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 …

Aug 13, 2021 · The Stasi were one of the most successful intelligence services in history: they kept almost unimaginably detailed files and records on large quantities of the population, and created an …

Jan 16, 2026 · The Stasi was one of the most hated and feared institutions of the East German communist government. The Stasi developed out of the internal security and police apparatus …

When the Stasi were founded in 1950, it wasn’t seen as controversial. Indeed, the Stasi was seen as a localized extension of the KGB, the Soviet Security Service that had arrived when the Russians had …

Aug 1, 2025 · As "the shield and sword of the party," the Stasi was in charge of maintaining the rule of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) by clamping down on any opposition.

May 25, 2024 · Stasi agents were dispatched to other socialist countries to help train and advise their security services, sharing expertise in surveillance, interrogation, and psychological warfare.

One cornerstone of this system was the Ministry for State Security (MfS), or " Stasi ", which was founded in 1950. The MfS was set up under the direct guidance of the Soviet secret police.

Nov 14, 2019 · Better known as the Stasi (the German acronym), these secret police were the “ Schild und Schwert der Partei ” (Shield and Sword of the Party). Their sole function was to keep the …

Jan 24, 2025 · Modelled on Stalin’s secret service, the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) was tasked with protecting socialism from its domestic and foreign enemies and preventing East Germans from …

Die detaillierten Berichte (Stasi-Akten) über die Machenschaften und Repressionen der DDR-Staatssicherheit, die der Aktenvernichtung entkamen, sowie die Kaderakten, werden heute im …