Grade school teacher and former IM for the STASI

You were born in Dresden in 1940 and you remember the fire-bombing of Dresden. Both of your parents were Nazi resistance fighters, whom you view as heroes. For you, peace and communism were a necessary defense against an aggressive, imperialistic West Germany. You still believe that the socialist approach to life is better and more humane, even though there are admittedly some downsides.

You worked as an elementary school teacher in Berlin and have an excellent reputation. Your work is very fulfilling, and your students adore you. Trouble began in 1970 when you developed a romance with another teacher, Bernhardt, from West Berlin. You met Bernhardt through a friend of yours who was his cousin. Since Bernhardt was very close to his aunt's family, he visited East Berlin at least twice a month. As the romance developed further, Bernhardt suggested that you escape to the West in order to build a life together. Despite your strong feelings for him and after careful consideration of his proposal, you decided you could not reject or betray your country. Shortly thereafter, a Stasi (Internal State Security) contact came to you and coerced you into becoming an IM, an Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter or unofficial informer. You felt that you needed to prove your allegiance to the GDR and the legacy of your parents and began to keep records on your family and friends.

The Stasi created files on each of the people you reported on. Now these files, including the information you collected and your identity, will soon be available to your family and friends. You know that this will cause great difficulties, but in a way you feel justified since you were acting in defense of a system you believed in. You are concerned about the prosecution of former Stasi officials and border guards. To prosecute actions which were legal - even ordered by the government - at the time they were committed is extremely troublesome to you. The unification agreement between the GDR and FRG from August 31, 1990, specifically states that citizens of the GDR can only be prosecuted for crimes which were illegal under GDR law. Parallels that are drawn between the prosecution of Nazi war criminals and the current situation enrage you since they desecrate everything you and your parents stood for.

As to unification, you are heartened by the establishment of the PDS. You believe that the last word on the virtues of socialism as a social structure has not yet been spoken.

*Additional off-site links -

Stasi

• Effects of Stasi
• Stasi Personal Account
• The East German Secret Police (Stasi)
• More on the Stasi
• Biography of Erich Mielke, long-time Head of the Stasi
• Access to Stasi Files 1
• Access to Stasi Files 2

*All off-site links will be displayed in new pages