Former heads, senior officers and the rector of the MfS law school explain how the ministry functioned. The interviewees see themselves as legitimate actors with a clear mandate and political enemy image. They provide an insight into the techniques and routines of secret service work, psychological tricks during interrogations and the management of “unofficial collaborators”. What they all have in common is that they are not aware of any moral guilt. The directors contrast their footage of prisons and archives with the statements of former Stasi employees in an attempt to expose their evasions and efforts at suppression.

Rating: 6

Cast:

Willi

Opitz

Wolfgang

Schmidt

Günter

Möller

Wanja

Abramowski

Siegfried

Rataizick

Kurt

Zeiseweis

Gerhard

Niebling

Karli

Coburger

Gerhard

Neiber

Horst

Männchen

Willi

Opitz

Wolfgang

Schmidt

Günter

Möller

Wanja

Abramowski

Siegfried

Rataizick

Kurt

Zeiseweis

Gerhard

Niebling

Karli

Coburger

Gerhard

Neiber

Horst

Männchen