1 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:13,160 In 1950 East Germany establishes a Ministry for State Security. 2 00:00:13,453 --> 00:00:18,890 In 1957 Erich Mielke is named Minister Of State Security. 3 00:00:19,007 --> 00:00:23,351 Mielke heads the Ministry till November 1989. 4 00:00:26,421 --> 00:00:28,031 Number 1 is number 1. 5 00:00:28,078 --> 00:00:30,578 Not first on the property, that has nothing to do with it. 6 00:00:31,062 --> 00:00:33,123 When you enter you're on the ground floor. 7 00:00:33,148 --> 00:00:35,968 Go up the stairs and you're on the upper ground level. 8 00:00:36,147 --> 00:00:39,156 The next flight of stairs takes you to the first floor. 9 00:00:39,335 --> 00:00:40,866 It wouldn't be proper for the Minister 10 00:00:40,905 --> 00:00:42,131 to be on the second floor. 11 00:00:42,187 --> 00:00:44,882 This is Floor 1 in House 1. 12 00:01:52,207 --> 00:01:54,610 As Central Administration for the Protection 13 00:01:54,635 --> 00:01:58,408 of the National Economy East Germany's first secret police 14 00:01:58,455 --> 00:02:01,103 is established in 1949. 15 00:02:01,416 --> 00:02:06,783 In 1950 it is transformed into the Ministry for State Security, 16 00:02:06,854 --> 00:02:08,666 commonly known as Stasi. 17 00:02:09,672 --> 00:02:13,119 It models itself on the Soviet secret police Cheka. 18 00:02:13,144 --> 00:02:17,367 Stasi personnel proudly call themselves Chekists. 19 00:02:17,744 --> 00:02:20,851 The Ministry's Central Headquarters occupy 20 00:02:20,876 --> 00:02:24,181 an entire city block in East Berlin. 21 00:02:24,548 --> 00:02:29,861 In the 1980s 20,000 employees work here for the Stasi. 22 00:02:47,259 --> 00:02:52,493 In 1953 the Stasi suffers an unexpected shock. 23 00:02:52,518 --> 00:02:54,728 It is caught completely off guard 24 00:02:54,783 --> 00:02:58,033 by the national uprising of June 17th. 25 00:02:58,534 --> 00:03:02,214 Soviet troops quell the revolt by force. 26 00:03:20,158 --> 00:03:22,408 Now we're entering Mielke's private realm, 27 00:03:22,414 --> 00:03:24,814 so to speak, where he could retreat. 28 00:03:24,839 --> 00:03:26,757 Here we have this small office. 29 00:03:26,782 --> 00:03:30,047 It's only notable feature are these Western television sets. 30 00:03:30,175 --> 00:03:31,797 They would rather trust in Western 31 00:03:31,821 --> 00:03:33,889 technology and not the clunky "Raduga" 32 00:03:33,914 --> 00:03:36,851 colour sets from the Soviet Union. 33 00:03:37,429 --> 00:03:39,429 As you can see, there's no trace of 34 00:03:39,454 --> 00:03:41,554 golden water facets or other luxuries 35 00:03:41,571 --> 00:03:43,234 withheld from mere mortals. 36 00:03:43,259 --> 00:03:45,779 Such things simply won't be found here. 37 00:03:52,393 --> 00:03:56,193 The Stasi is more than just the Ministry in Berlin. 38 00:04:03,162 --> 00:04:05,890 In Berlin we have the Ministry headed by Erich Mielke. 39 00:04:06,307 --> 00:04:09,039 Under it are 15 districts including Berlin 40 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,228 with a District Administration in each, 41 00:04:11,244 --> 00:04:13,611 whose directors report directly to Mielke. 42 00:04:13,673 --> 00:04:16,712 And under them are Local Administrative Offices, 43 00:04:16,767 --> 00:04:21,166 in Leipzig it's 13, each with its own specialist departments. 44 00:04:21,244 --> 00:04:23,389 Looking at their job descriptions, you won't find 45 00:04:23,414 --> 00:04:26,298 a single area of public life that didn't fall 46 00:04:26,323 --> 00:04:28,900 under the purview of one of these specialist departments, 47 00:04:28,971 --> 00:04:31,056 to monitor and secure it. 48 00:04:31,081 --> 00:04:32,617 The Local Offices ensured 49 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:34,800 total surveillance of the entire country. 50 00:04:45,991 --> 00:04:50,696 15 District Administrations and over 200 Local Offices 51 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,080 blanket the whole country. 52 00:05:13,570 --> 00:05:19,430 By the 1980's the Stasi has over 90,000 full-time personnel. 53 00:05:22,798 --> 00:05:26,461 It is East Germany’s largest government agency. 54 00:05:32,215 --> 00:05:35,844 The Stasi takes on more and more tasks. 55 00:05:37,234 --> 00:05:39,133 Next to domestic security 56 00:05:39,157 --> 00:05:42,149 it is responsible for foreign espionage and 57 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,520 counter intelligence, personal and site security, 58 00:05:45,587 --> 00:05:47,961 and border and passport checks. 59 00:05:52,271 --> 00:05:55,039 In a forest in northern Berlin, between 60 00:05:55,064 --> 00:05:56,656 Bernau and Wandlitz, 61 00:05:56,712 --> 00:06:00,645 is a location that can't be found on any East German map. 62 00:06:06,492 --> 00:06:11,006 In the late 1950s the Stasi builds the "forest colony" 63 00:06:11,031 --> 00:06:14,094 here, to guarantee the personal security of 64 00:06:14,110 --> 00:06:16,043 the Party's ruling committee. 65 00:06:17,242 --> 00:06:21,258 140 Stasi personnel guard the colony. 66 00:06:21,336 --> 00:06:26,696 Another 600 attend to the 23 families of Party functionaries. 67 00:06:28,547 --> 00:06:31,947 Erich Honecker lives in Hawk Lane number 5. 68 00:06:32,104 --> 00:06:36,516 Erich Mielke lives one street further in number 1. 69 00:06:38,249 --> 00:06:41,765 Mielke is not only Minister for State Security. 70 00:06:41,832 --> 00:06:44,539 He's also head of SV Dynamo, 71 00:06:44,563 --> 00:06:48,875 the sports club for police, customs and Stasi. 72 00:06:52,074 --> 00:06:53,938 Mielke supports in particular 73 00:06:53,963 --> 00:06:56,656 the soccer team Berlin Dynamo 74 00:06:56,743 --> 00:06:59,410 and assigns the best players to Berlin. 75 00:07:01,781 --> 00:07:04,758 In spite of its success, Berlin Dynamo, 76 00:07:04,783 --> 00:07:06,704 known as the Stasi team, 77 00:07:06,744 --> 00:07:10,861 never wins favour with East Germany’s soccer fans. 78 00:07:12,635 --> 00:07:15,962 Espionage is one of the Stasi's primary tasks 79 00:07:15,994 --> 00:07:17,876 during the Cold War. 80 00:07:18,626 --> 00:07:21,930 In the Satellite Reconnaissance Centre in Biesenthal, 81 00:07:21,962 --> 00:07:25,001 north of Berlin, Central Department III 82 00:07:25,026 --> 00:07:27,057 uses 30-feet dish antennas 83 00:07:27,089 --> 00:07:29,994 to intercept Western satellite signals. 84 00:07:35,994 --> 00:07:39,822 Radio technology is of great interest to the secret service. 85 00:07:40,033 --> 00:07:42,354 The Stasi monitors all companies 86 00:07:42,379 --> 00:07:44,846 involved in constructing the TV tower 87 00:07:44,854 --> 00:07:47,260 on Berlin's Alexander square. 88 00:07:48,158 --> 00:07:51,010 After its completion, 7 employees of 89 00:07:51,035 --> 00:07:54,628 Central Department XX remain active in the tower. 90 00:08:01,988 --> 00:08:04,682 Along the West German border the Stasi 91 00:08:04,707 --> 00:08:06,613 installs antennas to eavesdrop 92 00:08:06,637 --> 00:08:09,894 on car phones and radio communications. 93 00:08:13,924 --> 00:08:17,651 At the time, two thirds of all West German phone calls 94 00:08:17,675 --> 00:08:20,550 are transmitted by wireless radio links. 95 00:08:22,312 --> 00:08:25,503 One primary link between Hannover and Munich 96 00:08:25,543 --> 00:08:28,199 crosses East German territory. 97 00:08:31,917 --> 00:08:35,041 In good weather, the Stasi could pick up calls from 98 00:08:35,066 --> 00:08:39,113 as far away as Frankfurt, Cologne and Bonn. 99 00:08:46,386 --> 00:08:50,136 Together with the National Army, the Stasi also conducts 100 00:08:50,161 --> 00:08:52,784 air reconnaissance near the border. 101 00:09:02,213 --> 00:09:04,315 Eavesdropping stations are installed 102 00:09:04,345 --> 00:09:07,714 in the freight holds of Antonow transport planes. 103 00:09:08,081 --> 00:09:10,784 There Stasi personnel transcribe 104 00:09:10,808 --> 00:09:13,182 the monitored radio communications. 105 00:09:13,691 --> 00:09:16,722 In Operation DISKANT, the planes start 106 00:09:16,747 --> 00:09:18,526 in Dresden and follow 107 00:09:18,553 --> 00:09:21,761 the inner-German border up to the Baltic Sea. 108 00:09:26,195 --> 00:09:29,050 Even though they wear Border Police uniforms, 109 00:09:29,075 --> 00:09:31,768 it is exclusively Stasi personnel who 110 00:09:31,777 --> 00:09:35,377 check travellers at East Germany's border checkpoints. 111 00:09:40,787 --> 00:09:43,763 The Stasi becomes increasingly occupied 112 00:09:43,803 --> 00:09:46,003 with finding qualified personnel. 113 00:09:46,232 --> 00:09:49,162 People can't apply for positions on their own. 114 00:09:49,248 --> 00:09:53,904 Every employee is approached and recruited by the Stasi. 115 00:09:58,663 --> 00:10:00,857 People would come to the local office saying 116 00:10:00,914 --> 00:10:03,068 "I'd like to work for you", as secretary 117 00:10:03,093 --> 00:10:05,451 or such, because one could make more money 118 00:10:05,467 --> 00:10:06,920 than in the regular economy. 119 00:10:07,113 --> 00:10:09,256 As a rule these people were rejected, 120 00:10:09,281 --> 00:10:11,507 it was always suspected they'd been sent by 121 00:10:11,523 --> 00:10:13,390 foreign intelligence services. 122 00:10:13,415 --> 00:10:16,210 So there were sometimes major personnel shortages, 123 00:10:16,281 --> 00:10:18,952 and pressure to get a position filled in time. 124 00:10:19,008 --> 00:10:21,812 Frequently the children of full-time employees 125 00:10:21,828 --> 00:10:22,943 would be hired. 126 00:10:22,968 --> 00:10:25,726 The reasoning was: we know their background, 127 00:10:25,758 --> 00:10:27,375 they grew up in our culture 128 00:10:27,446 --> 00:10:30,695 and are surely willing to work for us just as their parents do. 129 00:10:30,875 --> 00:10:33,328 And so we sometimes find entire families 130 00:10:33,578 --> 00:10:35,031 – father, mother, child – 131 00:10:35,078 --> 00:10:36,664 in the personnel lists. 132 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,883 Stasi spies travel abroad under false passports. 133 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,648 The Ministry's Central Intelligence Administration 134 00:10:48,742 --> 00:10:51,172 targets primarily the western neighbour 135 00:10:51,219 --> 00:10:53,625 – the Federal Republic of Germany. 136 00:10:54,863 --> 00:10:57,039 Not only East Germans, but some 137 00:10:57,064 --> 00:10:59,664 2,000 citizens of the Federal Republic 138 00:10:59,739 --> 00:11:02,640 are active in the West as Stasi agents. 139 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,000 The Stasi sees itself as East Germany's defender 140 00:11:12,025 --> 00:11:15,420 in the Cold War, the worldwide conflict between 141 00:11:15,445 --> 00:11:19,781 Socialism and, in its terms, Imperialism. 142 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,429 Therefore every criticism of the socialist system, 143 00:11:27,454 --> 00:11:31,343 every dissenting opinion, must come from outside, 144 00:11:31,476 --> 00:11:34,851 controlled by western imperialist forces. 145 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,140 Following this fatal logic, the Stasi starts 146 00:11:46,172 --> 00:11:50,585 a sort of "cold civil war" against its own people. 147 00:12:01,524 --> 00:12:03,804 Sometime in the 80s, the surveillance apparatus 148 00:12:03,829 --> 00:12:05,882 was assessed to find out exactly 149 00:12:05,913 --> 00:12:07,921 how many spies were under surveillance 150 00:12:07,937 --> 00:12:09,007 here in the district. 151 00:12:09,182 --> 00:12:11,163 How many were suspected of espionage 152 00:12:11,179 --> 00:12:13,246 and how many were really spies. 153 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,452 And here in the report for the Magdeburg District, 154 00:12:15,755 --> 00:12:19,007 it says that the result was sobering and disappointing: 155 00:12:19,179 --> 00:12:21,312 No spies were found here at all. 156 00:12:21,406 --> 00:12:25,053 Instead, only politically undesirable East German citizens 157 00:12:25,078 --> 00:12:27,476 were being scrutinized the entire time. 158 00:12:27,615 --> 00:12:30,575 Spy hunting, the essential secret service task, 159 00:12:30,615 --> 00:12:33,583 was basically not taking place at all. 160 00:12:39,303 --> 00:12:41,849 This focus on monitoring its own people 161 00:12:41,881 --> 00:12:45,068 requires a massive expansion of the Stasi. 162 00:12:51,470 --> 00:12:53,536 An even greater expansion was planned. 163 00:12:53,788 --> 00:12:55,858 Significantly it took place during the period 164 00:12:55,883 --> 00:12:58,100 of détente prescribed by the Party 165 00:12:58,179 --> 00:13:01,646 and codified as the Policy of Peaceful Coexistence. 166 00:13:01,829 --> 00:13:03,561 It meant that Western correspondents 167 00:13:03,611 --> 00:13:05,186 had to be allowed into the country. 168 00:13:05,557 --> 00:13:07,194 The apparatus had to be modified, 169 00:13:07,218 --> 00:13:11,186 with harsh 50s-style repression used only as a last resort. 170 00:13:11,297 --> 00:13:14,764 A whole new apparatus with a different orientation arises. 171 00:13:14,789 --> 00:13:18,085 And when we speak of Stasi, we really mean the Party. 172 00:13:18,142 --> 00:13:21,069 This Ministry of State Security was nothing else 173 00:13:21,093 --> 00:13:23,366 than a subordinate agency of the Party. 174 00:13:23,391 --> 00:13:25,897 We're talking about the Party's ruling apparatus here. 175 00:13:29,626 --> 00:13:34,389 "Shield and Sword of the Party" is what the Stasi calls itself. 176 00:13:34,477 --> 00:13:38,038 9 out of 10 employees are Party members. 177 00:13:38,596 --> 00:13:42,116 Till the demise of East Germany, the Party dictatorship 178 00:13:42,163 --> 00:13:44,374 dares not to face its opponents. 179 00:13:44,665 --> 00:13:47,155 Instead, the Stasi has to keep 180 00:13:47,202 --> 00:13:50,444 all dissenting opinions under control. 181 00:13:53,197 --> 00:13:55,046 Dogs are trained to sniff out 182 00:13:55,062 --> 00:13:57,662 the originators of critical pamphlets. 183 00:13:59,749 --> 00:14:03,936 The Stasi collects scent samples of suspicious citizens. 184 00:14:12,154 --> 00:14:15,069 It develops special machines to open, 185 00:14:15,094 --> 00:14:19,304 copy if necessary, and reseal 90,000 letters 186 00:14:19,328 --> 00:14:23,242 a day sent from or to suspicious persons. 187 00:14:27,041 --> 00:14:28,328 Technical eavesdropping was 188 00:14:28,352 --> 00:14:31,070 one of the Stasi's major sources of information. 189 00:14:31,128 --> 00:14:32,753 Mail surveillance too but 190 00:14:32,794 --> 00:14:34,768 primarily telephone wire-tapping. 191 00:14:34,845 --> 00:14:38,820 And specifically targeted suspects would be bugged too. 192 00:14:41,554 --> 00:14:46,258 In East Germany there is no free public expression of opinion. 193 00:14:46,473 --> 00:14:48,258 To keep the Party informed of 194 00:14:48,282 --> 00:14:50,554 the citizens' sentiment, the Stasi 195 00:14:50,579 --> 00:14:52,711 probes with wire-tapping devices, 196 00:14:52,774 --> 00:14:56,157 hidden cameras and covert agents. 197 00:15:05,852 --> 00:15:07,414 For daily use, so to speak, there were 198 00:15:07,439 --> 00:15:10,063 suitcases like this "Construction Worker" model 199 00:15:10,088 --> 00:15:11,821 or the "Arab" model there. 200 00:15:11,846 --> 00:15:14,188 These cases contained the basic equipment for 201 00:15:14,213 --> 00:15:16,282 conversion to any specific type, 202 00:15:16,415 --> 00:15:17,571 which could then be set up very 203 00:15:17,596 --> 00:15:19,995 quickly in the woods or somewhere. 204 00:15:24,843 --> 00:15:28,329 Calling on the Stasi soon become the preferred solution 205 00:15:28,368 --> 00:15:30,946 to any problem in East Germany. 206 00:15:37,192 --> 00:15:39,250 East bloc states were on the CoCom Embargo List 207 00:15:39,283 --> 00:15:41,797 of countries to which the export of advanced 208 00:15:41,798 --> 00:15:43,704 Western technologies was forbidden. 209 00:15:45,094 --> 00:15:46,633 So it was attempted to bring computers 210 00:15:46,673 --> 00:15:49,899 into the East German market by covert means, through 211 00:15:49,924 --> 00:15:51,758 collaborators who worked in the West 212 00:15:51,829 --> 00:15:55,461 or who had family connections to individual computer dealers. 213 00:15:56,728 --> 00:15:58,329 That worked in some cases 214 00:15:58,712 --> 00:15:59,829 but of course never enough 215 00:15:59,845 --> 00:16:02,547 to satisfy East Germany's economic demand. 216 00:16:08,110 --> 00:16:11,829 After 1990, Erich Mielke declares it as his 217 00:16:11,854 --> 00:16:13,649 single greatest mistake, 218 00:16:13,681 --> 00:16:18,063 that the Stasi became East Germany's "jack of all trades". 219 00:16:21,604 --> 00:16:23,797 Dissatisfaction is widespread 220 00:16:23,860 --> 00:16:26,060 among the East German population. 221 00:16:27,519 --> 00:16:30,258 Yet the Stasi strives to create the impression 222 00:16:30,283 --> 00:16:32,946 of the Socialist system's superiority 223 00:16:32,970 --> 00:16:35,637 to that of the class enemy in the West. 224 00:16:44,464 --> 00:16:47,821 It was of greatest importance to keep a lid on certain things. 225 00:16:47,846 --> 00:16:50,526 Never to let serious criminal offences become 226 00:16:50,551 --> 00:16:53,249 known to the general public, to create the illusion that 227 00:16:53,274 --> 00:16:55,607 law and order rule in this country. 228 00:16:55,694 --> 00:16:58,063 So officially there are no murderers, 229 00:16:58,141 --> 00:17:00,208 no child molesters or the like. 230 00:17:00,512 --> 00:17:02,992 But we do find cases - I found one myself, 231 00:17:03,017 --> 00:17:06,937 from the 60s, a paedophile case handled by the criminal police. 232 00:17:06,962 --> 00:17:09,682 The offender's file was taken from the police, 233 00:17:09,707 --> 00:17:11,711 he was approached by the secret service 234 00:17:11,735 --> 00:17:14,735 and blackmailed into acting as an informant. 235 00:17:21,098 --> 00:17:22,922 Over time, the number of civilian 236 00:17:22,979 --> 00:17:26,188 unofficial collaborators or IMs rises 237 00:17:26,196 --> 00:17:28,664 in step with the number of full time personnel. 238 00:17:28,799 --> 00:17:30,868 The method of recruitment changes too. 239 00:17:31,210 --> 00:17:34,719 In the 1950s many people were pressured into collaboration. 240 00:17:34,759 --> 00:17:37,860 Yet by the 1970s and 80s the preferred basis 241 00:17:37,891 --> 00:17:40,297 for an IM's commitment to the Ministry 242 00:17:40,329 --> 00:17:42,586 was conviction and personal contact. 243 00:17:42,821 --> 00:17:44,735 So latest from the 60s onward, 244 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:46,875 the majority of civilian collaborators 245 00:17:46,907 --> 00:17:48,840 was acting out of conviction. 246 00:17:49,922 --> 00:17:53,445 In the end the Stasi numbers 90,000 247 00:17:53,453 --> 00:17:57,898 regular personnel and 180,000 IM's. 248 00:17:58,537 --> 00:18:01,820 The vast majority works within East German borders 249 00:18:01,853 --> 00:18:04,876 against their own fellow citizens. 250 00:18:15,854 --> 00:18:17,829 The basic motive for most unofficial 251 00:18:17,854 --> 00:18:20,369 collaborators is the subjectively felt pressure 252 00:18:20,385 --> 00:18:21,852 to conform to society. 253 00:18:22,259 --> 00:18:24,127 The Secret Service used the phrase 254 00:18:24,167 --> 00:18:25,439 "He works with us out of 255 00:18:25,448 --> 00:18:27,715 political-ideological conviction". 256 00:18:27,941 --> 00:18:30,018 This wording was meant to paraphrase that 257 00:18:30,043 --> 00:18:32,682 motivation somewhat, and also veil the fact 258 00:18:32,706 --> 00:18:35,221 that there was really a wide range of motives. 259 00:18:35,261 --> 00:18:38,101 But basically, everyone asked to collaborate was 260 00:18:38,126 --> 00:18:40,432 aware of the risks of refusal 261 00:18:41,416 --> 00:18:43,900 – that the long arm of the political apparatus 262 00:18:43,932 --> 00:18:47,594 could reach into their careers and private lives at any time 263 00:18:47,619 --> 00:18:50,346 and sooner or later cause them personal harm. 264 00:18:50,371 --> 00:18:51,996 And this is the reason, I think, 265 00:18:52,021 --> 00:18:55,657 why most informers agreed to work with the Secret Service. 266 00:18:56,702 --> 00:18:59,081 The percentage of those who did it out of greed 267 00:18:59,098 --> 00:19:01,230 or for financial gain, or who were 268 00:19:01,255 --> 00:19:03,316 blackmailed because of criminal offences 269 00:19:03,324 --> 00:19:07,394 known only to the Secret Service, was rather low. 270 00:19:12,130 --> 00:19:15,410 Ultimately, 2 of every 100 adults 271 00:19:15,434 --> 00:19:18,160 in East Germany work for the Stasi. 272 00:19:18,638 --> 00:19:21,535 Relative to population, it is the largest 273 00:19:21,543 --> 00:19:24,808 secret service in the history of mankind. 274 00:19:26,045 --> 00:19:29,214 In the 1970s, East Germany's desire for 275 00:19:29,239 --> 00:19:31,042 international recognition 276 00:19:31,082 --> 00:19:35,636 throws the Party and the Stasi into an irresolvable dilemma. 277 00:19:36,347 --> 00:19:40,800 The use of raw physical force is increasingly shunned. 278 00:19:40,946 --> 00:19:45,675 Yet Socialism can be kept in power only by repression. 279 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:50,566 More inconspicuous means are found to keep critics in check. 280 00:19:54,186 --> 00:19:55,871 We're dealing with a government agency 281 00:19:55,879 --> 00:19:57,644 here so naturally there's a directive 282 00:19:57,669 --> 00:20:00,902 for this - Directive 1 from 1976, 283 00:20:00,988 --> 00:20:03,721 the so-called Disintegration Directive. 284 00:20:03,990 --> 00:20:07,246 In 60-odd pages it lays out in minute detail 285 00:20:07,276 --> 00:20:10,003 the appropriate measures for disintegrating someone. 286 00:20:10,403 --> 00:20:12,785 Disintegration means engineering personal 287 00:20:12,801 --> 00:20:15,401 and job-related misfortunes, to destroy 288 00:20:15,426 --> 00:20:17,199 the subject's self-esteem 289 00:20:17,238 --> 00:20:19,847 without them ever finding out who's turning the screw. 290 00:20:19,872 --> 00:20:22,160 In view of this, it's a fatal mistake 291 00:20:22,185 --> 00:20:23,831 to think that East Germany was going 292 00:20:23,848 --> 00:20:25,648 in a more humane direction. 293 00:20:25,756 --> 00:20:29,363 After all, disintegration means destroying lives. 294 00:20:29,388 --> 00:20:31,868 That should never be trivialized. 295 00:20:40,537 --> 00:20:46,042 The Stasi establishes its own academy for training personnel. 296 00:20:50,276 --> 00:20:52,074 The Stasi-Academy in Postdam-Eiche 297 00:20:52,090 --> 00:20:54,957 taught the subject operative psychology. 298 00:20:58,377 --> 00:21:00,855 There, primarily interrogators learned methods 299 00:21:00,894 --> 00:21:03,561 of eliciting confessions from prisoners. 300 00:21:08,810 --> 00:21:10,972 Graduates leave the School of Law 301 00:21:11,009 --> 00:21:14,800 with a diploma or doctorate in jurisprudence. 302 00:21:15,671 --> 00:21:20,351 Yet their education focuses on practical secret service work. 303 00:21:20,738 --> 00:21:23,258 One of the academy's official goals 304 00:21:23,283 --> 00:21:25,449 is the communist education of 305 00:21:25,465 --> 00:21:27,714 chekist leadership personalities. 306 00:21:35,339 --> 00:21:38,160 The Stasi had its own investigative department 307 00:21:38,168 --> 00:21:40,456 which conducted proceedings autonomously. 308 00:21:40,481 --> 00:21:42,699 It built up its own legal commentary 309 00:21:42,724 --> 00:21:44,378 at the Ministry's School of Law, 310 00:21:44,426 --> 00:21:46,959 designated as secret and confidential. 311 00:21:47,255 --> 00:21:49,346 That means, on the one hand, there was 312 00:21:49,371 --> 00:21:52,175 the regular commentary to the criminal code, readily 313 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,581 available at every library and book store 314 00:21:54,606 --> 00:21:57,575 and which all prosecutors and judges had to go on. 315 00:21:57,731 --> 00:21:59,786 And then there was the secret commentary 316 00:21:59,811 --> 00:22:01,756 which the Stasi granted itself. 317 00:22:01,781 --> 00:22:03,864 Which raises the question: why keep it 318 00:22:03,889 --> 00:22:07,325 secret if it didn't codify illegal actions? 319 00:22:13,894 --> 00:22:16,909 As an investigative organ the Stasi, like 320 00:22:16,934 --> 00:22:19,215 the police and the State Prosecutors, 321 00:22:19,353 --> 00:22:21,664 can investigate citizens and initiate 322 00:22:21,690 --> 00:22:24,348 proceedings at its own discretion. 323 00:22:25,431 --> 00:22:28,034 It maintains its own detention facilities 324 00:22:28,059 --> 00:22:31,411 alongside the jails of the regular police. 325 00:22:37,030 --> 00:22:39,550 That is why, in my opinion, comparisons to 326 00:22:39,575 --> 00:22:42,055 other secret services simply fall short: 327 00:22:43,291 --> 00:22:46,028 the Stasi always worked on three levels. 328 00:22:46,569 --> 00:22:49,369 As a conventional intelligence agency, for one. 329 00:22:50,306 --> 00:22:52,348 But also as a secret police against 330 00:22:52,373 --> 00:22:56,770 its own people, and thirdly as an 331 00:22:56,795 --> 00:22:58,804 autonomous investigative agency. 332 00:23:00,423 --> 00:23:02,676 All of course, because Party rule was to 333 00:23:02,701 --> 00:23:05,395 be maintained by all necessary means. 334 00:23:06,613 --> 00:23:09,675 Especially after the uprisings of 1953 335 00:23:09,700 --> 00:23:11,840 it became obvious that the population 336 00:23:11,865 --> 00:23:13,926 had to be held in check politically 337 00:23:13,951 --> 00:23:16,200 by an especially alert organization. 338 00:23:16,502 --> 00:23:20,062 This investigative agency was just right for the purpose. 339 00:23:32,616 --> 00:23:35,433 The Stasi classifies political opponents 340 00:23:35,458 --> 00:23:38,192 as "hostile persons", "hostile-negative 341 00:23:38,217 --> 00:23:41,886 persons" and – as the most dangerous group 342 00:23:41,911 --> 00:23:44,442 – "hardened hostile-negative persons". 343 00:23:45,148 --> 00:23:47,878 These individuals are considered "lost 344 00:23:47,903 --> 00:23:51,036 to East Germany" and "not reclaimable". 345 00:23:51,598 --> 00:23:53,794 They're subject to the strictest scrutiny 346 00:23:53,819 --> 00:23:57,224 to prevent public actions on their part. 347 00:23:59,651 --> 00:24:02,668 The Stasi maintains 17 facilities 348 00:24:02,703 --> 00:24:04,528 for pre-trial detention. 349 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,262 The threat of imprisonment was always present. 350 00:24:10,287 --> 00:24:11,911 Without it the apparatus could not have 351 00:24:11,936 --> 00:24:14,176 worked, not had the impact it did. 352 00:24:15,644 --> 00:24:17,934 But actually the goal was to stop what were 353 00:24:17,959 --> 00:24:20,942 offences to the Party before they even took place. 354 00:24:20,967 --> 00:24:22,801 Not to let them advance to the point of 355 00:24:22,826 --> 00:24:25,074 imprisonment but nip them in the bud 356 00:24:25,099 --> 00:24:27,286 through disintegration measures and such. 357 00:24:27,311 --> 00:24:29,791 And likewise to sniff out every potential 358 00:24:29,816 --> 00:24:31,247 stirring of criticism, 359 00:24:31,278 --> 00:24:33,872 preferably before it was even thought of. 360 00:24:38,949 --> 00:24:41,511 Political criminal law pursues not so 361 00:24:41,536 --> 00:24:45,130 much actual acts as potential acts. 362 00:24:46,530 --> 00:24:48,958 The Stasi develops detailed criteria 363 00:24:48,983 --> 00:24:51,770 for determining when a suspicious individual 364 00:24:51,778 --> 00:24:53,111 may be investigated. 365 00:24:55,625 --> 00:24:57,844 The categories of suspects for which the Stasi 366 00:24:57,869 --> 00:24:59,664 would initiate operative action, as they 367 00:24:59,697 --> 00:25:02,287 called it, were precisely defined in terms 368 00:25:02,312 --> 00:25:04,547 of what was of importance to the apparatus. 369 00:25:04,658 --> 00:25:06,571 Yet when you peruse them from cover 370 00:25:06,596 --> 00:25:08,758 to cover, you'll find that virtually 371 00:25:08,770 --> 00:25:10,493 everything was of interest. 372 00:25:10,518 --> 00:25:13,188 Often you'll find those classifications used in 373 00:25:13,213 --> 00:25:16,078 the so-called "hand files", files on citizens 374 00:25:16,103 --> 00:25:18,383 who were not under permanent scrutiny but were 375 00:25:18,408 --> 00:25:20,446 being looked at for some particular cause. 376 00:25:20,626 --> 00:25:23,313 They included everything from spy and former Party 377 00:25:23,338 --> 00:25:27,071 member, over non-voter, to volunteer fire fighter. 378 00:25:27,096 --> 00:25:29,188 And the catch-all category, that we 379 00:25:29,213 --> 00:25:31,086 once found at a local office, was 380 00:25:31,111 --> 00:25:33,361 "malcontent and chronic complainer". 381 00:25:33,799 --> 00:25:36,040 That classification cleared the way for any 382 00:25:36,065 --> 00:25:38,797 Stasi employee to open a file on someone. 383 00:25:41,876 --> 00:25:43,276 SOUND OF A TYPEWRITER 384 00:25:45,834 --> 00:25:49,735 Arrests were generally made in the early morning hours. 385 00:25:56,307 --> 00:25:59,602 It wasn't common to be handed or shown an arrest warrant. 386 00:25:59,627 --> 00:26:01,805 A person might be picked up off the street. 387 00:26:02,056 --> 00:26:04,407 By law, an arrest warrant had to be issued 388 00:26:04,432 --> 00:26:09,280 by a judge or court of law, but could also be 389 00:26:09,305 --> 00:26:12,040 issued by a State Prosecutor or, in special 390 00:26:12,065 --> 00:26:14,399 cases, by the investigating authority 391 00:26:14,424 --> 00:26:17,024 which was Division IX of the Stasi. 392 00:26:18,575 --> 00:26:20,352 And the Stasi itself decided what 393 00:26:20,368 --> 00:26:22,368 qualified as a "special case". 394 00:26:26,281 --> 00:26:27,352 That meant that for the Stasi, 395 00:26:27,377 --> 00:26:29,804 the justification for arrests was not 396 00:26:29,829 --> 00:26:31,721 determined solely by the courts. 397 00:26:41,445 --> 00:26:43,755 Most arrestees are told only they are 398 00:26:43,779 --> 00:26:47,165 detained for clarification of facts. 399 00:26:50,235 --> 00:26:54,071 The Stasi conceals the location of detention facilities. 400 00:26:54,811 --> 00:26:59,477 Adjacent buildings are inhabited only by facility personnel. 401 00:27:03,841 --> 00:27:06,321 Vehicles used for detainee transport 402 00:27:06,346 --> 00:27:08,596 are usually windowless and disguised 403 00:27:08,621 --> 00:27:12,001 as bakery or laundry delivery vans. 404 00:27:19,285 --> 00:27:21,610 For example, people were snatched off the street 405 00:27:21,635 --> 00:27:24,054 in Rostock, put in a vehicle and driven around 406 00:27:24,079 --> 00:27:26,452 the city and its surrounding area for 3 hours. 407 00:27:26,477 --> 00:27:28,680 They were blindfolded, so afterwards 408 00:27:28,705 --> 00:27:29,797 some of them thought they were in 409 00:27:29,822 --> 00:27:32,151 Cottbus or Berlin or who knows where. 410 00:27:33,137 --> 00:27:35,188 And it took them a whole while to realize 411 00:27:35,196 --> 00:27:36,729 where they really were. 412 00:27:36,756 --> 00:27:37,969 That they were still in the same 413 00:27:37,994 --> 00:27:40,124 city where they'd been picked up. 414 00:27:43,696 --> 00:27:45,803 DRAMATIC MUSIC 415 00:27:56,559 --> 00:27:59,683 Apart from interrogations lasting for hours, 416 00:27:59,708 --> 00:28:03,118 detainees are held in complete isolation. 417 00:28:03,348 --> 00:28:07,517 The cells have no windows, only glass bricks. 418 00:28:25,361 --> 00:28:27,841 Imprisonment is always depressing. 419 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:32,376 Yet here the reasons for it are intolerable as well. 420 00:28:42,998 --> 00:28:46,680 In 1975, head of Party and State Erich Honecker 421 00:28:46,705 --> 00:28:49,415 signs the Helsinki Accords, the Final Act of 422 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,133 the Conference on Cooperation and Security in Europe, 423 00:28:52,158 --> 00:28:54,251 which brings citizens of East Germany 424 00:28:54,276 --> 00:28:56,883 the possibility to act according to its Human Rights 425 00:28:56,908 --> 00:28:59,571 Charta, which includes the right of unrestricted 426 00:28:59,596 --> 00:29:02,435 movement, free travel and choice of residence. 427 00:29:06,099 --> 00:29:08,619 After that point, most detainees here were 428 00:29:08,644 --> 00:29:10,876 people who had tried to flee the country 429 00:29:10,901 --> 00:29:12,961 or who had petitioned repeatedly for legal 430 00:29:12,986 --> 00:29:15,538 emigration 431 00:29:20,095 --> 00:29:21,837 and then taken up contact with 432 00:29:21,862 --> 00:29:24,109 a Western human rights organization. 433 00:29:24,134 --> 00:29:27,025 Or people charged with obstructing government agencies. 434 00:29:27,050 --> 00:29:29,473 Or, as the Stasi called it, provocative 435 00:29:29,498 --> 00:29:31,681 acts of public demonstration. 436 00:29:41,126 --> 00:29:43,440 Prison staffers address the prisoners 437 00:29:43,465 --> 00:29:46,946 only by number, not by name. 438 00:29:55,143 --> 00:29:57,564 We know of detainees who for a very long time 439 00:29:57,589 --> 00:29:59,853 didn't find out the reason for their detention. 440 00:29:59,878 --> 00:30:02,368 We know that in one case, the detainee never did 441 00:30:02,393 --> 00:30:04,915 learn the charges – charges which could've been 442 00:30:04,940 --> 00:30:07,839 easily dismissed but weren't, to keep him here. 443 00:30:23,095 --> 00:30:25,428 COUNTING IN GERMAN 444 00:30:32,954 --> 00:30:35,118 Even prisoners are recruited as 445 00:30:35,143 --> 00:30:37,385 unofficial collaborators, to collect 446 00:30:37,410 --> 00:30:40,157 information on fellow inmates. 447 00:30:47,075 --> 00:30:49,720 Usually prisoners were kept alone in a cell 448 00:30:49,744 --> 00:30:51,040 for long periods. 449 00:30:51,665 --> 00:30:55,285 Later they'd sometimes place a second detainee in the cell. 450 00:30:56,893 --> 00:30:59,493 Not seldom the later arrival was there to act 451 00:30:59,518 --> 00:31:03,046 as a cell snitch, to worm his way into the 452 00:31:03,071 --> 00:31:05,329 trust of the cell mate and report everything 453 00:31:05,354 --> 00:31:07,556 he thought and planned, how he expressed 454 00:31:07,581 --> 00:31:10,230 himself about his interrogations and so on. 455 00:31:14,563 --> 00:31:15,964 That wasn't uncommon. 456 00:31:15,988 --> 00:31:18,190 Many detainees were made into unofficial 457 00:31:18,215 --> 00:31:20,057 collaborators once they'd been thoroughly 458 00:31:20,082 --> 00:31:22,424 worn down – sooner or later they'd sign their 459 00:31:22,449 --> 00:31:25,158 consent out of fear of renewed imprisonment. 460 00:31:32,378 --> 00:31:35,448 It's a tragic travesty of justice, how people were 461 00:31:35,473 --> 00:31:38,362 stripped of their will and used as instruments. 462 00:31:54,284 --> 00:31:56,808 MUSIC 463 00:32:08,638 --> 00:32:11,180 Confession by the accused is the simplest 464 00:32:11,205 --> 00:32:13,262 way to get a conviction in court. 465 00:32:13,987 --> 00:32:17,745 Therefore a major goal of pre-trial interrogations 466 00:32:17,770 --> 00:32:21,268 is to get a signed confession from the detainee. 467 00:32:29,199 --> 00:32:30,862 Here they ran up and down the whole 468 00:32:30,887 --> 00:32:33,378 scale, from a friendly, fatherly manner, 469 00:32:33,403 --> 00:32:35,471 to bullying and threats of punishment 470 00:32:35,496 --> 00:32:37,865 or retaliations toward family members. 471 00:32:40,981 --> 00:32:43,112 And since often the interrogator was the only 472 00:32:43,143 --> 00:32:46,221 human contact for a long time, some prisoners 473 00:32:46,246 --> 00:32:48,323 even looked forward to interrogation 474 00:32:48,348 --> 00:32:50,466 while at the same time fearing it. 475 00:33:04,081 --> 00:33:06,641 Often the interrogations aren't sufficient. 476 00:33:06,666 --> 00:33:10,399 Many a confession is signed after hours or 477 00:33:10,424 --> 00:33:14,041 days in a soundproof and pitch-black cell. 478 00:33:23,370 --> 00:33:25,474 SOUND OF A TYPEWRITER 479 00:33:29,005 --> 00:33:32,112 Few trials last longer than one day. 480 00:33:36,985 --> 00:33:38,690 One can't say that it was always 481 00:33:38,715 --> 00:33:40,501 the case, but an independent judiciary 482 00:33:40,526 --> 00:33:42,338 did not exist in East Germany. 483 00:33:42,363 --> 00:33:45,963 We know cases where the Stasi proposed sentences directly. 484 00:33:45,988 --> 00:33:48,508 Sometimes Erich Mielke personally would 485 00:33:48,533 --> 00:33:50,573 determine a sentence and all that remained 486 00:33:50,598 --> 00:33:53,077 for the judge to do was to carry it out. 487 00:33:54,866 --> 00:33:57,785 In the course of the 60s, 70s and 80s, East 488 00:33:57,818 --> 00:34:00,236 Germany perfected one thing: To present 489 00:34:00,261 --> 00:34:02,557 itself to the outside world as a state with 490 00:34:02,582 --> 00:34:05,518 a functioning judiciary, a functioning democracy, 491 00:34:05,543 --> 00:34:08,314 industry, and market economy while everything 492 00:34:08,339 --> 00:34:10,687 was really controlled from the inside. 493 00:34:17,947 --> 00:34:20,798 After sentencing, the convicts are placed 494 00:34:20,823 --> 00:34:22,948 in one of the East German prisons. 495 00:34:25,234 --> 00:34:29,526 But the Stasi wants to keep certain prisoners under control. 496 00:34:33,529 --> 00:34:37,345 The penitentiary Bautzen II, formally an ordinary 497 00:34:37,370 --> 00:34:41,081 prison, is made into a special penal institute. 498 00:34:41,773 --> 00:34:45,173 Starting in 1956, the Stasi places its 499 00:34:45,198 --> 00:34:48,299 inmates and sets their terms of sentence. 500 00:35:03,530 --> 00:35:06,354 Bautzen II, unlike other penitentiaries, 501 00:35:06,370 --> 00:35:07,971 was never overcrowded. 502 00:35:07,996 --> 00:35:10,298 On average, some 150 prisoners were 503 00:35:10,323 --> 00:35:12,791 kept here though there were 203 places. 504 00:35:12,998 --> 00:35:15,581 That shows that the Stasi followed its criteria 505 00:35:15,589 --> 00:35:16,713 quite precisely. 506 00:35:16,850 --> 00:35:18,463 Only hand-picked clients were 507 00:35:18,479 --> 00:35:20,471 brought here to Bautzen. 508 00:35:25,564 --> 00:35:28,173 At the same time there was a high number of staff. 509 00:35:28,207 --> 00:35:30,143 This affected the daily routine. 510 00:35:30,168 --> 00:35:33,229 Ultimately 80 staffers were working here. 511 00:35:33,341 --> 00:35:36,471 So every attendant had only two prisoners to deal with. 512 00:35:36,514 --> 00:35:40,143 Other institutions had a ratio of 1 to 7 or 8. 513 00:35:42,926 --> 00:35:45,963 That means that surveillance could really be perfected. 514 00:35:45,988 --> 00:35:48,323 No other prison was able to monitor inmates 515 00:35:48,347 --> 00:35:49,480 with such detail. 516 00:35:49,711 --> 00:35:53,088 An inmate's activity was noted every five minutes. 517 00:35:54,594 --> 00:35:57,588 For instance, "15:55 hours: the prisoner is pacing. 518 00:35:57,651 --> 00:36:00,596 16:00 hours: the prisoner starts reading". 519 00:36:00,755 --> 00:36:02,935 So every five minutes someone would 520 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:04,909 be looking in through the peep-hole. 521 00:36:04,934 --> 00:36:06,924 There wasn't a bit of privacy. 522 00:36:16,823 --> 00:36:18,792 MUSIC 523 00:36:31,686 --> 00:36:34,182 Officially there are no political prisoners 524 00:36:34,190 --> 00:36:35,257 in East Germany. 525 00:36:35,579 --> 00:36:38,190 "Espionage" is cited by the Stasi 526 00:36:38,215 --> 00:36:41,136 as a main reason for imprisonment. 527 00:36:47,346 --> 00:36:50,110 Real or alleged espionage and assisting in 528 00:36:50,135 --> 00:36:52,338 escape from East Germany were the two main 529 00:36:52,363 --> 00:36:54,885 offences for sentencing someone to Bautzen II. 530 00:36:54,910 --> 00:36:57,456 Many were convicted of espionage for actions which 531 00:36:57,481 --> 00:36:59,760 should have been allowed under human rights, such 532 00:36:59,785 --> 00:37:03,425 as critical reporting and striving for reforms. 533 00:37:08,636 --> 00:37:11,376 The Stasi can eavesdrop on cells from its 534 00:37:11,401 --> 00:37:13,660 neighbouring local administrative office. 535 00:37:17,881 --> 00:37:21,229 Visiting rooms are monitored with hidden cameras. 536 00:37:24,712 --> 00:37:27,312 There was a dense network of informers here. 537 00:37:27,337 --> 00:37:30,026 Some staff attendants were working for the Stasi, 538 00:37:30,051 --> 00:37:32,932 and inmates were obligated to spy on each other. 539 00:37:32,957 --> 00:37:36,120 Each Stasi division had its own network of informers. 540 00:37:36,145 --> 00:37:40,112 Central Division IX had one, Division VII had theirs. 541 00:37:40,137 --> 00:37:42,557 And on top of that, the division networks were set 542 00:37:42,582 --> 00:37:45,120 against each other and there were even individual 543 00:37:45,145 --> 00:37:48,307 prisoners who were obligated to spy on staffers. 544 00:37:54,875 --> 00:37:57,355 The Stasi spies on prison staff. 545 00:37:58,275 --> 00:38:00,795 The staff spies on the inmates. 546 00:38:01,304 --> 00:38:03,995 The inmates spy on other inmates 547 00:38:04,003 --> 00:38:05,276 – and the staff. 548 00:38:06,061 --> 00:38:08,698 The goal is total surveillance. 549 00:38:14,521 --> 00:38:16,640 Citizens are arrested by the Stasi 550 00:38:16,666 --> 00:38:19,276 not only within East German borders. 551 00:38:19,423 --> 00:38:23,902 In some cases, suspects are also abducted from the West. 552 00:38:30,235 --> 00:38:32,518 To date we've found exactly 13 cases 553 00:38:32,543 --> 00:38:34,018 where the Stasi snatched someone out 554 00:38:34,043 --> 00:38:35,990 of West Berlin or West Germany. 555 00:38:38,884 --> 00:38:42,324 A sham meeting would be set up with, say, a journalist. 556 00:38:42,896 --> 00:38:44,752 There the person would be knocked out, 557 00:38:44,777 --> 00:38:46,541 spirited across the border in a car 558 00:38:46,566 --> 00:38:48,881 trunk and sentenced to prison. 559 00:38:49,756 --> 00:38:52,276 Yet another way to end up in Bautzen II. 560 00:38:56,328 --> 00:38:58,626 To avoid international criticism, 561 00:38:58,651 --> 00:39:03,573 the incarceration rate is reduced during the 1970s. 562 00:39:05,122 --> 00:39:08,489 Over 30,000 political prisoners are sold 563 00:39:08,514 --> 00:39:10,701 to the Federal Republic of Germany. 564 00:39:13,582 --> 00:39:15,944 "Good behaviour" is the official reason 565 00:39:15,969 --> 00:39:17,966 for early release into the West. 566 00:39:18,481 --> 00:39:21,332 From the 1970s onward, the desire to 567 00:39:21,356 --> 00:39:23,579 live there is the main reason for 568 00:39:23,604 --> 00:39:25,963 imprisonment in the first place. 569 00:39:30,763 --> 00:39:33,338 Now we can put it in historical perspective: 570 00:39:33,363 --> 00:39:35,799 In the 70s, it appeared to the West that its 571 00:39:35,824 --> 00:39:38,534 policy of "Change Through Rapprochement", as 572 00:39:38,559 --> 00:39:40,807 Willy Brandt's advisor Egon Bahr famously 573 00:39:40,832 --> 00:39:43,221 phrased it, was working because the number 574 00:39:43,246 --> 00:39:44,956 of political prisoners had decreased. 575 00:39:44,981 --> 00:39:46,987 In fact, only the methods of applying 576 00:39:47,012 --> 00:39:49,104 pressure to the population had changed. 577 00:39:49,129 --> 00:39:51,338 The repression was still there but more 578 00:39:51,363 --> 00:39:53,354 veiled so East Germany could avoid 579 00:39:53,379 --> 00:39:55,549 defamation for holding so many prisoners. 580 00:40:06,084 --> 00:40:10,206 The Stasi places only special prisoners in Bautzen. 581 00:40:10,255 --> 00:40:13,323 That leads to special prison conditions. 582 00:40:20,935 --> 00:40:23,424 Bautzen II is characterized by an enormous 583 00:40:23,448 --> 00:40:24,932 change in conditions. 584 00:40:25,155 --> 00:40:29,432 In the 1950s and 60s, conditions here were extremely harsh. 585 00:40:29,457 --> 00:40:31,620 Sanitation was abysmal. 586 00:40:31,645 --> 00:40:34,088 Inmates were in a miserable state, their 587 00:40:34,113 --> 00:40:36,509 care and feeding wasn't fit for a dog. 588 00:40:39,057 --> 00:40:41,837 That changed in the 1970s as a result of West 589 00:40:41,861 --> 00:40:44,760 Germany's official recognition of East Germany. 590 00:40:45,910 --> 00:40:48,390 Conditions here improved drastically. 591 00:40:50,123 --> 00:40:54,096 In 1983 the cells even got warm running water. 592 00:40:54,167 --> 00:40:57,605 That was without precedent in East Germany's penal system. 593 00:40:57,629 --> 00:41:00,589 And all because so many foreigners were held here. 594 00:41:00,614 --> 00:41:03,110 Spies and accessories to escape who'd 595 00:41:03,135 --> 00:41:05,377 eventually be released back into the West. 596 00:41:05,402 --> 00:41:07,922 For them, concessions were granted. 597 00:41:07,947 --> 00:41:10,427 But the fact remains - surveillance, 598 00:41:10,452 --> 00:41:12,702 scrutiny and demoralization were 599 00:41:12,727 --> 00:41:15,028 practiced meticulously till the end. 600 00:41:15,053 --> 00:41:18,065 Inmates had no legal representation, 601 00:41:18,090 --> 00:41:20,174 they were helpless against the system. 602 00:41:20,199 --> 00:41:23,932 That was true till the final days. 603 00:41:27,308 --> 00:41:28,708 SOUND OF A TYPEWRITER 604 00:41:30,154 --> 00:41:33,559 Till 1987, East Germany's penal code 605 00:41:33,584 --> 00:41:36,291 also contains the death penalty. 606 00:41:39,793 --> 00:41:41,737 The first execution here in Leipzig was 607 00:41:41,762 --> 00:41:44,445 in 1960, a border guard who'd escaped 608 00:41:44,470 --> 00:41:46,377 into the West and was brought back. 609 00:41:46,402 --> 00:41:48,502 Here in the final report you can read 610 00:41:48,527 --> 00:41:51,002 the Stasi lead investigator's formulation: 611 00:41:51,027 --> 00:41:53,698 "The proceeding finds it appropriate to impose 612 00:41:53,723 --> 00:41:56,721 the death penalty on Smolka for political reasons." 613 00:41:57,281 --> 00:41:59,409 Erich Mielke signed his consent 614 00:41:59,434 --> 00:42:03,987 and the execution takes place just like that. 615 00:42:05,134 --> 00:42:09,925 The last execution in East Germany takes place in 1981. 616 00:42:11,597 --> 00:42:14,695 The directive instructs "an unexpected shot 617 00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:17,605 at close range to the back of the head". 618 00:42:20,194 --> 00:42:24,194 Many of those condemned to death worked for the Stasi themselves. 619 00:42:28,404 --> 00:42:30,712 In the late 70s and early 80s, it was 620 00:42:30,737 --> 00:42:33,120 primarily former secret service employees, 621 00:42:33,145 --> 00:42:35,206 especially Stasi personnel, who were 622 00:42:35,231 --> 00:42:37,190 condemned to death here in Leipzig. 623 00:42:37,215 --> 00:42:39,362 These executions were kept completely 624 00:42:39,387 --> 00:42:41,565 secret from the public, but well known 625 00:42:41,590 --> 00:42:43,854 within the particular security organization 626 00:42:43,879 --> 00:42:46,979 and used internally as a deterrent. 627 00:42:49,075 --> 00:42:50,948 An old janitor apartment in 628 00:42:50,973 --> 00:42:53,667 the Leipzig Correctional Facility becomes 629 00:42:53,692 --> 00:42:56,932 East Germany's secret site for executions. 630 00:42:58,576 --> 00:43:00,307 The cell in which the condemned 631 00:43:00,332 --> 00:43:03,495 awaits death measures 64 square feet. 632 00:43:11,922 --> 00:43:14,736 In this room, behind this door was the cell 633 00:43:14,761 --> 00:43:17,386 in which the condemned spent his final hours. 634 00:43:20,577 --> 00:43:23,057 He was allowed to write one last letter. 635 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:27,362 These letters were not forwarded to the relatives, 636 00:43:27,387 --> 00:43:29,864 they were found in the files after 1990. 637 00:43:31,859 --> 00:43:33,628 In this room he was told that his 638 00:43:33,653 --> 00:43:35,682 plea for clemency had been refused 639 00:43:35,730 --> 00:43:37,530 and execution was imminent. 640 00:43:39,208 --> 00:43:41,853 Inside here was yet another door, you 641 00:43:41,878 --> 00:43:43,592 see only a remnant of door frame. 642 00:43:43,857 --> 00:43:45,926 The executioner stood behind this 643 00:43:45,951 --> 00:43:48,409 door bearing a pistol with silencer. 644 00:43:48,867 --> 00:43:51,870 The condemned person was led into this room. 645 00:43:52,170 --> 00:43:54,737 As he tried to get his bearings, because it 646 00:43:54,762 --> 00:43:57,378 appears that this room leads somewhere else, 647 00:43:57,403 --> 00:43:59,104 the executioner would approach from 648 00:43:59,129 --> 00:44:02,987 the back and shoot him at close range. 649 00:44:12,383 --> 00:44:15,343 This modern Party dictatorship is worth analysing. 650 00:44:15,368 --> 00:44:18,339 It maintained a highly specialized division of labour. 651 00:44:18,364 --> 00:44:21,018 That means that anyone working as one in a mass 652 00:44:21,043 --> 00:44:23,872 felt few scruples, bore little responsibility. 653 00:44:23,897 --> 00:44:26,377 That's how such a system works. 654 00:44:29,113 --> 00:44:30,525 For those in power it has 655 00:44:30,559 --> 00:44:32,425 the advantage that the individual plays 656 00:44:32,450 --> 00:44:34,490 along with hardly any reservations. 657 00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:36,511 Today, when you ask anyone who 658 00:44:36,536 --> 00:44:38,323 participated in it, they'll tell you with 659 00:44:38,348 --> 00:44:40,690 complete credibility: "What did I do? 660 00:44:40,723 --> 00:44:42,214 I sat here at a desk all day, 661 00:44:42,253 --> 00:44:44,089 researching something in the files. 662 00:44:44,114 --> 00:44:47,474 To whom did I do any great harm, where's the problem?" 663 00:44:53,304 --> 00:44:56,206 In the Stasi's view, the greatest national 664 00:44:56,231 --> 00:44:59,101 threat is an attack by the West or another 665 00:44:59,126 --> 00:45:02,995 popular uprising like in June 1953. 666 00:45:04,158 --> 00:45:06,594 Bunkers are built to ensure operational 667 00:45:06,619 --> 00:45:09,597 readiness in an emergency. 668 00:45:11,542 --> 00:45:13,011 COUNTING IN GERMAN 669 00:45:21,029 --> 00:45:24,815 The bunker itself was built between 1968 and 1972. 670 00:45:24,981 --> 00:45:26,823 The mandate for its construction was 671 00:45:26,848 --> 00:45:29,506 the State Security Minister's Directive 1/67, 672 00:45:32,186 --> 00:45:34,167 which ordered that bomb-proof shelters were 673 00:45:34,192 --> 00:45:36,682 to be built for every District Administration 674 00:45:36,707 --> 00:45:39,175 and for the Central Divisions in Berlin. 675 00:45:40,816 --> 00:45:43,276 From these the various administrative units could 676 00:45:43,309 --> 00:45:46,448 conduct their Stasi operations even during war. 677 00:45:48,458 --> 00:45:50,518 Over 20 bunkers are built for 678 00:45:50,543 --> 00:45:53,034 the District Administrations and important 679 00:45:53,059 --> 00:45:55,086 Central Divisions of the Ministry. 680 00:46:05,858 --> 00:46:08,338 The bunker was on standby 24/7. 681 00:46:08,363 --> 00:46:10,190 Every morning the bunker commander had to 682 00:46:10,215 --> 00:46:12,401 report its readiness by phone to the Director 683 00:46:12,426 --> 00:46:15,015 of the District Administration in Leipzig. 684 00:46:23,276 --> 00:46:25,805 In Leipzig, the bunker compound is 685 00:46:25,830 --> 00:46:28,456 disguised as a vacation colony. 686 00:46:28,842 --> 00:46:31,097 Behind the door of what appears to be 687 00:46:31,122 --> 00:46:34,893 a warehouse lies the secret bunker entrance. 688 00:46:48,233 --> 00:46:51,103 Completely isolated, the bunker offers 689 00:46:51,137 --> 00:46:53,831 protection for a few days only. 690 00:46:57,379 --> 00:46:59,214 There's a document from the School of Law 691 00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:01,534 in Potsdam about the aftermath of a nuclear 692 00:47:01,559 --> 00:47:04,338 attack and how the Stasi was to deal with it. 693 00:47:08,108 --> 00:47:11,206 This scenario ends with the reconstruction of East Germany. 694 00:47:11,231 --> 00:47:13,745 And, to paraphrase the final sentence: "Yet 695 00:47:13,770 --> 00:47:17,018 the question remains: for and by whom?" 696 00:47:33,006 --> 00:47:36,486 But war is not the main reason for planning the bunkers. 697 00:47:40,678 --> 00:47:42,620 The first considerations, which remained 698 00:47:42,645 --> 00:47:44,839 in effect till the end, were made after 699 00:47:44,864 --> 00:47:48,620 the popular uprising of June 17, 1953. 700 00:47:49,666 --> 00:47:51,466 They show clearly that the purpose of 701 00:47:51,491 --> 00:47:53,716 the bunkers was not the possibility of military 702 00:47:53,741 --> 00:47:56,059 conflict with an outside force, but that 703 00:47:56,084 --> 00:47:58,622 the entire planning for their mobilization was 704 00:47:58,647 --> 00:48:01,958 focused on internal political crisis situations. 705 00:48:06,043 --> 00:48:10,263 In August of 1989, Stasi head Erich Mielke 706 00:48:10,288 --> 00:48:12,860 asks the District Directors: "Will 707 00:48:12,885 --> 00:48:15,927 another June 17th break out tomorrow?" 708 00:48:17,145 --> 00:48:21,450 The Stasi has been long in preparing for this dreaded day. 709 00:48:22,452 --> 00:48:27,598 When it comes, dissidents are to be interred in isolation camps. 710 00:48:39,258 --> 00:48:41,575 The plans for these camps were very precise. 711 00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:44,669 They specified the camp locations in every district. 712 00:48:44,694 --> 00:48:47,497 Materials had be stored for fencing it in 713 00:48:47,522 --> 00:48:50,669 on short notice, and the people who were to be 714 00:48:50,694 --> 00:48:53,703 brought to the compound had to be listed by name. 715 00:48:56,772 --> 00:48:59,794 On Sunday, October 8 – one day before 716 00:48:59,819 --> 00:49:01,731 the decisive Monday Demonstration here in 717 00:49:01,756 --> 00:49:04,528 Leipzig – Erich Mielke directed all District 718 00:49:04,553 --> 00:49:07,504 Administrations to update their lists, to 719 00:49:07,529 --> 00:49:10,118 determine who actually was to be isolated. 720 00:49:17,809 --> 00:49:20,470 There are plans for central isolation camps 721 00:49:20,495 --> 00:49:23,934 in each of East Germany's 15 districts. 722 00:49:24,052 --> 00:49:27,247 Following detailed instructions, historical 723 00:49:27,272 --> 00:49:29,522 fortresses and fortifications are to 724 00:49:29,547 --> 00:49:32,403 be converted to camps within one day. 725 00:49:37,203 --> 00:49:39,036 Had it come to violent clashes here in 726 00:49:39,061 --> 00:49:41,747 Leipzig on October 9th, I'm quite certain 727 00:49:41,772 --> 00:49:42,989 that these measures would have been 728 00:49:43,014 --> 00:49:45,314 used to beat down the demonstrations. 729 00:49:45,339 --> 00:49:48,179 There'd have been no other way to restore order. 730 00:49:52,943 --> 00:49:55,839 In spite of total surveillance: That the 731 00:49:55,864 --> 00:49:58,520 East German majority desires a reality 732 00:49:58,545 --> 00:50:00,505 far from the socialist ideals of 733 00:50:00,530 --> 00:50:04,083 the Party, is unthinkable for the Stasi. 734 00:50:08,630 --> 00:50:10,247 Many who were treated as enemies of 735 00:50:10,272 --> 00:50:12,962 the state did not consider themselves as such. 736 00:50:12,997 --> 00:50:15,473 While others who request to view their Stasi file 737 00:50:15,498 --> 00:50:18,398 today say, "I was always against the system and 738 00:50:18,423 --> 00:50:21,202 I engaged in small-scale acts of opposition". 739 00:50:21,227 --> 00:50:22,786 Yet some of them will find that they 740 00:50:22,811 --> 00:50:26,223 hadn't been watched at all – the apparatus never registered them. 741 00:50:26,248 --> 00:50:28,667 For early 1989, the Stasi put the total 742 00:50:28,692 --> 00:50:32,341 number of political enemies at 2,000 persons. 743 00:50:35,780 --> 00:50:39,520 In October 1989, after East Germany's 40th 744 00:50:39,545 --> 00:50:42,802 anniversary, 10,000 citizens take to 745 00:50:42,827 --> 00:50:46,020 the streets and demand democratic reforms. 746 00:50:46,196 --> 00:50:51,130 At the end of the month, over 300,000 gather in Leipzig alone. 747 00:50:52,323 --> 00:50:54,803 Erich Honecker steps down. 748 00:50:55,103 --> 00:50:57,747 In November, some one million people 749 00:50:57,779 --> 00:51:00,598 demonstrate in East Berlin. 750 00:51:01,439 --> 00:51:04,286 The Party opens the borders. 751 00:51:11,192 --> 00:51:14,106 On the night of December 4th, citizens occupied 752 00:51:14,131 --> 00:51:16,062 the Stasi's District Office in Rostock. 753 00:51:16,317 --> 00:51:18,055 Why it was this day was clear. 754 00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:20,620 Word had gotten out that files were being 755 00:51:20,645 --> 00:51:23,184 destroyed in great quantities everywhere. 756 00:51:23,240 --> 00:51:26,566 Mielke had given a special order to do so, which 757 00:51:26,591 --> 00:51:28,944 was backed up by Prime Minister Hans Modrow. 758 00:51:28,992 --> 00:51:31,356 For once East German technological 759 00:51:31,389 --> 00:51:33,856 backwardness worked to our advantage because 760 00:51:33,881 --> 00:51:36,020 the Ministry didn't have enough shredders. 761 00:51:36,045 --> 00:51:38,294 So they'd started burning files in remote 762 00:51:38,319 --> 00:51:41,864 Stasi offices and people took notice. 763 00:51:43,725 --> 00:51:45,950 Internal status reports show how 764 00:51:45,975 --> 00:51:48,034 Stasi employees feel abandoned by 765 00:51:48,059 --> 00:51:50,239 their superiors and the government. 766 00:51:53,600 --> 00:51:56,536 While the Party renames itself and continues to 767 00:51:56,561 --> 00:51:59,401 exist as such, the Stasi sees itself made into 768 00:51:59,426 --> 00:52:02,942 the scapegoat of the Socialist dictatorship. 769 00:52:06,151 --> 00:52:08,559 Initially the plan was to convert the Ministry for 770 00:52:08,584 --> 00:52:11,473 State Security into a national security agency. 771 00:52:12,489 --> 00:52:14,481 The Stasi planned its own future. 772 00:52:14,506 --> 00:52:16,520 But the Citizens' Committees strove 773 00:52:16,545 --> 00:52:18,844 with all their might to prevent this. 774 00:52:19,436 --> 00:52:23,138 Everywhere citizens are occupying Stasi buildings. 775 00:52:28,198 --> 00:52:30,998 These citizens negotiated with the Stasi chief. 776 00:52:31,125 --> 00:52:33,036 They insisted that a state prosecutor 777 00:52:33,061 --> 00:52:34,309 should come and take Stasi 778 00:52:34,334 --> 00:52:36,661 Lieutenant-General Mittag into custody. 779 00:52:36,686 --> 00:52:38,841 The two knew each other well and he did 780 00:52:38,866 --> 00:52:40,731 come and take him away in his car ... 781 00:52:40,756 --> 00:52:43,276 but that's a different story. 782 00:52:48,950 --> 00:52:51,419 More importantly, that same night the rebellious 783 00:52:51,444 --> 00:52:53,708 citizens of Rostock demanded that the police take 784 00:52:53,733 --> 00:52:56,802 custody of this building and secure all the files. 785 00:53:03,107 --> 00:53:05,653 A group of citizens with police accompaniment, 786 00:53:05,678 --> 00:53:08,614 combed it, sealed the rooms and disarmed 787 00:53:08,639 --> 00:53:10,826 and discharged the Stasi personnel. 788 00:53:11,230 --> 00:53:13,411 The weapons were handed over to the Army 789 00:53:13,436 --> 00:53:15,494 and the employees sent home. 790 00:53:18,447 --> 00:53:20,927 That was the end of Stasi work. 791 00:53:21,079 --> 00:53:23,489 This citizens' group, which later formed 792 00:53:23,514 --> 00:53:25,153 itself into Rostock's independent 793 00:53:25,178 --> 00:53:27,434 investigative committee, then tackled 794 00:53:27,459 --> 00:53:30,230 the enormous task of viewing the entire 795 00:53:30,255 --> 00:53:33,122 body of documents left behind by the Stasi. 796 00:53:33,153 --> 00:53:35,552 This, if you will, was the genesis of 797 00:53:35,577 --> 00:53:38,567 the Federal Commission for the Stasi Records. 798 00:53:42,636 --> 00:53:45,739 Fortunately - and almost mysteriously - 799 00:53:45,778 --> 00:53:48,794 the Revolution proceeds without violence. 800 00:53:50,419 --> 00:53:53,778 Destruction of its own archives remains the only 801 00:53:53,803 --> 00:53:56,708 major resistance of the heavily armed Stasi. 802 00:53:58,852 --> 00:54:01,513 Maybe the explanation is a trivial one: 803 00:54:01,546 --> 00:54:05,177 The Party issued no orders to do otherwise. 804 00:54:08,340 --> 00:54:10,341 It's estimated that roughly one third of 805 00:54:10,366 --> 00:54:12,845 the entire Stasi material was destroyed. 806 00:54:12,870 --> 00:54:14,567 Most of it dealt with the so-called 807 00:54:14,592 --> 00:54:16,403 Western activities that the Central 808 00:54:16,428 --> 00:54:17,997 Divisions for Intelligence conducted 809 00:54:18,022 --> 00:54:19,969 in the former Federal Republic. 810 00:54:20,247 --> 00:54:23,677 These files suffered most of the destruction. 811 00:54:24,815 --> 00:54:28,278 After Germany's reunification, what the Stasi 812 00:54:28,303 --> 00:54:32,020 has torn up by hand is reassembled by hand 813 00:54:32,106 --> 00:54:35,770 by the Federal Commission for Stasi Records. 814 00:54:40,862 --> 00:54:44,062 An employee here reconstructs about 10 pages a day. 815 00:54:44,087 --> 00:54:46,067 If the puzzle pieces are fairly large, 816 00:54:46,092 --> 00:54:48,270 a bag like this takes around 9 months. 817 00:54:48,295 --> 00:54:49,950 If they aren't, it takes longer. 818 00:54:49,975 --> 00:54:52,255 We've had bags with many small pieces that 819 00:54:52,280 --> 00:54:54,966 a worker sat over for nearly two years. 820 00:54:57,558 --> 00:55:00,078 Computers will do the painstaking task. 821 00:55:00,103 --> 00:55:02,584 But the manually reconstructed originals 822 00:55:02,608 --> 00:55:05,419 are still needed as evidence in court. 823 00:55:10,222 --> 00:55:11,973 Significant material here. 824 00:55:11,998 --> 00:55:14,583 There's the case of "IM Ingo", a bishop 825 00:55:14,608 --> 00:55:16,395 of Thuringia who had been working as 826 00:55:16,420 --> 00:55:18,609 an informal collaborator for years. 827 00:55:19,920 --> 00:55:22,351 Then we have a university lecturer from 828 00:55:22,376 --> 00:55:24,624 Kassel who worked with the Ministry. 829 00:55:26,960 --> 00:55:30,003 And we discovered that Silke Maier-Witt, one 830 00:55:30,028 --> 00:55:31,958 of the terrorists of the Red Army Faction in 831 00:55:31,983 --> 00:55:34,859 the 1970s, was given a new identity by 832 00:55:34,884 --> 00:55:37,424 the Stasi and was living in East Germany. 833 00:55:37,449 --> 00:55:39,083 And we're still finding many more 834 00:55:39,108 --> 00:55:41,817 IMs from East and West in here. 835 00:55:44,472 --> 00:55:49,934 A single bag holds several tens of thousands paper scraps. 836 00:55:50,237 --> 00:55:54,364 Some 15,000 bags are still in storage 837 00:55:54,389 --> 00:55:56,950 in Magdeburg’s Central Archive. 838 00:55:59,248 --> 00:56:00,989 In the 11 years of our existence, 839 00:56:01,014 --> 00:56:04,755 we've reconstructed 320 or 321 bags. 840 00:56:08,001 --> 00:56:11,145 Even East German law didn't allow, for 841 00:56:11,170 --> 00:56:15,575 instance, wire-tapping by the Stasi. 842 00:56:16,647 --> 00:56:22,146 Were any Stasi personnel prosecuted after 1989? 843 00:56:24,923 --> 00:56:27,020 Criminal prosecution is irrelevant. 844 00:56:27,045 --> 00:56:29,525 It's not worth mentioning. 845 00:56:34,231 --> 00:56:35,802 That's the problem. 846 00:56:35,827 --> 00:56:38,184 If you don't establish a dictatorship to replace 847 00:56:38,209 --> 00:56:40,231 the one that ended – like East Germany did 848 00:56:40,256 --> 00:56:42,977 after the Nazis - but if you decide to close 849 00:56:43,002 --> 00:56:45,360 this chapter and start as a democracy. 850 00:56:47,485 --> 00:56:49,513 Sometimes it stung, seeing how the 851 00:56:49,538 --> 00:56:51,536 perpetrators got away, without 852 00:56:51,561 --> 00:56:53,630 the consequences that we'd hoped for. 853 00:56:57,259 --> 00:56:59,770 But in reverse it's all the more important 854 00:56:59,795 --> 00:57:01,981 to talk openly about what was done. 855 00:57:03,821 --> 00:57:06,606 If those responsible for the wire-tapping weren't 856 00:57:06,631 --> 00:57:09,794 punished, one must at least be allowed to talk 857 00:57:09,819 --> 00:57:12,359 about it as long as they live and beyond: 858 00:57:13,102 --> 00:57:16,638 Who was responsible and how did they do it. 859 00:57:25,650 --> 00:57:29,170 Would it be easier to just lay the past to rest? 860 00:57:32,663 --> 00:57:34,317 To cut it off, push it away and 861 00:57:34,342 --> 00:57:35,770 go blindly forward, I don't think 862 00:57:35,795 --> 00:57:37,770 that's ever been done in human history. 863 00:57:37,802 --> 00:57:40,206 Every society builds on its history 864 00:57:40,231 --> 00:57:41,899 and just has to face up to it. 865 00:57:41,924 --> 00:57:45,124 You can't run away from it even if it's unpleasant. 866 00:57:45,149 --> 00:57:48,153 Nobody, I think, has managed that yet. 867 00:57:50,344 --> 00:57:52,536 After the demise of East Germany, 868 00:57:52,797 --> 00:57:55,013 no one wants to take the blame. 869 00:57:57,288 --> 00:58:01,200 Party Leader Erich Honecker declares in 1990 870 00:58:01,225 --> 00:58:03,646 that the Stasi’s country-wide expansion 871 00:58:03,671 --> 00:58:06,692 went against all Party resolutions. 872 00:58:06,932 --> 00:58:10,412 The Stasi was a state within the state. 873 00:58:14,754 --> 00:58:19,466 Minister Erich Mielke counters: the Stasi was never autonomous. 874 00:58:19,491 --> 00:58:22,876 The Party alone gave the Stasi its orders 875 00:58:22,901 --> 00:58:25,802 and was informed of all activities. 876 00:58:30,153 --> 00:58:33,278 The reality lies somewhere in between. 877 00:58:35,320 --> 00:58:37,840 It's on record. 878 00:58:38,030 --> 00:58:43,481 The Stasi files still hold much that waits to be discovered.