Hostile negative person
In the internal parlance of the GDR Ministry for State Security, the expression hostile-negative person referred to a person who was classified as a political opponent of the GDR system or of socialism in general . The term hostile-negative forces was used more generally as a collective term and also in relation to groups of opposition members , e.g. for members of the opposition organized in the church.
The dissident as "enemy"
In order for the MfS to be classified as an enemy and to be targeted by the MfS, it could be enough to have, as a normal GDR citizen, repeatedly criticized in private circles, and that this was reported by an informant from the MfS ( unofficial employee ) . In this sense, the target person also spoke of a “hostile-negative attitude” or “attitude”. People who had repeatedly spoken critically or negatively in public about the political system of the GDR , its institutions or representatives were regularly referred to in this way. These included dissidents , critical intellectuals and artists such as Rudolf Bahro , Robert Havemann , Jürgen Fuchs and Wolf Biermann, as well as members of the various political and church resistance groups in the GDR in general .
The MfS definition of "enemy" was expressly shaped by politics:
"Persons in groups or individually to socialism essentially foreign political and ideological attitudes deliberately develop and beliefs and in its practical behavior by selectively inducing events or conditions that the socialist state and social order in general or in individual pages or harm compromise , a realization strive for these attitudes and views . "
The “creation of conditions that endanger the socialist social order” in the above sense usually meant specifically that the person classified as “enemy” had repeatedly and publicly expressed criticism of certain aspects of the GDR system or its officials. Repeated advocacy of freedom of expression or freedom of travel could already be viewed as a hostile act, as could the filing of an exit application .
However, there was a certain threshold below which critical statements were viewed by the Stasi as tolerable, not hostile or worthy of persecution. For example, expressions of displeasure about the poor supply situation with consumer goods were quite common. As a rule, the MfS only became attentive or active when a person consistently and publicly expressed criticism despite initial warnings. Any form of recognizable critical political activity (not conforming to the system), however, usually targeted the person concerned, especially if this was accompanied by a certain degree of organization. This included, for example, regular, politically motivated meetings in the church environment , which the MfS usually viewed extremely critically.
The hatred of the enemy
The MfS attached particular importance to the fact that its employees developed "deep hatred " for the enemy and accordingly cultivated and developed their "Chekist image of the enemy " (based on the first Soviet Russian secret police Cheka ) and linked it with strong negative emotions :
“As an immanent part of ideology and the moral value system, the scientifically founded , real and current image of the enemy is one of the essential characteristic features of the Chekist personality. (...) Concrete and secure knowledge about the enemy and the deep feelings of hatred, disgust, aversion and relentlessness towards the enemy based on them are extremely significant prerequisites for a successful fight against the enemy. "
"Relentless" fight against the enemy
In line with its self-image as the party's sword and shield , the MfS fought such opponents - if their "hostile" attitudes or their activities critical of the regime exceeded a certain threshold - with a series of overt and covert measures in the context of so-called operational processes . These included imprisonment, organizing professional failures, defamation , the destruction of private relationships through organized intrigues, and the psychological destruction of the target person. These measures against the enemy , which had to be carried out “relentlessly” according to the image of the enemy listed above, were used by the MfS under the collective term “ decomposition ”. Its theoretical basis was operational psychology , which was a separate subject at the ministry's own university .
See also
literature
- Siegfried Suckut : The dictionary of the state security . Ch. Links, 2001, p. 422 ( decomposition of a hostile-negative person ) and p. 121/122 (definition of enemy ).