The collection contains six boxes of documents, which Ján Čarnogurský, the founder of this samizdat, handed over to the Nation’s Memory Institute in 2002. In addition to the copies of the individual samizdat issues (5 issues, I / 88, II / 88, I / 89, II / 89, III / 89), it includes personal notes, original texts before editing together with editorial changes. The collection also includes many unidentifiable manuscripts related to the publication of Bratislava Papers with the titles Trpké ovocie totality [Bitter fruits of totalitarianism], Ohrozená sloboda [Endangered Freedom], and Vnútorná sloboda [Inner Freedom]. Manuscripts are political and theological debates on totalitarianism, freedom and belief in God.
The most interesting parts of the collection are the original legal decisions and the correspondence of the authors of the Bratislava Papers. Ján Čarnogurský and Milan Šimečka contributed in samizdat under their names, others wrote under pseudonyms. Ján Čarnogurský in issue no. 11 of 1990 stated that the Bratislavské listy samizdat was “the first and only magazine in Slovakia openly opposed to the communist regime and being published with the full name and address of the publisher”. So the collection contains e.g. the decision of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Socialist Republic that prohibits the publication of Bratislavské listy dated 28 July 1988 and addressed to Jan Čarnogurský.
Another interesting document is the rejection of the gathering of Christians at the instigation of RNDr. František Mikloško issued by the Ministry of Culture on 17 March 1988. It was stated that the reason for rejection was the organizersʼ inability to secure the course of the event. However, the manifestation of the believers took place on 25 March 1988 in Bratislava. The event, known as the Candle Demonstration, was the highlight of the activities of the Catholic Secret Church in Slovakia and was attended by about 3000 people.
The Candle Demonstration in Bratislava preceded the affair with the article of the future cardinal, Ján Chrysostom Korec, the leading figure of the Secret Church. On 30 October 1987 Korec published in Bratislava Papers a critique of the article in Rudé právo newspaper, the press authority of the Communist Party, Zbožná přání a reality [Wishful thinking and reality] from 9 October 1987, dealing with the freedom of the Church in Slovakia. The collection contains the correspondence between Korec and Václav Doležal, the author of the article published in Rudé právo.
Moreover, the collection contains all declarations of Charter 77, which Bratislavské listy supported publicly. Before 1981, Ján Čarnogurský legally represented persons accused of anti-state activity who worked for Charter 77.
In addition, the collection contains other letters, including requests and appeals to the Czechoslovak President, e.g. the request of Anton Zlatohlavatý from 15 July 1989 to the President Gustáv Husák with the aim of obtaining the state’s permission for the exercise of spiritual activity as a Roman Catholic priest which had been withdrawn on 1 December 1980. Some of these decisions or transcripts of these decisions were also printed in samizdat.
