This was important given that the GDR was trying to improve its international standing during the 1970s and 80s, especially in conjunction with the Ostpolitik of West German Chancellor Willy Brandt massively improving relations between the two German states. Former Stasi officers continue to be politically active via the Gesellschaft zur Rechtlichen und Humanitären Unterstützung (GRH, Society for Legal and Humanitarian Support). West Germany asked for their return and received some in April 2000. One director to another: artist Amie Siegel appears in her film DDR/DDR on Stasi director Erich Mielke’s daybed. Christian Halbrock: Stasi-Stadt – Die MfS-Zentrale in Berlin-Lichtenberg – Ein historischer Rundgang. [47] For Eyes Only, Spielfilm, DDR 1964. The East Germans knew, of course, that they were surrounded by informers, in a totalitarian regime that created mistrust and a state of widespread fear, the most important tools to oppress people in any dictatorship. A significant proportion of those informing were members of the SED. Im Film "Ein Volk unter Verdacht" spricht die junge Reporterin Malin Büttner mit dem BStU-Historiker Dr. Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk über grundlegende Fragen zum Ministerium für Staatssicherheit. This page was last edited on 18 December 2020, at 08:52. Spur in die Nacht, Spielfilm, DDR 1957. Once inside, specific targets of the protesters' anger were portraits of Erich Honecker and Erich Mielke which were trampled on or burnt. Timothy Garton Ash, an English historian, after reading his file, wrote The File: A Personal History.[78]. The memorial site and museum was founded in December 1990. Erich Mielke was the Stasi's longest-serving chief, in power for 32 of the 40 years of the GDR's existence. Other opinions, such as the one of West German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, believed in putting the Stasi behind them and working on German reunification. Es galt als das "Schild und Schwert" der SED(Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands). [27] A large number of Stasi informants were tram conductors, janitors, doctors, nurses and teachers. [73], During the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, Stasi offices and prisons throughout the country were occupied by citizens, but not before the Stasi destroyed a number of documents (approximately 5%)[74] consisting of, by one calculation, 1 billion sheets of paper. The Stasi motto was Schild und Schwert der Partei (Shield and Sword of the Party), referring to the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED) and also echoing a theme of the KGB, the Soviet counterpart and close partner, with respect to its own ruling party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). In the mid-1980s, a network of IMs began growing in both German states. Shortly before the transformation of the Stasi into the Office of National Security the Ministry had the following structure: Divisions directly subordinated to the Minister Army general Erich Mielke (Dem Minister für Staatssicherheit direkt unterstellte Diensteinheiten), Divisions directly subordinated to the Deputy Minister Colonel General Werner Großmann (Dem Stellvertreter GO Großmann unterstellte Diensteinheiten) (his predecessor was the legendary Colonel general Markus Wolf), Divisions directly subordinated to the Deputy Minister Colonel general Rudi Mittig (Dem Stellvertreter GO Mittig unterstellte Diensteinheiten), Divisions directly subordinated to the Deputy Minister Lieutenant general Gerhard Neiber (Dem Stellvertreter GL Neiber unterstellte Diensteinheiten), Divisions directly subordinated to the Deputy Minister Lieutenant general Wolfgang Schwanitz (Dem Stellvertreter GL Schwanitz unterstellte Diensteinheiten) (Schwanitz was appointed as the chief of the Stasi successor agency - the Office for National Security), Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. The motto of the Ministry for State Security was that it was the “Sword and Shield of the Party”, the defence of the ideals and the attack against its enemies. Die DDR wurde 40 Jahre lang von der Sozialistischen Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED) regiert ohne jemals durch freie, demokratische Wahlen legitimiert zu sein. Je mehr er dabei allerdings in das Leben der anderen eindringt, desto mehr wird ihm sein eigenes trostloses Leben bewusst. Not only did Jahn and fellow protesters bring down the DDR… The Stasi allowed the wanted West German Neo-Nazi Odfried Hepp to hide in East Germany and then provided him with a new identity so that he could live in the Middle East. Blumenau, Bernhard. The Stasi also maintained contacts, and occasionally cooperated, with Western terrorists.[10][11]. In the Shadow of a Doubt is a documentary film about what happens when people try to find a crime for the accused instead of looking for the accused for a crime. ... Best Picture Winners Best Picture Winners Golden Globes Emmys STARmeter Awards San Diego Comic-Con New York Comic-Con Sundance Film Festival Toronto Int'l Film Festival Awards Central Festival Central All Events. The new government of the DDR – a mere puppet of the Kremlin – relied more and more on the Stasi to quell discontent among factory workers and farmers. Part of the prison, built 1842, was used by the Stasi from 1950 until 1989, during with time over 9,000 political prisoners were held in the prison. Many of these hunters succeeded in catching ex-Stasi; however, charges could not be made for merely being a member. The actions of the CIA, MI6 and the KGB – or earlier of the Gestapo and the NKVD – are far more suited to the silver screen and the internal politics of East Germany is hardly the sexiest of subjects. FILE - Files of the former East German Stasi secret service are seen in Berlin, March 7, 2002. The Stasi was founded on 8 February 1950. The name "Roter Ochse" is the informal name of the prison, possibly originating in the 19th century from the colour of the external walls. As part of this decision, the Ministerrat originally called for the evolution of the AfNS into two separate organizations: a new foreign intelligence service (Nachrichtendienst der DDR) and an "Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the GDR" (Verfassungsschutz der DDR), along the lines of the West German Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, however, the public reaction was extremely negative, and under pressure from the "Round Table" (Runder Tisch), the government dropped the creation of the Verfassungsschutz der DDR and directed the immediate dissolution of the AfNS on 13 January 1990. [29], The Stasi's ranks swelled considerably after Eastern Bloc countries signed the 1975 Helsinki accords, which GDR leader Erich Honecker viewed as a grave threat to his regime because they contained language binding signatories to respect "human and basic rights, including freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and conviction". By the 1970s, the Stasi had decided that the methods of overt persecution that had been employed up to that time, such as arrest and torture, were too crude and obvious. 'Unholy Alliance: The Connection between the East German Stasi and the Right-Wing Terrorist Odfried Hepp'. Instead, there was the constricting arms of the Stasi, the secret police and intelligence agency combined into one that was at the heart of life in the communist sector. University graduates who had completed their military service did not need to take these tests and exams. (picture alliance / dpa / Oliver Berg) [26] The roles of informants ranged from those already in some way involved in state security (such as the police and the armed services) to those in the dissident movements (such as in the arts and the Protestant Church). Als Geheimdienst (auch Nachrichtendienst genannt) sammelte sie Informationen zur Lage in der DDR, insbesondere zur Sicherheitspolitik. [3][4][5][6][7][8] The Stasi was headquartered in East Berlin, with an extensive complex in Berlin-Lichtenberg and several smaller facilities throughout the city. In nearly every speech, the Stasi minister gave the order to find out who is who, which meant who thinks what. The Lives of Others (German: Das Leben der Anderen, pronounced [das ˈleːbn̩ deːɐ̯ ˈandəʁən] ()) is a 2006 German drama The Stasi Records Agency (Stasi-Unterlagen-Behörde) is the organisation that administers the archives of Ministry of State Security (Stasi) of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany). An extensive restoration of the site began in December 2018. Den CSU-Politiker Franz Josef Strauß gewann die SED-Führung aber am Ende zu einem Partner, der ihr einen Milliardenkredit vermittelte. Certain functions of the AfNS reasonably related to law enforcement were handed over to the GDR Ministry of Internal Affairs. The word is difficult to translate because it means originally "biodegradation". The building contained vast records of personal files, many of which would form important evidence in convicting those who had committed crimes for the Stasi. Stasi experts helped the President of Ghana, The Stasi sent agents to the West as sleeper agents. But for those living in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), the Stasi was omnipresent and omniscient, the force that must always be considered and feared, the hidden hand in almost every aspect of life. In 1957, Markus Wolf became head of the Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA) (Main Reconnaissance Administration), the foreign intelligence section of the Stasi. The building was opened to the public from 20 January 1990 and people were taken on tours of the site. Ein Film, der den Besuchern die Machenschaften der Stasi vor Augen führte, wird schon nicht mehr gezeigt. The CIA acquired some Stasi records during the looting of the Stasi's archives. [31] The Stasi also acted as a proxy for KGB to conduct activities in other Eastern Bloc countries, such as Poland, where the Soviets were despised. The Stasi held this status until November 1955, when it was restored to a ministry. Those who opposed opening the files cited privacy as a reason. [12] Wilhelm Zaisser was the first Minister of State Security of the GDR, and Erich Mielke was his deputy. From 1950 to 1952 it was an execution site where 12 people sentenced to death were executed. [101], Former Stasi agent Matthias Warnig (codename "Arthur") is currently the head of Nord Stream. The actions of the CIA, MI6 and the KGB – or earlier of the Gestapo and the NKVD – are far more suited to the silver screen and the internal politics of … [18] From the volume of material destroyed in the final days of the regime, the office of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records (BStU) believes that there could have been as many as 500,000 informers. One great advantage of the harassment perpetrated under Zersetzung was that its subtle nature meant that it was able to be plausibly denied. Egal wie. Dokumentations- und Gedenkstätte in der ehemaligen U-Haft der Stasi in Rostock, BBL-MV. Prostitution galt in der DDR als Krankheit des Kapitalismus, seit 1968 war sie verboten. Im Mittelpunkt des DDR-Films, der auf tatsächlichen Ereignissen beruht, steht der regimetreue Soldat Harald Jäger, der die letzten Stunden vor dem Mauerfal… A high-ranking official was in charge of a particular mission of the Ministry and headed a division in the Central Apparatus (Zentrale). When the Stasi were founded in 1950, it wasn’t seen as controversial. [102] East German Police GDR - DDR Volkspolizei Info Film - YouTube Von 1961 bis 1989 machten westliche Firmen geheime Medikamentenstudien im SED-Staat – gegen Devisen und unter Aufsicht der Stasi. Stiftung Gedenkstätten Sachsen-Anhalt. For example, in March 2006, the Berlin Senator for Education received a letter from a GRH member and former Stasi officer attacking the Museum for promoting "falsehoods, anticommunist agitation and psychological terror against minors". Gedenkstätte Roter Ochse Halle (Saale), Gedenkstätte Moritzplatz Magdeburg. Die Entmachtung des MfS begann sechs Wochen vorher in den DDR-Bezirken. Stasi officers reportedly had discussed re-branding East Germany as a democratic capitalist country to the West, which in actuality would have been taken over by Stasi officers. Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-525-37502-0. Menu. ", Operation INFEKTION - Soviet Bloc Intelligence and Its AIDS Disinformation Campaign, "Stasi Files Implicate KGB in Pope Shooting", The Kremlin's Killing Ways—A long tradition continues, "Stasi Aid and the Modernization of the Vietnamese Secret Police", "Piecing Together the Dark Legacy of East Germany's Secret Police", "Germans piece together millions of lives spied on by Stasi", Stasi Records Agency. Guten Tag, Passkontrolle - Ein Film über die Passkontrollorgane der DDR. [88], Remembrance and Documentation Centre for "Victims of political tyranny" [de] - A memorial and museum at Collegienstraße 10 in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, in a building that was used as a detention centre by the Gestapo, the Soviet occupying forces and the Stasi. Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Group)—A terrorist organization which killed dozens of West Germans and others, which received financial and logistical support from the Stasi, as well as shelter and new identities. They were tasked with maintaining political support for the East German regime and for identifying perceived enemies of the state. Minister für Staatssicherheit war zunächst Wilhelm Zaisser (1950 bis 1953), gefolgt von Ernst Wollweber (1953 bis 1957). On 7 November 1989, in response to the rapidly changing political and social situation in the GDR in late 1989, Erich Mielke resigned. Stasi employees began to destroy the extensive files and documents they held, by hand, fire and with the use of shredders. The Stasi – to give them their proper name, the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit or Ministry of State Security – was a secret police like no other. Investigators have found evidence of a death squad that carried out a number of assassinations (including assassination of Swedish journalist, The Stasi attempted to assassinate Wolfgang Welsch, a famous critic of the regime. Die DDR im Blick der Stasi. (picture alliance / dpa / Oliver Berg) Former high-ranking officers and employees of the Stasi, including the last Stasi director, Wolfgang Schwanitz, make up the majority of the organization's members, and it receives support from the German Communist Party, among others. While there might have been some allure in espionage in the latter part of the 20th century, it certainly didn’t exist in East Germany. . Hier sollte ohne jede Hemmung besonders viel Ruhm eingeheimst werden. The fall of the Berlin Wall, and a kid has to make his beloved mother don't know about it. Central Group for Computing and Information (, Central Executive Group for Protection of Classified Information (, Armament and Chemical [Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defence] Service (, Operational Technical [Equipment] Sector (, District Department for State Security Berlin (, District Department for State Security Cottbus (, 13 rural precincts: KD Calau, KD Finsterwalde, KD Forst, KD Guben, KD Herzberg, KD Hoyerswerda, KD Jessen, KD Bad Liebenwerda, KD Luckau, KD Lübben, KD Senftenberg, KD Spremberg, KD Weißwasser, District Department for State Security Dresden (, 2 city precincts: KD Dresden-Stadt, KD Görlitz, 14 rural precincts: KD Dresden-Land, KD Bautzen, KD Bischofswerda, KD Dippoldiswalde, KD Freital, KD Großenhain, KD Kamenz, KD Löbau, KD Meißen, KD Niesky, KD Pirna, KD Riesa, KD Sebnitz, KD Zittau, Location Precinct Technical University and Other Institutions of Higher Education (, District Department for State Security Erfurt (, 11 rural precincts: KD Apolda, KD Arnstadt, KD Eisenach, KD Gotha, KD Heiligenstadt, KD Langensalza, KD Mühlhausen, KD Nordhausen, KD Sömmerda, KD Sondershausen, KD Worbis, District Department for State Security Frankfurt (Oder) (, 3 city precincts: KD Frankfurt (Oder), KD Eisenhüttenstadt,  KD Schwedt, 8 rural precincts: KD Angermünde, KD Beeskow, KD Bernau, KD Eberswalde, KD Bad Freienwalde, KD Fürstenwalde, KD Seelow, KD Strausberg, District Department for State Security Gera (, 9 rural precincts: KD Eisenberg, KD Greiz, KD Lobenstein, KD Pößneck, KD Rudolstadt, KD Saalfeld, KD Schleiz, KD Stadtroda, KD Zeulenroda, District Department for State Security Halle (Saale) (, 3 city precincts: KD Halle,  KD Halle-Neustadt, KD Dessau, 20 rural precincts: KD Artern, KD Aschersleben, KD Bernburg, KD Bitterfeld, KD Eisleben, KD Gräfenhainichen, KD Hettstedt, KD Hohenmölsen, KD Köthen, KD Merseburg, KD Naumburg, KD Nebra, KD Quedlinburg, KD Querfurt, KD Roßlau, KD Saalkreis, KD Sangerhausen, KD Weißenfels, KD Wittenberg, KD Zeitz, District Department for State Security Karl-Marx-Stadt (, 3 city precincts: KD Karl-Marx-Stadt/Stadt, KD Plauen, KD Zwickau, 19 rural precincts: KD Annaberg, KD Aue, KD Auerbach, KD Brand-Erbisdorf, KD Flöha, KD Freiberg, KD Glauchau, KD Hainichen, KD Hohenstein-Ernstthal, KD Karl-Marx-Stadt/Land, KD Klingenthal, KD Marienberg, KD Oelsnitz, KD Reichenbach, KD Rochlitz, KD Schwarzenberg, KD Stollberg, KD Werdau, KD Zschopau, District Department for State Security Leipzig (, 12 rural precincts: KD Leipzig-Land, KD Altenburg, KD Borna, KD Delitzsch, KD Döbeln, KD Eilenburg, KD Geithain, KD Grimma, KD Oschatz, KD Schmölln, KD Torgau, KD Wurzen, District Department for State Security Magdeburg (, 19 rural precincts: KD Burg, KD Gardelegen, KD Genthin, KD Halberstadt, KD Haldensleben, KD Havelberg, KD Kalbe Milde, KD Klötze, KD Oschersleben, KD Osterburg, KD Salzwedel, KD Schönebeck, KD Staßfurt, KD Stendal, KD Tangerhütte, KD Wanzleben, KD Wernigerode, KD Wolmirstedt, KD Zerbst, District Department for State Security Neubrandenburg (, 13 rural precincts: KD Altentreptow, KD Anklam, KD Demmin, KD Malchin, KD Neustrelitz KD Pasewalk, KD Prenzlau, KD Röbel, KD Strasburg, KD Templin, KD Teterow, KD Ueckermünde, KD Waren, District Department for State Security Potsdam (, 2 city precincts: KD Potsdam, KD Brandenburg, 13 rural precincts: KD Belzig, KD Gransee, KD Jüterbog, KD Königs Wusterhausen, KD Kyritz, KD Luckenwalde, KD Nauen, KD Neuruppin, KD Oranienburg, KD Pritzwalk, KD Rathenow, KD Wittstock, KD Zossen, District Department for State Security Rostock (, 4 city precincts: KD Rostock KD Greifswald, KD Stralsund, KD Wismar, 6 rural precincts: KD Bad Doberan, KD Grevesmühlen, KD Grimmen, KD Ribnitz-Damgarten, KD Rügen, KD Wolgast, District Department for State Security Schwerin (, 9 rural precincts: KD Bützow, KD Gadebusch, KD Güstrow, KD Hagenow, KD Lübz, KD Ludwigslust, KD Parchim, KD Perleberg, KD Sternberg, District Department for State Security Suhl (, 7 rural precincts: KD Bad Salzungen, KD Hildburghausen, KD Ilmenau, KD Meiningen, KD Neuhaus, KD Schmalkalden, KD Sonneberg, Stasi officers helped in initial training and indoctrination of Egyptian State Security organizations under the, The Stasi's experts worked with building secret police systems in the, The Stasi organized and extensively trained. Movies such as Bridge of Spies, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Funeral in Berlin depict the hijinx of agents crossing the Berlin Wall, but the definitive cinematic portrayal of the East German era is The Lives of Others, a low key, intense story of a Stasi agent Gerd Wiesler’s increasing infatuation with a bohemian couple. Eingefädelt von einem Stasi … So he creates an alternative way for what happend. Moreover, high-ranking Stasi officers continued their post-GDR careers in management positions in Schlaff's group of companies. Because he was nearing death, Honecker was allowed to spend his final time in freedom. The Ministry for State Security was organized according to the Line principle. Die DDR-Geheimpolizei wurde im Zuge der Friedlichen Revolution aufgelöst, aber nicht erst am 15. Zur Geschicte der Gedenkstätte, DDR Museum. Schwarzer Samt, Spielfilm, DDR … [34] The Stasi employed one secret policeman for every 166 East Germans. When the Stasi were founded in 1950, it wasn’t seen as controversial. Die Staatssicherheit, kurz Stasi, sorgte in der DDR für Angst und Schrecken. The fate of the files was finally decided under the Unification Treaty between the GDR and West Germany. Sie kannten sich alle, Spielfilm, DDR 1958. This comparison led Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal to call the Stasi even more oppressive than the Gestapo. The building was the Stasi district offices and a remand prison from 1950 until 1969, after which the Volkspolizei used the prison. Im Film wird ihm nach und nach klar, wie viel Schuld er auf sich geladen hat. We might balk at the idea of a state secret police at all, they had been a feature of every regime that had ruled Germany previously, from the Kaiser’s Preußische Geheimpolizei to the Nazi Gestapo. Under Minster Erich Wollweber and later, more notorious head Erich Mielke, the reach of the Stasi would extend into every aspect of East German life. A journalist has from DDR is now the anchorman of one of the major television channels. On 5 December 1989, the Stasi Headquarters in Potsdam and the Lindenstrasse Prison were occupied by protesters. [75], With the fall of the GDR the Stasi was dissolved. 18 of the 72 players (every fourth player) who played at least once for football team, Robin Pearson (Lecturer at the University of Hull), Bernd Runge, CEO of Phillips de Pury auction house. Honecker was charged with authorizing the killing of would-be escapees on the east–west frontier and the Berlin Wall. Sanierung einer Dokumentations- und Gedenkstätte in Rostock, Nord Stream, Matthias Warnig (codename "Arthur") and the Gazprom Lobby, Gazprom's Loyalists in Berlin and Brussels, "Police investigate Gazprom executive's Stasi past", "Aris, Helmut * 11.5.1908, † 22.11.1987 Präsident des Verbandes der Jüdischen Gemeinden", "Mandatsentzug läßt Beck kalt: "Ich bin ein Schlachtroß, "H-Soz-u-Kult / Mielke, Macht und Meisterschaft", "Was der Geheimdienst der DDR mit dem Sport zu tun hatte", "Das Stasi-Geheimnis der Hotelchefin Uta Felgner", "Cottbus-Trainer Geyer horchte Kirsten und Sammer aus", "Eine Stasi-Debatte, die nicht beendet wurde", "DDR: Birthler-Behörde ließ Stasi-Spitzel einladen - WELT", "Kamnitzer, Heinz * 10.5.1917, † 21.5.2001 Präsident des PEN-Zentrums DDR", "Olympiakos soccer chief was 'spy for Stasi, "Luft, Christa geb. Januar 1990 in Berlin. It preferred to paralyze them, and it could do so because it had access to so much personal information and to so many institutions. Alle waren bereits mit jungen Jahren ins Visier der Stasi geraten. Mehr im logo-Trickfilm (wird in … As intelligence chief, Wolf achieved great success in penetrating the government, political and business circles of West Germany with spies. Geschichtsverbund Thüringen Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur. Maßgebend für diesen Strategie-Pakt war niemand anderer als Stasi-Chef und spezieller Sportfan Erich Mielke. It still operates as a prison for young people. Um herauszufinden, ob sie bei der Stasi waren oder nicht, und sie gegebenenfalls zu rehabilitieren. Between 1991 and 2011, around 2.75 million individuals, mostly GDR citizens, requested to see their own files. Divertente, ironico, al tempo stesso malinconico e sottile nei contenuti, il lungometraggio, che vede protagonista un giovane Daniel Brühl, è un concentrato di quel sentimento figlio della nostalgia per gli anni della DDR.