Psychological warfare technique used by the Stasi in East Germany
This article is about the Stasi psychological warfare technique. For the Nazi Germany crime of undermining the war effort, see Wehrkraftzersetzung.
Zersetzung (pronounced[t͡sɛɐ̯ˈzɛt͡sʊŋ]ⓘ, German for "decomposition" and "disruption") was a psychological warfare technique used by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) to repress political opponents in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. Zersetzung served to combat alleged and actual dissidents through covert means, using secret methods of abusive control and psychological manipulation to prevent anti-government activities. People were commonly targeted on a pre-emptive and preventive basis, to limit or stop activities of dissent that they may have gone on to perform, and not on the basis of crimes they had actually committed. Zersetzung methods were designed to break down, undermine, and paralyze people behind "a facade of social normality"[1] in a form of "silent repression".[1]
Erich Honecker's succession to Walter Ulbricht as First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in May 1971 saw an evolution of "operational procedures" (Operative Vorgänge) conducted by Stasi away from the overt terror of the Ulbricht era towards what came to be known as Zersetzung ("Anwendung von Maßnahmen der Zersetzung"), which was formalized by Directive No. 1/76 on the Development and Revision of Operational Procedures in January 1976.[2] The Stasi used operational psychology and its extensive network of between 170,000[3] and over 500,000[4][5] informal collaborators (inoffizielle Mitarbeiter) to launch personalized psychological attacks against targets to damage their mental health and lower chances of a "hostile action" against the state.[6] Among the collaborators were youths as young as 14 years of age.[7]
The use of Zersetzung is well documented due to Stasi files published after the Berlin wall fell, with several thousands or up to 10,000 individuals estimated to have become victims,[8][clarification needed] 5,000 of whom sustained irreversible damage.[9][verification needed] Special pensions for restitution have been created for Zersetzung victims.
^ abMike Dennis, Norman LaPorte (2011). "The Stasi and Operational Subversion". State and Minorities in Communist East Germany. Berghahn Books. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-857-45-195-8.
^Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic. Directive No. 1/76 on the Development and Revision of Operational Procedures Richtlinie Nr. 1/76 zur Entwicklung und Bearbeitung Operativer Vorgänge (OV)
^"An Enduring Legacy of a Divided Era (Stasi files) (2001)". The Los Angeles Times. 9 November 2001. p. 86. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
^"Open Stasi files show massive smear campaign - East German police disrupted families, careers(1992)". The Manhattan Mercury. 19 January 1992. p. 5. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
^"Germany ...continued (Stasi files) (1991)". Star Tribune. 15 November 1991. p. 10. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
^Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic: The Unofficial Collaborators (IM) of the MfS
^"New book examines communist recruitment of teen informers (Stasi)(1997)". Marysville Journal-Tribune. 2 January 1997. p. 10. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
^Sonja Süß: Repressive Strukturen in der SBZ/DDR – Analyse von Strategien der Zersetzung durch Staatsorgane der DDR gegenüber Bürgern der DDR. In: Materialien der Enquete-Kommission "Überwindung der Folgen der SED-Diktatur im Prozeß der Deutschen Einheit". (13. Wahlperiode des Deutschen Bundestages). Volume 2: Strukturelle Leistungsfähigkeit des Rechtsstaats Bundesrepublik Deutschland bei der Überwindung der Folgen der SED-Diktatur im Prozeß der deutschen Einheit. Opfer der SED-Diktatur, Elitenwechsel im öffentlichen Dienst, justitielle Aufarbeitung. Part 1. Nomos-Verlags-Gesellschaft u. a. Baden-Baden 1999, ISBN 3-7890-6354-1, pp. 193–250.
^Consider the written position taken by Michael Beleites, responsible for the files of the Stasi in the Free State of Saxony: PDF[dead link], accessed 24 August 2010, and 3sat : Subtiler Terror – Die Opfer von Stasi-Zersetzungsmethoden, accessed 24 August 2010.
Zersetzung (pronounced [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈzɛt͡sʊŋ] , German for "decomposition" and "disruption") was a psychological warfare technique used by the Ministry for State...
health problems. Such methods formed the basis of the Stasi's use of Zersetzung (trans. decomposition) which has been considered to be a perfected version...
debilitated through the application of Zersetzung (in German, "decomposition") methods. In the Honecker era, Zersetzung became the primary method of Stasi...
Wehrkraftzersetzung or Zersetzung der Wehrkraft (German for "undermining defence force") was a sedition offence in German military law during the Nazi...
translator of Czech poetry and prose. Kunze was a victim of the Stasi's Zersetzung psychological warfare program. In 2009, he was awarded the Thüringer Literaturpreis...
welche durch die Electricität bewirkt werden; insbesondere über die Zersetzung der feuerbeständigen Alkalien, die Darstellung der neuen Körper, welche...
preceded the physical assault of the victims. Specific examples include Zersetzung, by the Stasi secret service agency of East Germany, and kompromat in...
analysis Triangulation (psychology) Victim blaming Victim playing Word salad Zersetzung Gita Mammen, After Abuse (2006) p. 29 Berne (1966), p. 45. "Mind game"...
1002/9780470132593.ch13. ISBN 978-0-470-13259-3. Fehling, Hermann (1844). "Ueber die Zersetzung des benzoësauren Ammoniaks durch die Wärme". Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie...
In 1989 she joined Democracy Now. Poppe was a victim of the Stasi's Zersetzung psychological warfare program. In 1995 she was awarded the Order of Merit...
July 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2016. Liebig, Justus von (1831). "Ueber die Zersetzung des Alkohols durch Chlor" [On the decomposition of alcohol by chlorine]...
nicht dargestellt worden. Man erhält es sehr leicht durch wechselseitige Zersetzung, wenn man Aethylchlorür mit einer weingeistigen Auflösung von einfach...
191: "Ich werde in dem Folgenden zeigen, dass bei einer vollkommnen Zersetzung des Alkohols das Chlor den Wasserstoff desselben abscheidet und diesen...
3995–4048. doi:10.1039/C0CS00149J. ISSN 1460-4744. Kolbe, Hermann (1848). "Zersetzung der Valeriansäure durch den elektrischen Strom" [Decomposition of valeric...
Chemical Society, London, 1958. See: Winckler, F. L. (1831) "Ueber die Zersetzung des Calomels durch Bittermandelwasser, und einige Beiträge zur genaueren...
March 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2022. Liebig, Justus (1832). "Ueber die Zersetzung des Alkohols durch Chlor" [On the degradation of alcohol by chlorine]...
repression practiced by the Stasi, was a form of 'silent repression' called Zersetzung ("Decomposition"). This involved the sustained use of covert psychological...
physics, Internet Version 2005 (85th ed.) Wöhler, F. (1829) "Ueber die Zersetzung des Harnstoffs und der Harnsäure durch höhere Temperatur," (On the decomposition...
169–230. The isolation of silicon is detailed in the section titled: "Zersetzung der flussspaths. Kieselerde durch Kalium" (Decomposition of silicate fluoride...
welche durch die Electricität bewirkt werden; insbesondere über die Zersetzung der feuerbeständigen Alkalien, die Darstellung der neuen Körper, welche...
2008-09-12. Carl Löwig (1827) "Über Brombereitung und eine auffallende Zersetzung des Aethers durch Chlor" (On the preparation of bromine and a striking...
DDR-Sicherheitsorganen als vermeintlicher Hort von Jugendprotest, Rowdytum und Zersetzung ohnehin ein Dorn im Auge. Tomlinson, Alan; Young, Christopher (2006)....
helped to establish. Untersuchungen über die Affinitäten, über Bildung und Zersetzung der Äther. Ostwalds Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften; 173 Leipzig:...
undermining Swift boating Tone policing Tu quoque Whispering campaign Zersetzung "SMEAR CAMPAIGN | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary...
Doctrine Unconventional Warfare Peter Watson (intellectual historian) Zersetzung Fear § Manipulation NATO Able Archer 83 UK Briggs Plan Information Research...
with the more insidious and far-reaching decomposition methods (trans. Zersetzung) of the Stasi: these involved various forms of infiltration, false flag...
under COINTELPRO Security State terrorism Surveillance abuse Thermcon Zersetzung "I. Introduction and Summary" (PDF). Intelligence Activities and the Rights...
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