Tobias Wunschik

Abstract

In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), both political and criminal prisoners after their conviction were kept together in prisons under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior. Formally, the same rules applied to them, but opponents of the regime (as in many dictatorships) were often treated more strictly. Supervision by the public prosecutor’s office was mostly limited to formal questions. Compared to the 1950s, detention conditions improved until the era of Erich Honecker: assaults by the guards became less frequent and contacts with family were more often tolerated. However, after phases of liberalisation, the conditions of detention also tightened time and time again. Basically nothing changed in the degrading treatment and omnipresent regimentation. Compared to the early years, work assignments were even better organised, which led to an increased workload for the inmates. The surveillance measures of the State Security (Stasi), which employed many informers among the prison staff as well as among the inmates, were also perfected in the later years. As a form of “disruptive measures”, the secret police occasionally saw to it that the very persons who did not cooperate but appeared to be particularly “dangerous” to the secret police were thought of as informers. Concealing political persecution in this way was the result of a subtle regard for public opinion in the West, which had a comparatively strong impact on the penal system of the GDR. Another peculiarity was the ransom of political prisoners, which from 1963 led to the early release of an average of 1200 prisoners per year.