ABSTRACT
Although the MfS kept monthly statistics on its army of informers, many of the materials have not survived and a full record is only available from 1985 onwards. However, the data for the Frankfurt/Oder region are probably a reliable indicator of the general trend: whereas in 1952 only 533 informers were in the service of the MfS in the region, 13 years later the number had increased to 2,986, reaching a peak of 4,977 in 1985. 1 The main expert on the topic, Helmut Müller-Enbergs, estimates that about 250,000 full-time staff and about 600,000 Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter, that is, unofficial collaborators or co-workers (IMs) worked for the ministry between 1950 and 1989. 2 Müller-Enbergs's figures do not, however, include the informers used by the Criminal Police.
