New book sheds light on infamous Stasi prison

By Carolyn Palmer

LEIPZIG, Germany (Reuters) - When he entered solitary confinement in East Germany's most notorious prison in 1956, Karl Wilhelm Fricke feared he would forget how to speak.

More than five decades later, he is now retelling his story and recounting the secrets of the Stasi prison in a new book, "Bautzen II," named for the detention facility near Dresden.

The prison saw a total of 2,350 prisoners pass through its gates between 1956 and 1989 and Fricke's book reveals it was the only prison in Communist East Germany where the feared secret police had free reign.

When working as a journalist in 1955, 25-year-old West German was lured into a flat in West Berlin and drugged by the Stasi, who suspected he had informants in the East.

He woke up captive in East Berlin, was interrogated sometimes day and night for 15 months and finally sentenced to four years in jail, entering Bautzen II in 1956.

"The interrogation time was definitely the worst, I didn't know what was going to happen to me," Fricke, 78, told Reuters in an interview at the Leipzig Book Fair. He said the Stasi's questions were useless as he had no informants.

When he moved to Bautzen II, letters and newspapers were his only contact with the outside world. During his four years he would see an average of two guards a day, who would bring him food, check his cell and shave him.

"Of course, they didn't let me shave myself," he said with a wry smile. He had to fight hard not to let the prison break his spirit.

"I was worried I would forget how to speak," he said. "Every day I would practice speech exercises, recite poems I had learnt at school and read the paper in a low voice."

Fricke has already written one book about his experiences but with co-author Silke Klewin -- who is director of the Bautzen memorial centre -- decided to write this latest work after finding new material, including plans, photos and official documents, that revealed Bautzen II's special status.

For unlike other prisons, which were the overall responsibility of the interior ministry, Bautzen II was under the complete control of the Stasi.

Dreaded in East Germany as the spying machine of the state, the Stasi carried out cruel interrogations and used psychological torture to wear down victims' spirits, making them betray friends and family.

Fricke was just one of many West Germans transported to East Germany in order to be imprisoned. Like 700 others carted over the border, he thought he was safe in the West.

The Stasi also trapped foreigners at the borders and sent them to Bautzen II, which held political prisoners, including communists who had fallen out of favor.

Fricke said "Bautzen II" was important because of the current rise in nostalgia in East Germany towards its Communist past, a feeling which he certainly does not share.

After his four year's imprisonment Fricke was asked by the Stasi if he would like to live in East Germany rather than be sent back to the West.

"They were so convinced of their mission" said Fricke derisively, "they thought they could convince me to stay!"

Reuters/Nielsen