European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 20, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Stasi Shadow Over United Germany associated press the Stasi is officially defunct but the dark Shadow of fear and angst cast by the old East German Quot state Security Quot police lingers across the newly United Germany. Unification was the realization of a dream. But former German democratic republics Stasi legacy is giving those same dreamers an enormous headache. A rash of arrests of former East German spies has embarrassed German intelligence and opened new questions about its effectiveness. The troubles done to Stop there. German judicial officials fret Over the Legal complications of prosecuting former Stasi workers who will undoubtedly say they were Only following orders just As germans involved in criminal acts did after world War ii Chancellor Helmut Kohl vows Stasi criminals will be prosecuted but warns against letting the Stasi legacy Quot Poison our nation s atmosphere. Quot a suspect must be taken to court if facts warrant it Quot Kohl said in an interview with the daily Sud Deutsche Zeitung in Munich. He added however Quot we must in no Way open up a Witch Hunt but protect our capacity for  legislators in the former West Germany fear that parliament called the bundestag will be tainted by newcomers from East Germany who in one Way or another May have aided Stasi officers at Home. Quot it is important to clarify that no Stasi accomplices Are among the former vol Skammer East German parliament members now in the bundestag nor that they violated Basic human rights Quot said Burkhard Hirsch a lawmaker with the free democratic party. A Dresden newspaper reported oct. 17 that four former vol Skammer delegates with past Stasi links Are indeed members of the bundestag now. East Germany a ministry for state Security was split into two sections one for foreign espionage and one that ran avast feared network of repression blackmail coercion and surveillance at Home. It is believed that a number of East germans with political ambitions had links to the Domestic Section. The Specter of International terrorism is another unwanted Stasi  stasis former leaders Are believed to have abetted some of the worlds most infamous terrorists. Revelations about the Stasi s malignant grip appear in German news Media nearly every Day feeding a Public pre occupation with the Stasi Issue. People were shocked by news reports that Stasi agents May have killed a number of East German dissidents who fled to the West. The deaths were initially ruled accidents but some of the cases Are being reopened. In the old East Germany people Are incensed after hearing news reports that some of the same Stasi officers Here Are signs that old Stasi networks have survived and Are Active in United Germany. Dankward Brinksmeyer former vol Skammer committee chairman who spied on them now have Law enforcement jobs under the unified Germany government. Quot there Are signs that old Stasi networks have survived and Are Active in United Germany Quot Dankward Brinksmeyer former chairman of an East German parliamentary committee that investigated the secret police told the newsmagazine Der Spiegel. There has been no in Masse admission of Stasi links in former East Germany. And when one occurs that person is Apt to become a Public pariah. One East German politician Werner Meyer Bodemann says he received death threats after confessing last month that he was coerced into working for the Stasi Meyer Bodemann who served two years in prison for a 1967 attempt to escape the country says he agreed to become a Stasi informer out of fear of being arrested again. He also insists he never did anyone any harm. Nonetheless the politician s admission has alienated him from Many members of his own party and cast serious doubts on his political career. Members of the bundestag the lower House of the German legislature Are watching the unfolding of the Stasi legacy with dread. A number of lawmakers from former West Germany want to create a special committee and empower it to look at Stasi files that would shed Light on the pasts of bundestag newcomers. Many East germans say not even the Federal government should have the right to look into the Stasi files because of the furtively obtained secrets they contain on East German lives. The Stasi files Are also a worry for West germans. The stasis 90,000 official employees and a Force of informers that May have been More than double that did not limit their snooping to East germans. Visiting West German leaders lawmakers business people and tourists were the targets of Stasi agents trained to Trail their prey with feline expertise. One West German journalist recently said in private Quot Good god i Hope the wrong people Don t get their hands on my Stasi files. My wife would kill me if she knew what i did Over  discussions about the Stasi have also unleashed confusion Over which of its former members will actually stand trial. The Long time head of the ministry for state Security Erich Mielke is under arrest on suspicion of helping members of the red army faction terrorist gang among other charges. Spies who gave away Western secrets to the East also face charges. 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