This project has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
(Grant Agreement n. 669194)
Head of Department (XVIII/4) - Ministry of State Security (1967-1989)
As head of the Department (XVIII/4) of the Ministry of State Security, Horst Roigk, was among those officials who were entrusted with providing crude facts about the state of the East German economy. They had full access to all information and conversation partners among the economic experts of the GDR. Already in 1978, the head of the State Planning Commission, Gerhard Schürer, had spilled his guts in a personal conversation with Roigk. The results of his analysis in 1980 were shocking: without a complete reversal of the economic policy the GDR was doomed. He explicitly criticized the leading East German economic functionaries and advocated an import stop from the West. His analyses were collected and forwarded by the overall head of the Department (XVIII) of the Ministry of State Security, Alfred Kleine. However, already in the Ministry of State Security his findings were considered as explosive and we do not know if they ever made it to the economic decision makers of the SED.
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As head of the Department (XVIII) of the Ministry of State Security he oversaw the work of experts like Horst Roigk and forwarded it to his superiors. His department provided unfiltered expertise on the East German economy and advocated to red... |
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As Chairman of the East German State Planning Commission Gerhard Schürer was always part of the inner circle of the GDR’s economic elite. However, his power was limited and Honecker never promoted him to membership in the Politburo.... |
