Markus Wolf and the Stasi Regime - Term Paper Example

Running Head: Markus Wolf in Stasi Regime The role of Markus Wolf in the Stasi regime in East Germany s In history a number of secret government documents were made openly available in East Germany and general public tackled their information. A time came when people were able to realize the person behind the curtain who was working for Stasi the secret state security service. It was then Markus Wolf began to develop a worldwide fame. This paper is intended to shed light on the Stasi’s methods of information and the role played by Markus wolf in this context. The role of Markus Wolf in the Stasi regime in East Germany Introduction/Background East Germany had been misfortune for continuing without a pause from the state of Adolf Hitler, the National socialist or NS till the Communist state of Joseph Stalin. A positive contrast between the two states may be that the NS was an actual German creation that was further deep-seated, but the Communist state of dictatorship was actually an external imposition which gradually turned softer. An intellectual revolution took place after the serene insurgency in 1989, as swiftly the DDR’s furtive papers were controlled by Bundesrepublik Deutschland. BRD had adequate inducement to publicize the secrets of a previous opponent. Through the meticulousness and purposeful promptness of Germans a great number of documents were provided to scholars who hardly had an expectation to smack it so heavily. The new Russian government was not much likely to reveal its history like the Germans; however, a number of its massive records had been searched out in connection with its previous settlement. Chronicles at the back of the Iron Curtain, due to which one may previously have to seek for the grains of corn in the middle of the heap of chaff, have only the natural limitations of memories. Investigating the outlawed Secret Police records in authoritarianism has a brilliant association to it. While all is required to be reserved undisclosed, these police should have kept the secrets. When the public was to know nothing, the Secret Police were supposed to know everything. (Peterson, 2001) The Stasi: The East German Intelligence and Security Service (1917-89) As stated by Koehler (1999) Stasi is actually the title of the ministry of State security of East Germany its actual name in German language is “Ministerium fur Staatssicherheit”, which is abbreviated as “Stasi” and pronounced as “Tazi”. Stasi took fame as the secret police service of East Germany. It had its command center in East Berlin in a huge multiplex building and has a number of minor amenities all over the East Berlin. It has been well known as a successful and exploitive secret police service. Stasi used to have slogan which was translated as “Defense and Weapon of the Party” which reveals its association with Socialists and corresponding to the Communists also. It came into being in 1950 with Zaisser Wilhelm as the first security state minister of Germany. In 1957 Markus Wolf was selected as the person in command for HVA in the department of foreign intelligence. He gradually attained eminent accomplishments by utilizing his secret agents for revealing the secrets of not only in business and political groups but government as well. (Childs & Popplewell, 1996) Markus Johannes Wolf Wolf, Markus, head of East Germanys international intelligence service and developer of one of the Cold Wars most effective espionage operations. Markus Johannes Wolf was born on Jan. 19, 1923, in Hechingen, Southern Wurttemberg, the son of a Marxist playwright of Jewish origin, Friedrich Wolf. When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, the Wolf family went into exile to Switzerland and France and finally immigrated to the Soviet Union in 1934. In 1940 Wolf entered the Moscow Institute for Aircraft Building, aspiring to become an aeronautics engineer. Sincerely believing that communism could save his country, which was blinded by Nazi ideology, Wolf became a member of the Communist Party of Germany (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, or KPD) in 1942, shortly after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Abandoning his engineering studies, he entered the Comintern School and became a journalist for the KPD radio station Deutscher Volkssender, broadcasting from Moscow. (Dennis & Brown, 2003) Wolf’s Role in the Stasi Regime in East Germany After World War II Wolf returned to Germany as part of Walter Ulbrichts group, which had been organized to establish Communist political authority in the Soviet-occupied zone of the country. In socialist East Germany (German Democratic Republic, or GDR), Wolf worked as a newspaper reporter and a diplomat. After the Communist and Social Democratic parties in East Germany united to form the German Socialist Unity Party (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, or SED), he joined the SED. In 1953 Wolf was assigned by the state and party leadership to head the international intelligence-gathering arm (Hauptverwaltung Aufklarung, or HVA) of East Germanys ministry for state security (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, or Stasi). Under his nearly 30-year direction, from 1958 to 1987, HVA ran a network of about 4,000 agents outside East Germany, infiltrating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters and the administration of the West German chancellor Willy Brandt. One of Wolfs agents was Günter Guillaume, Brandts top aide. His discovery in the so-called Guillaume Affair led to Brandts resignation in 1974 and to Wolfs being awarded the GDRs highest decoration, the Karl Marx Orden. Wolf became known to Western intelligence as "the man without a face" for his ability to avoid being photographed. (Dennis & Brown, 2003) Markus Wolf and McElvoy (1997) in their famous book “Man without a Face “reveals a number of facts that in spite of this the ruining and subjugated East German regimen which crumpled during the late 1980’s together with the Soviet realm, was not rescued by wolf’s hard work. From this experience wolf learned his mistakes. Approximately 4 years to the formation of East Germany, in 1953 the people from East Berlin revolted. It was in opposition to the measures concerning production of quotas and cost of foodstuff, by the CIA plus the West Berlin radio. However, according to wolf unprofessional conduct by the communist supported by party supremo’s suppressive rules was actual cause of exaggerating the insurgence. The above unembellished facts revealed from behind the Iron curtain have proved to be the strength for Markus Wolf. This book clearly elucidates the fundamentals of Wolf’s spying. He states that his notion was to prove the supremacy of collectivism over the free enterprise and for this reason he devotedly brawled in the successive agitations not only during the rebellion of Berlin but in 1956 uprising of Hungary and in 1968 Prague revolt as well. Nevertheless, he had been blighted as an inconsistent and blatant person. Wolf’s Strategy for hiring the Spies He has been well reputed as a civilized, regimented and sharp person. He had employed agents who were responsible to hire spies specifically from significant departments of government in West Germany in North Atlantic Treaty Organization and cronies. They used their relations links for this and cultured and influential people were targeted. Günter Guillaume was also a selection by them who later proved very successful as a closed worker of Willy Brandt and passed a number of important political plans and secret information to the Soviets from West Germany. (Trahair, 2004) Gorbchev was another influential agent whose actual name was Hans Rehder working in Telefunken and AEG and later proved to be very valuable for Stasi as he provided important information in the form of documents and materials specifically relating to military and computer technology. He worked for them till his death and later his wife Martha substituted him and continued as an active agent. (Macrakis, 2008) Honey and Romeo trapping was utilized by him by hiring young and ambitious people who were willing to work in the West and instructed them to develop relationships in with secretaries of higher officials. Women and their emotions were badly used by them as they were not only penalized when their offence was revealed but had to bear loss of job and reputation as well. On the other hand some of them went into matrimonial bonds with such spies. This organization was known as HVA. (Trahair, 2004) The Role of Stasi Informers Miller (2004) states that Stasi informers primary duty was to pass on strategies which were meant to destroy and neutralize the enemy. This information had been categorized according to its practical significance: Information about events, actions, people, establishments, objects and the relationships between them, which allows measures to be taken against existing or anticipated security threats, and which can therefore be used to help determine and realize concrete politically operative measure. Attainment of such targets was not an easy task, higher officials of Stasi used to have meetings with the informers to provide guidelines and action plans. They used to log details of all the groundwork in the form of formally outlined reports. Specific sites were designated for such meetings which may be changed in exceptional cases. There were three main components of these meetings, a discussion about the personal issues of each informer, handing over the report from informers o officials, and finally to provide instructions for the upcoming projects. Special training was given to Stasi officials to conduct such meetings. (Miller, 2004) According to I Studemann (2006) in spite of having tried to support himself with perestroika (the democratic processes in the Soviet Union started under Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s and opposed by Erich Honeckers regime in the GDR), Wolf was embattled by the West German powers after the breakdown of communism. Indicted with treachery, or champion’s impartiality, as he claimed, he received a six-year sentence; however that was overturned when it was recognized that his actions had not been illegal. Ultimately he was convicted of kidnappings and abductions that took place in the 1950s and 1960s and was given a suspended sentence. Living in retirement in Berlin, Wolf remained a dedicated Communist, but he recognized that the sacrifice of personal liberty to party doctrine, the manipulation of people and the falsification of history all came out of Stalins Soviet Union and were quickly adopted by most of the countries on our side of the Iron Curtain. Unconstrained, Wolf wrote books on cooking and memoirs, people who know him still say that Wolf was a “formal expert” and “partisan” who was “intellectual and honorable ". His autobiographical book, Man without a Face (1997), offers unique revelations about the world of espionage in the Cold War era and the inner workings of the Communist regimes. Wolf died on Nov. 9, 2006, in Berlin. Wolf and his spies hold a worldwide fame and it was their performance that gave rise to romanticism towards spies. A number of movies have been presented focusing spies as heroes even internationally popular character of James Bond seems to be a shadow of Markus Wolf. Their efficiency cannot be challenged. Extra ordinary capability of Wolf and the flawless performance of his team made it possible. Their uncatchable execution made them hold exclusive identity, if Markus Wolf is famous as “Man without a Face”; his team is regarded as “Fighters on the Invisible Fronts”. References Childs, D. & Popplewell, R. (1996). “The Stasi: The East German Intelligence and Security Service”. New York University Press. Dennis, m. & Brown, P. (2003). “The Stasi: Myth and Reality”. Pearson/Longman press. Koehler, J. O. (1999). “Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police”. Westview Press Macrakis, K. (2008). “Seduced by Secrets: Inside the Stasis Spy-Tech World”. Cambridge University press. Miller, B. (2004). “The Stasi Files Unveiled: Guilt and Compliance in a Unified Germany”. Transactions publishers. Peterson, E. N. (2001). “Secret police and the Revolution: Fall of the German Democratic Republic”. Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. Studemann, F. (2006). “ Stasi Chief Who Reinvented Himself as a Gentleman Spy”. Financial times London . UK. Nov. 10, 2006. P. 10. Trahair, R. C. S. (2004). “Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations”. Greenwood Publishing Group. Wolf, M. & McElvoy, A. (1997). “Man without a Face: The Autobiography of Communisms Greatest Spymaster”. University of Michigan press. Read More