After German unification she discovered her husband had been a Stasi informant. She divorced him

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE56F4SS20090716

Genuine Stasi files turn up at film set
Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:20pm ED

BERLIN (Reuters) - Secret files of Communist East Germany's Stasi security police were sent to a film set for use as props, triggering an investigation into how such sensitive documents were obtained.

The authenticity of the files were revealed when 15 former political prisoners were being filmed for a docu-play called "Staats-Sicherheit" (State Security) by public broadcaster ZDF. snip

Lengsfeld, who spent time in jail in East Germany as a political prisoner, was one of the 15 political prisoners the film centers around.

She said she did not think it was a coincidence real files surfaced on the film set. She believes former Stasi employees now work at the Birthler agency.

"There were even real Stasi files from people who weren't in the production being casually tossed about," said Lengsfeld, who called it "scandalous" the documents were freely available.

After German unification Lengsfeld discovered her husband had been a Stasi informant. She then divorced him.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Not a unique event. One half of the country was spying on the other half. Insanity. nt

[NNN0LHI]

2. At its peak Stasi was monitoring one-third of the population

http://www.answers.com/topic/stasi

Secret police of East Germany (1950 – 90), established with Soviet help by German communists in Soviet-occupied Germany after World War II. It was responsible for both domestic political surveillance and espionage. At its peak, it employed 85,000 officers full-time. Using hundreds of thousands of informers, it monitored one-third of the population. Most of its foreign operations were focused on West Germany — whose governing circles and military and intelligence services it successfully penetrated — and West Germany's NATO allies. The Stasi was disbanded after German reunification. In 1991 the newly reunified German government passed the Stasi Records Law, under which East German citizens and foreigners were granted the right to view their Stasi files. By the early 21st century, more than 1.5 million individuals had done so.

[Captain Hilts]

3. Yeah. Insane. nt