After five years of doing interview illegally, in 1985, the Oral History Archives began to function within a legal institutional framework. As a result of the mediation of Miklós Vásárhelyi, the Soros Foundation Hungary was persuaded to provide financial support for many years, and Iván Vitányi, Chief Director of the Cultural Research Institute, provided OHA a safe organizational umbrella under which to continue with its research work legally.