Nitrokémia of Balatonfűzfő in the target cross of American intelligence

Abstract

The Cold War CIA documents are already available for everyone online nowadays – with limitations due to the release process, and the issues of national security and human involvement. My study introduces how the CIA perceived Balatonfűzfő and Nitrokémia Factory in the 1950s; especially focusing on the information, sources, and interpretations about a small Hungarian town behind the Iron Curtain. All of these draw a special mental map in front of us: places, people, and possible meanings connected with these. Following the current initiatives of common/public history, I used local knowledge and stories during my writing. The result is a constructed narrative which can be re-written and continued in building the regional history.