Editing Stasi (section)

==International operations==
{{See also|Main Directorate for Reconnaissance}}
After German reunification, revelations of the Stasi's international activities were publicized, such as its military training of the West German [[Red Army Faction]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kinzer|first1=Steven|title=Spy Charges Widen in Germany's East|journal=The New York Times|date=28 March 1991|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/28/world/spy-charges-widen-in-germany-s-east.html|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-date=20 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720185901/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/28/world/spy-charges-widen-in-germany-s-east.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Given the close relationship between the KGB and the Stasi, their [[Third World]] operations featured a clear cut division in responsibilities. The Soviets supplied military hardware, money and military advisors, and the East Germans organized and trained secret police forces and intelligence departments.<ref name="koehler297">{{Harvnb|Koehler|2000|p=297}}</ref><ref>''Seduced by Secrets: Inside the Stasi's Spy-Tech World''. Kristie Macrakis. P. 166–171.</ref> Cuba was the first main test run of setting up a new secret police and first-rate intelligence service.<ref>''The Culture of Conflict in Modern Cuba''. Nicholas A. Robins. P. 45.</ref> This operation helped to strengthen Cuban-East German relations, as well as open up the Stasi to intelligence collected by Cubans in the United States.<ref name="koehler297"/> The reputation of the Stasi was quite international, with the newly independent nation of [[People's Republic of Zanzibar|Zanzibar]] making an immediate request for establishing a state security service, and East Germany being the first to recognize the country. Around the same time, [[Kwame Nkrumah]] of [[Ghana]] also made a request, saying it was critical to his [[Pan-Africanism|Pan-African movement]]. The Politburo decided to help African liberation movements with military and security assistance, under the de facto supervision of Honecker. The [[Derg]] regime was given assistance to build a state security apparatus, however there were several problems with the 100 Ethiopians sent to East German institutions.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/9867981 A brave woman seeks justice and historical recognition for past wrongs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424135317/https://www.economist.com/node/9867981 |date=24 April 2018}}. 27 September 2007. ''The Economist''.</ref> As Koehler puts it, "For one thing, many of the Ethiopians lacked even an elementary education."<ref name="koehler315-20">{{Harvnb|Koehler|2000|pp=315–20}}</ref> Additionally the Stasi began training liberation movement members in Rhodesia, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe, as well as members of the [[African National Congress|ANC]]. The ANC operations were financed via counterfeit currencies under the auspices of Colonel Kurt Lewinsky. The Stasi was also operational in [[South Yemen]], to keep control of the port of [[Aden]] in a friendly camp, so that it could keep weapons flowing to the [[Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO]].<ref name="koehler323-4">{{Harvnb|Koehler|2000|pp=323–4}}</ref>
 
===Other examples===
* Stasi officers helped in initial training and indoctrination of Egyptian [[State Security Investigations Service|State Security organizations]] under the [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser government]] from 1957 to 58 onwards. This was discontinued by [[Anwar Sadat]] in 1976.
* The Stasi organized and extensively trained the [[Ba'athist Syria]]n ''[[General Intelligence Directorate (Syria)|Mukhabarat]]'' (secret police) under the government of [[Hafez al-Assad]] and [[Ba'ath Party]] from 1966 onwards and especially from 1973.<ref>''Rafiq Hariri and the Fate of Lebanon'' (2009). Marwān Iskandar. P. 201.</ref>
* The Stasi sent agents to the West as sleeper agents. For instance, sleeper agent [[Günter Guillaume]] became a senior aide to social democratic chancellor Willy Brandt, and reported about his politics and private life.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gunter Guillaume, 68, Is Dead; Spy Caused Willy Brandt's Fall|author=Craig R. Whitney|work=The New York Times|date=12 April 1995|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/12/obituaries/gunter-guillaume-68-is-dead-spy-caused-willy-brandt-s-fall.html|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-date=11 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411012916/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/12/obituaries/gunter-guillaume-68-is-dead-spy-caused-willy-brandt-s-fall.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* The Stasi operated at least one [[brothel]]. Agents were used against both men and women working in Western governments. "Entrapment" was used against married men and homosexuals.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5D6123CF931A2575BC0A966958260&pagewanted=5 Where Have All His Spies Gone?]. New York Times. 12 August 1990</ref>
* [[Martin Schlaff]] – According to the German parliament's investigations, the Austrian billionaire's Stasi codename was "Landgraf" and registration number "3886-86". He made money by supplying embargoed goods to East Germany.<ref name="Martin Schlaff"/>
* [[Sokratis Kokkalis]] – Stasi documents suggest that the Greek businessman was a Stasi agent, whose operations included delivering Western technological secrets and bribing Greek officials to buy outdated East German telecom equipment.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/olympiakos-soccer-chief-was-spy-for-stasi-661893.html Olympiakos soccer chief was 'spy for Stasi'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226172054/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/olympiakos-soccer-chief-was-spy-for-stasi-661893.html |date=26 December 2010 }}. ''The Independent''. 24 February 2002.</ref>
* Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Group) – The terrorist organization which killed dozens of West Germans and others received financial and logistical support from the Stasi, as well as shelter and new identities.<ref>Koehler (1999), ''The Stasi'', pages 387–401.</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
* The Stasi ordered a campaign in which cemeteries and other Jewish sites in West Germany were smeared with swastikas and other Nazi symbols. Funds were channelled to a small West German group for it to defend [[Adolf Eichmann]].<ref name="paulbogdanor.com">[http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/eastgermany/nazis1.html E. Germany Ran Antisemitic Campaign in West in '60s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220033242/http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/eastgermany/nazis1.html |date=20 December 2010 }}. ''Washington Post'', 28 February 1993.</ref> 
* The Stasi channelled large amounts of money to [[Neo-Nazi]] groups in West, with the purpose of discrediting the West.<ref>Neo-Nazism: a threat to Europe? Jillian Becker, Institute for European Defence & Strategic Studies. P. 16.</ref><ref name=":0" /> 
*The Stasi allowed the wanted West German Neo-Nazi Odfried Hepp to hide in East Germany and then provided him with a new identity so that he could live in the Middle East.<ref name=":0" />
* The Stasi worked in a campaign to create extensive material and propaganda against Israel.<ref name="paulbogdanor.com"/>
* Murder of [[Benno Ohnesorg]] – A Stasi informant in the West Berlin police, [[Karl-Heinz Kurras]], fatally shot an unarmed demonstrator, which stirred a whole movement of Marxist radicalism, protest, and terrorist violence.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The United Nations and Terrorism: Germany, Multilateralism, and Antiterrorism Efforts in the 1970s.|last=Blumenau|first=Bernhard|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2014|isbn=978-1-137-39196-4|location=Basingstoke|pages=16}}</ref> ''The Economist'' describes it as "the gunshot that hoaxed a generation".<ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,627342,00.html The Truth about the Gunshot that Changed Germany] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413151116/http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,627342,00.html |date=13 April 2010 }}. ''Spiegel'' Online. 28 May 2009.</ref><ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/13745822?story_id=E1_TPSQVRNN The gunshot that hoaxed a generation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921204348/http://www.economist.com/node/13745822?story_id=E1_TPSQVRNN |date=21 September 2011 }}. ''The Economist''. 28 May 2009.</ref> The surviving Stasi Records contain no evidence that Kurras was acting under their orders when he shot Ohnesorg.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/world/europe/27germany.html|title=East German Stasi Spy Killed Protester, Ohnesorg, in 1967|first=Nicholas|last=Kulish|date=26 May 2009|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-date=24 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224222744/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/world/europe/27germany.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/politik/2009/05/24/karl-heinz-kurras-schiessbefehl/benno-ohnesorg-stasi.html|title=Karl-Heinz Kurras: Erschoss er Benno Ohnesorg? Gab Mielke den Schießbefehl?|date=23 May 2009|access-date=18 December 2013|archive-date=27 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527100942/http://www.bild.de/BILD/politik/2009/05/24/karl-heinz-kurras-schiessbefehl/benno-ohnesorg-stasi.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Operation Infektion]]—The Stasi helped the KGB to spread HIV/AIDS disinformation that the United States had created the disease. Millions of people around the world still believe these claims.<ref name="John. O. Koehler">Koehler, John O. (1999) ''Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police'' {{ISBN|0-8133-3409-8}}.</ref><ref name="infektion">[https://web.archive.org/web/20100324175920/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol53no4/soviet-bloc-intelligence-and-its-aids.html Operation INFEKTION – Soviet Bloc Intelligence and Its AIDS Disinformation Campaign]. Thomas Boghardt. 2009.</ref>
* [[Sandoz chemical spill]]—A German television documentary reported that the KGB ordered the Stasi to sabotage the chemical factory to distract attention from the [[Chernobyl disaster]] six months earlier in Ukraine.<ref>"KGB ordered Swiss explosion to distract attention from Chernobyl." United Press International. 27 November 2000.</ref><ref name="sandozirishtimes">[https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2000/1123/00112300085.html Stasi accused of Swiss disaster] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021163921/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2000/1123/00112300085.html |date=21 October 2012 }}. ''The Irish Times''. 23 November 2000.</ref><ref>Sehnsucht Natur: Ökologisierung des Denkens (2009). Johannes Straubinger.</ref>
* Investigators have found evidence of a death squad that carried out a number of assassinations (including assassination of Swedish journalist [[Cats Falck]]) on orders from the East German government from 1976 to 1987. Attempts to prosecute members failed.<ref>{{cite news|first=Thomas|last=Hall|title=Svensk tv-reporter mördades av DDR|url=http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=147&a=185847|publisher=[[Dagens Nyheter]]|date=25 September 2003|language=sv|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216032510/http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=147&a=185847|archive-date=16 December 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Leif|last=Svensson|title=Misstänkt mördare från DDR gripen|url=http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=147&a=186255|publisher=[[Dagens Nyheter]]/[[Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå]]|date=26 September 2003|language=sv|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216033953/http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=147&a=186255|archive-date=16 December 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Misstänkte DDR-mördaren släppt|url=http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=148&a=215428|publisher=[[Dagens Nyheter]]/[[Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå]]|date=17 December 2003|language=sv|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041217175335/http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=148&a=215428|archive-date=17 December 2004}}</ref>
* The Stasi attempted to assassinate Wolfgang Welsch, a famous critic of the East German government. Stasi collaborator Peter Haack (Stasi codename "Alfons") befriended Welsch and then fed him hamburgers poisoned with [[thallium]]. It took weeks for doctors to find out why Welsch had suddenly lost his hair.<ref>''Seduced by Secrets: Inside the Stasi's Spy-Tech World''. Kristie Macrakis. P. 176.</ref>
* Documents in the Stasi archives state that the KGB ordered Bulgarian agents to [[Pope John Paul II assassination attempt|assassinate Pope John Paul II]], who was known for his criticism of human rights in the Eastern Bloc, and the Stasi was asked to help with covering up traces.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1538173,00.html|title=Stasi Files Implicate KGB in Pope Shooting|publisher=Deutsche Welle|access-date=18 March 2011|archive-date=28 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128021436/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1538173,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* According to the [[National Review]], a special unit of the Stasi assisted Romanian intelligence in kidnapping Romanian dissident Oliviu Beldeanu from West Germany.<ref>[http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/219342/kremlins-killing-ways-ion-mihai-pacepa The Kremlin's Killing Ways—A long tradition continues] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212034756/http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/219342/kremlins-killing-ways-ion-mihai-pacepa |date=12 February 2015 }}. 28 November 2006. National Review.</ref>
* The Stasi in 1972 made plans to assist the [[Ministry of Public Security (Vietnam)]] in improving its intelligence work during the Vietnam War.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/stasi-aid-and-the-modernization-the-vietnamese-secret-police|title=Stasi Aid and the Modernization of the Vietnamese Secret Police|date=20 August 2014|access-date=16 October 2017|archive-date=19 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019184423/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/stasi-aid-and-the-modernization-the-vietnamese-secret-police|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 1975, the Stasi recorded a conversation between senior West German CDU politicians [[Helmut Kohl]] and [[Kurt Biedenkopf]]. It was then "leaked" to ''[[Stern (magazine)|Stern]]'' magazine as a transcript recorded by American intelligence. The magazine then claimed that Americans were wiretapping West Germans and the public believed the story.<ref>''Stasi: Shield and Sword of the Party'' (2008). John C. Schmeidel. P. 138.</ref>