Herbert Kierstein

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Herbert Kierstein (born January 17, 1938 in Grottkau , Upper Silesia Province ; † July 25, 2017 ) was a lieutenant colonel in the Ministry for State Security (MfS).

Life

Kierstein joined the MfS in 1955. From 1958 he was investigating officer in the field of espionage offenses against the GDR. In this role he was directly involved in the case of US agent Hannes Sieberer . On October 1, 1969, he became deputy head of unit and on October 1, 1970, head of unit in Department IX (investigative body). On November 1, 1980 he was promoted to deputy head of department and in 1981 was promoted to lieutenant colonel. From March 15, 1983 he acted as an officer for special tasks (OfS) in the evaluation and control group (AKG) of the HA IX and from February 1985 to September 1989 as head of the AKG analysis working group. From October 1, 1989, until his release in 1990, he was deputy head of the AKG coordination department at HA IX.

A publication by Kierstein from 2005 attracted public attention. “Burned out and forgotten. A US agent and the GDR counterintelligence «. The co-author of this book was the aforementioned Hannes Sieberer, who was interrogated after his exposure and was imprisoned for three years before he was replaced in 1985. In the book, both men deal with their past.

The former Stasi prisoner and employee of the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, Mario Röllig , sued the publishing house Das Neue Berlin for false statements of fact and for the unauthorized use of a photo of him in a book by Kierstein and Gotthold Schramm . During the negotiation, the publisher issued declarations of cease and desist regarding the false quotations and the unauthorized publication of photos. The publisher undertook to delete the disputed passages under threat of a fine and no longer distribute the photo.

The qualified lawyer Kierstein lived near Berlin . He died as a result of heart surgery.

Publications

  • Burned up and forgotten. A US agent and the GDR counter-espionage (together with Hannes Sieberer). edition ost, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-360-01065-5
  • Hot battles in the Cold War. Unknown cases and facts (editor). edition ost, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-360-01085-8
  • Free protection of the rule of law. Who are the Stasi records and memorial sites of use? (together with Gotthold Schramm ). edition ost, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-360-01810-6
  • Dragon slayer. The "Stasi memorials" are upgrading. edition ost, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-360-02070-3

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Wilhelm Fricke : Historical revisionism from a MfS perspective Stiftung-hsh.de, Forum, pp. 490–496. 2006 ( Memento from June 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 132 kB)
  2. ^ Rita Sélitrenny : Double surveillance: Secret service investigative methods in the GDR remand prisons , Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2003, p. 440.
  3. ^ Press release from the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial of February 11, 2011
  4. ^ Frank Schumann: Herbert Kierstein passed away. In: young world. August 3, 2017, p. 11 , accessed July 16, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Kierstein, Herbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German secret service agent of the GDR State Security
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Grottkau , Upper Silesia Province
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 2017