. Although the official formation of an archival service that preserves, protects and expertly processes archival material has only existed since 1947, the tradition of preserving and keeping archives in Bosnia-Herzegovina predates this. In absence of archival institutions, many archives were held by libraries, museums and other institutions, as well as individuals. Many of Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina collections come from the fonds of libraries and museums. For further information on the history of the Archives of Bosnia-Herzegovina, see: http://www.arhivbih.gov.ba/en/about-archives
Arhiv Bosne i Hercegovine