HIDDEN GEM:THE CHILLING methods of a secret police force determined to protect its raison d'etre are being revealed at the former Stasi prison in Berlin. Its horrors are proving a morbid attraction for an increasing number of tourists, their curiosity perhaps piqued by the acclaimed 2006 film The Lives of Others, which tells the story of a Stasi captain who shows a little compassion for two of his surveillance subjects.
Visitors will learn that such a scenario could never have occurred, however – East Germany’s sinister state security system would have seen to that.
Hohenschönhausen was shut down only in 1991, by which time 250,000 political prisoners – which is to say anyone suspected of being against the regime or sympathising with the West – had passed through its doors, many of them never to be heard of again.
The Stasi protected the socialist state with brutal efficiency, tapping phones, searching apartments and otherwise spying on people. Freedom of expression and belief were nonexistent.
Interrogators used “operative psychology”, which involved suggesting various misfortunes: “Your parents’ car is quite old. It would be terrible if they had a tragic accident,” or, “Wouldn’t it be awful if your children never saw their mother again?” The Stasi referred to this treatment as “decomposition of the soul”.
Many former prisoners died of leukaemia-related illnesses, believed to have been contracted after being exposed to radiation from X-ray machines at Hohenschönhausen.
Survivors now offer guided tours of the complex, revealing the incredible secrets of a dark past.
** Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen, Genslerstrasse 66, Berlin, Germany, 00-49-30-98608230, www.stiftung-hsh.de
** Do you know of a hidden gem? E-mail us at go@irishtimes.com