Der 'grosse Bruder': Studien zum Verhaltnis von KGB und MfS 1958 bis 1989

The GDR Ministry for State Security (MfS) acted as a servant of two masters, the SED and the Soviet friends, and was used by the KGB to strengthen and expand its agent networks for espionage in the West or to collect information in the GDR. This volume illustrates the different facets of the KGB presence in the GDR based on newly evaluated documents with many concrete examples.

Format: Hardback
Length: 364 pages
Publication date: 21 December 2021
Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co KG

Even after its formal equality with the Soviet secret service KGB in 1958, the GDR Ministry for State Security (MfS) continued to serve two masters. It continued to act as both a shield and a sword for the ruling state party, the SED, and as a service provider for the Soviet friends. In fact, it was not equality but rather informal submission that shaped the cooperation with the KGB. It is hardly known that the KGB not only used the possibilities and capacities of the Stasi but also those of the People's Police and the Ministry of the Interior to strengthen and expand its agent networks for espionage in the West or to collect information in the GDR—and this often without the knowledge of the MfS. The KGB viewed the GDR as its operational playground, in which it alone determined the laws of action. This volume illustrates the different facets of the KGB presence in the GDR based on newly evaluated documents with many concrete examples.

Dimension: 237 x 160 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783525317334