"According to Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, not even the former communist East German Stasi secret police had managed to run such a large ""army of agents"" in the former West Germany: ""Here, it's not just about intelligence gathering, but increasingly about intelligence service repression."" German lawmakers have called for an investigation, charging that Turkey is spying on suspected Gulen followers in Germany. Many people who were spied upon were German citizens. In March 2017 the Turkish secret intelligence service MIT was accused of conducting espionage of more than 300 people and 200 associations and schools linked to supporters of exiled Fethullah Gülen."
"Gestapo The Gestapo (), abbreviation of Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various security police agencies of Prussia into one organisation. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it passed to the administration of ""Schutzstaffel"" (SS) national leader Heinrich Himmler, who in 1936 was appointed Chief of German Police (""Chef der Deutschen Polizei"") by Hitler. The Gestapo at this time becoming a national rather than a Prussian state agency as a suboffice of the ""Sicherheitspolizei"" (SiPo) (Security Police). Then, from"
"Mass surveillance in East Germany Mass surveillance in East Germany was a widespread practice throughout the country's history, involving Soviet, East German, and Western agencies. East Germany, known formally as the ""German Democratic Republic"" or the ""Deutsche Demokratische Republik"", was an Eastern Bloc state from 1949 to 1990. Its territory consisted of the region of Germany that had been controlled by Soviet forces at the end of World War II. Penalties for unapproved political contacts were most severe. Though initially those sent to the NKVD special camps in Germany 1945–49 were largely interned members of the Nazi Party or the"
"Prussian Secret Police The Prussian Secret Police () was the political police agency of the German state of Prussia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1851 Police Union of German States was set up by the police forces of Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, and Württemberg. It was specifically organised to suppress political dissent in the wake of the 1848 revolutions which spread across Germany. For the next fifteen years the Union held annual meetings to exchange information. Karl Ludwig Friedrich von Hinckeldey, the Police Commissioner of Berlin, was appointed by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV on November"
"Geheime Feldpolizei The (Secret Field Police) or GFP was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of the Second World War. These units were used to carry out plain-clothed security work in the field such as counter-espionage, counter-sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda, protecting military installations and the provision of assistance to the German Army in courts-martial investigations. GFP personnel, who were also classed as ""Abwehrpolizei"", operated as an executive branch of German military intelligence detecting resistance activity in Germany and occupied France. They were also known to carry out torture and executions of prisoners. The"
"Volkspolizei The Volkspolizei – full official name: the Deutsche Volkspolizei (German People's Police), abbreviated to DVP or VP, and colloquially known as the VoPo – was the national police force of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The Volkspolizei was responsible for most law enforcement in East Germany; however, its organisation and structure were such that it could be considered to be as much a paramilitary as a civilian police force. The VP was equipped with armoured personnel carriers and artillery, and its recruits received military training. The Volkspolizei was effectively founded just following World War II, when the Soviet"
"anticommunist agitation and psychological terror against minors"". Similar letters have also been received by schools organizing field trips to the museum. Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, MfS) or State Security Service (, SSD), commonly known as the (), was the official state security service of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It has been described as one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies ever to have existed. The Stasi was headquartered in East Berlin, with an extensive complex in Berlin-Lichtenberg and several smaller facilities throughout the city. The Stasi motto was (Shield and"
"result of the revolution, Stasi files fell into the hands of the reunited German government. The Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records was formed to control those files. Mass surveillance in East Germany Mass surveillance in East Germany was a widespread practice throughout the country's history, involving Soviet, East German, and Western agencies. East Germany, known formally as the ""German Democratic Republic"" or the ""Deutsche Demokratische Republik"", was an Eastern Bloc state from 1949 to 1990. Its territory consisted of the region of Germany that had been controlled by Soviet forces at the end of World War II. Penalties for"
"Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, MfS) or State Security Service (, SSD), commonly known as the (), was the official state security service of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It has been described as one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies ever to have existed. The Stasi was headquartered in East Berlin, with an extensive complex in Berlin-Lichtenberg and several smaller facilities throughout the city. The Stasi motto was (Shield and Sword of the Party), referring to the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, SED) and also echoing a theme of"
"were individually convicted. Three groups were acquitted of collective war crimes charges, but this did not relieve individual members of those groups from conviction and punishment under the denazification programme. Members of the three convicted groups were subject to apprehension by Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union and France. In 1997, Cologne transformed the former regional Gestapo headquarters in Cologne—the EL-DE Haus—into a museum to document the Gestapo's actions. Informational notes Citations Bibliography Gestapo The Gestapo (), abbreviation of Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The force was created"
"for the East German secret police, the Stasi. There is no evidence, however, of a link between the shooting of Ohnesorg and Kurras' espionage activities. When asked about the exposure of his Stasi and Communist past, he stated that he was not ashamed of having been a member of the East German communist party. In January 2012 an investigation carried out by federal prosecutors and ""Der Spiegel"" magazine ruled that the shooting of Ohnesorg was not in self-defence. Newly examined film and photographic evidence also implicated fellow officers and superiors, proving that the West Berlin police covered up the truth"
"in the industrial areas of East Germany. Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft The Volkspolizei-Bereitschaften (VPB, German for Police Company) were barracked, paramilitary riot and anti-insurgency police units in East Germany, under the control of the (East German) Ministry of the Interior. They had the status of a regiment, and were considered part of the Armed Forces of the German Democratic Republic, even though they were never a part of the National People's Army (NVA) or the Ministry of National Defence (East Germany) and were the militarily armed and trained branch of the Ministry for State Security which operated as the secret police force of"
"Unofficial collaborator An unofficial collaborator or IM (both from German ""inoffizieller Mitarbeiter"") or, euphemistically, informal collaborator (""informeller Mitarbeiter"") was an informant in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) who delivered private information to the Ministry for State Security (MfS / Stasi). At the end of the East German government, there was a network of around 189,000 informants, working at every level of society. Before 1968 the term ""Secret Informer"" (""""Geheimer Informator"""") was used. The network of secret informers, commonly known in German sources by the initials IM, was one of the most important instruments of repression and also one of"
"in Germany, just as they did everywhere else. Opposition became more difficult. Arrests, torture, and executions were common. Terror against ""state enemies"" had become a way of life to such a degree that the Gestapo's presence and methods were eventually normalised in the minds of people living in Nazi Germany. In January 1933, Hermann Göring, Hitler's minister without portfolio, was appointed the head of the Prussian Police and began filling the political and intelligence units of the Prussian Secret Police with Nazi Party members. A year after the organisations inception, Göring wrote in a British publication about having created the"
"Sicherheitspolizei (Weimar Republic) The Sicherheitspolizei, or security police, was a paramilitary German police group set up in most countries of the Weimar Republic at the end of 1919 and largely financed by the central government. In its anti-riot role it can be seen as roughly analogous to the ""Bereitschaftspolizei"" in today's Federal Republic. In view of the unstable internal political situation in the Weimar Republic, especially in the imperial capital of Berlin, Hauptmann Waldemar Pabst of the Imperial Cavalry Guards Corps considered a barracked and militarily armed and trained police group necessary to control political violence. It was intended to"
"""Ostpolitik"" and protests worldwide. The Stasi also acted as a proxy for KGB to conduct activities in other Eastern Bloc countries, such as Poland, where the Soviets were despised. The Stasi infiltrated almost every aspect of GDR life. In the mid-1980s, a network of IMs began growing in both German states; by the time that East Germany collapsed in 1989, the Stasi employed 91,015 employees and 173,081 informants. About one out of every 63 East Germans collaborated with the Stasi. By at least one estimate, the Stasi maintained greater surveillance over its own people than any secret police force in"
"to organize the policing of political opponents outside borders of national jurisdictions. The Prussian Secret Police has historically held a bad reputation, as it was the model upon which the Gestapo was later founded. The Prussian Secret Police, however, did not routinely engage in persecution or the abuse of police powers, and did not behave in the way that other secret police forces might. The Prussian Secret Police was renamed in 1933 as the Gestapo. Prussia itself was dissolved as an administrative entity following World War II. Prussian Secret Police The Prussian Secret Police () was the political police agency"
"Diensteinheit IX The Diensteinheit IX (English: ""Service Unit 9"") was a special and covert counter-terrorism unit of the German Democratic Republic Volkspolizei. It was also known as the ""9. Volkspolizei-Kompanie"" (English: ""9th People's Police Company""). The Munich massacre in 1972 and the increasing crime in East German cities led to initial attempts to create specialized police units in East Germany. With the establishment of the ""GSG 9"" and ""Spezialeinsatzkommando""s (SEK) in the early 1970s in West Germany, the Government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) initiated the creation of a similar unit. Since no comparable force existed in East"
"Sicherheitspolizei The Sicherheitspolizei (), often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Germany for security police. In the Nazi era, it was used to describe the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of the Gestapo (secret state police) and the ""Kriminalpolizei"" (criminal police; Kripo) between 1936 and 1939. As a formal agency, the SiPo was folded into the RSHA in 1939, but the term continued to be used informally until the end of World War II in Europe. The term originated in August 1919 when the ""Reichswehr"" set up the"
"police typically act with great discretionary powers ""to decide what is a crime"" and are a tool used to target political opponents, they operate outside the rule of law. People apprehended by the secret police are often arbitrarily arrested and detained without due process. While in detention, arrestees may be tortured or subjected to inhumane treatment. Suspects may not receive a public trial, and instead may be convicted in a kangaroo court-style show trial, or by a secret tribunal. Secret police known to have used these approaches in history include the secret police of East Germany (the Ministry for State"
"out of Germany."" The NKVD at first maintained a number of former Nazi concentration camps, such as Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen, to house former Nazis. After the forced merger of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany thousands of anti-Nazi social democrats and communists that opposed the merger also ended up in those camps. Erich Mielke, a key operator for the Soviets after the war, built the Stasi into a vast secret police and espionage organization. Mielke became the longest-serving state security chief in the Eastern bloc, and his relationship with the Soviet secret police dated back to 1931, when he had"
"Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei (Main Office of the Security Police) was a central state police agency office in Nazi Germany entrusted with the national leadership of the ""Kriminalpolizei"" (Criminal Police; Kripo) and the ""Geheime Staatspolizei"" (Secret State Police; Gestapo) for the years 1936–1939. On 17 June 1936 all police forces throughout Germany were united, following Adolf Hitler's appointment of Heinrich Himmler as Chief of German Police. Himmler immediately reorganised the police into two groups: the ""Ordnungspolizei"" (Order Police; Orpo), consisting of both the national uniformed police and the municipal police, and the ""Sicherheitspolizei"" (Security Police; SiPo), consisting of the Kripo"
"Germany set up secret police forces, including branches of the Gestapo in occupied countries, which they used to hunt down known or suspected dissidents or partisans. This tactic was given the name ""Nacht und Nebel"" (""Night and Fog""), to describe those who disappeared after being arrested by Nazi forces without any warning. The Nazis also applied this policy against political opponents within Germany. Most victims were killed on the spot, or sent to concentration camps, with the full expectation that they would then be killed. Guatemala was one of the first countries where people were disappeared as a generalized practice"
"its territory. The government of East Germany had control over a large number of military and paramilitary organisations through various ministries. Chief among these was the Ministry of National Defence. Because of East Germany's proximity to the West during the Cold War (1945–92), its military forces were among the most advanced of the Warsaw Pact. Defining what was a military force and what was not is a matter of some dispute. The Nationale Volksarmee (NVA) was the largest military organisation in East Germany. It was formed in 1956 from the Kasernierte Volkspolizei (Barracked People's Police), the military units of the"
"History of the Volkspolizei The Volkspolizei (German for ""People's Police"") served as the armed forces and the national police of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1946 to 1956. The ""Volkspolizei"" was responsible for most law enforcement in East Germany, but because of its organisation and structure it was also considered a paramilitary force. Unlike police forces in most countries, they were equipped with armored personnel carriers and artillery and trained as military units. On October 31, 1945, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SVAG) approved the arming of the community-level police forces; the forces which had been established"
"Bavarian Political Police The Bavarian Political Police (), BPP, was a police force in the German state of Bavaria, active from 1933 to 1936. It served as a forerunner of the Gestapo in Bavaria, the secret police during the Nazi era and was predominantly engaged in the persecution of political opponents of the Nazis. The combination of political police and concentration camps under the control of the SS in Bavaria became the model for all of Nazi Germany, with Heinrich Himmler, within a short time, controlling all police forces in the country. Munich, Bavaria's capital, became the testing ground for"
"for the secret police). The GFP was created on 21 July 1939. Although officially part of the Wehrmacht, its personnel were mainly recruited from the criminal branch of police officers who had been assigned to the armed forces. They were assigned the legal status of ""Wehrmachtsbeamte auf Kriegsdauer"" (military officials for the duration of the war) and retained the authority of other police agencies as well as the ""Sicherheitsdienst"" (SD). Initially the ""Geheime Feldpolizei"" were exclusively Wehrmacht security units, but in 1942 they were absorbed by the RSHA. GFP agents could wear either civilian clothes or uniforms in the course"
"Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany) Kriminalpolizei (English: Criminal Police), often abbreviated as Kripo, is the German name for a criminal investigation department. This article deals with the agency during the Nazi era. In Nazi Germany, the Kripo consisted of the ""Reichskriminalpolizeiamt"" (Reich Criminal Police Department or RKPA), which in September 1939 became Department V of the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA). The Kripo had directly subordinated criminal investigation centers (""Kripo-Leitstellen"" and ""Kripo-Stellen""), as well as the criminal investigation divisions of the local state (""Staatliche Kriminalabteilungen"") and municipal police departments (""Gemeindekriminalpolizeiabteilungen""). In 1943 both the latter became directly subordinated to the criminal investigation"
"the British intelligence since July 1941 but, for reasons of national security, information pertaining to their activities was not released until 1993. The German Order Police (""Ordnungspolizei"") was a key instrument of the security apparatus of Nazi Germany. In the prewar period, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, and Kurt Daluege, chief of the Order Police, cooperated in transforming the police force of the Weimar Republic into militarised formations ready to serve the regime's aims of conquest and racial annihilation. The police units participated in the annexation of Austria and the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Police troops were first formed"
"Erich Mielke Erich Fritz Emil Mielke (; 28 December 1907 – 21 May 2000) was a German communist official and served as head of the East German Ministry for State Security (""Ministerium für Staatsicherheit""), better known as the Stasi, from 1957 until shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. A native of Berlin and a second-generation member of the Communist Party of Germany, Mielke was one of two triggermen in the 1931 murders of Berlin Police Captains Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck. After learning that a witness had survived, Mielke escaped prosecution by fleeing to the Soviet"
"to British intelligence from August 1941, but for reasons of national security these materials were not released until 1993. The German Order Police (""Ordnungspolizei"") was a key instrument of the security apparatus of Nazi Germany. In the prewar period, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, and Kurt Daluege, chief of the Order Police, cooperated in transforming the police force of the Weimar Republic into militarised formations ready to serve the regime's aims of conquest and racial annihilation. Order police units participated in the annexation of Austria and the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Police troops were first formed into battalion-sized formations"
"internal administration of Germany. Himmler immediately reorganised the police into two groups: the ""Ordnungspolizei"" (Order Police; Orpo), consisting of both the national uniformed police and the municipal police, and the ""Sicherheitspolizei"" (Security Police; SiPo), consisting of the ""Geheime StaatsPolizei"" (Secret State Police; Gestapo) and ""Kriminalpolizei"" (Criminal Police; Kripo). At that point, Heydrich was head of the SiPo and SD. Heinrich Müller was the Gestapo's operations chief. Heydrich was assigned to help organise the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The games were used to promote the propaganda aims of the Nazi regime. Goodwill ambassadors were sent to countries that were considering"
"of regular uniformed law enforcement while the SiPo consisted of the secret state police (""Geheime Staatspolizei"" or Gestapo) and criminal investigation police (""Kriminalpolizei"" or Kripo). The ""Kriminalpolizei"" was a corps of professional detectives involved in fighting crime and the task of the Gestapo was combating espionage and political dissent. On 27 September 1939, the SS security service, the ""Sicherheitsdienst"" (SD) and the SiPo were folded into the Reich Main Security Office (""Reichssicherheitshauptamt"" or RSHA). The RSHA symbolized the close connection between the SS (a party organization) and the police (a state organization). The Order Police played a central role in"