Zersetzung

This article is about the Stasi psychological warfare technique. For the Nazi Germany crime of undermining the war effort, see Wehrkraftzersetzung.

Zersetzung (pronounced [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈzɛt͡sʊŋ] ⓘ, German for "decomposition" and "disruption") was a psychological warfare technique used by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) to repress political opponents in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. Zersetzung served to combat alleged and actual dissidents through covert means, using secret methods of abusive control and psychological manipulation to prevent anti-government activities. People were commonly targeted on a pre-emptive and preventive basis, to limit or stop activities of dissent that they may have gone on to perform, and not on the basis of crimes they had actually committed. Zersetzung methods were designed to break down, undermine, and paralyze people behind "a facade of social normality"[1] in a form of "silent repression".[1]

Erich Honecker's succession to Walter Ulbricht as First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in May 1971 saw an evolution of "operational procedures" (Operative Vorgänge) conducted by Stasi away from the overt terror of the Ulbricht era towards what came to be known as Zersetzung ("Anwendung von Maßnahmen der Zersetzung"), which was formalized by Directive No. 1/76 on the Development and Revision of Operational Procedures in January 1976.[2] The Stasi used operational psychology and its extensive network of between 170,000[3] and over 500,000[4][5] informal collaborators (inoffizielle Mitarbeiter) to launch personalized psychological attacks against targets to damage their mental health and lower chances of a "hostile action" against the state.[6] Among the collaborators were youths as young as 14 years of age.[7]

The use of Zersetzung is well documented due to Stasi files published after the Berlin Wall fell, with several thousands or up to 10,000 individuals estimated to have become victims,[8][clarification needed] 5,000 of whom sustained irreversible damage.[9][verification needed] Special pensions for restitution have been created for Zersetzung victims.

  1. ^ a b Mike Dennis, Norman LaPorte (2011). "The Stasi and Operational Subversion". State and Minorities in Communist East Germany. Berghahn Books. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-857-45-195-8.
  2. ^ Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic. Directive No. 1/76 on the Development and Revision of Operational Procedures Richtlinie Nr. 1/76 zur Entwicklung und Bearbeitung Operativer Vorgänge (OV)
  3. ^ "An Enduring Legacy of a Divided Era (Stasi files) (2001)". The Los Angeles Times. 9 November 2001. p. 86. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Open Stasi files show massive smear campaign - East German police disrupted families, careers(1992)". The Manhattan Mercury. 19 January 1992. p. 5. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Germany ...continued (Stasi files) (1991)". Star Tribune. 15 November 1991. p. 10. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  6. ^ Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic: The Unofficial Collaborators (IM) of the MfS
  7. ^ "New book examines communist recruitment of teen informers (Stasi)(1997)". Marysville Journal-Tribune. 2 January 1997. p. 10. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  8. ^ Sonja Süß: Repressive Strukturen in der SBZ/DDR – Analyse von Strategien der Zersetzung durch Staatsorgane der DDR gegenüber Bürgern der DDR. In: Materialien der Enquete-Kommission "Überwindung der Folgen der SED-Diktatur im Prozeß der Deutschen Einheit". (13. Wahlperiode des Deutschen Bundestages). Volume 2: Strukturelle Leistungsfähigkeit des Rechtsstaats Bundesrepublik Deutschland bei der Überwindung der Folgen der SED-Diktatur im Prozeß der deutschen Einheit. Opfer der SED-Diktatur, Elitenwechsel im öffentlichen Dienst, justitielle Aufarbeitung. Part 1. Nomos-Verlags-Gesellschaft u. a. Baden-Baden 1999, ISBN 3-7890-6354-1, pp. 193–250.
  9. ^ Consider the written position taken by Michael Beleites, responsible for the files of the Stasi in the Free State of Saxony: PDF[dead link], accessed 24 August 2010, and 3sat : Subtiler Terror – Die Opfer von Stasi-Zersetzungsmethoden, accessed 24 August 2010.