Thursday, January 13, 2022
Under observation for years
Stasi files evaluated by Olaf Scholz
In the 1980s, Olaf Scholz traveled to the GDR several times. At that time he was committed to the Jusos in Hamburg and aroused the interest of the State Security. According to a report, today’s Chancellor was even received once by SED politician Egon Krenz.
The GDR State Security has been collecting information and filing files about today’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his time as a Juso politician in the 1980s. Upon request, the Federal Archives in Berlin confirmed that they had forwarded Scholz’s Stasi files to the “Bild” newspaper. According to the newspaper, the file relates both to trips to the GDR and to spying on the politician and lawyer in Hamburg.
The newspaper reported that Scholz, as deputy chairman of the Young Socialists, had traveled to the GDR several times at the invitation of the FDJ. Upon entry, the invited delegation did not have to make a compulsory exchange and passed the border without customs control. In 1988, the GDR border guards at Friedrichstrasse station had received prior instructions for “polite clearance”.
On another trip in 1984, Scholz and other representatives of the SPD youth organization were received by SED politburo member Egon Krenz. The Stasi was interested in statements made by the current Chancellor at the time on peace policy and, in particular, on the stationing of nuclear missiles in the Federal Republic and the GDR.
In 1986 the Stasi recorded a note about Scholz. “Belongs to the Stamokap – old political professional who has great influence in the organization.” The Marxist-oriented Stamokap group was then the name for the left wing of the SPD youth organization.
Stasi agents wrote at least 19 reports
Daniela Münkel, Head of Research at the Stasi Records Archive, told the newspaper: “The Stasi Department XX / 2 was responsible for delegations of Western politicians who were invited to the GDR by the Central Council of the FDJ. This also applied to travel, which Olaf Scholz took to the GDR with a group of Jusos in the 1980s. “
At the same time, Scholz was observed by the GDR foreign espionage in Hamburg, writes the “Bild” newspaper. Western agents of the Stasi with the code names “Kugel”, “Gustav”, “Giesbert”, “Konrad”, “Holm”, “Heine” and “Udo” reported at least 19 times between 1978 and 1987 about Olaf Scholz and his lawyers. Reported activity in Hamburg. According to information from the electronic SIRA database of the Stasi headquarters, the GDR spy “Kugel”, unmasked in 1993, provided at least twelve reports with references to Scholz.
“The SIRA datasets, in which Olaf Scholz and other members of the Jusos are named, contain information about the Hamburg State Association of the Jusos and the general political currents and disputes within the Jusos at the federal level in the 1980s,” said Münkel der Newspaper.