Mielke, Erich

▪ 2001

      East German government minister (b. Dec. 28, 1907, Berlin, Ger.—d. May 22, 2000, Berlin), was the long-time head (1957–89) of the German Democratic Republic's dreaded ministry of state security (Stasi), a secret police and espionage agency that scrutinized every aspect of East German domestic life, persecuted and arrested suspected dissidents, and ruthlessly suppressed all forms of dissent through a network of tens of thousands of official operatives and civilian informants, many of whom were forced to spy on their families and friends. In 1993 Mielke was deemed physically unfit to stand trial for his actions as director of the Stasi, but he served two years in prison (1993–95) for the 1931 murder of two police officers.

* * *