ARCHIVES FOR PEACE: Foundations for a Public Policy Thursday October 30, 2014 - Day 3 -

Panel - HumanStasi rights Recordsarchives as Agencytools for educational processes within society

The example of – The Records Agency Dagmar Hovestädt 1. set the historicStasi stage Records of the German Agency case 2. introduce you to the Stasi Records Agency

3. give a number of examples of the processes that have arisen in Germany from the existence and work of our archive 1. historic context our archive came into existence as a result of the Peaceful Revolution ofStasi 1989, that Records sets the stage Agency till today

After WW II Germany was divided: Eastern part came under Soviet control, Western part under American, British and French control.

West Germany became a democracy under the tutelage of the Western allies – the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 on became a one-party dictatorship under the Soviet-installed Communist SED from 1949 – 1989, the German Democratic Republic 40 years of a Socialist dictatorship – the fiercest mechanism to ensure the party’s power was: Stasi Records Agency Ministry of State Security – Stasi

- a secret police with an intelligence service arm - modeled after the Soviet KGB - considering itself the „Shield and Sword of the Party“ Ministry for State Security (basic data) (data is notStasi analysis Records) Agency

. ~ 91.000 staffers . ~ 180.000 unofficial collaborators (IM) . 15 district offices . 207 county offices and 7 object offices

2. The Stasi Records Agency - began its work on the day of German unification October 3, 1990Stasi Records Agency - was open for personal use access January 2, 1992 - has counted 7 million requests* for access, among those 3 million requests by individuals, - additional access: by researchers and journalists, for vetting of public employees and others, for rehabilitation and retirement pension issues Basis of work Stasi-StasiRecords Records Act - AgencyStUG 48 paragraphs long Transparency of government action while maintaining Privacy of those subject of this action -with particular emphasis on the nature of these documents – secret police work documentation! Headed by the Federal StasiCommissioner Recordsfor Agencythe Stasi Records (Bundesbeauftragter) - voted into office by the , - non-partisan and independent in his decision-making process in handling his tasks as declared in StUG Stasi Records Agency Archives (basic data) . 111 km of documents . 40 mioStasiindex Recordscards among Agencythe . 13 locations . 1,7 mio photographs . 2.800 film and video . 27.600 audio files . 46 data projects 3. The Stasi Archive as educational tool within Germany - almost 25 years after the citizens demanded the end of the SED dictatorship and consequently the dismantling of the Stasi our archive has itselfStasicreated Recordsa history Agency - Stasi has become a household word and it has dominated the discussion about the reappraisal of the past of the SED dictatorship – not always to its advantage - It has enormous symbolic value for the victims since legal prosecution only had very limited results – hugely important to society - 25 years later also means: time for change how do we keep the dialogue going? how do we talk to a new generation? why should they listen? Stasi Records Agency

Entre más comprendamos la dictatura, mejor podemos crear la democracia Stasi Records Agency Stasi Records Agency Stasi Records Agency Campus for Democracy

Stasi Records Agency Websites – Stasi Records online

Stasi Records Agency Next-Generation: Twitter Feed of Peaceful Revolution, school material, Historycaching

Stasi Records Agency Current issues…

… NSA vs. Stasi … was East Germany a state without the rule of law? … do former unofficial collaborators still need to lose their jobs when foundStasiout? Records Agency

The records give insight, not the whole story, but a specific perspective on it and they challenge us to look in detail, be differentiated and learn for today and tomorrow.