Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,994
How the "Stasi" tried to save itself over the "Wende"...!
When the state structures of the GDR began to collapse in autumn 1989 and the Wall fell, the previously all-powerful "Ministry for State Security" tried to save itself!
At this point in time, the "Stasi" employs around 91,000 full-time employees and between 110,000 and 189,000 (the exact number has never been fully clarified!) unofficial employees - spies!
Their headquarters are located in a huge building complex in the Berlin district of Lichtenberg...:
With the "Guard Regiment Feliks Dzierzynski" (named after the founder of the Soviet secret police "Cheka")...
...the MfS also has its own military troop, which comprises around 11,000 men...:
On November 17, 1989, the parliament of the GDR, the "Volkskammer"...
...a new government of the GDR; It is headed by the former SED party leader in Dresden, Hans Modrow...:
As soon as the parliamentary session is over and Modrow is in office, MfS emissaries knock on Modrow's door - and a plan emerges to save the "Stasi" over the "Wende".
First of all, Modrow sends long-time Stasi boss Erich Mielke to retirement...:
...the meanwhile over 80-year-old had caused both amusement and horror at the same time with a confused performance in front of the People's Chamber ("I love everyone...all people...I'm committed to it..."). :
The Modrow government then renamed the MfS to the "Office for National Security" ("Amt für Nationale Sicherheit", AfNS) on November 18, 1989 - and replaced Mielke's previous deputy, Generalleutnant Karl Schwanitz...
...as its new leader in the rank of minister...:
Schwanitz intends (with the backing of the government!) to continue as before - only if possible nobody should know about it!
A few days after the "transformation" of the Stasi (which in fact only changed the doorplate!), the new boss declared during a secret meeting:
It is also the task of the new AfMS to “effectively support the government and party leadership in initially stopping the dangerous developments in our society...”. Schwanitz then ordered the civil movement to be increasingly infiltrated with Spies, the "informal employees" (IM) who are as feared as they are hated.
So that the people and the People's Chamber swallow the chunk that the "Stasi" practically continues to exist, a "considerable reduction" in the surveillance apparatus is publicly promised!
But that is no longer the case!
The people and the People's Chamber do NOT swallow the chunk - the citizens' movements continue to put pressure on...
... things are slipping away from those in government - and on December 14, 1989, the government can't help but put Schwanitz on leave and initiate the dissolution of the supervisory authority.
On January 11, 1990, the Schwanitz People's Chamber finally fired - and four days later, on January 15, 1990, the citizens' committee members at the - in reality square - "round table" (popular mockery: "Squaring the circle!") enforce...
... the self-dissolution of the Stasi. A citizens' committee is formed that night to oversee the dissolution process.
The nimble maneuver of the Stasi superiors (in league with the government) to save themselves in the new era has failed.
When the state structures of the GDR began to collapse in autumn 1989 and the Wall fell, the previously all-powerful "Ministry for State Security" tried to save itself!
At this point in time, the "Stasi" employs around 91,000 full-time employees and between 110,000 and 189,000 (the exact number has never been fully clarified!) unofficial employees - spies!
Their headquarters are located in a huge building complex in the Berlin district of Lichtenberg...:
With the "Guard Regiment Feliks Dzierzynski" (named after the founder of the Soviet secret police "Cheka")...
...the MfS also has its own military troop, which comprises around 11,000 men...:
On November 17, 1989, the parliament of the GDR, the "Volkskammer"...
...a new government of the GDR; It is headed by the former SED party leader in Dresden, Hans Modrow...:
As soon as the parliamentary session is over and Modrow is in office, MfS emissaries knock on Modrow's door - and a plan emerges to save the "Stasi" over the "Wende".
First of all, Modrow sends long-time Stasi boss Erich Mielke to retirement...:
...the meanwhile over 80-year-old had caused both amusement and horror at the same time with a confused performance in front of the People's Chamber ("I love everyone...all people...I'm committed to it..."). :
The Modrow government then renamed the MfS to the "Office for National Security" ("Amt für Nationale Sicherheit", AfNS) on November 18, 1989 - and replaced Mielke's previous deputy, Generalleutnant Karl Schwanitz...
...as its new leader in the rank of minister...:
Schwanitz intends (with the backing of the government!) to continue as before - only if possible nobody should know about it!
A few days after the "transformation" of the Stasi (which in fact only changed the doorplate!), the new boss declared during a secret meeting:
It is also the task of the new AfMS to “effectively support the government and party leadership in initially stopping the dangerous developments in our society...”. Schwanitz then ordered the civil movement to be increasingly infiltrated with Spies, the "informal employees" (IM) who are as feared as they are hated.
So that the people and the People's Chamber swallow the chunk that the "Stasi" practically continues to exist, a "considerable reduction" in the surveillance apparatus is publicly promised!
But that is no longer the case!
The people and the People's Chamber do NOT swallow the chunk - the citizens' movements continue to put pressure on...
... things are slipping away from those in government - and on December 14, 1989, the government can't help but put Schwanitz on leave and initiate the dissolution of the supervisory authority.
On January 11, 1990, the Schwanitz People's Chamber finally fired - and four days later, on January 15, 1990, the citizens' committee members at the - in reality square - "round table" (popular mockery: "Squaring the circle!") enforce...
... the self-dissolution of the Stasi. A citizens' committee is formed that night to oversee the dissolution process.
The nimble maneuver of the Stasi superiors (in league with the government) to save themselves in the new era has failed.
