The Stasi: how the most effective intelligence service of the 20th century worked

 

For almost a third of a century, the Stasi, the Ministry of State Security of the GDR, terrified the detractors of socialism both in East Germany and abroad. The secret Service had a direct impact not only on the lives of citizens, but also on politics. For some, the employees of this intelligence and counterintelligence structure have become frightening symbols of total control over the individual, as if they embodied the worst pages of Orwell's dystopias. For others, they were romantic heroes who had been leading the best CIA agents by the nose for many years. What were the Stasi really like? The hunt for archives

On December 14, 1989, by a decision of the GDR government, the Ministry of State Security was liquidated. The very "showcase of socialism," as the propaganda called the democratic republic, ceased to exist a little less than a year later. This was preceded by well-known historical events: the socio-economic crisis of the socialist camp; the weakening of its leader, the USSR, during the "perestroika"; mass demonstrations that led to the fall of the regimes of Eastern Europe (and it's good if after a little blood, as in Romania, and not after the civil war, as in Yugoslavia). In recent months, anticipating the inevitable, Stasi employees have been destroying archives. Over the past 29 years, so many materials have accumulated that knives blunt and break in first-class German shredders. The documents were torn by hand, tearing his fingers in blood. Trucks left the MGB offices every day for incinerators... But, perhaps, this was the only task that the Bundeswehr intelligence service could not cope with. In late 1989 and early 1990, during the "peaceful revolution", the buildings of the Ministry of State Security in Berlin and the regions were seized by angry citizens. Everyone was eager to get to the legendary file cabinet, the disclosure or destruction of which became a matter of continuing a career (and sometimes preserving freedom) for many Germans. Indeed, according to some statements, one in four adult residents of the GDR managed to visit among the employees or informants of the Stasi. Of course, this figure is largely a figment of the imagination of publicists who like to exaggerate the ugly sides of the communist system. However, it is well known that the "authorities" had classified dossiers on almost every adult citizen of the republic, not to mention the majority of major businessmen and politicians in capitalist Europe. Today, the total length of the shelves where reports, audio recordings, and microfilms are stored (and this is counting only what they were able to save and decode) exceeds 150 kilometers. Under reliable care

In West Germany alone, there were about 38,000 secret agents of the GDR. With the post-war confusion, when many archives burned down in the flames of World War II, and thousands of Germans, for obvious reasons, hid the facts of their collaboration with the Nazis, it was quite easy to come up with a "trustworthy" biography and impersonate a respectable Burgher. This is exactly what Gunther Guillaume did when he moved from East Berlin to Frankfurt am Main in 1956. An ambitious young man joins the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He is pursuing a political career. Demonstrating outstanding talents, he successfully manages the election campaigns of West German politicians. In 1972, he became the personal assistant to Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt. And he greatly appreciates his assistant, not knowing that his brilliant analytical notes are compiled with the help of the best minds of the Stasi, whose agent Genosse Guillaume has been since 1950. Needless to say, the secret documents that the "mole" dealt with in his line of duty were at the disposal of his eastern curators almost before they were on the desk of the head of the government of West Germany. The huge scandal that broke out after Guillaume's exposure in 1974 cost Willy Brandt his resignation as chancellor.

Special tools

There are allegations that Stasi agents secretly treated dissidents' clothes with low-level radioactive substances so that in the future any activist equipped with a portable Geiger counter could identify "enemies of the regime", say, at a street demonstration. There were also enough "traditional" technical means. Miniature cameras that can shoot silently through a millimeter hole. Tiny microphones placed in the apartment sockets of the telephone network and transmitting sound directly over the telephone wires. Sensitive voice recorders hidden in a ballpoint pen or a lady's watch. And, of course, the world-famous service kennels of German Shepherds, capable of following the trail for many kilometers. According to the precepts of Lavrenty Pavlovich

The structure of the Stasi repeated the Soviet MGB (if anyone does not remember, until 1954 it was called the all-powerful KGB). The German secret service consisted of three main departments: counterintelligence; sabotage; and subversion. "Unofficial employees are the most important factor in the fight against the class enemy," read the 1959 instruction. This elegant term referred to informants who ratted on acquaintances, colleagues, and sometimes even family members. During the 29 years of the GDR MGB's existence, according to official information alone, data on 624,000 such "sex workers" have settled in its file, about 10,000 of whom were under the age of 18 at the time of the start of "unofficial cooperation". Moreover, the recruitment of informants was not always carried out on the initiative of the authorities: many became "unofficial employees" themselves and for free, sincerely wanting to help build a socialist system. Can such hopes be considered unfounded?.. In East Germany, there were 4 times fewer crimes per 100,000 people than in the West. In terms of economic indicators per capita, the country occupied one of the first places in the world. At almost every Olympic Games, the 16 million-strong GDR was among the top three, second only to the USSR and the USA in the overall standings. It is up to you to decide whether all this justifies the government's policy of total control over the individual. Bees against honey, or Generals for peace

It should be recognized that during the times of "developed socialism", from the 60s to the early 80s, the key to the success of the Stasi was often the genuine spiritual superiority of communist values over Western ones. The ten-year nightmare of the Vietnam War unleashed by America, the economic crises constantly arising in the "first" world, and finally, the traditionally leftist sympathies of European intellectuals created a favorable information background for the secret and explicit struggle of ideas. So, in 1980, Professor Gerhard Kade of the University of Hamburg created the international movement "Generals and Admirals for Peace", which included high-ranking retired military personnel from various NATO countries. As it is easy to guess, veterans of local conflicts advocated the reduction of strategic weapons, in particular, American medium-range missiles stationed on the territory of Germany. The Generals for Peace was funded by non-profit organizations, as well as by personal donations from civil society activists who sincerely supported anti-war ideas. However, the fiery pacifist speeches of retired officers were written by Stasi analysts, of course, in secret from the former. And the liberal professor Gerhard Kade, as you understand, was an agent of the GDR MGB. Nostalgia for the GDR

These days, after the revelations of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, the Stasi's tools look like children's toys. In fact, the history of the East German secret service shows how even absolute control over words and actions cannot limit the freedom of our spirit. For neither total wiretapping nor powerful border fortifications prevented thousands of "ozzies" from fleeing communist Berlin to Western Berlin. And any secret police force is powerless if discontent is fueled by real causes — inequality, weak social mobility, lack of civil liberties.

However, many emigrants who deceived the Stasi agents and escaped to "freedom" actually deceived only themselves, voluntarily ending their lives with alcoholism, depression, and creative impoverishment, unable to find a place in the coveted market economy. Because the real, real West was sometimes very different from our dreams of it.