From the ruins risen newly
To the future turned, we stand
Let us serve your good wealth truly
Germany, our fatherland
Triumph over bygone sorrow
Can in unity be won
For we shall attain a tomorrow
When over our Germany
There is a shining sun
Stasi go home!
We didn't think the GDR would ever cease to exist.
We didn't see it coming.
I realized it was possible only later.
The media tell us
the RAF murdered Rohwedder, the head of the Treuhand.
However, after considering the execution, its presumed planning,
and ideological background, this assumption seems erroneous.
On the other hand, there are many indications
that the assassinations were planned and executed
by the remnants of the East German Ministry of State Security,
known as the Stasi, which was still operational at the time.
In the Rohwedder case, I see only one possibility:
I see that this was carried out by dissatisfied citizens
of the former GDR.
I am absolutely certain of that.
These people must have had excellent military training,
including training necessary for a sniper.
I see this as a revenge killing.
Is this really possible or highly unlikely?
When it comes to the Stasi, no evil is out of the question.
GERMANY
A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES
The German Reich!
Nobody has any intention of building a wall.
West and East Germany, a divided nation.
Unity and justice and freedom…
Red Army Faction...
Insane attacks by barbaric terrorists...
…Fatherland
Risen from ruins…
Tear down this wall!
Our fatherland, reunited.
Flourish, German fatherland
OCCUPIER
Mr. Rohwedder has been killed. What are your thoughts?
Has he? That's news to me.
Haven't listened to the news today yet.
-You haven't heard? -No.
He was the head of the Treuhand. Do you…?
Oh, well…
I guess they had their reasons.
I can't blame them.
If I had the chance, I'd take out a few more.
We've never been screwed like this before!
I think the West German government should have realized long ago
that this is no way to run their politics.
Perhaps this will make them realize that the five new federal states
are a bomb waiting to go off.
Something was bound to happen. Everyone could see that.
I have my doubts that this was really done by RAF terrorists,
as they say in the news.
I don't know, it could have been some of the people from the Stasi.
I am quite certain...
that this was not just some madman or politically…
irresponsible people, like the RAF.
I think the execution of Detlev Karsten Rohwedder
had economic reasons,
because of decisions he made, measures he was responsible for.
Berlin, city center. One office building has the most important address
for wealthy investors from the West who want to invest in the GDR.
We are in negotiations regarding the buying of a company.
What's going on?
-We are buying a company. -Which one?
I don't have to tell you. I don't want to tell you here.
I'm just visiting.
-What for? -Just to see what's happening.
-You wouldn't be here for no reason. -Why not? I'm visiting old friends.
I experienced the Treuhand for myself and I watched…
people queuing up in order to get their hands on whichever company.
Business people came over thinking,
"Hey, what a bargain.
I can buy a fully equipped company...
for a euro."
I'm exaggerating,
but the general impression was,
"Here come the occupiers,
breaking up all sorts of companies…
to sell them off for a quick profit."
I don't know what to call these people.
They exploit things wherever they find something to exploit.
They invaded
our little country like locusts.
And…
I would like to say that they not only added to the chaos,
they also aggravated the personal misery of people.
And you couldn't help…
thinking,
"So you are supposed to be our brothers and sisters?"
At the moment, we are indeed in a phase
when companies, when the whole economy
needs to sweat out any remains of socialism. We'll have to endure this.
And the quicker we address this crisis,
like a sick person, the quicker we'll come out the other end.
Detlev Karsten Rohwedder was the most powerful German business tycoon
of his era.
I imagine that some people did not like some of his decisions.
It feels a little like the Wild West.
Some people are quite brazen when dealing with the Treuhand.
This simply would be impossible in West Germany.
Of course, the privatization policies
that the Treuhand implemented so forcefully in our country
are always both lauded and condemned.
When I remember the spring of 1991,
it seems that Rohwedder was hated by everyone.
And we did ask ourselves, "Are we safe here?"
We had received a few threats already.
Staying at the Grand Hotel,
we often took the opportunity
to walk over in the morning to the Treuhand building.
Right across the street was the so-called "House of Democracy."
And he said, "Look, if someone wanted to kill me,
he could sit over there and shoot me without being caught.
We have no control over who goes in and out of that building."
So…
Now we can…
Mrs. Rohwedder always maintained
in our telephone conversations that the Stasi must have been behind it.
Because their old networks were unhappy
with her husband dissolving the GDR.
During his work, he had seen evidence
indicating where the Stasi might have hidden
several hundred million that had disappeared.
And the Stasi was worried he might find their hiding place.
Here are several telexes
I sent to the State Criminal Police Office, Security Department.
"The evidence strongly suggests
that a new form of terrorism is emerging,
which greatly exceeds and dwarfs the RAF.
Not only does it have far more members than the RAF,
the ex-Stasi members are much more professional
with regards to training, communications, financial means,
logistics, experience, and inside knowledge.
And they are resolutely determined.
The Chief Security Office of Saxony-Anhalt,
Klaus-Dieter Matschke…"
Yes, I meant absolutely...
what I said here.
It would only have favored
those who believed the sell-off,
the total dissolution of the country,
could be stopped by killing this man.
My name is Klaus-Dieter Matschke.
I used to work for the Federal Intelligence Service,
later for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
In that capacity, I was moved to the former GDR...
to investigate...
who worked for the Stasi before Reunification.
What did they do?
It was my job to report all my findings
directly to the Prime Minister.
I made contact
with former Stasi generals.
We spent a lot of time together,
including drinking together.
If I needed more information on a subject,
I just asked one of them and he would give me an answer.
I asked the generals about the Rohwedder case,
and they had come to the same conclusion:
their own people were likely responsible.
My name is Eberhard Böttcher.
I used to work for the Ministry of State Security.
My last job was in Branch XXII,
as Head of Department 1, and my rank was Lieutenant Colonel.
My sole reason for joining the Stasi
was my commitment to the prevention of another war.
I experienced World War II firsthand.
My hometown Plauen was bombed and 80% destroyed.
There was hardly a building left standing.
I know what it means to fear for your life while cowering in a cellar.
This experience has stayed with me and shaped who I am.
No more war!
GDR YOUTH GREET THE YOUTH OF THE WORLD
Friendship with our Russian brothers!
The GDR was an anti-fascist state, and that made it the better Germany.
You have to remember
that any Nazi who was keen to get away,
who did not want to be caught and tried by the Russians,
made their way to the Western Zones.
This led to the Western Zones
being crowded with all types of Nazis.
The same people
who had wanted to kill me too, just a few years earlier...
because I am Jewish.
Consider this horrendous period of our country's history,
the Holocaust, the devastation of World War II,
the appalling injustice Germany brought upon its European neighbors and the USSR.
Bearing all this in mind,
we do not deserve the great joy of reunification.
Though not deserving it at all, we have achieved it.
From an economic perspective,
the GDR was bound to collapse.
But I did not expect this regarding its concept of society.
There was betrayal in our ranks as well.
People submitted.
Some were just frightened. They would have done anything…
out of fear.
We had hoped that socialism could reinvent itself.
We waited for this to happen.
But what happened instead?
Total collapse, as ordered by Gorbachev himself.
Gorbi! Gorbi!
The Soviet Union was in deep economic trouble.
In the summer of 1989,
Helmut Kohl asked me...
to give the Soviet Union, and, therefore, Gorbachev,
an untied loan of five billion marks.
Gorbachev had extreme financial problems.
Under normal circumstances, I was only allowed to grant an untied loan
if I was 99% sure to get the money back.
In this case, I was 99% sure
we would not get the money back,
but we just brushed our financial regulations aside.
This was a very important trust-building gesture,
signaling to Gorbachev
that he could rely on Helmut Kohl and his government.
Mr. Secretary General,
if you press the left button on that device,
you will see a picture of today's guest of honor: yourself.
Secretary General, our most important message to you is:
thank you for the speed and dynamics of your politics.
We wanted to achieve a change in attitude.
The Soviet Union was starting to think,
"Maybe we are better off
having a good relationship with a reunited Germany,
rather than having West Germany as an enemy."
At the German-Soviet summit in Moscow,
Chancellor Kohl and General Secretary Gorbachev
spent four hours in private talks.
The Soviet leadership was impressed
that Helmut Kohl came to Moscow
with a generous offer for economic support.
Gorbachev and I agree
that the German nation should have the sole right
to decide
whether it wants to live again as one country.
He was like…
Let me shake your hand.
It was a good day's work. We can be proud, really proud.
I think we should celebrate and have a drink right now.
The GDR had to perish
in the face of West Germany,
because it had lost all its allies.
That's the truth!
Do you all have a drink?
Yes!
Here's to Germany!
Because of Gorbachev's betrayal...
our country perished.
Nothing made sense anymore.
I was depressed, dejected.
And my job was gone. We had to go.
The last staff members of the Stasi
left their workplace for the final time today.
The on duty officer told me…
First we have to collect their weapons and put them in storage.
Then they'll submit their service uniforms to a central depot.
We didn't want to be identified as former Stasi officers.
The bad press in the newspapers,
TV, and so on caused a lot of uncertainty.
There was even a law under consideration
to label the MFC a criminal organization.
DOWN WITH THE STASI
Minister for the Environment, Karl-Hermann Steinberg
was an undercover Stasi informant.
Minister, would you comment on the accusation?
I must reject Mr. Fischer's accusations.
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT KARL-HERMANN STEINBERG
We would like to ask you a few questions
regarding your work for the Ministry of State Security.
Where did you get that idea?
-May we ask you-- -No, and stop taking pictures of me.
We are looking for Mr. Pirne.
Pirne? That's me.
-You? -Yes.
-Can you stop this, please? -Are you a Stasi officer?
-No. Stop this, please. -Were you a Stasi officer?
There are documents stating
that you are a special duty officer.
Well, I was.
-You were? -It's in the past, of course.
But you were a special duty officer?
Yes, I was.
-And you openly admit to it? -Yes.
Why should I deny it?
Mr. Rohwedder, were you able to dismantle the old Stasi networks
in order to have more of a free hand?
Mr. Lohse, if you're referring to Stasi members,
we don't have any at the Treuhand, not anymore.
I wouldn't lead an organization where such people work.
Many people were summarily dismissed
without any consideration of their service or recognition for their life's work.
They were deprived of justice.
And it upset me to see so many people disregarded
by the self-perceived victors of history.
There was no victory.
If anyone won, it was us, the East Germans.
Overnight, our people became irrelevant.
Today a general, tomorrow pauper.
This had a massive negative impact
on all the former armed forces,
not just the Stasi.
"It should be evident to everybody
that the former Stasi members constitute a volatile social issue.
The social situation of Stasi members is, to say the least, catastrophic.
Former high-ranking commanders are either discharged,
unemployed, or working poor jobs at the bottom of the social hierarchy,
well below their qualifications."
And these were all people who voluntarily stepped down from power
in order to find their place within this new, democratic system.
Of course, that's not to say there weren't malefactors.
The Stasi had 100,000 full-time employees.
There could have been someone bearing a grudge.
Any acts of revenge killing...
Unthinkable.
Although, it was possible.
We had the weapons.
If we had been ordered to go somewhere and use our weapons,
of course, I would have gone.
But I don't know if I could fire a shot.
I did not much care that the man was shot or killed.
Didn't matter to me.
I had more pressing problems, like how to get back on my feet
and earn a living.
Luckily, I met the head of a security company.
He hired me immediately.
But it still felt like
I'd been the director of a hospital and was downgraded to a porter.
Back then, we employed a lot of people
from the GDR's special forces.
In the Düsseldorf-Essen area, we had approximately thirty
working in various positions.
We were glad to have them as they knew how to handle a weapon,
had a military mindset, knew how to guard,
how to patrol and protect.
So they were our preferred recruits. There wasn't anything immoral in that.
We had no means of checking their full background anyway.
There were four private security firms
operating in the exclusive area around the Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring in Düsseldorf.
Were there black sheep among them,
spying on the Rohwedder house?
How else could the gunman have known
that the office window on the first floor of Rohwedder's house
was not bulletproof?
A security guard can gather a lot of information.
I don't want to rule out that people continued to talk
to whomever while off-duty,
and that someone must have said, "Look at this house. He must be rich.
What's his security like?"
Someone might have said, "It's mostly private security
and there's a minimal police presence.
And that's why I think it's all possible.
I ask myself to this day:
Who is ultimately responsible for the killing of my former boss?
Early on, I had gained some insight
into the former Stasi while working at the Treuhand,
but investigating Stasi structures and misconduct
was not our primary concern.
We were managing financial assets.
There are a lot of processes that are anything but agreeable.
Sometimes I feel like the Deputy Sheriff being blamed
for everything that's gone wrong over the past few months.
This definitely isn't good.
Mr. Rohwedder had to make some bizarre decisions,
which were unpopular with some people.
And if there was a rogue among those unhappy people,
who thought he could protect his interests by using a weapon,
then it could have been one of the reasons for his death.
4 WEEKS
UNTIL THE MURDER
In March 1991, we had discussions
about employing auditors
to analyze and establish
whether there were hidden assets we needed to seize.
I am Kurt Hillmann...
born in Berlin.
I studied international trade and worked in the GDR's Ministry for Foreign Trade.
And finally I began working for the foreign trade company IMES.
The company
was engaged in the sale
of weapons and ammunition.
The main weapon was the AK-47.
Where did we sell them?
Africa.
South America.
IMES was part of KoKo,
Department for Commercial Coordination.
It was a whole network with many people,
often conducting normal business...
in order to acquire foreign currency for the GDR.
Purchases could be made for which the GDR Mark was not accepted as payment.
But they also had some rather...
questionable practices.
There were crooked deals, such as an emergency call
for blood donations for the victims of an earthquake in Romania.
But the blood ended up being sold to the Red Cross in Munich.
Medical equipment, the art trade,
weapons, and ammunition…
There was a whole range of goods involved.
How they made their money and how much they made
only became known after the Wall came down.
The weapons on offer included far more than the well-known AK-47
and its ammunition.
Trading in weapons…
from a business point of view,
whatever makes money.
It doesn't matter what you trade,
be it buttons or heavy machinery.
Make no mistake,
this was a well-organized department that made the most of capitalism.
The head of the department was Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski.
If there was fraud, corruption, dishonesty,
this is for others to investigate, not us.
But we will do our share to shed light
on the Schalck-Golodkowski affair.
We are doing what we can, but it's a volatile matter.
Pictures of his public appearances are rare.
Schalck was one of the most important mediators between the East and West.
Why didn't they ever really chase...
the missing millions?
Could it be that some people had an interest
in delaying this?
Authorities are searching
for the former State Secretary of Commercial Coordination,
Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski.
Business expert Schalck-Golodkowski, who yesterday was still in Bonn for talks,
is suspected of abuse of office and embezzlement.
Dr. Schalck-Golodkowski was on the run.
They flew him to the Federal Intelligence Service Office in Munich.
And we were left wondering, "Is he really getting away with it so easily?"
The initial court hearing took place today at Berlin State Court in the case
against the GDR's foreign currency procurer Schalck-Golodkowski.
I think when he got a suspended sentence of 18 months,
he must have laughed about it.
I remember we had another court case against him,
but the hearings had to be postponed
because the accused was on a German government plane on his way to China
to advise on trading with the East.
From then on we knew that we couldn't expect much from the state prosecutor.
Someone held a protective hand over him.
Today, Minister of the Interior Schäuble repudiated a report in Stern magazine,
claiming he had helped the SED foreign currency procurer
and Stasi officer Schalck-Golodkowski
to escape GDR jurisdiction.
In the West, in the Federal Republic, there was nothing against him.
And we agreed that he should be treated humanely,
and the Diakonie organization did just that.
Wolfgang Schäuble is someone who would have been central to the investigations.
He knew much about the events but said little.
The federal government held back and concealed important files.
We were quite angry
when we heard Schalck had sent letters to Schäuble.
He must have mentioned details
about the companies, assets, and so forth.
We never got a hold of those letters.
At first, Schäuble couldn't remember. Then he said the letters were "private."
He claimed he was under no obligation to hand them over.
And, anyway, he couldn't remember whether he still had them.
And we were supposed to find the money?
Secure it? How? We had nothing.
The media is particularly interested
in the contents of some five suitcases, full of explosive documents.
Schalck calls them his life's work.
Political dynamite in a reunited Germany.
Schalck-Golodkowski
had a very adaptable, flexible personality.
He couldn't have known anything about my affairs,
and I didn't know anything about his.
Addressing concerns
that there might be someone supporting, shielding, protecting Mr. Schalck,
I can only repeat what I have said on numerous occasions before:
complete nonsense!
The files on West German politicians
have been destroyed.
I won't name names,
but the political elite knows who I'm talking about.
This means we will see those immoral...
ignorant, evil people in a variety of positions...
because no files will be found. They're all gone.
But I know one thing.
In the spring of 1991,
there were no Stasi structures left that could have executed people.
They simply didn't exist.
STATE CRIMINAL POLICE OFFICE HEAD OF STATE SECURITY
The fact that this murder
could be politically exploited back then is interesting.
Being politically aware and also thinking in criminological terms, I ask myself:
Who could it have benefited?
I could imagine someone
who had nothing to do with the Stasi or the RAF.
He could be an independent killer, but acting on the orders...
of some powerful Western political stakeholder.