Zersetzung
This article is about the Stasi psychological warfare technique. For the Nazi Germany crime of undermining the war effort, see Wehrkraftzersetzung.
Directive No. 1/76 on the Development and Revision of Operational Procedures, which outlined the use of Zersetzung in the Ministry for State Security. Zersetzung (German for “decomposition”) is 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. Zersetzung was informally used in East Germany si…Read More