Hidden Mafia machinations in Germany’s former East

 

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the former East opened up - and the Italian Mafia moved in. In the decades since, they have built up a criminal network in the former East Germany. This investigative documentary traces their origins back 30 years.

The Stasi and the Berlin Wall | DW Documentary

 

For one group, at least, the erection of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961 was a stroke of luck. Over the following decades, the Wall would be the lifeblood of the East German secret police, known as the Stasi.

The Stasi and the Berlin Wall

 

Cold War stories rediscovered – anonymous letters from East Germany

 In 1949, at the outset of the Cold War, the BBC invited people in East Germany to send in letters. Anonymously, of course. For the next quarter of a century, on a program called Letters Without Signature, the BBC broadcast these letters, read aloud.