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The Ministry for State Security - Everyday life at a public authority (2002)

The Ministry for State Security - Everyday life at a public authority (2002)

Documentary
Release Date: 2002, October 16
Directors: Christian Klemke
Countries: Germany
Production: MDR, Emotion Pictures
Cast: Siegfried Rataizick, Kurt Zeiseweis, Gerhard Niebling, Karli Coburger, Gerhard Neiber, Horst Männchen, Willi Opitz, Wolfgang Schmidt, Günter Möller, Wanja Abramowski

Overview:

Former heads, senior officers and the rector of the MfS law school explain how the ministry functioned. The interviewees see themselves as legitimate actors with a clear mandate and political enemy image. They provide an insight into the techniques and routines of secret service work, psychological tricks during interrogations and the management of “unofficial collaborators”. What they all have in common is that they are not aware of any moral guilt. The directors contrast their footage of prisons and archives with the statements of former Stasi employees in an attempt to expose their evasions and efforts at suppression.

Keywords:

german democratic republic stasi ministry for state security