#Stasi

8 entries tagged Stasi.

People (4)

Erich Mielke Erich Mielke (1907-2000) served as East Germany's Minister for State Security from 1957 to 1989, building the Stasi into one of history's most comprehensive surveillance systems with 91,000 employees and 189,000 informants, before being convicted after reunification for a 1931 double murder rather than for Stasi crimes.
Günter Guillaume Günter Guillaume was a Stasi agent who emigrated to West Germany in 1956, built a career in the SPD, became Chancellor Willy Brandt's personal aide, and whose exposure as a spy in April 1974 forced Brandt's resignation in one of the Cold War's most politically damaging intelligence operations.
Markus Wolf Markus Wolf (1923-2006), known as 'the man without a face,' directed the Stasi's foreign intelligence directorate (HVA) from 1952 to 1986, building one of the Cold War's most effective intelligence services through penetrations of West German government including the Guillaume operation that brought down Chancellor Willy Brandt.
Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (1913-1992) was West German Chancellor from 1969 to 1974, architect of Ostpolitik and 1971 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who resigned when his personal aide Günter Guillaume was exposed as a Stasi agent in one of the Cold War's most politically damaging espionage operations.

Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) is West Germany's domestic counterintelligence service, established September 7, 1950, whose most significant Cold War achievement was exposing Günter Guillaume as a Stasi agent in April 1974, precipitating Chancellor Willy Brandt's resignation.
Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung The Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA) was East Germany's foreign intelligence directorate, directed by Markus Wolf from 1952 to 1986, renowned for penetrating West German government including placing Günter Guillaume as Chancellor Willy Brandt's personal aide, and dissolved following German reunification in 1990.

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer) was the fortified barrier erected by East Germany on August 13, 1961, to halt mass emigration, killing an estimated 140 people who attempted to cross before it fell on November 9, 1989, following a Stasi press conference miscommunication that accelerated German reunification.

East Germany The German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany, 1949-1990) was the Soviet-aligned German state defined by the Stasi's pervasive surveillance, the Berlin Wall's 1961 construction to halt emigration, and the HVA's penetration of West German government including placing Günter Guillaume in Chancellor Willy Brandt's personal staff.