2016年7月4日星期一

煤气灯操纵 Gaslighting


英语里有一个词叫作Gaslighting,翻译成中文,字面上意思就是“煤气灯操纵/操作”,但它实际的意思却是一种精神虐待,是一个与心理学以及文学相关的概念或术语,来源于1938年的舞台剧《煤气灯》以及之后它的电影版(包括1940年英国版和1944年美国版)。20世纪60年代,“煤气灯操纵”这个术语已在英语中被通俗地使用,用于描述试图操纵或破坏某人的现实感知它的本意是,《煤气灯》的主角丈夫经常瞒着妻子在阁楼搜寻姑妈被谋杀后隐藏的宝物,但是当丈夫在阁楼开启煤气灯时,屋里的煤气灯就会变暗。妻子准确地注意到了煤气灯的变暗,然后就和丈夫谈起这种现象,但丈夫却坚称妻子在照明亮度上出现了幻觉,是妻子精神有问题。此外,丈夫还操纵着环境中其它一些类似的小元素的变化,但当妻子指出这些变化时,丈夫却坚称是妻子弄错了,或者是丈夫“发现”这些变化,指责是妻子做的却忘记了,试图使他的妻子怀疑自己的所见所闻,怀疑自己的现实感知和记忆,相信自己精神不正常,逼妻子发疯。(注:《煤气灯》又译作《煤气灯下》)


Gaslighting 煤气灯操纵

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
来自维基百科,自由的百科全书

Gaslighting or gas-lighting is a form of mental abuse in which information is twisted or spun, selectively omitted to favor the abuser, or false information is presented with the intent of making victims doubt their own memory, perception, and sanity. Instances may range simply from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, up to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
煤气灯操纵是精神虐待的一种形式,在这种形式下,信息被扭曲或歪曲,选择性的删减以迎合施虐者的喜好,或者把虚假信息呈现给受害者,意图使受害者怀疑他们自己的记忆力、认知力和精神状态。例子的范围可以从只是否认先前虐待事件曾发生过,上升到施虐者上演离奇事件,意图误导受害者。
The term owes its origin to the 1938 play Gas Light and its film adaptations. The term has been used in clinical and research literature.
这个术语来源于1938年的戏剧《煤气灯》以及它的电影版本。这个术语已被用于临床医疗和文学研究。

Ingrid Bergman in the 1944 film Gaslight
Ingrid Bergman 1944年电影《煤气灯》中

Etymology 词源

The 1938 stage play Gas Light, known as Angel Street in the United States, and the film adaptations released in 1940 and 1944 motivated the origin of the term because of the systematic psychological manipulation used by the main character on a victim. The plot concerns a husband who attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment, and subsequently insisting that she is mistaken or remembering things incorrectly when she points out these changes. The original title stems from the dimming of the gas lights in the house that happened when the husband was using the gas lights in the attic while searching for hidden treasure. The wife accurately notices the dimming lights and discusses the phenomenon, but the husband insists she is imagining a change in the level of illumination.
1938年的舞台剧《煤气灯》,也即《天使街》为美国人所知,1940年和1944年发布的电影版本催生了这个术语,因为电影的主角把这种系统的心理操纵用在了受害者身上。电影的情节是关于某个丈夫操纵他们环境中的小元素变化,接着当妻子指出这些变化时,丈夫则坚称是妻子弄错了或事情记错了,试图使他妻子及其他人相信她精神不正常。词的原意出自,当丈夫在阁楼开启煤气灯搜寻隐藏的宝物时,屋里的煤气灯发生变暗。妻子准确地注意到了煤气灯的变暗,然后就和丈夫谈起这种现象,但丈夫却坚称妻子在照明亮度上出现了幻觉。
The term "gaslighting" has been used colloquially since the 1960s to describe efforts to manipulate someone's sense of reality. In a 1980 book on child sex abuse, Florence Rush summarized George Cukor's 1944 film version of Gas Light, and writes, "even today the word [gaslighting] is used to describe an attempt to destroy another's perception of reality."
自从20世纪60年代“煤气灯操纵”这个术语已被通俗地使用,用于描述试图操纵某人的现实感知。在1980年的一本关于儿童性虐待的书中,Florence Rush总结了George Cukor 1944年电影版的《煤气灯》,他写道,“即使在今天,【煤气灯操纵】这个词依然被用于描述破坏他人现实感知力的企图。”

Clinical examples 临床案例

Sociopaths frequently use gaslighting tactics. Sociopaths consistently transgress social mores, break laws, and exploit others, but typically, are also charming and convincing liars who consistently deny wrongdoing. Thus, some who have been victimized by sociopaths may doubt their perceptions.
反社会者频繁使用操纵煤气灯战术。反社会者一贯违背社会习俗,触犯法律,以及利用他人为自己谋利,通常却也是迷人的和有说服力的骗子,一贯否认恶行。因此,一些受反社会者侵害的人可能怀疑他们自己的认知力。
Some physically abusive spouses may gaslight their partners by flatly denying that they have been violent.
一些实施身体虐待的配偶可能通过断然否认他们的暴行,来煤气灯操纵他们的另一半。
Gaslighting describes a dynamic observed in some cases of marital infidelity: "Therapists may contribute to the victim's distress through mislabeling the woman's reactions. The gaslighting behaviors of the husband provide a recipe for the so-called 'nervous breakdown' for some women [and] suicide in some of the worst situations."
煤气灯操纵描述了在一些婚姻不忠的案例中发现的一种动态:“医生可能因为误诊女人的反应而造成受害者的痛苦。丈夫的煤气灯操纵行为提供了一种处方,用以治疗一些女人所谓的神经崩溃以及一些最糟糕情况下的自杀行为。
Gaslighting may also occur in parent–child relationships, with either parent, child, or both, lying to each other and attempting to undermine perceptions. Furthermore, gaslighting has been observed between patients and staff in inpatient psychiatric facilities.
煤气灯操纵也可能出现在出现在亲子关系中,不是父母对孩子就是孩子对父母,或者都有,相互撒谎,企图暗中侵蚀对方的现实感知力。此外,煤气灯操纵也在提供住院的精神病院中的病人和员工之间被发现。

Introjection 内摄

In an influential 1981 article Some Clinical Consequences of Introjection: Gaslighting, Calef and Weinshel argue that gaslighting involves the projection and introjection of psychic conflicts from the perpetrator to the victim: "this imposition is based on a very special kind of 'transfer'... of painful and potentially painful mental conflicts."
1981年发表的一篇叫《內摄的一些临床结果:煤气灯操纵》颇具有影响力的文章里,CalefWeinshel说到,煤气灯操纵涉及到从作恶者到受害者投射和內摄的精神冲突:“这种强加是基于一种特殊的‘转移’痛苦的和潜在痛苦的精神冲突”
 The authors explore a variety of reasons why the victims may have "a tendency to incorporate and assimilate what others externalize and project onto them," and conclude that gaslighting may be "a very complex highly structured configuration which encompasses contributions from many elements of the psychic apparatus."
对于受害者为何可能具有“一种合并和同化他人外化和投射在他们身上特质的倾向”,作者研究了多种理由,然后下结论说,煤气灯操纵可能是“一种非常复杂高度结构化的配置,这种配置包含了很多精神结构元素的作用”。

Resisting 抵制

With respect to women in particular, Hilde Lindemann argued emphatically that in such cases, the victim's ability to resist the manipulation depends on "her ability to trust her own judgments." Establishment of "counterstories" may help the victim reacquire "ordinary levels of free agency."
在谈到特别是女人时,Hilde Lindemann强调说,在这些案例中,受害者抵制操纵的能力,取决于“她信任自己判断的能力”。“反故事”的建立可以帮助受害者重获“一般水平的自由意志”。

In the media 在媒体上

British film-maker Adam Curtis has suggested that "nonlinear" or "asymmetric" war (as described by Vladislav Surkov, political advisor to Vladimir Putin) is a form of gaslighting intended for political control.
英国电影制片人Adam Curtis提出,“非线性”或“非对称”战争(正如普京的政治顾问弗拉季斯拉夫·苏尔科夫所描述的)是煤气灯操纵的一种形式,意在政治控制。

2016年7月1日星期五

Zersetzung - 维基百科

来自维基百科,自由的百科全书           易翀 译  
原文地址:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zersetzung                     

Zersetzung (德语,不同的翻译有:分解,腐蚀,暗中破坏,生物降解或溶解)是一种东德秘密警察斯塔西的心理技巧,用来压制政治对手。这种“Zersetzung措施”在一本1976年的关于警察程序的指令框架中有所定义,在所谓“作战程序”的背景中使用。它们取代了乌布利希时代(Walter Ulbricht)的全面恐怖。Zersetzung压迫的实际操作由大量控制和心理操纵的秘密方法构成,操作对象包括目标的个人关系,为了实现这些操作,斯塔西依赖于它的非正式合作者网络(线人网络)、凌驾于各机构之上的国家权力以及作战心理学。斯塔西利用定向的心理攻击设法剥夺持异议者任何“敌对行动”的机会。

由于东德转变之后众多斯塔西文件的出版,Zersetzung的使用得到充分证实。大约数千或者10,000人是Zersetzung的受害者,其中5,000人遭受了不可逆性损伤。德国为这些受害者设立了补偿性养老金。

定义

斯塔西,或者全称国家安全部(德语:Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MfS)在它1985年的政治特工词典中是这样定义Zersetzung:

“... 为了有效地与颠覆活动作斗争,国家安全部所采用的一种操作方法,尤其是用于操作治疗。利用Zersetzung可以影响经营不同政治活动的消极敌对的个人,特别是他们倾向和信仰的消极敌对的方面,因此这些人被抛弃并且一点一点改变,同时,如果适用的话,敌对消极势力之间的矛盾和差异将会被会打开、利用和加强。

Zersetzung的目的是分裂、瘫痪、瓦解和孤立敌对消极势力,是为了预防性地阻碍敌对消极活动,为了极大限制或者完全制止他们,并且如果适用的话,为一次政治和意识形态的重建准备场地。

Zersetzung相当于作战程序和其它阻碍敌对集会的预防活动的一个直接构成元素。执行Zersetzung的主力军是非官方合作者(线人)。实施Zersetzung的前提是计划、准备、完成敌对活动的信息和重要证据,也包括Zersetzung的切入点。

Zersetzung必须是建立在事实的根源分析和具体目标的精确定义的基础上的。Zersetzung必须以一种统一的受监督的方式执行,它的结果必须记录下来。

Zersetzung的政治爆炸力提高了保密工作的要求。”


政治背景

德意志民主共和国(GDR 民主德国)在它存在的第一个10年里主要通过刑法压制政治反对派,指控他们煽动战争或者号召抵制。为了抵消1963年修建柏林墙导致的国际孤立,民主德国终止了司法恐怖。特别是从1971年埃里希·昂纳克时代(Erich Honecker)开始,斯塔西加紧了它抛开刑法惩罚异议分子行为的努力。关键动机是民主德国渴望国际认可,并且在1960年代末它渴望同西德改善关系。实际上民主德国致力于遵守联合国宪章和赫尔辛基协议,也包括1972年同联邦德国签订的基本条约,为了尊重人权,或者至少是表达这样的意图。德国统一社会党政权(东德政权)因此决定减少政治犯数量,实行不需要监禁或法庭判决的镇压作为补偿。


实际操作

斯塔西本质上把Zersetzung作为一种心理压迫和迫害的手段。它把作战心理学的研究成果配置进斯塔西法学院的方法中,并应用到政治对手身上,意图暗中削弱他们的自信和自尊。它设计Zersetzung行动,使目标遭遇反复失望来恐吓和动摇他们,通过干涉和破坏他们同他人的关系来使他们在社会上受到孤立,就如同是社会阻抑(social undermining)。斯塔西实施Zersetzung的目的是为了引发受害者的个人危机,使他们过于灰心丧气和心理苦恼以至于没有时间和精力来进行反政府活动。斯塔西故意隐藏他们作为行动策划者的角色。作家Jürgen FuchsZersetzung的受害者,他写了自己的经历,其中他用“心理犯罪”和“一种针对人类灵魂的攻击”来形容斯塔西的所作所为。

尽管Zersetzung技巧在1950年代末已在事实上确立,但直到1970年代中期才以科学方法的形式定义下来,而且只有到1970年代和1980年代那时才开始系统地实施。很难确定有多少人被盯上,因为资料已经过相当大程度的、刻意的编辑掩盖;然而,众所周知的是,Zersetzung的手段在一定范围内变化,有很多不同部门实施它们。总的来说,存在这样一个比例,即每个被盯上的团体有4名或5名授权的Zersetzung操作员,每个被盯上的人有3名操作员。一些资料表明Zersetzung的“长期受害者”大约有5,000人。在斯塔西研究法学的学院里,发表的以Zersetzung为主题的论文数量是两位数。它也有一本50页的Zersetzung综合教学手册,其中包含众多斯塔西的实践案例。

实施机构


几乎所有斯塔西部门都参与了Zersetzung 行动,尽管斯塔西的柏林XX指挥部和地区及市政府分部办事处的领导是首要的。斯塔西首脑和XX营的职能是保持对宗教社团、文化与媒体机构、其它政党、民主德国很多隶属于执政党的大规模社会组织、体育、教育和卫生机构的监视 有效覆盖公民生活的所有方面。斯塔西利用了东德封闭的社会系统内部可供他们使用的手段,并把它的行为作为东德封闭社会系统环境的一部分。一个已建立的、有政治目的的合作网络为斯塔西提供了大量机会介入诸如制裁专业人士和学生这样的事情:把他们从协会和运动俱乐部中开除,偶尔让人民警察(Volkspolizei民主德国的准军事国家警察)拘捕他们,也安排拒绝发放他们去社会主义国家的旅行许可,或者安排在不需要签证的捷克斯洛伐克和波兰边境入境处拒绝给他们放行。各种各样的合作者包括地方政府分支机构、大学、职业管理机构、住房管理机构、公共储蓄银行以及在一些案例中的主管医师。斯塔西的三线(观察)、26营(电话和房屋监视)和M(邮政通信)部门为Zersetzung 手法设计提供了必要的背景信息,而32营则设法获取所需要的技术。

斯塔西与其它东方阵营国家的特务机关合作实施Zersetzung。举个例子,斯塔西在1960年代早期与波兰特务机关合作对付耶和华见证会Jehovah's Witnesses组织的分会,这在后来被称为“内部Zersetzung”(内部颠覆)。

对付个人


斯塔西在(持异议者的)活动前、活动中、活动后都会应用Zersetzung,或者以此替代监禁来惩罚被盯上的人。一般而言,“作战程序”的目的不是为了收集证据控告目标,也不是为了能够开启刑事诉讼程序。斯塔西更喜欢把“Zersetzung措施”在某种程度上视作一种不方便利用司法程序时所使用的手段,或者为了诸如民主德国国际形象这样的政治理由。在某些情况下,斯塔西试图故意引诱某个个体犯罪,例如Wolf Biermann(前东德诗人、创作型歌手)的情况:斯塔西用未成年人陷害他,希望他经不起诱惑,这样的话他们就能对他提起刑事指控。他们研究的用于这种指控的罪行是非政治的,例如持有毒品,毒品走私或者贩卖,盗窃,金融诈骗,以及强奸。

经证实的Zersetzung形式在1/76号指令中有所描述:
有系统地贬低目标的名声、形象和声誉,所用的信息资料一部分是真实的、可验证的和丢人的,而另一部分是假的、貌似可信的、难以反驳的以及同样丢人的;有系统地安排目标在社会和职业上的失败,目的是摧毁个人自信;[...] 激发对未来看法的怀疑;激发团体内的不信任和相互怀疑[...];设置空间和临时障碍使得团体成员不能或者至少很难相互联系[...],比如[...]指派遥远的工作地。
—19761月“作战程序”发展 1/76号指令

以间谍活动收集的情报为基础,斯塔西建立了“社会关系图”和“心理特征图”,并将其应用于Zersetzung的心理形式。他们利用个人特点,例如同性恋,也包括被盯人所应有的性格弱点 比如职业失败,父母失职,色情兴趣,离婚,酗酒,依赖药物,犯罪倾向,对某种收集或游戏的热情,或者与极右圈子有联系 或者甚至是对倾倒在熟人圈里的谣言感觉羞耻的掩饰。在斯塔西看来,Zersetzung措施和个性相结合是最有效果的;必须避免全部“照搬照抄”。

此外,Zersetzung方法包括公开的、隐藏的和伪装的间谍活动;拆信和窃听电话;侵犯私人财产;操纵车辆;以及甚至给食物下毒和使用假药。某些斯塔西的合作者(线人)默认了Zersetzung受害者的自杀。

还不能完全确定斯塔西利用X射线引起它对手的长期健康问题。即便如此,Rudolf BahroGerulf PannachJürgen Fuchs三个重要的异议人士同时受到监禁,在两年的时间间隔内都死于癌症。与此同时,前民主德国斯塔西档案联邦委员会(BStU)的一项研究根据现存文件否认了像冒用X射线的这样的情况,并且只提到放射源孤立的无心的有害使用,例如为了标记文件。

斯塔西在目标毫不知情的情况下用目标的名义订购产品、拨打急救电话来恐吓他/她。为了威胁、恐吓目标或者使目标得精神病,斯塔西确保自己能进入目标的住宅,并且通过添加、去除和修改物品来留下它出现过的可见痕迹。

对付团体和社会关系


斯塔西通过匿名的信件、电报和电话来操纵友情、爱情、婚姻及家庭的关系,也包括用令人难堪的照片,方式方法经常改变。用这种方式,父母和子女通常会有条不紊地按步骤相互变成陌生人。为了挑拨冲突和婚外情,斯塔西会安排特工进行色诱。

对于团体Zersetzung,斯塔西利用非官方合作者(线人)渗透团体,有时候也会利用未成年人。反对派团体的工作受到永久反对提议的阻碍,而且当要做决定时,和非官方合作者这一方无法达成一致。为了在团体内部播下不信任的种子,斯塔西使人相信某些成员是非官方合作者;而且斯塔西还通过散布谣言和操纵照片伪造与‘非官方合作者’的不慎重举动,或者把目标团体的成员安置在行政职位使人相信这是非官方合作者活动的一种奖励。他们甚至通过赋予特权来唤起对某些成员的怀疑,例如住房或私家车。此外,只监禁某些团体成员也会产生怀疑。

措施的目标群体

斯塔西对个人和团体使用Zersetzung手段。民主德国的反对派有很多不同的来源,所以没有特别相同的目标团体。因此Zersetzung策略计划会根据每个可知威胁的情况分别进行调整适应。不过斯塔西仍然定义了几个主要目标团体:

·                    申请集体签证国外旅行的协会
·                    批判政府的艺术家团体
·                    宗教反对派团体
·                    青年亚文化团体
·                    支持以上团体的团体(人权与和平组织,那些辅助非法出境和叛逃活动的团体)


斯塔西也会偶尔利用Zersetzung对付那些被视为有害的非政治组织,例如望台协会(Watchtower Society)。

Zersetzung行动盯上的名人包括Jürgen Fuchs, Gerulf Pannach, Rudolf Bahro, Robert Havemann, Rainer Eppelmann, Reiner Kunze, Gerd  Ulrike Poppe夫妇, 以及 Wolfgang Templin

社会和司法过程

民主德国反对者Wolfgang Templin在意识到自己被盯上了之后,试图使西方记者注意到斯塔西Zersetzung活动的细节。1977《明镜周刊》发表了分成5部分的一系列文章,“你会裂开!”,流亡人士Jürgen Fuchs在文章中这样描述斯塔西的“作战心理学”。斯塔西试图抹黑Fuchs及相似文章的内容,轮番报道称Fuchs对其职能有一种妄想症的观点,意图使《明镜周刊》和其它媒体认为他正患有一种迫害情结。然而,斯塔西的辩解却被斯塔西自己的官方文档所驳斥,这些文档在东德巨变后接受了检查。

因为东德的一般人群和东德之外的人并不知道Zersetzung的本质和范围,所以那些受Zersetzung影响的人对斯塔西恶毒手段的揭露遭到一定程度的怀疑。很多人至今仍表示无法理解斯塔西的合作者怎么会参与如此不人道的行动。

由于“法无明文规定者不为罪”的原则,即使在1990年后,Zersetzung在整体上仍然没有被视为非法,法庭无法对参与计划和实施Zersetzung的行为采取行动。因为Zersetzung作为一种犯罪的具体法律定义不存在,只能报告一些这种手段的个人案例。即使是根据民主德国的法律,为了避免限制条款的情形,侵犯行为需要在其行使之后马上向民主德国当局报告。很多受害者经历了额外的困难,即斯塔西并没有被认定是个人伤害和不幸的始作俑者。记载Zersetzung方法的官方文档常常在法庭上无效,而且斯塔西销毁了很多详述Zersetzung实际执行的文件。

根据1990年康复法案中第17a项的条款,Zersetzung操作的幸存者没有接受经济补偿的资格,除非他们曾被拘留过至少180天。可证实的因被斯塔西作为目标受到系统性影响而导致职业相关损失和/或健康损害的案例,可以通过一部涉及解决侵权的法律追究,和根据行政法提出职业康复或康复的诉求一样。这些法律规定推翻了民主德国政府机构的某些行政规章并且证明它们违反宪法。这符合1950年战争受害者救济法案中详细规定的社会平衡支付的条件。养老保险金和收入损失的平衡支付也适用于受持续迫害至少三年并且诉求者能够证明有必要的案例。

然而,以上例子中,无论是提供斯塔西侵蚀受害者健康、私人财产、教育和职业领域的证据,还是得到斯塔西应该对Zersetzung操作直接造成的个人损害(包括精神伤害)负责的官方承认,受害者已经历过的种种困难依然在阻碍着他们寻求正义。


技巧在现代的使用

俄罗斯秘密警察FSB(俄罗斯联邦安全局)据报道称使用聚众围攻(mobbing)的技巧对付外国外交官和记者。20156月,Glenn Greenwald出版的NSA(美国国家安全局)文件披露英国情报机构GCHQ JTRIG 团体隐蔽地操纵网上社区。这与JTRIG 的目标一致:通过败坏他们名声来“破坏、否认、贬低和瓦解”敌人,植入虚假信息以及关闭他们的通讯交流。


See also 请参阅


拓展阅读


  • Annie Ring. After the Stasi: Collaboration and the Struggle for Sovereign Subjectivity in the Writing of German Unification. 280 pages, Bloomsbury Academic (October 22, 2015) ISBN 1472567609.
  • Max Hertzberg. Stealing the Future (The East Berlin Series) (Book 1), 242 pages, Wolf Press (August 8, 2015), ISBN 0993324703.
  • Josie McLellan. Love in the Time of Communism: Intimacy and Sexuality in the GDR. 250 pages, Cambridge University Press (October 17, 2011), ISBN 0521727618

附原文:

Zersetzung
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zersetzung
                                 
Zersetzung (German; variously translated as decomposition, corrosion, undermining, biodegradation or dissolution) was a psychological technique of the East German secret police, the Stasi, and was used to silence political opponents. The "measures of Zersetzung", defined in the framework of a directive on police procedures in 1976,[1] were used in the context of so-called "operational procedures" (in German Operative Vorgänge or OV). They replaced the overt terror of the Ulbricht era.
The practice of repression in Zersetzung comprised extensive and secret methods of control and psychological manipulation, including personal relationships of the target, for which the Stasi relied on its network of informal collaborators,[2] (in German inoffizielle Mitarbeiter or IM), the State's power over institutions, and on operational psychology. Using targeted psychological attacks the Stasi tried to deprive a dissident of any chance of a "hostile action".
The use of Zersetzung is well documented due to numerous Stasi files published after East Germany's Wende. Several thousands or up to 10,000 individuals are estimated to have become victims[3]:217 5,000 of whom sustained irreversible damage.[4] Pensions for restitution have been created for the victims.

Definition
The Stasi, or Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MfS) by its full name, defined Zersetzung in its 1985 dictionary of political operatives as
"...a method of operation by the Ministry for State Security for an efficacious struggle against subversive activities, particularly in the treatment of operations. With Zersetzung one can influence hostile and negative individuals across different operational political activities, especially the hostile and negative aspects of their dispositions and beliefs, so these are abandoned and changed little by little, and, if applicable, the contradictions and differences between the hostile and negative forces would be laid open, exploited, and reinforced.
The goal of Zersetzung is the fragmentation, paralysis, disorganization, and isolation of the hostile and negative forces, in order to preventatively impede the hostile and negative activities, to largely restrict, or to totally avert them, and if applicable to prepare the ground for a political and ideological reestablishment.
Zersetzung is equally an immediate constitutive element of "operational procedures" and other preventive activities to impede hostile gatherings. The principal forces to execute Zersetzung are the inofficial collaborators. Zersetzung presupposes information and significant proof of hostile activities planned, prepared, and accomplished as well as anchor points corresponding to measures of Zersetzung.
Zersetzung must be produced on the basis of a root cause analysis of the facts and the exact definition of a concrete goal. Zersetzung must be executed in a uniform and supervised manner; its results must be documented.
The political explosive force of Zersetzung heightens demands regarding the maintenance of secrecy."[5]

Political context
During its first decade of existence the German Democratic Republic (GDR) subdued political opposition primarily through the penal code, by accusing them of incitement to war or of calls of boycott.[6] To counteract the international isolation of the GDR due to the construction of the Berlin wall in 1963, judicial terror was abandoned.[7] Since the debut of the Erich Honecker era in 1971 in particular, the Stasi intensified its efforts to punish dissident behaviors without using the penal code.[8] Important motives were the GDR's desire for international recognition and rapprochementwith West Germany at the end of the 1960s. In fact the GDR was committed to adhere to the U.N. Charter[9] and the Helsinki accords[10] as well as theBasic Treaty, 1972 signed with the Federal Republic of Germany,[11] to respect human rights, or at least it announced its intention as such. The regime of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany thus decided to reduce the number of political prisoners, which was compensated for by practicing repression without imprisonment or court judgements.[12][13]

In practice
The Stasi used Zersetzung essentially as a means of psychological oppression and persecution.[14] Findings of operational psychology,[15] were formulated into method at the Stasi's College of Law (Juristische Hochschule der Staatssicherheit, or JHS), and applied to political opponents in an effort to undermine their self-confidence and self-esteem. Operations were designed to intimidate and destabilise them by subjecting them to repeated disappointment, and to socially alienate them by interfering with and disrupting their relationships with others as in social undermining. The aim was to induce personal crises in victims, leaving them too unnerved and psychologically distressed to have the time and energy for anti-government activism.[16] The Stasi intentionally concealed their role as mastermind of the operations.[17][18] Author Jürgen Fuchs was a victim of Zersetzung and wrote about his experience, describing the Stasi's actions as “psychosocial crime”, and “an assault on the human soul”.[16]
Although its techniques had been established effectively by the late 1950s, Zersetzung was not defined in terms of a scientific method until the mid-1970s, and only then began to be carried out in a systematic manner in the 1970s and 1980s.[19] It is difficult to determine how many people were targeted, since the sources have been deliberately and considerably redacted; it is known, however, that tactics varied in scope, and that a number of different departments implemented them. Overall there was a ratio of four or five authorised Zersetzung operators for each targeted group, and three for each individual.[20] Some sources indicate that around 5,000 people were “persistently victimised” by Zersetzung.[4] At the College of Legal Studies, the number of dissertations submitted on the subject of Zersetzung was in double figures.[21] It also had a comprehensive 50-page Zersetzung teaching manual, which included numerous examples of its practice.[22]

Implementing institutions

Almost all Stasi departments were involved in Zersetzung operations, although first and foremost the lead of the Stasi's directorate XX (Hauptabteilung XX) in Berlin, and its divisional offices in regional and municipal government. The function of the head and Abteilung XXs was to maintain surveillance of religious communities; cultural and media establishments; alternative political parties; the GDR's many political establishment-affiliated mass social organisations; sport; and education and health services - effectively covering all aspects of civic life.[23]The Stasi made use of the means available to them within, and as a circumstance of, the GDR's closed social system. An established, politically motivated collaborative network (politisch-operatives Zusammenwirken, or POZW) provided them with extensive opportunities for interference in such situations as the sanctioning of professionals and students, expulsion from associations and sports clubs, and occasional arrests by the Volkspolizei[17] (the GDR's quasi-military national police). Refusal of permits for travel to socialist states, or denial of entry at Czechoslovakian and Polish border crossings where no visa requirement existed, were also arranged. The various collaborators (Partnern des operativen Zusammenwirkens) included branches of regional government, university and professional management, housing administrative bodies, the Sparkassepublic savings bank, and in some cases head physicians.[24] The Stasi's Linie III (Observation), Abteilung 26 (Telephone and room surveillance) and M(Postal communications) departments provided essential background information for the designing of Zersetzung techniques, with Abteilung 32 procuring the required technology.[25]
The Stasi collaborated with the secret services of other Eastern Bloc countries to implement Zersetzung. One such example was the Polish secret services co-operating against branches of the Jehovah's Witnesses organisation in the early 1960s, which would come to be known[26] as "innere Zersetzung"[27] (internal subversion).

Against individuals

The Stasi applied Zersetzung before, during, after, or instead of incarcerating the targeted individual. The "operational procedures" did not have as an aim, in general, to gather evidence for charges against the target, or to be able to begin criminal prosecutions. The Stasi considered the "measures of Zersetzung" rather in part as an instrument that was used when judiciary procedures were not convenient, or for political reasons such as the international image of the GDR.[28][29] In certain cases, the Stasi attempted meanwhile to knowingly inculpate an individual, as for example in the case of Wolf Biermann: The Stasi set him up with minors, hoping that he would allow himself to be seduced, and that they could then pursue criminal charges.[30] The crimes that they researched for such accusations were non-political, as for example drug possession, trafficking in customs or currencies, theft, financial fraud, and rape.[31]
The proven forms of Zersetzung are described in the directive 1/76:
a systematic degradation of reputation, image, and prestige in a database on one part true, verifiable and degrading, and on the other part false, plausible, irrefutable, and always degrading; a systematic organization of social and professional failures for demolishing the self-confidence of the individual; [...] stimulation of doubts with respect to perspectives on the future; stimulation of mistrust or mutual suspicion among groups [...]; putting in place spatial and temporal obstacles rendering impossible or at least difficult the reciprocal relations of a group [...], for example by [...] assigning distant workplaces. —Directive No. 1/76 of January 1976 for the development of "operational procedures".[33]
Beginning with intelligence obtained by espionage, the Stasi established "sociograms" and "psychograms" which it applied for the psychological forms of Zersetzung. They exploited personal traits, such as homosexuality, as well as supposed character weaknesses of the targeted individual — for example a professional failure, negligence of parental duties, pornographic interests, divorce, alcoholism, dependence on medications, criminal tendencies, passion for a collection or a game, or contacts with circles of the extreme right — or even the veil of shame from the rumors poured out upon one's circle of acquaintances.[34][35] From the point of view of the Stasi, the measures were the most fruitful when they were applied in connection with a personality; all "schematism" had to be avoided.[34]
Moreover, methods of Zersetzung included espionage, overt, hidden, and feigned; opening letters and listening to telephone calls; encroachments on private property; manipulation of vehicles; and even poisoning food and using false medications.[36] Certain collaborators of the Stasi tacitly took into account the suicide of victims of Zersetzung.[37]
It has not been definitely established that the Stasi used x-rays to provoke long-term health problems in its opponents.[38] That said, Rudolf Bahro, Gerulf Pannach, and Jürgen Fuchs, three important dissidents who had been imprisoned at the same time, died of cancer within an interval of two years.[39] A study by the Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former GDR (Bundesbeauftragte für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik or BStU) has meanwhile rejected on the basis of extant documents such as fraudulent use of x-rays, and only mentions isolated and unintentional cases of the harmful use of sources of radiation, for example to mark documents.[40]
In the name of the target, the Stasi made little announcements, ordered products, and made emergency calls, to terrorize him/her.[41][42] To threaten or intimidate or cause psychoses the Stasi assured itself of access to the target's living quarters and left visible traces of its presence, by adding, removing, and modifying objects.[31]


Against groups and social relations

The Stasi manipulated relations of friendship, love, marriage, and family by anonymous letters, telegrams and telephone calls as well as compromising photos, often altered.[43] In this manner, parents and children were supposed to systematically become strangers to one another.[44] To provoke conflicts and extramarital relations the Stasi put in place targeted seductions by Romeo agents.[30]
For the Zersetzung of groups, it infiltrated them with unofficial collaborators, sometimes minors.[45] The work of opposition groups was hindered by permanent counter-propositions and discord on the part of unofficial collaborators when making decisions.[46] To sow mistrust within the group, the Stasi made believe that certain members were unofficial collaborators; moreover by spreading rumors and manipulated photos,[47] the Stasi feigned indiscretions with unofficial collaborators, or placed members of targeted groups in administrative posts to make believe that this was a reward for the activity of an unofficial collaborator.[30] They even aroused suspicions regarding certain members of the group by assigning privileges, such as housing or a personal car.[30] Moreover, the imprisonment of only certain members of the group gave birth to suspicions.[46]

Target groups for measures
The Stasi used Zersetzung tactics on individuals and groups. There was no particular homogeneous target group, as opposition in the GDR came from a number of different sources. Tactical plans were thus separately adapted to each perceived threat.[48] The Stasi nevertheless defined several main target groups:[17]
·                    associations of people making collective visa applications for travel abroad
·                    artists' groups critical of the government
·                    religious opposition groups
·                    youth subculture groups
·                    groups supporting the above (human rights and peace organisations, those assisting illegal departure from the GDR, and expatriate and defector movements).
The Stasi also occasionally used Zersetzung on non-political organisations regarded as undesirable, such as the Watchtower Society.[49]
Prominent individuals targeted by Zersetzung operations included Jürgen Fuchs, Gerulf Pannach, Rudolf Bahro, Robert Havemann, Rainer Eppelmann,Reiner Kunze, husband and wife Gerd and Ulrike Poppe, and Wolfgang Templin.





Social and juridicial process
Once aware of his own status as a target, GDR opponent Wolfgang Templin tried, with some success, to bring details of the Stasi's Zersetzungactivities to the attention of western journalists.[50] In 1977 Der Spiegel published a five-part article series, “Du sollst zerbrechen!” ("You're going to crack!"), by the exiled Jürgen Fuchs, in which he describes the Stasi's “operational psychology”. The Stasi tried to discredit Fuchs and the contents of similar articles, publishing in turn claims that he had a paranoid view of its function,[51] and intending that Der Spiegel and other media would assume he was suffering from a persecution complex.[50][52] This, however, was refuted by the official Stasi documents examined after Die Wende (the political power shift in the GDR in 1989-90).
Because the scale and nature of Zersetzung were unknown both to the general population of the GDR and to people abroad, revelations of the Stasi's malicious tactics were met with some degree of disbelief by those affected.[53] Many still nowadays express incomprehension at how the Stasi's collaborators could have participated in such inhuman actions.[53]
Since Zersetzung as a whole, even after 1990, was not deemed to be illegal because of the principle of nulla poena sine lege (no penalty without law), actions against involvement in either its planning or implementation were not enforceable by the courts.[54] Because this specific legal definition of Zersetzung as a crime didn't exist,[55] only individual instances of its tactics could be reported. Acts which even according to GDR law were offences (such as the violation of Briefgeheimnis, the secrecy of correspondence) needed to have been reported to the GDR authorities soon after having been committed in order not to be subject to a statute of limitations clause.[56] Many of the victims experienced the additional complication that the Stasi was not identifiable as the originator in cases of personal injury and misadventure. Official documents in whichZersetzung methods were recorded often had no validity in court, and the Stasi had many files detailing its actual implementation destroyed.[57]
Unless they had been detained for at least 180 days, survivors of Zersetzung operations, in accordance with §17a of a 1990 rehabilitation act (theStrafrechtlichen Rehabilitierungsgesetzes, or StrRehaG), are not eligible for financial compensation. Cases of provable, systematically effected targeting by the Stasi, and resulting in employment-related losses and/or health damage, can be pursued under a law covering settlement of torts (Unrechtsbereinigungsgesetz, or 2. SED-UnBerG) as claims either for occupational rehabilitation or rehabilitation under administrative law. These overturn certain administrative provisions of GDR institutions and affirm their unconstitutionality. This is a condition for the social equalisation payments specified in the Bundesversorgungsgesetz (the war victims relief act of 1950). Equalisation payments of pension damages and for loss of earnings can also be applied for in cases where victimisation continued for at least three years, and where claimants can prove need.[58] The above examples of seeking justice have, however, been hindered by various difficulties victims have experienced, both in providing proof of the Stasi's encroachment into the areas of health, personal assets, education and employment, and in receiving official acknowledgement that the Stasi was responsible for personal damages (including psychic injury) as a direct result of Zersetzung operations.[59]

Modern use of techniques
Russia's secret police, the FSB, has been reported to use mobbing techniques against foreign diplomats and journalists.[60] In June 2015, NSA files published by Glenn Greenwald revealed details of the JTRIG group at British intelligence agency GCHQ covertly manipulating online communities.[61]This is in line with JTRIG's goal: to "destroy, deny, degrade [and] disrupt" enemies by "discrediting" them, planting misinformation and shutting down their communications.[62]

See also


Further reading
  • Annie Ring. After the Stasi: Collaboration and the Struggle for Sovereign Subjectivity in the Writing of German Unification. 280 pages, Bloomsbury Academic (October 22, 2015) ISBN 1472567609.
  • Max Hertzberg. Stealing the Future (The East Berlin Series) (Book 1), 242 pages, Wolf Press (August 8, 2015), ISBN 0993324703.
  • Josie McLellan. Love in the Time of Communism: Intimacy and Sexuality in the GDR. 250 pages, Cambridge University Press (October 17, 2011), ISBN 0521727618