Jahrestag

February 8th 1950 - The creation of the East German State Security

 

On February 8th 1950 the Provisional Peoples Chamber of the GDR decides the formation of the Ministry for State Security. The Ministry for State Security commonly known as "Stasi" emerges out of the “Central administration to protect the economy of the GDR”. It is to protect the economic development of the young Socialist Republic against "sabotage" from the capitalist West at least according to the official version of the SED. Surprisingly however the then Prime Minister of East Germany Otto Grotewhol a former Social Democrat does not appoint the head of the Stasi but his deputy the KP-man Walter Ulbricht who puts the communists Wilhelm Zaisser and Erich Mielke at the head of the MSS (Ministry for State Security). It quickly becomes clear that the Stasi worked as communist secret police right from the beginning internally and externally. In West Berlin the Stasi quickly draws attention to itself by committing spectacular kidnappings. In its own country they begin to spy on their citizens. As their dissatisfaction with the policies of the ruling SED party grows so does the Stasi. From posing 2700 full-time employees at the time of its foundation it swells up to around 13000 by 1953. All of them cannot prevent the popular uprising on June 17th 1953 but the SED leaders now transform the Stasi into an efficient monitoring and suppression device. After the building of the Wall the Stasi is doing everything in its power as the "shield and sword of the party" to prevent escape from the republic. In the end the Ministry employs 91000 permanent employees and up to 180000 informants known as IMs unofficial employees. Like a cancer the Stasi penetrated all layers of society while collecting in their filing cabinets hundreds of thousands of pages of notes and spy-reports about the citizens of their state. These citizens bring the activities of the Stasi to an end in January 1990 but the evil legacy of the Stasi concerns victims and offenders lawyers and politicians until this day.

Länge: 00:02:16 | O-Ton: nein | Farbe: s/w | Jahr: 1950 | Clip-ID: JHT000122E

 

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28. März 1935 // Uraufführung „Triumph des Willens“
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