The MIS or Stasi, being the shield and sword of the party, was the most important instrument in enforcing the communist dictatorship in East Germany. At the end, 91,000 full time Stasi employees and 189,000 unofficial collaborators ensured the blanket surveillance of the population. It is said that 1 out of every 5 people was a Stasi spy.
The living conditions at the camp were catastrophic, sometimes holding over 4200 inmates penned like animals. Over a 1000 people died in the camp. Food rations were poor and hygienic conditions deplorable. Many internees were incarcerated for years without recourse to legal proceedings. These consisted of alleged Nazis, political opponents, and supporters of democratic parties and communists/ Soviet officers who had been regarded as no toeing the official party line. Almost every former prisoner that filed an application for rehabilitation after the camp closed, has been declared innocent by Russian authorities.
One section of the prison was called the "U-Boot" (submarine). It consisted of subterranean bunker-like cells in the basement. The damp and cold cells were equipped with a wooden bed, and a bucket serving as a lavatory (which was emptied once a week). A light bulb was burning 24 hours a day. Interrogations were usually held at night in a atmosphere of physical and psychological violence. Former prisoners described being forced to sign confessions due to the combined effects of sleep deprivation, standing still for hours on end, arrest lasting for days or being detained in water cells.
The tours of the Stasi prison camp are given by former prisoners with first hand knowledge of the horrendous life in the prison. I wondered how they felt the first few times giving tours, walking through the areas where they were detained. They do it so that we can take a critical look at the methods and consequences of political persecution and suppression in the communist dictatorship.
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