Stasi law change could lead to more probes
An amendment to the law relating to East German secret police files on Wednesday will likely lead to more investigations into the pasts of people working in the public sector, a spokesman for the file archive said.
Andreas Schulze told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper that the continuing societal debate over the feared East German secret police know as the Stasi, as well as plans to allow investigations into more employment categories than in the past, will likely lead to a jump in the number of reviews.
"But the witch hunt that many claimed would result in the past never happened," he said. "Who today is revealed to have worked with the Stasi was lying yesterday. They had the chance every day to take responsibility for their pasts."
The number of investigations into possible cooperation with the Stasi by civil servants has fallen from 1.7 million in 1990 to 13,187 in 2006 to just 76 in 2010.
One reason for that was an amendment in 2006, which ended regular vetting of those working in minor positions in the civil service.
However, the new amendment to be approved by the cabinet Wednesday extends the time frame for security checks to 2019 and expands the employment categories that can be investigated – from salary level A13 (a school director) and upwards.
DPA/DAPD/kdj
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Andreas Schulze told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper that the continuing societal debate over the feared East German secret police know as the Stasi, as well as plans to allow investigations into more employment categories than in the past, will likely lead to a jump in the number of reviews.
"But the witch hunt that many claimed would result in the past never happened," he said. "Who today is revealed to have worked with the Stasi was lying yesterday. They had the chance every day to take responsibility for their pasts."
The number of investigations into possible cooperation with the Stasi by civil servants has fallen from 1.7 million in 1990 to 13,187 in 2006 to just 76 in 2010.
One reason for that was an amendment in 2006, which ended regular vetting of those working in minor positions in the civil service.
However, the new amendment to be approved by the cabinet Wednesday extends the time frame for security checks to 2019 and expands the employment categories that can be investigated – from salary level A13 (a school director) and upwards.
DPA/DAPD/kdj
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