It had nearly 200,000 unofficial. [25], Although its techniques had been established effectively by the late 1950s, Zersetzung was not rigorously defined until the mid-1970s, and only then began to be carried out in a systematic manner in the 1970s and 1980s. Over the course of four events (at the time of writing), we have been given a chance to peel . 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. More than one in three East Germans (5.6 million) was under suspicion or surveillance, with an open Stasi file. Kalisha told Luke that after children were tested and given injections for several weeks in what was called the Front Half, they were sent to the Back Half and were never seen again. Recording detailed personal information on a third of the populace required a tremendous amount of paper. Official documents in which Zersetzung methods were recorded often had no validity in court, and the Stasi had many files detailing its actual implementation destroyed. Mai 1963, zit. This comparison led Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal to call the Stasi even more oppressive than the Gestapo. The Russian president has expressed pride in . Dr. Laura Williams teaches communication strategy to undergraduates and executives. As ubiquitous as this was, the ratios swelled when informers were factored in: counting part-time informers, the Stasi had one agent per 6.5 people. After the East German popular uprising of June 1953 (suppressed by Soviet troops) the government gave the Stasi the task of systematic surveillance and prevention of unrest in the population. [13] In 1961, to counteract the GDR's practice of isolationism following the construction of the Berlin Wall, the judicial terror was gradually abandoned. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. No FEAR Act| There are some areas that do an outstanding job taking care of veterans. [40] Moreover, the imprisonment of only certain members of the group gave birth to suspicions. stasi lights. Include Classified. In that kind of tattle culture, reporting your neighbors for minor wrongdoing might keep your own family safe. August 2010. More pages of printed text were generated by the Stasi than by all German authors from the Middle Ages to WWII. He's got his own way of doing things that lets him stand on his own. The political explosive force of Zersetzung heightens demands regarding the maintenance of secrecy.[12]. The impetus for the establishment of the GRH was provided by the criminal charges filed against the Stasi in the early 1990s. The word is difficult to translate because it means originally "biodegradation". 3 UN-Charta. Jillian Becker, Institute for European Defence & Strategic Studies. The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: King, Stephen. Stasi officers knew no limits and had no shame when it came to "protecting the party and the state." Churchmen, including high . The building was opened to the public from 20 January 1990 and people were taken on tours of the site. The Stasi were prolific gaslighters. The function of the headquarters and Abteilung XXs was to maintain surveillance of religious communities; cultural and media establishments; alternative political parties; the GDR's many political establishment-affiliated mass social organisations; sport; and education and health services - effectively covering all aspects of civic life. On 8 December 1989, GDR Prime Minister Hans Modrow directed the dissolution of the AfNS, which was confirmed by a decision of the Ministerrat on 14 December 1989. Stasi files laid out together would cover about 69 sq. [68], Unless they had been detained for at least 180 days, survivors of Zersetzung operations, in accordance with 17a of a 1990 rehabilitation act (the Strafrechtlichen Rehabilitierungsgesetzes, or StrRehaG), are not eligible for financial compensation. Dots projected on the wall caused him to suffer a seizure. Per Gordon's note, Chapter 14 of Ralph Pickard's new book discusses Stasi Anniversary Badges and Documents. Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk: Stasi konkret berwachung und Repression in der DDR, Mnchen 2013, S. 211, 302f. Much of the. Psychological operations were used to glorify the East German socialist state and smear the immoral, pleasure-seeking, capitalist West. everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Institute. Zersetzung (pronounced [tszts], German for "decomposition" and "disruption") was a psychological warfare technique used by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) to repress political opponents in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. The management of the "Runde Ecke" Museum opens the site once a year on "Museum night" and on special state-wide days when historic buildings and sites that are not normally accessible to the public are opened. The goal of Zersetzung is the fragmentation, paralysis, disorganization, and isolation of the hostile and negative forces, in order to preventatively impede the hostile and negative activities, to largely restrict, or to totally avert them, and if applicable to prepare the ground for a political and ideological reestablishment. The Stasi ordered a campaign in which cemeteries and other Jewish sites in West Germany were smeared with swastikas and other Nazi symbols. Zersetzung methods were designed to break down, undermine, and paralyze people behind "a facade of social normality"[3] in a form of "silent repression". Many of the techniques used by the Stasi had actually been pioneered by the Nazis, and in particular the Gestapo. [59] The Stasi nevertheless defined several main target groups:[26], The Stasi also occasionally used Zersetzung on non-political organisations regarded as undesirable, such as the Watchtower Society.[60]. Once inside, specific targets of the protesters' anger were portraits of Erich Honecker and Erich Mielke, which were torn down, trampled upon or burnt. [12] The agency tasked with maintaining them employed at least 79 former Stasi members as late as 2007, according to Wikileaks. People were commonly targeted on a pre-emptive and preventative basis, to limit or stop politically incorrect activities that they may have gone on to perform, and not on the basis of crimes they had actually committed. Berlin 1998, S. 145. [citation needed], In some cases, spouses even spied on each other. Once aware of his own status as a target, GDR opponent Wolfgang Templin tried, with some success, to bring details of the Stasi's Zersetzung activities to the attention of western journalists. [26][27] Author Jrgen Fuchs was a victim of Zersetzung and wrote about his experience, describing the Stasi's actions as "psychosocial crime", and "an assault on the human soul". The Stasi and Zersetzung. This was accomplished primarily through the use of a network of civilian informants. 1/76 zur Entwicklung und Bearbeitung Operativer Vorgnge (OV), "An Enduring Legacy of a Divided Era (Stasi files) (2001)", "Open Stasi files show massive smear campaign - East German police disrupted families, careers(1992)", "Germany continued (Stasi files) (1991)", The Unofficial Collaborators (IM) of the MfS, "New book examines communist recruitment of teen informers (Stasi)(1997)", Subtiler Terror Die Opfer von Stasi-Zersetzungsmethoden, Geschichte des DDR-Rechts: Straf- und Verwaltungsrecht, Hubertus Knabe: The dark secrets of a surveillance state, "Stasi Tactics Zersetzung | Max Hertzberg", Russia uses dirty tricks despite U.S. 'reset', Russian spy agency targeting western diplomats, "Russia is harassing U.S. diplomats all over Europe", : , MfS Richtlinie 1/76 zur Entwicklung und Bearbeitung operativer Vorgnge Die Anwendung von Manahmen der Zersetzung, Zersetzungsmanahmen am Beispiel einer Umweltgruppe, Zersetzung: Machtmittel des Ministeriums fr Staatssicherheit in der ehemaligen DDR, Ambassadors of Russia to the United States, Ambassadors of the United States to Russia, Consulate-General of Russia, New York City, Consulate-General of Russia, San Francisco, Permanent Mission of Russia to the United Nations, Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. Julia Sigsby, the director of the Institute, and James Jim Evans, one of the Institutes doctors, survived. [4], The Stasi was headquartered in East Berlin, with an extensive complex in Berlin-Lichtenberg and several smaller facilities throughout the city. At that moment the GDR was finally achieving international respectability. But actually, it's a quite accurate description. It was called Zersetzung, and it's described in another guideline. The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern took ownership of it in 1998, and the memorial site and museum were established in 1999. 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. Along with the decision to keep the files in a central location in the East, they also decided who could see and use the files, allowing people to see their own files. By comparison, the Gestapo deployed one secret policeman per 2,000 people. It is estimated that the task may require 30 million dollars to complete.[80]. It calls for the closure of the Berlin-Hohenschnhausen Memorial and can be a vocal presence at memorial services and public events. These victims, now officially recognized, were supposed to receive modest compensation. Police collected medical, school, and police records, interviews with neighbors and relatives, and any other evidence they could get and would then customize a direct hit on an individuals mental health. World. Honecker was charged with authorizing the killing of would-be escapees along the eastwest border and Berlin Wall. When he jumped from the train, he ran into a signal post and was unable to escape. [31], Almost all Stasi departments were involved in Zersetzung operations, although first and foremost amongst these was the headquarters of the Stasi's directorate XX (Hauptabteilung XX) in Berlin, and its divisional offices in regional and municipal government. He wanted to expose the Institute and save his friends from what he believed was certain death in the Back Half. The HVA (Hauptverwaltung Aufklrung), under Markus Wolf, gained a reputation as one of the most effective intelligence agencies of the Cold War.[5]. This often included psychological attacks, in a form of gaslighting. It was on February 8th, 1950, that one of the most feared and extensive surveillance organizations was established in East Berlin. daja1985 843 subscribers Subscribe 1.2K views 11 years ago Targeted by the Stasi: revisiting the past | DW Documentary DW Documentary 71K views 3 years ago Walking in the Rain in. Avery believed his death was worthwhile because he died saving his friends, the first friends he had in his young life. [38] Usually, victims had no idea that the Stasi were responsible. After Luke was safely off the Institutes grounds, she hung herself, leaving behind a message that HELL IS WAITING (288). [30] It also had a comprehensive 50-page Zersetzung teaching manual, which included numerous examples of its practice. It may not display this or other websites correctly. He wound up in the tiny town of DuPray where he got a job as a night knocker. Millions more were shredded before they could be made public. It preferred to paralyze them, and it could do so because it had access to so much personal information and to so many institutions. Image Credit: Flickr-stephanr66 | CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), Stasi Museum Button Cam, via Atlas Obscura, Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives, Stasi Museum-record of family, suspected defectors. The Stasi held and interrogated between 12,000 and 15,000 people during the time they used the prison. Berlin-based artist Simon Menner releases photos of disguises used by East Germany's notorious Stasi secret police after years trawling through the agency's archives. groups supporting the above (human rights and peace organisations, those assisting illegal departure from the GDR, and expatriate and defector movements). [47] That said, Rudolf Bahro, Gerulf Pannach, and Jrgen Fuchs, three important dissidents who had been imprisoned at the same time, died of cancer within an interval of two years. Zersetzung must be produced on the basis of a root cause analysis of the facts and the exact definition of a concrete goal. [52] In this manner, parents and children were supposed to systematically become strangers to one another. Between 1950 and 1958 the Stasi shared another prison with the civil police. Sanierung einer Dokumentations- und Gedenksttte 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", "Stasi-Anhnger schreiben an Bildungssenator Bger", Ehemalige Stasi-Kader schreiben Schulen an, "Aris, Helmut * 11.5.1908, 22.11.1987 Prsident des Verbandes der Jdischen Gemeinden", "Mandatsentzug lt Beck kalt: "Ich bin ein Schlachtro", "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", "Dynamo-Vereinslegenden treten als Ehrenspielfhrer zurck - wegen Ede Geyer", "Eine Stasi-Debatte, die nicht beendet wurde", "DDR: Birthler-Behrde lie Stasi-Spitzel einladen - WELT", "Kamnitzer, Heinz * 10.5.1917, 21.5.2001 Prsident des PEN-Zentrums DDR", "Olympiakos soccer chief was 'spy for Stasi', "Luft, Christa geb. History of the Records, Gedenksttte Berlin-Hohenschnhausen. Eroticawhether printed or filmedwas banned in East Germany, and was pointed to as evidence of the Wests decadence and depravity. In reality, most of the country operated as an open-air prison, as few people were allowed to leave the country on exit visas. Waldemar Hirch: Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem ostdeutschen und dem polnischen Geheimdienst zum Zweck der "Zersetzung" der Zeugen Jehovas. The Stasi were prolific gaslighters. Torn Stasi documents earmarked for destruction after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 are seen in the former headquarters of the Stasi , in Berlin. They then attended a two-year officer training programme at the Stasi college (Hochschule) in Potsdam. The name "Roter Ochse" is the informal name of the prison, possibly originating in the 19th century from the colour of the external walls. For example, in 1990, Herbert Kohler, Stasi commander in Dresden, transferred 170 million marks to Schlaff for "harddisks" and months later went to work for him. Careers, reputations, relationships, and lives were exploded to destabilize and delegitimize a critic. If someone looked like he might challenge the Communist Partys legitimacy or control, the Stasi systematically destroyed his life. Sheriff Jim could be any one of a dozen small town good natured, ethical cops from his other novels who have wit, strength of character, a nose for good people, innate wisdom, and a strong, dominant presence, but who almost always defers to the book's main character. Their attendance was logged for blackmail purposes. [15] The GDR signed the Basic Treaty, 1972 with West Germany to respect human rights, or at least announce its intention to do so, and the Helsinki accords in 1975. This page was last edited on 13 April 2023, at 13:28. 'Decomposing people and groups' in, Russian interference in United States elections, This page was last edited on 8 April 2023, at 18:10. In: Berliner Zeitung. She feared by helping Luke escape that she had perhaps initiated the end of the world but felt indebted to help him. [25] Information gathered about the latter groups was frequently used to divide or discredit members. The Stasi perfected the technique of psychological harassment of perceived enemies known as Zersetzung (pronounced [zts]) a term borrowed from chemistry which literally means "decomposition". By 1995, some 174,000 inoffizielle Mitarbeiter (IMs) Stasi informants had been identified, almost 2.5% of East Germany's population between the ages of 18 and 60. Some forms of harassment were almost comical: agents spread rumors about their targets, flooded their mailboxes with pornography, moved things around in their apartments, or deflated their bicycle tires day after day. Kalisha learned through her telepathic abilities that Maureen was sick. But the Stasi filmed its own series of pornographic films, featuring civilian female employees dressed as soldiers. Cases of provable, systematically effected targeting by the Stasi, and resulting in employment-related losses and/or health damage, can be pursued under a law covering settlement of torts (Unrechtsbereinigungsgesetz, or 2. S. 119. Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, Luke is a 12-year-old prodigy as well as a boy with mild telekinetic abilities who is kidnapped. Jens Gieseke: Das Ministerium fr Staatssicherheit 19501989/90 Ein kurzer historischer Abriss. A significant proportion of those informing were members of the SED. The building was also the district offices of the Stasi administration. [49][50] To threaten or intimidate or cause psychoses the Stasi assured itself of access to the target's living quarters and left visible traces of its presence, by adding, removing, and modifying objects such as the socks in one's drawer, or by altering the time that an alarm clock was set to go off. The Stasi prison and offices were occupied by local citizens on 5 December 1989, during a wave of such takeovers across the country. in Jrgen Fuchs: Magdalena. A high-profile example of this was peace activist Vera Lengsfeld, whose husband, Knud Wollenberger, was a Stasi informant.[27]. Germany asked for their return and received some in April 2000. Overall there was a ratio of four or five authorised Zersetzung operators for each targeted group, and three for each individual. [16][17][18] In 1989, the Stasi employed 91,015 people full-time, including 2,000 fully employed unofficial collaborators, 13,073 soldiers and 2,232 officers of GDR army,[19] along with 173,081 unofficial informants inside GDR[20] and 1,553 informants in West Germany.[21]. 2) Do you think Stackhouse should have gone after Luke himself instead of Mrs. Sigsby? From January 1990 the building was used as offices for various citizens initiatives and new political groups, such as the Neue Forum. Hitler Youth-style groups were established for school children. If a person goes into bars and places where bands play, you will notice multi-colored lights flashing. This had a significant impact on the Stasi's ability to survey the populace in a period of growing unrest, and knowledge of the Stasi's activities became more widespread. If true, such a number surely validates Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal's belief that the Stasi were even more oppressive than the Nazi Gestapo. Light is the major hero who appeared in the android mobile video game, Girls' Frontline. In: Karsten Dmmel, Christian Schmitz (Hrsg. After months and even years of Zersetzung a victim's domestic problems grew so large, so debilitating, and so psychologically burdensome that they would lose the will to struggle against the East German state. [53] To provoke conflicts and extramarital relations the Stasi put in place targeted seductions by Romeo agents. Berlin 2007, S. 72. In the 1950s, repression was brutal, physical torture. [n 3] Anyone who was judged to display politically, culturally, or religiously incorrect attitudes could be viewed as a "hostile-negative"[35] force and targeted with Zersetzung methods. [] Honecker's predecessor, Walter Ulbricht, was an old-fashioned Stalinist thug. Among an estimated 274,000 employees were at least 174,000 informants, which would have been about 2.5% of the working population. At its peak, it employed 85,000 officers full-time. The Stasi is estimated to have employed around 100,000 full-timers in a nation of just 17 million people. A complex web of West German infiltrators and enemy collaborators was discovered only years later. Geschichtsverbund Thringen Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur. The secrets of the Stasi: Warning from Cold War history as Putin's war runs hot. Using hundreds of thousands of informers, it monitored one-third of . Gedenk- und Dokumentationssttte Opfer politischer Gewaltherrschaft. Peter-Michael Diestel, the Minister of Interior, opined that these files could not be used to determine innocence and guilt, claiming that "there were only two types of individuals who were truly innocent in this system, the newborn and the alcoholic". the Stasi often used a method which was really diabolic. Dr. Evans did try to start a conversation once, again wanting them to know that he was an innocent When the Berlin Wall came down, it is estimated that more than 91,000 full-time Stasi employees and 189,000 unofficial collaborators were maintaining close, repressive surveillance over the East . [87], Gedenksttte Bautzner Strae Dresden[de] (The Bautzner Strasse Memorial in Dresden) - A Stasi remand prison and the Stasi's regional head office in Dresden. 8. The Stasi were prolific gaslighters. Though these hunters succeeded in identifying many ex-Stasi, charges could not be brought against anyone merely for being a registered Stasi member. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [27], 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".
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