Agitation Department (MfS)
The agitation department was a central service unit of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) of the GDR that existed from 1955 to 1985 .
History and scope
Spun off from the General Department in 1955 , she was responsible for public relations and maintaining traditions at the MfS. She worked on exhibitions as well as print and film productions that were distributed for propaganda purposes via the GDR media. Although often referred to as the press office or department, the agitation department only performed this task to a very limited extent. Overall, the media were only provided with information on MfS activities in a very restrictive manner. The focus was on defending against enemy attacks; Concrete information on their own machine (number of employees, structure and working methods) was not published. Until the mid-1960s, the public relations work of the MfS also concentrated on propaganda attacks on the Federal Republic, for example through reports on West German armament or the Nazi past of West German officials. In the course of the policy of détente , the agitation department increasingly concentrated on maintaining tradition and strengthening its own reputation among the population. To this end, the department also worked with schools, company work collectives and border communities. In 1955 the department employed nine people, but over the years it grew to 87 employees (1983). In 1985, the department was incorporated into the Central Evaluation and Information Group (ZAIG) as Area 6 .
One of the most famous people who agitated against the West on behalf of the department was Julius Mader .
Head of the agitation department
- Gustav Borrmann (1955–1957)
- Günter Halle (1957–1975)
- Helmut Bechert (1975–1985)
Web links
- MfS-Lexikon: Agitation department
- MfS lexicon: Public relations and traditional work of the MfS
- Agitation department in the Stasi media library of the Federal Commissioner for Stasi Records (BStU)
literature
- Roger Engelmann , Bernd Florath , Helge Heidemeyer, Daniela Münkel , Arno Polzin, Walter Süß: The MfS Lexicon. 3rd updated edition, Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86153-900-1 , p. 21, p. 248, online version .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cf. Jens Gieseke : The full-time employees of the Ministry for State Security , statistical appendix, in: BStU : Anatomie der Staatssicherheit, MfS-Handbuch IV / 1, Berlin 1995.