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An inconspicuous block on Bautzner Strasse in Dresden. Today inhabited by people who have never had anything to do with the state security in their lives. The long, four-story building in the courtyard behind it is only noticeable because the windows are still barred. The district administration in Dresden was one of the most important centers of power of the GDR's state security. Today, the rooms are still preserved in their original state and are open to visitors. No one who has walked through the large prison building is left untouched. The footsteps echo loudly in the huge stairwell full of barred corridors and steel doors with peepholes. In October 1953, the Soviet secret service handed the building over to the GDR security authorities. Until then, thousands of real and suspected Nazi and war criminals as well as opponents of the regime were held in the basement prison. For many of them, imprisonment ended with the death penalty or in Soviet labor camps. After that, between 1953 and 1989, an estimated 10,000 people were held in pre-trial detention in the 44 cells. Because of alleged espionage, desertion, resistance against the police or subversive actions, as the Stasi called it. In December 1989, GDR citizens stormed the Stasi headquarters. They prevented files from being destroyed and evidence from being stolen. Today, the building is a memorial - a place of remembrance, research and encounters. Contemporary witnesses lead interested people through the rooms and report on what they experienced here. For the film, author Katrin Claußner meets people whose lives have changed fundamentally here. Like the three young men who, after the Wall was built in 1961, wrote "Down with Ulbricht" in paint on a bridge in Dresden in a cloak-and-dagger operation and ended up in Stasi prison. These are moving stories that tell of arbitrariness and torture, but also of resistance, courage and strength. A film by Katrin Claußner Video available until: November 7th, 2024 The documentary in the media library: ▸ https://1.ard.de/Stasizentrale-Dresden How could an encryption machine, not much bigger than a typewriter, become a decisive weapon in World War II? And which trace of the Enigma leads to Erfurt of all places? ▸ https://1.ard.de/Der-Enigma-Code All documentaries from DER OSTEN in the media library: ▸ https://www.mdr.de/s/derostenindermed... Please observe our netiquette when commenting! ▸ https://www.mdr.de/s/mdrdoknetiquette #ddr #stasi #dresden