Day 13: Security

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Today we were able to take a glimpse into the security of the Soviet Union. We entered the former Stasi Jail, and looked at all the tactics they used to manipulate and control their prisoners and their people. The GDR was meant to be a democracy, the German Democratic Republic, however the name is misleading now that we are aware of all of the innerworkings of the government that did not hold up to the democratic promise. The Soviet Union was anything but transparent with its government.

The Stasi was the secret police that emerged. Their headquarters did not appear on a map, and their men could not always be recognized. Then, within this secret police layer, there was another with civilians that contributed to the knowledge of the secret police and the government. These were called the informal informants. This secrecy was necessary for the Soviet Union to maintain power and control over its people. The Soviet Union was able to have eyes everywhere. This translates into the jail as well because the jail originated in 1951 where they used the basement of the kitchen as their isolation cells, and they disguised the perimeter to look like an army base. They controlled the people that lived in the neighboring towers. With this secrecy the people had an easier time ignoring the red flags that popped up because they didn’t have enough information or knowledge to stand up, and that gave the Soviet Union the ability to continue its crimes.

In the Stasi Jail, there were many security tactics, and tactics that were meant more for psychological torture than for the safety of anyone. When men were picked up to come to the jail they were crammed into a small truck with five small cells and a guard sitting in the front. They drove around sometimes for housing order to confuse the prisoner and make it so that they were unaware of where they were or how far away they were from their families. The guide we had today was driven around for about an hour each time he went in one of these trucks, and it was successful in concealing his proximity to the outside world. He later found out that the Stasi prison was only two miles away from his parents house, and he knew of the place he was in but from a different exterior look.

The prisoners were also not allowed to see other prisoners, nor were they allowed to see the guards. They had a red and green light system that prevented them from accidently seeing. This was partially because of security purposes, so that the prisoners were not able to identify the guards and so they were not able to connect and rise up with other prisoners, but it was also a psychological tactic that made the prisoners feel isolated and alone to the point that the Stasi is able to manipulate and extract false information to support their own façade.

A lot of the security that comes out of the jail and comes from the Soviet Union in general, was important because that was the backbone of their government. It allowed them to rule over the people with secrecy and total control. The informants were the best way to obtain information on everyone, and that was so well cared for that many people were unaware that their own family members were spies.