Stasiland: Chapter 20 Summary & Analysis

Funder gets another phone call about her ad in the paper, this time from a man named Herr Bock. He says that he worked as a professor at the training academy of the Ministry of State Security, where he specialized in “spezialdisziplin,” the art of recruiting informers.

Funder meets with Herr Bock in his home. Bock immediately tells Funder that she’s not allowed to use his real name, and Funder agrees to this condition. Bock then explains that the Stasi were divided into different departments, each with its own informant network. One such department was the church—by the eighties, Bock claims, more than half of all church leaders were Stasi informers.

Bock also tells Funder about Stasi training methods. There was a rigid process for recruiting informers: deciding what institutions the Stasi needed to monitor, what kind of person would be most likely to inform, what personal information would be most useful in pressuring people to inform, etc. Bock also showed Stasi trainees how to tap phones and tail suspects. The Stasi generally tried to use informers who were calm and stable. Informers weren’t paid well, however, and many weren’t paid at all. Herr Bock now works as a business adviser, showing West German companies how to negotiate with their East German counterparts—or, as Funder thinks, “getting the trust of his people and selling them cheap.”

Funder calls a taxi from Bock’s home, and, since it’s dark outside, waits for the taxi inside. Bock, sensing that he has Funder at his mercy, turns off all the lights, claiming, “This way we can see the taxi come.” Funder becomes very uncomfortable and wonders if Bock might try to assault her. However, the cab comes quickly, and she leaves the house.