The Stasi used
Zersetzung essentially as a means of
psychological oppression and persecution. Findings of
operational psychology were formulated into method at the Stasi's College of Law (
Juristische Hochschule der Staatssicherheit, or
JHS), and applied to
political opponents in an effort to undermine their self-confidence and self-esteem. Operations were designed to intimidate and destabilise them by subjecting them to repeated disappointment, and to socially alienate them by interfering with and disrupting their relationships with others as in
social undermining. The aim was to induce
personal crises in victims, leaving them too unnerved and psychologically distressed to have the time and energy for anti-government activism. The Stasi intentionally concealed their role as mastermind of the operations. Author
Jürgen Fuchs was a victim of
Zersetzung and wrote about his experience, describing the Stasi's actions as "
psychosocial crime", and "an assault on the human soul". It is difficult to determine how many people were targeted, since the sources have been deliberately and considerably redacted; it is known, however, that tactics varied in scope, and that a number of different departments implemented them. Overall there was a ratio of four or five authorised
Zersetzung operators for each targeted group, and three for each individual. Some sources indicate that around 5,000 people were "persistently victimised" by
Zersetzung. At the College of Legal Studies, the number of dissertations submitted on the subject of
Zersetzung was in double figures. It also had a comprehensive 50-page
Zersetzung teaching manual, which included numerous examples of its practice.
Units involved Almost all Stasi departments were involved in
Zersetzung operations, although first and foremost amongst these was the headquarters of the Stasi's directorate XX (
Hauptabteilung XX) in Berlin, and its divisional offices in regional and municipal government. The function of the headquarters and
Abteilung XXs was to maintain surveillance of
religious communities; cultural and media establishments;
alternative political parties; the GDR's many political establishment-affiliated mass social organisations; sport; and
education and health serviceseffectively covering all aspects of civic life. The Stasi made use of the means available to them within, and as a circumstance of, the GDR's closed social system. An established, politically motivated collaborative network (
politisch-operatives Zusammenwirken, or
POZW) provided them with extensive opportunities for interference in such situations as the sanctioning of professionals and students, expulsion from associations and sports clubs, and occasional arrests by the
Volkspolizei The Stasi's
Linie III (
Observation),
Abteilung 26 (Telephone and room surveillance), and
M (Postal communications) departments provided essential background information for the designing of
Zersetzung techniques, with
Abteilung 32 procuring the required technology. The Stasi collaborated with the secret services of other Eastern Bloc countries to implement
Zersetzung. One such example was the Polish secret services co-operating against branches of the
Jehovah's Witnesses organisation in the early 1960s, which would come to be known as "
innere Zersetzung" (internal subversion).
Use against individuals The Stasi applied
Zersetzung before, while, after, or instead of incarcerating the targeted individual. The implementation of
Zersetzungeuphemistically called
Operativer Vorgang ("operational procedure")generally did not aim to gather evidence against the target in order to initiate criminal proceedings. Rather, the Stasi considered
Zersetzung as a separate measure to be used when official judiciary procedures were undesirable for political reasons, such as the international image of the GDR. However, in certain cases, the Stasi did attempt to entrap individuals, as for example in the case of
Wolf Biermann: The Stasi set him up with minors, hoping that they could then pursue criminal charges. The crimes targeted for such entrapment were non-political, such as drug possession, trafficking, theft, financial fraud, and rape. Directive 1/76 lists the following as tried and tested forms of
Zersetzung, among others: Beginning with intelligence obtained by espionage, the Stasi established "
sociograms" and "
psychograms" which it applied for the psychological forms of
Zersetzung. They exploited personal traits, such as homosexuality, as well as supposed character weaknesses of the targeted individualfor example a professional failure, negligence of parental duties, pornographic interests, divorce, alcoholism, dependence on medications, criminal tendencies, passion for a collection or a game, or contacts with circles of the extreme rightor even the veil of shame from the rumors poured out upon one's circle of acquaintances. From the point of view of the Stasi, the measures were the most fruitful when they were applied in connection with a personality; all "schematism" had to be avoided. . It has arisen in investigation, though not definitely established, that the Stasi may have used
X-ray devices in a directed and weaponised manner to cause long-term health problems in its opponents. That said, Rudolf Bahro, Gerulf Pannach, and Jürgen Fuchs, three important dissidents who had been imprisoned at the same time, died of cancer within an interval of two years. In the name of the target, the Stasi made little announcements, ordered products, and made emergency calls, to terrorize them. To threaten or intimidate or cause psychoses the Stasi assured itself of access to the target's living quarters and left visible traces of its presence, by adding, removing, and modifying objects such as the socks in a drawer, or by altering the time that an alarm clock was set to go off. In this manner, parents and children were supposed to systematically become strangers to one another. To provoke conflicts and extramarital relations the Stasi put in place targeted seductions by
Romeo agents. For the
Zersetzung of groups, it infiltrated them with unofficial collaborators, sometimes minors. The work of opposition groups was hindered by permanent counter-propositions and discord on the part of unofficial collaborators when making decisions. To sow mistrust within the group, the Stasi made believe that certain members were unofficial collaborators; moreover by spreading rumors and manipulated photos, the Stasi feigned indiscretions with unofficial collaborators, or placed members of targeted groups in administrative posts to make others believe that this was a reward for the activity of an unofficial collaborator. They even aroused suspicions regarding certain members of the group by assigning privileges, such as housing or a personal car. Moreover, the imprisonment of only certain members of the group gave birth to suspicions. ==Targeted groups==