How Did the GDR State Security Operate? We find out in Berlin!

[@burtonlee22]

Excellent tour of HQ. The Stasi tried to recruit me as a spy in Leipzig in 1976, when I was an American student at university in Germany. I politely declined their kind offer. Was able to obtain part of my official Stasi files in 2019.

[@royale7620]

U were a student in the East or West tho?

[@ilokivi]

⁠@@royale7620Leipzig was in the DDR.

[@royale7620]

@@ilokivi he never specified where he went bro

[@jhendin]

I visited friends in Erfurt (GDR) back in 1994 and learned firsthand the horrors of what the people went through during the Stasi reign of terror. One man was in tears when he told me how he found out his best friend from kindergarten had been reporting on him all throughout the years. One friend's mother told me "It was like living in a prison. You never knew whom you could trust". Another friend's father told her and her siblings not to discuss politics outside of the family, that if they had questions about anything they'd talk about it around the dinner table. TV sets were turned away from windows so it couldn't be seen if they were watching western TV. When I came back to the states I remember thinking how more Americans need to hear about this, so they could appreciate more the freedom we have.

[@mrpeel3239]

I happily stumbled into an English-speaking guided tour about 20 years ago. Really interesting museum. Especially unsettling to end up in Mielke's coffee-break room at the back of his blandly grandiose office!

[@CX103]

The Stasi has left an indelible mark on some of the people who grew up under it. It shows in small things like lowering their voices and closing the windows whenever they want to talk about something even slightly personal.

[@n1vca]

There are two brilliant movies about the Eastern German Stasi history, total must sees ... "The Lives of Others" from 2006 and a TV series with 8 episodes that I highly recommend is "Deutschland 83" from 2015 ... I hope this ie being dubbed to English ... to me this is on the intensity level of Breaking Bad ... with an amazing story line, its brutal but probably close to what actually happened. To me it is especially touching because I grew up in the West and had no clue what was going on in the East and the music and cars and technology shown was exactly the way it was ... also the political happenings that I was so naive about back then.

[@HB-hs1nr]

I have seen both, several times. They are both excellent. And having spoken with Germans who lived thhrough this period, they told me that these films are accurate portrayals of what life was like during that period of time.

[@juavi6987]

Deutschland 83 is as fictional as James Bond...

[@christofmaupin2023]

Thank you for sharing this. Given the ominous state of the world today, and the many threats to democracy in the West, from inside and out, this history lesson is especially relevant.

[@jenl2530]

I don’t think this clip really shows the feeling of oppression. Going to East Berlin back in the day, you could feel it.

[@Robespierre-lI]

Fair enough but I am not sure how a museum would ever convey that feeling.

[@busukevm8288]

@@Robespierre-lIthe closest I ever came to was a NS-Documentation Center in Cologne that was in the building of a former Gestapo jail/interrogation site. They the same style of opaque windows, and old cells you could go in. Still nothing close to being in those environments when they weren’t a museum

[@CX103]

@@Robespierre-lI I’m sure it’s different for everyone and depends on the circumstances, but my visit to the Buchenwald site twenty years ago still sends shivers down my spine. I went with my history “Leistungskurs“ (somewhat comparable to advanced placement in the US) in the final year of “Gymnasium“ (the form of high school that prepares students for university) and it was a dreary, cold and foggy autumn day. Combined with the knowledge of the unbearable things that happened there, it felt like the place itself had become hostile and inhumane.

[@jojojojo4332]

the feeling of oppression within the DDR is that you could trust nobody.

[@daddybeagleaz907]

@@jenl2530 a junior classmate was from there originally and said pretty much the same thing

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

This Berlin version looks a bit too polished for me. I preferred the grottier atmosphere of the Gedenkstätte Museum in der “Runden Ecke” - the old Stasi headquarters in Leipzig. You really got a feeling for the times as depicted in the movie "The Lives of Others."

[@OilBaron100]

Thanks. I will have to check it out in Leipzig.

[@spiralpython1989]

@@OilBaron100I am putting both on my DDR history trip later this year.

[@joebloggs2473]

I agree. I saw the Stasi headquarters in Leipzig; I got the cold ripples over me then.

[@shawnfra]

I really enjoyed this report. Thank you.

[@robi9558]

I visited the Stasimuseum and it was a chilling experience. I visited the GDR and have read a lot about GDR-life. So it was an extraordinary experience to go behind the curtain and visit the minister's offices - see the imposing modernist rooms and furniture and the rather pathetic bed arrangement. The spy equipment and documents were suddenly very concrete, instead of hidden away. This was going through my mind - how far would I have conformed? I am afraid that I could potentially have been totally absorbed by the totalitarianism of the system. All you saw and experienced was the surface of government controlled behaviour. Would I have protested at the lack of consumer goods? What if I had been so conformist that I was selected to become a member and defender of the communist establishment? The Stasimuseum visit brought home to me this enormous internal tension of what choice in a dictatorship? Could I have sat in an office steaming open envelopes, cutting out stamps, appropriating the DM banknotes, typing up reports on dissidents, etc. It is frightening because I do not know what I would have done.

[@bernardgarrett3897]

I was in East Germany 9 months before the berlin wall came down. If anyone had suggested that it was going to happen. They would have been put in a dark room. What is interesting is that I have 2 cousins who were in their early 40's. One came to the west as quickly as possible. The other was too scared to cross the border in case it was a hoax /test.

[@DWTravel]

Thank you for sharing this, very interesting.

[@johnarat9618]

About that cousin of yours who was too scared to cross the Berlin Wall border into West Germany, was anyone ever able to convince him to cross into West Berlin?

[@bernardgarrett3897]

@@johnarat9618 NO. I don't think he ever went. A little twist, is that his wife was allowed to go to West Germany for my sister's wedding, when the wall was high and strong. His son now lives in the west.

[@Felto123]

The Netflix show Kleo is a must see. Shows the Stasi people after the fall and is kinda funny but somewhat plausible too. Filmed maybe even inside that building as well.

[@sunyamacs]

So is Deutschland 83/86/89

[@SpaseGoast]

I like the fact that the tour guide understands English fluently but responds in German. And the host understands German fluently but asks questions in English.

[@janecme]

This only scratches the surface. I visited Hohenschönhausen in Berlin, the Stasi prison. Gives me the creeps thinking about now - it's smell for one thing

[@DWTravel]

The Stasi prison will be one of our next reports this year. Stay tuned!

[@davidlane5349]

Yes, I visited it the last time I was in Berlin. Very interesting. The guides were actual inmates at one time.

[@WILLIAM1690WALES]

When I was in Berlin several years ago, our hotel was nearby and by chance I just stumbled across these headquarters. When inside you just get a feeling of what it would be like upstairs with the old wood panelling of the rooms reminiscent of the 1960s, along with the furniture as well?

[@maestrovso]

"they used what they called preventive suppression of crime...". Seeing how out of control and broken US's criminal justice system is now I would almost subscribe to the idea. The old saying is an once of prevention is better than a pound of correction afterwards.

[@kevinwigham3033]

I was stationed there between 82-85 , that feeling of being watched has stayed with me all of my life. I once met a women tbat was similar age to me and had been in the Starsi. Interesting conversations 😮😅

[@santabanter]

Very informative

[@nicksharpe74]

Thank you , very interesting and well produced.

[@scroggins100]

The thing I remember most about OST D was the dreadful colours, Beige, Urine Green and grey everywhere.. Oh and the telephones from the state telephone factory no 2. Just awful and dull.

[@c_cma1971]

🟢 Hello from Bucharest, Romania - a huge underrated city in Europe:)

[@coolbreeze9713]

I never Liked Bucharest.

[@c_cma1971]

@coolbreeze9713 we never liked you hahaha 🤣

[@Jimmy-wl2iw]

Had a great time in Romania🫡🇺🇸

[@danielvanr.8681]

Salut din sectorul 6 ! 😂 (Nu sunt eu român, dar locuiesc în România de opt ani și jumătate.) 😊

[@beautifulflorida]

Thank you very much for sharing! Great video!

[@mikethemechanic7395]

Had a neighbor who lived in East Germany. He installed listening devices in hotels and hidden rooms for agents.

[@kaorikato7376]

The Stasi system depended on the analog surveillance and with some basic skill set easy to circumvent. Our system is much more sophisticated and thorough that nothing escapes it. It is actually everywhere and the ones reporting on you are your friendly utensils such as a phone, laptop or even your car.

[@skylineXpert]

Visiting Hohenschoenhausen a few years ago I must say: I wont ever understand the horrors of what went on during its hey day.

[@davidjames6879]

Intereting glimpse into a "controlled society." No place is safe from such.

[@manatee2500]

We should invite Eva zu Beck to visit Saydnaya prison now that Damascus I had been reopened for tourism. She spent some time very near there 5 years ago and it would be very edgy to return and take some notes. Isn’t that fair, DW Travel? After all, she’s your favorite star influencer…

[@Jimmy-wl2iw]

I agree the Leipzig museum is creepier; however something about Mielke’s office in Berlin that pulls me there when I visit Germany🫡🇺🇸🇩🇪, Jim aus Elizabethtown, KY USA….Alles Gute

[@valentinchiriac9117]

"What would you do ?" assumes the one lives in freedom. No, they didn't live in freedom, so this question never existed.

[@AmorosoGombe]

There's so much madness in the world. Good heavens. Humans are crazy.

[@nicholasvaneyk4565]

They say one in five stasi agents was a super stasi informer 😅

[@carlowingfield7743]

Starmer must be watching intently .

[@annagretturnowsky7814]

Ich hab mir das Stasi Museum vor einigen Jahren angesehen, es war faszinierend und abstoßend zugleich. Berlin ist auf dem besten Weg , es wieder zu werden , und ganz Deutschland wird mitgerissen. Man könnte meinen, Nancy ist eine Reinkarnation vom alten Milke🤭🙄

[@robertladue7647]

Don’t believe for a moment that other countries’ intelligence services are less than the Stasi. They are far greater, larger, and deadlier. I have always admired the Stasi network of control, spying, and extracting information, especially secrets. They were extensively taught and molded by the KGB. They were, for their time, a serious player in the Intel domestic and world community.

[@astondriver]

watch the movie, The Lives of Others. very well done

[@ferdowssaadi2594]

There weren't many options...

[@andrewsmith-cm9qw]

The Stasi were amateurs compared to Google and Amazon.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@jjhendo]

I do spy on my neighbors because i dont like them.

[@tosamja4828]

MfS also had a foreign intelligence role, and it was exceedingly successful at it. Why wasn't that mentioned?

[@asylumlover]

KEEP THIS HISTORY OF TOTALITARIAN REGIMES COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@daddybeagleaz907]

We recently learned that my wife has a lot of German in her (we're American) so we hope to see all of this for ourselves. I stayed up all night to watch the Wall's demise with my mom, we were really stunned. There are books on how it happened which I think every caring person should read.

[@gluteusmaximus1657]

Just add a few fax machines and those offices look like the average german police station.

[@thecoolestfamily.9563]

😂 beste Polizei 😂😂😂😂

[@Jasmine1991forever]

Same as Securitate

[@celebrityrog]

My own government does it against the citizens of our own nation and our allies, so I see no reason why I'd not be a participant willingly or unwillingly since I not only live in said nation with said government but I support the government doing it simply by existing in this nation and not leaving. The USA is no better than East Germany.

[@hgahga3776]

We still do in Cuba today.

[@jswyman-ll3dr]

Oh, you mean the modern day Gestapo.....

[@jools2323]

Coming to the US soon.

[@Wagtail-j6l]

😂😂😂

[@Felto123]

Not anymore, we are now moving strongly in the opposite direction. We dodged a bullet. Expect things like free speech are back now.

[@bradyblackburn4863]

Been here since 1947.

[@cybersean3000]

If I were indoctrinated from birth and did not know any other reality, I would have generally gone along with they plan.

[@ownSystem]

7:18 is that trump with not a wig on? 😅

[@RS-ff1cv]

are u telling me west germnay don;t spy on ppl?

[@ownSystem]

The state of Russia 5:00 what Putin would love for Russians 6:45

[@JohnSanJuan-zp1ed]

East Germany!

[@bojans3700]

DDR was an awful system! Surveillance of the population of Denmark is already near 1/2 of what is was in DDR!

[@zymelin21]

do not send anything by mail, only by courier, and do not use the phone!!

[@It.s.me.]

Looks like the USA today...

[@Aureus_]

IFA Wartburg ahh

[@Scorp308]

Ah! The good ol' days where nobody lacked discipline. DISCIPLINE!!

[@anyahayek9370]

Dreadful nasal commentary difficult to understand. Rather crass text in places.

[@adrianparker-e9f]

Of course, after the Stasi finished in East Germany, they moved to Great Britain.

[@zymelin21]

nah. they formed private detective bureaus. the had the training, the equipment and whatever else. successfull I imagne.

[@Mark-yy2py]

But, but, isn’t socialism great??

[@davestrang8585]

Trump approved

[@peterjaniceforan3080]

🫣

[@petarswift5089]

Stasi is now in Brussels 🤣

[@jjbrien1]

And what proof do you have of that?

[@petarswift5089]

@jjbrien1 Today's modern world is more controlled through cell phones, the Internet, and video surveillance than ever before. The Stasi looks like a small baby today, but it has its own museum 🤣

[@CX103]

Let us know when “Brussels” puts you in prison for speaking your mind as you are doing here.

[@jjbrien1]

@petarswift5089 you could say it's the big tech companies not the EU and most of that data is in Ireland not Brussels.

[@am4793]

It is worse and automated now thanks to the US.

[@Waterguru21]

Yes, thanks to Biden and the oppressive and censoring policies of his regime

[@jjhonecker7644]

ICH WÜRDE DIE STASI EWIG MACHEN! 👀 👁