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Friday, February 17, 2012

Stasi files still cast shadow, 20 years after Berlin Wall fell | Reuters

Stasi files still cast shadow, 20 years after Berlin Wall fell | Reuters: Then he got hold of a 400-page file East Germany's dreaded secret police had compiled on him. The Stasi had arrested him back in the mid-1950s when he was just 17 years old and branded him a "provocateur" for failing to produce his identity card.

The arrest left an indelible mark on his record, leading the Stasi to watch him closely and thwart repeated attempts by Fritsch to get on with his life.

"I was absolutely overwhelmed when I read my files," the 73-year-old told Reuters, poring over copies of his personal file in his small flat on the 10th floor of an east Berlin high rise. "You enter your past hesitantly, step by step."

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