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The East Germany portal offers an overview of the most important and newest articles on the subject of East Germany, the former Communist state officially known as the German Democratic Republic or GDR The portal contains links to a cross-section of articles from the areas of history and politics, geography and economy, art and culture, and some of the important personalities from the region.
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Zersetzung (pronounced [t͡sɛɐ̯ˈzɛt͡sʊŋ] ⓘ, German for "decomposition" and "disruption") was a psychological warfare technique used by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) to repress political opponents in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. Zersetzung served to combat alleged and actual dissidents through covert means, using secret methods of abusive control and psychological manipulation to prevent anti-government activities. People were commonly targeted on a pre-emptive and preventive basis, to limit or stop activities of dissent that they may have gone on to perform, and not on the basis of crimes they had actually committed. Zersetzung methods were designed to break down, undermine, and paralyze people behind "a facade of social normality" in a form of "silent repression".
Erich Honecker's succession to Walter Ulbricht as First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in May 1971 saw an evolution of "operational procedures" (Operative Vorgänge) conducted by Stasi away from the overt terror of the Ulbricht era towards what came to be known as Zersetzung ("Anwendung von Maßnahmen der Zersetzung"), which was formalized by Directive No. 1/76 on the Development and Revision of Operational Procedures in January 1976. The Stasi used operational psychology and its extensive network of between 170,000 and over 500,000 informal collaborators (inoffizielle Mitarbeiter) to launch personalized psychological attacks against targets to damage their mental health and lower chances of a "hostile action" against the state. Among the collaborators were youths as young as 14 years of age.
The use of Zersetzung is well documented due to Stasi files published after the Berlin wall fell, with several thousands or up to 10,000 individuals estimated to have become victims, 5,000 of whom sustained irreversible damage. [verification needed] Special pensions for restitution have been created for Zersetzung victims. ( Full article...)
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General images
The following are images from various East Germany-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Image 1Logo for the 40th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic in 1989 (from History of East Germany)
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Image 2Allocation policy for "surplus" German heavy industry under the "Level of Industry" plans (from History of East Germany)
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Image 3East German leaflet, fired across the inner German border (from Culture of East Germany)
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Image 4The Oder-Neisse Line (from History of East Germany)
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Image 6Prager Straße in Dresden in 1972 (from Culture of East Germany)
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Image 7GDR era Karl Marx monument in Chemnitz (renamed Karl-Marx-Stadt from 1953 to 1990) (from History of East Germany)
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Image 8The logo of the SED (from History of East Germany)
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Image 9Economic activity in the GDR (from History of East Germany)
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Image 11Occupation zone borders in Germany, 1947. The territories east of the Oder-Neisse line, under Polish and Soviet administration/annexation, are shown as white, as is the likewise detached Saar protectorate. Berlin is the multinational area within the Soviet zone. (from History of East Germany)
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Image 12Logo for Der schwarze Kanal (from Culture of East Germany)
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Image 14Map showing the different borders and territories of Poland and Germany during the 20th century, with the current areas of Germany and Poland in dark gray (from History of East Germany)
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Image 15Public nudist area at Müggelsee, East Berlin (1989) (from Culture of East Germany)
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Image 16Inter-German Border Strip at the Berlin Wall (from History of East Germany)
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Image 171951 East German stamp commemorating the Treaty of Zgorzelec establishing the Oder-Neisse line as a "border of peace", featuring the presidents Wilhelm Pieck (GDR) and Bolesław Bierut (Poland) (from History of East Germany)
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Image 18Statues of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the Marx-Engels-Forum, Berlin (from Culture of East Germany)
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Image 19Eastern German reenacters at an Indianistikmeeting in Schwerin, 1982. The popular image of Native Americans made Native American living history quite popular in East Germany. (from Culture of East Germany)
Wanted articles
The following are wanted articles, related to East Germany, that exist on German Wikipedia, or are otherwise wanted.
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