Stealing the Future Read Online Free
Author: Max Hertzberg
top right hand corner,” continued Laura.
I looked at the file. Johannes Friedrich Maier, along with various addresses where he was registered during the last twenty years. The reference number began with a Roman numeral.
“What department was HA XVIII?”
“That was the department monitoring heavy industry,” said Laura. “It makes sense—Maier always claimed to be a victim of Stasi tactics, but at the time he was a big fish in the BMK Kohle und Energie —the combine that did all the building work at power stations. He was in the main offices in Hoyerswerda for several years.”
The next filecard didn’t mention Maier by name—it just had his reference number stamped in the corner. His codename: MILCHMÄDCHEN, date of birth, first contact in 1964 by HA I/12. The most interesting entry on this card was the field marked “IM-Category/Offence”. The entry was simply “IM”— Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter , informal collaborator. This, along with the written declaration told us that he’d worked as an informant to the Stasi, and it looked like he’d been recruited in 1964.
“What was Maier doing in 1964?” I wondered aloud.
“Looks like he was doing his National Service in the army,” answered Laura. “I put together a summary of his activities yesterday.”
“You lot have been busy!”
A grunt from the other side of the table was Klaus’s first contribution of the morning. I looked up.
“Yeah, these two got excited about doing something interesting for a change,” he gestured towards Erika and Laura.
“Well, it’s good to get a head start, you never know what we’ll be saddled with next,” slightly defensive, from Erika.
I could understand her irritation—Klaus rarely said very much, so when he did, it felt like he was making an important announcement. Light hearted criticism from him could sometimes feel like a serious accusation.
Klaus fell back into silence, and Erika and Laura busied themselves with flicking through the papers.
The final photostat must be the Disciplinary File. It had Maier’s details, including his full name rather than his code-name. The file was dated summer 1988, and scanning through the text I could see that Maier had been reprimanded for having an unsuitable relationship with another asset, and had been told to end the affair. There was no further information than that.
“I’ve never seen one of these before—why has Maier got one?” I asked.
“It’s interesting, I thought they were only used for Stasi full timers, not for informants. But Maier was just an IM, not a paid officer—looks a bit strange. If we had the VSH card then we could double check, but they didn’t send it. Maybe it got lost.” The answer came from Laura, who had become something of a Stasi files expert.
“None of this seems to help though, does it? Half the files are missing, and the ones we do have don’t really tell us anything.” Klaus was studying the cobwebs up in the corners of the room near the ceiling, probably in an attempt to avoid Erika’s indignant glare.
“I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway. The Minister asked me to write up a report on my trip to Silesia and to leave it at that,” I looked around at the others, all staring at me.
“What, he told you to drop it?” asked Laura.
“Yeah, I’m not to worry about it.”
“Hang on, wait a moment,” Klaus suddenly leaned forward, like he had a point to make. “Did he actually tell you to stop working the Maier case?”
“Nooo… not in so many words. But he definitely meant it.”
“So, what did he say?”
“That I shouldn’t worry about it, erm… and not to prioritise the report, despite the fact that he wants it by the end of today.”
“OK,” Klaus looked around at us jubilantly. “So, we can carry on working on it. After all he didn’t tell Martin to drop it–”
Erika looked troubled, holding up her hand, palm outwards, as if to stop the flow of the conversation.
“But it’s
I looked at the file. Johannes Friedrich Maier, along with various addresses where he was registered during the last twenty years. The reference number began with a Roman numeral.
“What department was HA XVIII?”
“That was the department monitoring heavy industry,” said Laura. “It makes sense—Maier always claimed to be a victim of Stasi tactics, but at the time he was a big fish in the BMK Kohle und Energie —the combine that did all the building work at power stations. He was in the main offices in Hoyerswerda for several years.”
The next filecard didn’t mention Maier by name—it just had his reference number stamped in the corner. His codename: MILCHMÄDCHEN, date of birth, first contact in 1964 by HA I/12. The most interesting entry on this card was the field marked “IM-Category/Offence”. The entry was simply “IM”— Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter , informal collaborator. This, along with the written declaration told us that he’d worked as an informant to the Stasi, and it looked like he’d been recruited in 1964.
“What was Maier doing in 1964?” I wondered aloud.
“Looks like he was doing his National Service in the army,” answered Laura. “I put together a summary of his activities yesterday.”
“You lot have been busy!”
A grunt from the other side of the table was Klaus’s first contribution of the morning. I looked up.
“Yeah, these two got excited about doing something interesting for a change,” he gestured towards Erika and Laura.
“Well, it’s good to get a head start, you never know what we’ll be saddled with next,” slightly defensive, from Erika.
I could understand her irritation—Klaus rarely said very much, so when he did, it felt like he was making an important announcement. Light hearted criticism from him could sometimes feel like a serious accusation.
Klaus fell back into silence, and Erika and Laura busied themselves with flicking through the papers.
The final photostat must be the Disciplinary File. It had Maier’s details, including his full name rather than his code-name. The file was dated summer 1988, and scanning through the text I could see that Maier had been reprimanded for having an unsuitable relationship with another asset, and had been told to end the affair. There was no further information than that.
“I’ve never seen one of these before—why has Maier got one?” I asked.
“It’s interesting, I thought they were only used for Stasi full timers, not for informants. But Maier was just an IM, not a paid officer—looks a bit strange. If we had the VSH card then we could double check, but they didn’t send it. Maybe it got lost.” The answer came from Laura, who had become something of a Stasi files expert.
“None of this seems to help though, does it? Half the files are missing, and the ones we do have don’t really tell us anything.” Klaus was studying the cobwebs up in the corners of the room near the ceiling, probably in an attempt to avoid Erika’s indignant glare.
“I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway. The Minister asked me to write up a report on my trip to Silesia and to leave it at that,” I looked around at the others, all staring at me.
“What, he told you to drop it?” asked Laura.
“Yeah, I’m not to worry about it.”
“Hang on, wait a moment,” Klaus suddenly leaned forward, like he had a point to make. “Did he actually tell you to stop working the Maier case?”
“Nooo… not in so many words. But he definitely meant it.”
“So, what did he say?”
“That I shouldn’t worry about it, erm… and not to prioritise the report, despite the fact that he wants it by the end of today.”
“OK,” Klaus looked around at us jubilantly. “So, we can carry on working on it. After all he didn’t tell Martin to drop it–”
Erika looked troubled, holding up her hand, palm outwards, as if to stop the flow of the conversation.
“But it’s
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