Protests over German plan to close agency for Stasi studies

Berlin: Germany is embroiled in new row over its communist past after the government announced plans to shut down the authority in charge of the classified files of the Stasi, the former East German secret service.

The Birthler Authority, established in 1991, collects, studies and makes freely available all Stasi documents, including secret files on its victims and lists of its undercover collaborators.

Now the German ministry of culture has announced plans for its gradual closure, prompting a wave of protests in a country still coming to terms with the legacy of half a century of communist dictatorship.

Bernd Neumann, the culture minister and a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, intends to preserve the authority's vast archive but terminate its other operations, such as further research into the Stasi files and activities.

Expert scrutiny

He envisages the files being integrated in the German Federal Archive, where they would still be available to the public, without, however, being subjected to the kind of expert scrutiny that has led to the uncovering of Stasi collaborators.

Leading the protest is the head of the authority itself, Marianne Birthler, the former East German pro-democracy activist after whom it is popularly named. "I find it ridiculous that someone would like to draw the line after 17 years," she said. "It is important that this special authority continues to exist at least until 2019, meaning 30 years after the 1989 revolution. Only then should one consider whether the further continuation of its work would make sense."

More than 1.6 million Germans have been given access to secret files by the authority since it began work. According to its officials, there were 97,000 requests for insight into secret files last year, a 20 per cent rise on the previous year.

Increased interest has been partly attributed to the cathartic effect of the Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others, which detailed the Stasi methods of operations and encouraged many victims to come forward. The coming of age of a new generation, who can request files about their parents' past, is also thought to be a factor.

The date for the authority's shutdown has not been yet been disclosed. Nor has the government given any detailed reason for its closure, beyond saying that it was always scheduled that at some point it would be wound down.

Reconstruction

However, the decision has rekindled long-running suspicions that many in public life would be happy to see its investigative work end. The authority is currently involved in the painstaking reconstruction of some 16,000 sacks of files that were shredded as the Stasi's headquarters was stormed by protesters in 1989.

A team of 50 civil servants has spent the past eight years putting 300 sacks back together, and with the help of pioneering new computer technology, they hope to be able to completely recreate the original documents. The records are thought to contain information on contacts between East and West German politicians, and evidence of collaboration with the Stasi that could be incriminating for some politicians still serving today.

A spokesman for the Berlin-based Fraunhofer Institute of Production Facilities and Construction Technology, which has devised the computer technology, said: "We have been granted provisional means for a two-year test phase. We hope that the plans by the state minister of culture would not terminate this very valuable project."

Neumann has received support for his plan from an unlikely ally, the Left Party of "Red" Oskar Lafontaine. Mr Lafontaine claimed that there were more important problems to consider after 17 years of unified Germany. He said: "We don't need a mammoth authority to perform historic research and enable access to files."