How will these resources help you?

The post-war history of Germany is a fascinating subject, but one which teachers are often not familiar with. East Germany was an incredibly secretive state, and one we are still learning about today. One of the most important aspects of how the state functioned was the near omnipresence of the State Security Service (Staatssicherheitsdienst), commonlyknown as theStasi. As its motto, the ‘shield and sword of the party’, suggests, its aim was to protect the Communist state and suppress dissident activity and behaviour. It is hard to comprehend the level of surveillance the Stasi accomplished before the age of technology. Teaching about the Stasi, their methods and their brutality will help students to understand the GDR in a way that few other aspects of the state’s short history can. One of the keys to understanding the Stasi is the use of case studies and personal examples. This list aims to combine a broad overview of the Stasi’s history with a range of usable stories that will illuminate the history and engage students.