For one group, the construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, was a fortuitous event. Over the ensuing decades, the Wall became the lifeblood of East Germany’s secret police, the Stasi. By the time the Wall fell in 1989, thousands of Stasi agents were dedicated to making the Wall impenetrable.
This documentary narrates the symbiotic relationship between the Wall and the Stasi under the infamous leadership of Erich Mielke. For the first time, this sensitive chapter of East German history is presented in a comprehensive and coherent manner, including the deaths at the Wall and the cover-ups of many of these murders.
The film explores the arrests and imprisonment of tens of thousands of refugees and the Stasi’s intricate construction of tunnels and underground listening stations to intercept tunnel diggers. It delves into the billion-dollar business of selling GDR prisoners to West Germany and the “filtering” of Western traffic at border crossings to recruit informants. Mielke’s operatives were omnipresent.
As the Wall and border systems were perfected, Mielke’s power expanded, and the containment of the population created an ever-increasing workload for the Stasi. The Wall became the Stasi’s main focus and daily sustenance.
The fall of the Berlin Wall abruptly ended both East Germany and its security apparatus. In a historical twist, on November 9, 1989, a Stasi officer opened the first barrier at Bornholmer Strasse, initiating the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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