Wspołczesna historiografia a badania nad Stasi. Osobna niemiecka droga rozliczenia z przeszłością
Contemporary History and Stasi Research. The German Sonderweg of Dealing with GDR archives

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the opening of GDR archives, which have paved the way for a large-scale reckoning with the Communist past in Germany. The legacies of the Ministry of State Security were particularly important in this process. After the first stage of revelations on secret informers and the criminal methods of the state security service, the emphasis in research shifted to the systematic analysis of Stasi presence in each sector of society. At the same time the limits of secret police influence started to be discussed as well. The broad availability of former secret records opens opportunities for methodological innovation. One important development is the comparison with other dictatorial regimes such as Soviet Stalinism and Nazi Germany, with intense attention paid to both by international researchers. Opportunities of comparison are discussed on the basis of empirical data on the informer network in East German society.

• Details
• Contents