No Unsolved Cases

In 2014, the Hungarian writer András Forgács learned that in the 1970s his mother had been an agent in Department III/III of the Ministry of the Interior of the Hungarian People’s Republic. That department did the same thing the KGB did in the Soviet Union: it searched for spies, monitored citizens’ loyalty, and studied informers’ reports.

What led her down this path? What made people in those days join the authorities and spy on their own neighbors, collect denunciations, interrogate others, and endlessly accuse? Was it an idea, a hunger for power, fear, money, everyday hardships, or bright ideals?

This audiobook is an attempt by the writer, poet, and journalist, on the one hand, to understand these people, and on the other, to reflect on what happened and figure out how to relate to them now—especially if those people are your family.