No remorse from Stasi as Berlin marks fall of Wall

By Madeline Chambers

BERLIN (Reuters) - For thousands of former employees of Communist East Germany's loathed Stasi secret police, next week's 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is no cause for celebration.

While the city hosts world leaders for festivities to mark the end of Europe's Cold War, a generation of ex-Stasi cadres will be trying to forget the night euphoric East and West Berliners danced on the Wall and fell into each others arms.

"November 9 is not a celebration at all for us," said Hans Bauer, chairman of the Society for Legal and Humanitarian Support (GRH) which helps former East German state employees, including Ministry for State Security, or Stasi, officers.

"What happened that day has been a burden to people like us," added the quietly spoken lawyer whose ashen complexion lends him an appearance older than his 68 years.

Experts say few of the Stasi's 91,000 ex-employees, or its 170,000 unofficial informers, have come to terms with their role in one of the world's most repressive organizations.

Known as "the shield and the sword of the party," the Stasi locked up opponents of the regime. Officers tortured prisoners by isolating them, depriving them of sleep and using psychological tricks such as threatening to arrest relatives.

Instead of showing contrition, they have grown bolder in recent years. Many unofficial informers have taken legal action to stop them being named and former officers are not afraid to confront victims and accuse them of distorting history.

The GRH, with 1,500 members and thousands more sympathizers, helps former state employees fight legal battles and provides a social network for those determined to cling to their past.

Only last week, East Germany's last leader Egon Krenz addressed ex-border guards in a hall outside Berlin decked out in old communist flags and resonating with marching music. He said he regretted he had failed to save East Germany.

"Most of our friends would say they are not at home in this Germany," said Bauer, an East German state prosecutor. His association is waging a war over history and feels obliged to "put the record straight."

"Anyone who had a responsible position in East Germany, their whole lives are now seen as unproductive and inhuman. That hurts their human dignity," he said. "It may be too late to rehabilitate individuals but we want to rehabilitate society."

Asked about the failings of the East German system, Bauer cited low productivity levels rather than a lack of freedom.

"PERPETRATORS AMONG US"

Neither the pensioners, who make up the majority of former Stasi employees, nor a younger generation of some 30,000 ex-workers who have started new lives, show repentance.

"It is very much the exception to find someone who says openly 'I'm sorry for what I did'," said historian Jochen Staadt, an expert in East Germany at Berlin's Free University.