Interrogation

After seeing the methods of interrogation used in the movie The Lives of Others, I decided to research Stasi interrogation techniques. The methods used had powerful psychological effects and were bery effective.
What I came across greatly resembles the thesis Colonel Grubitz mentioned to to Wiesler. Because physical forms of torture had a stronger negative repercussion on the GDR's image in the West, the Stasi, state security, changed their approach and focused on psychological torture. The Stasi made their prisoners feel isolated. The detainees were weary from having nothing to do all day but pace up and down a lonely cell. Each was given his own cell for him to share with another prisoner. Often, one of these two was one a government spy ordered to report on his cellmate. The Stasi also made their prisoners believe they were keeping an eye on their families and sometimes lied to the prisoners about their family. Sometimes they would lie about their family members committing suicide, sometimes they would say it had been one of their family members who had informed the government about their activities.
Nowadays, some former Stasi prisoners work as guides in their former prison to help them cope with their experiences, which, although they left little to no physical injuries, gave a powerful blow to the prisoners and would last decades later.

Double Agent

In Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust, Gene Hackman pointed out that movies such as Confessions of a Nazi Spy were based off of a Nazi spy ring in New York City. This group was the Duquesne Spy Ring. This ring of 33 Nazi spies were all arrested and convicted due to the work of William Sebold. Nazi Secret Service officers “persuaded” Sebold to spy on America and instructed him to meet with spies to pass along instructions from Germany as well as receive messages and transmit them back to Germany. However, before completing his German Secret Service training, Sebold visited the American consulate in Cologne and expressed his interest in cooperating with the FBI. The FBI then built a shortwave radio transmitting station and pretending to be Sebold, sent coded messages to German superiors. In addition, the FBI set up an office for Sebold. This office had hidden microphones and a two-way mirror, through which FBI agents watched and filmed Sebold’s meetings. Nazi agents who met with Sebold passed on information pertaining to bomb designs as well as sensitive defense and wartime information. After the FBI collected enough evidence, the 33 Nazi spies were arrested. This step ahead provided the U.S. with confidence entering the war that there were no significant espionage networks hidden and operating on U.S. soil.

Sebold’s courage and desire to help the U.S. made me wonder if I would have been able to withstand the pressure of being a double agent. Would I risk my life? In my opinion, choosing to be a double agent depends on the individual’s evaluation of the risk versus the reward. The acting skills and quick thinking required coupled with tense moments would be extremely stressful and nerve-racking. Any small slip-up could tip the enemy and lead to death. However, it’s hard to say how one would act in certain challenging situations until the moment actually arises. Sebold’s story did not seem to be highly publicized outside of Hollywood productions; however, these productions highlight Hollywood’s ability to capitalize on relatively small, feel-good stories.

Sources:http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/spyring/spyring.htm