What is a public secret and why does it matter?

The East German Stasi has often been described as a ‘secret police.’ Historical literature has emphasised the incredible power it wielded over society through mechanisms of surveillance and secrecy. In 2018 a research team embarked upon exploring what East German citizens could know about the Stasi, and how whatever they might have known was (clandestinely?) shared, in order to manage or at least live with the risk that the agency posed. The team explored this question in relation to four sections of society: the East German protestant church; literary authors; employees in state-owned industries; and people who had led the antifascist resistance during the Third Reich.

In this session we will look at what we found about how systematic strategies alongside rumours and guesswork allowed the production of knowledge during GDR times. We will briefly explain the research then screen the film The Open Secret (30min) which also highlights how much more complex it is to research such a question after the fall of state-socialism and German unification. After discussion, we will share materials produced for bringing the project to younger audiences, such as the graphic novel ‘What did you know?’ (‘Was wusstest Du?’).

This will be an interactive discussion-based session where we respond to questions, queries and comments seeing where this will take us. Interested participants will be provided with links to additional resources produced during the project with a focus on secondary school teaching.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Chrystal Macmillan Building, The University of Edinburgh, 15a George Square, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

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