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With In Depth

German Reunification: Honecker's People

The East German Ministry for State Security -- the Stasi -- was disbanded after the fall of the Berlin Wall and all of its employees released from their duties. The shield and sword of the party -- as the Stasi called itself -- became history.

Twenty years ago this week, more than 100 thousand employees of the East German Ministry for State Security were released from duty. It immediately became forbidden for inofficial Stasi employees to engage in any planning or carrying out of "conspiratorial activities." In 1989, the Stasi had some 91,000 official full-time employees; more than double that number worked as what were called inofficial employees -- informants. The East German state depended heavily on its own citizens for its sweeping surveillance of the entire population. Today, 20 years later, the activities of these informants are still coming to light.