Editing Stasi (section)

===Storming the Stasi headquarters===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0116-013, Berlin, Stürmung Stasi-Zentrale.jpg|thumb|Citizens protesting and entering the Stasi building in Berlin; the sign accuses the Stasi and [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] of being Nazi-like dictators (1990).]]
With the fall of the GDR, the Stasi was dissolved. Stasi employees began to destroy the extensive files and documents they held, either by hand or by using incineration or shredders. When these activities became known, a protest began in front of the Stasi headquarters.<ref>[http://www.stasimuseum.de/en/enindex.htm The Stasi Headquarters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224220736/https://www.stasimuseum.de/en/enindex.htm |date=24 February 2021 }} now a museum open to the public.</ref> On the evening of 15 January 1990 a large crowd formed outside the gates and called for a stop to the destruction of sensitive files.<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 January 2015 |title=Sturm auf die Stasi-Zentrale |url=https://www.morgenpost.de/berlin/berliner-mauer/article136381398/Sturm-auf-die-Stasi-Zentrale.html |work=Berliner Morgenpost}}</ref> The building contained vast records of personal files, many of which would supply important evidence in convicting those who had committed crimes for the Stasi. The protesters continued to grow in number until they were able to overcome the police and gain entry into the complex. Once inside, specific targets of the protesters' anger were portraits of Erich Honecker and Erich Mielke, which were torn down, trampled upon or burnt. [[Defenestration]] occurred as some Stasi employees were thrown out of upper floor windows and beaten after falling to the streets below, but there were no deaths or serious injuries. Among the protesters were former Stasi collaborators seeking to destroy incriminating documents.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}