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C CLEANSING THE PAST Croatia is wary of lustration, and Germany has been successfully implementing it for 30 years: 'It's never too late' The key was probably January 15, 1990. German citizens and human rights activists said they wanted to know the truth. Writes: Jutarnji HRPosted: October 4, 2020 5:48 pm The fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall Norbert Michalke / Imagebroker / Profimedia Facebook Twitter Messenger E-mail “Lustration! Lustration! Lustration! "For a full month this summer, thousands of Bulgarians protested in the streets every day against the government and demanded lustration, writes Deutsche Welle . Three decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain, many Bulgarians are convinced that their lustration turned into a" mafia state ". . The term is also used by Metodi Andreev , the former president of the Bulgarian Commission that dealt with documents of the former communist secret service. In his opinion the "old network" firmly in its grip are run today's Bulgaria and are responsible for the evil of corruption. This opinion is shared by the demonstrators who are protesting this summer against the current government Boyko Borisov . Why did lustration succeed in Germany? Why was lustration not carried out in Bulgaria? And other post-communist countries like Croatia, BiH or Serbia? Why did it succeed in Germany, a country that is a role model for many in the world today in terms of lustration - and not only the former communist, but also the Nazi cadre. It is often forgotten that Germany carried out a double lustration: after the Second World War and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, writes Deutsche Welle. The key was probably January 15, 1990. German citizens (from East and West Berlin) and human rights activists made it clear that day that they wanted to know the truth. They occupied the headquarters of the infamous Stasi, and saved millions of documents that documented the systematic repression of the communist regime against its own inhabitants, against the inhabitants of the former GDR. In Bulgaria, citizens "stormed" the BKP headquarters after the fall of the Iron Curtain, during which time the Bulgarian secret police DS (State Security) managed to destroy about 40% of the archives. In Germany, thanks to the timely action of the citizens, most of the material was saved. And that part that Stasi tried to destroy has been systematically reconstructed for three decades under the supervision of the BStU (Office of the Federal Commissioner for Documents of the former Stasi). The road to its foundation was difficult. Many in the then (united) Germany were against the systematic processing of the files of the former secret police. Some openly advocated their destruction. "Unnecessary quarrels over the past" Among them was Wolfgang Schäuble , the then right-hand man of "Unification Chancellor" Helmut Kohl . He later revealed in a newspaper interview that he advocated the destruction of documents "so that the future would not be unnecessarily burdened by quarrels over the past." In any case, Lothar de Maiziere , the last head of the GDR government, wanted to prevent citizens from gaining access to the documents of the MFS (Ministry of State Security) within which the Stasi operated: “In that case, there are no more neighbors, friends and colleagues, there will only be deaths and murders, "he said, alluding to the fact that many GDR residents worked for the Stasi and as IMs, unofficial collaborators, spying on people close to them, even members of their own families. the German secret service BND warned of possible fatal consequences for the young democracy in the east of the country if the Stasi archives were opened. But in the end, all those worries proved unfounded. After numerous complications, the BStU started operating on October 3, 1990, the day of the unification of Germany. The first head of the Office became Joachim Gauck , a former civil rights activist in the GDR. He later (2012-2017) also served as federal president. Key opening of the archive The precondition for carrying out lustration in Germany was the opening of the Stasi archives. These are millions of documents on torture, psycho-terror, murders, robberies, economic crime, on the systematic spying of innocent citizens. It was no coincidence that as early as 1989, when great changes in Europe were in sight, the authorities in the then communist countries first began to destroy and remove compromising materials. In the case of Bulgaria, it was only after the country's entry into the European Union that access to the files of the former secret police was made possible. In Germany, any citizen can, if he suspects that he was the target of surveillance, request an insight into his file and find out who spied on him, when and how. The Stasi employed about 7,000 people, and in the fall of 1989, another 180,000 external associates, so-called IMs, were registered in MfS documents. The writings are also researched by historians, journalists, they are the subject of analysis at German universities. RELATED NEWS Angela Merkel, Giuseppe Conte, Sebastian Kurz, Andrej Babiš and Robert Abela EU LEADERS IN TROUBLE Only one EU country is blocking sanctions against Lukashenko, they have a condition that Brussels does not agree to WRITES DER SPIEGEL Angela Merkel visited Alexei Navalny during his stay in a Berlin hospital Even 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there is still great interest in the Stasi files in Germany. During 2019, BStU received about 56,000 requests from citizens for access to documents, in the first half of this year (despite the crown) almost 21 thousand. From 1990 to date, the Office has received more than seven million requests, of which just over three million have been received by the citizens themselves. The legacy of the GDR regime includes about 111 kilometers of written material, two million photo documents and 15,000 bags of torn documents, which the Stasi failed to destroy - and which are now being reconstructed with the help of sophisticated machines. Roland Jahn , the current head of the BStU, complains, however, that the past has not yet been clarified. He notes that only a small number of those responsible have been convicted, that the existing penal mechanisms are not sufficient: "It has been shown that one state governed by the rule of law cannot shed light on what was happening in a system based on injustice." Jahn also criticized the Left, a party that is (partly) the successor to the former SED Communist Party in the GDR, for not fully facing the legacy of the past to date: "It was the SED dictatorship, not the Stasi dictatorship. ! "Leaders of the Left say that cooperation with Stasi today must not automatically be an obstacle in his career. Rehabilitation of Stasi victims The victims of the Stasi in Germany are being continuously rehabilitated. These people receive a monthly allowance for the suffering they experienced in the GDR. People who have spent unfairly 90 or more days in East German prisons are entitled to a so-called "pension for SED victims" of 330 euros per month, or compensation for each month spent behind bars. The number of victims of repression is estimated at 170 to 300 thousand . The word lustration comes from the Latin term "lustrare" (clean, cleanse, illuminate) and today it means the systematic removal of politically "burdened" or discredited persons from all public functions and public life in general, and their prosecution in court. In today's Germany, it is inconceivable, unlike the countries of the former Yugoslavia (including some EU members), that former high-ranking officials of the repressive system are regular and (obviously) welcome guests in the media, to comment on election results in party headquarters, that the public " they amuse "with their jokes" - and thus trivialize the never solved crimes committed in the name of the organization to which they themselves belonged. Despite previous checks, thousands of former Stasi associates are still employed in the public service of a united Germany. For a time, Angela Merkel's cottage in northwestern Germany was guarded by two former Stasi officers. In the case of people applying for a position in the public service, it is automatically checked whether they have cooperated with Stasi. In the past 30 years, "comb through" the biographies of many MPs, business leaders, cultural workers. A number of high-ranking actors compromised earlier collaboration with the GDR regime had to abandon their positions. It is particularly interesting example of members of the Bundestag Thomas Nord . It is just after the fall of the Wall admitted that he worked for the Stasi and still entered the German parliament through the Left list in 2009 - perhaps precisely because of honesty? Such transparency would be desirable in other cases as well, says Jahn. And many former top GDR athletes worked, by force or favor, as informal associates of the Stasi. A figure of as many as 3,000 people is mentioned, but this figure has never been officially confirmed. Among them was Ulf Kirsten, a former Bayer Leverkusen striker (IM Knut Krüger) and at one time a member of the United Germany national team. Or one of the most famous German boxers in the 90s Axel Shulz . After his stepfather fled to West Germany, his phone rang and he was told from the Stasi: "Either you will help us or you can forget your sports career!" Schulz decided on the first option and thus became "IM Markus". Never too late... Lustration in Germany is actually still ongoing. Berlin Senator for Construction Andrej Holm resigned in 2017 - just a month after taking office and after Berlin Mayor Michael Müller threatened to fire him. Holm worked for the Stasi before the fall of Berlin and kept it quiet. After this was revealed, the Senate announced that it would check the biographies of MPs in the Berlin Parliament. It is never too late to lustrate, at least not in Germany - not even 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, writes Deutsche Welle .