Herbert Pfaff

Born in 1934 in Berlin. Herbert Pfaff was detained twice at Berlin-Hohenschönhausen. He was 20 years old the first time. During a visit to the East Berlin district of Pankow, Pfaff, who lived in West Berlin at the time, found an East German identity card. He wanted to hand it over to the police. On the way to the police station, Pfaff needed medical attention and helpful passersby brought him to a hospital. After he was admitted, two identity cards were found in his clothing.

Could you tell us how you were arrested?

After they had treated me at the hospital, one of the medical staff asked me for my particulars. I rather offhandedly said: “Well, just take a look in my jacket and you’ll find my ID papers.” It had totally escaped my mind that the East German ID was also in my jacket. He took the ID and didn’t say a word. After 20 minutes, two East German police came marching up. They had the East German ID and my West German ID in their hands. I was asked to come with them and make a statement. They took both my arms, walked me out, and drove me to the station. After waiting for half an hour, a man in civilian clothes showed up. He told me they had to take me to another department. Then we went down the stairs and out the front door, where they took my jacket and pulled it over my head. Someone pressed my head down and said, “Bend forward.” The next thing you know, I was in the car. I ended up in the infamous “submarine” at Hohenschönhausen, in a cell without windows.

What were the charges?

After a long time, I can’t say how long it was, the cell door was opened. “Come with us!” I was taken to room 112 for questioning. They told me I was suspected of being a spy and an agent, even endangering world peace, you name it. “It would be better for you, if you confessed right away and told us what spy and intelligence agencies you belong to.” That question was asked over and over again: “What spy and intelligence agencies do you belong to?” As a 20-year-old, I heard the names of so-called intelligence agencies that I didn’t even know existed.

Do you believe that the East German ID was purposely placed

on the pavement?

The Stasi lied back then and they’re still lying. The owner of the identity card was of course questioned. I was not informed of this. The owner of the ID claimed that he couldn’t remember a thing. He said he kept his ID in his neck pouch, in accordance with regulations, so he couldn’t have lost it. He was then asked if he thought it had been stolen. He responded that the ID could be a forgery. In my Stasi files, I later read that the ID belonged to a Stasi captain from Prenzlau.

Did you meet him after the fall of the Wall?

My current wife comes from Prenzlau, so after 1992 I drove all her relatives nuts. Two of them knew him. So I marched out to see him, and told him who I was, and that thanks to him, I had spent seven months in the “submarine.” I asked him why, at the time, he hadn’t admitted he’d lost his ID. And how do you suppose he reacted? “I have no recollection whatsoever of that event.”

How do you feel about him?

You could say that I totally despise him. On the other hand, you have to be realistic and consider that he was probably afraid himself. If he had told the truth, it would have had some very unpleasant consequences for him.

How did they put pressure on you?

During the first six weeks, I was questioned day and night. They did a whole sleep deprivation number on me, and during the day, I wasn’t allowed to lie on my bunk, even if they had questioned me the night before. To top it off, I was subjected to a fair share of physical abuse: slaps around the ears, lamps shoved in my face, kicks in the backside. Every time I said “no”, they’d hit me in the face or pull my chair out from under me. I still hold one man responsible for all this abuse, Mr. Siegfried Rataizik, the former commanding officer at Hohenschönhausen. He has the nerve to say that nobody was beaten at the prison. The former Stasi top brass can’t be punished due to the statute of limitations. That’s sad. They get a big fat pension, drive a big fat Mercedes, have a big fat mouth, and dream of being rehabilitated. That’s the reality of the situation.

What was the worst part about being in the “submarine”?

Being alone. Every five minutes, the slot in the cell door would open, and a squinty little eye would look in. Day and night, you were constantly under their total control. You’re sitting there all by yourself, and you have no idea what’s going on. The worst things in the world go through your head. From having your head cut off to a shot in the back of the neck, or something like that.

How do you come to terms with what happened to you?

By guiding tours through the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial. Each time I give a tour, I describe the injustices that were committed here, and pass this information on to the visitors. I want to keep something like this from happening again, at least in Europe. I’m well aware that injustices are still committed today in places like Chile and China, and in countries that insist on becoming members of the EU.

What have been the consequences for your health?

As you can imagine, I was a wreck after I got out. I used to wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, and jump up to make my bed. Those were the regulations. Or I would hear loud noises, as if someone were unlocking the door to my cell. Today, when I leave the memorial and pass through the huge sliding iron gates, which I was never allowed to walk through of my own accord, then everything that happened in here becomes water under the bridge.

How did you obtain your release, and how did it feel to be freed?

Early one morning, I was taken to the interrogator. He sat on the table and said. “Listen up, because I’m going to make this short. The government of the German Democratic Republic has decided to release you, due to your extremely young age.” That was it. I had to sign a gag agreement. They blindfolded me and I was led throughout the building, back and forth, and all around, and then someone said, “bend forward, you’re getting in a car.” Once they have you blindfolded, you can’t totally trust them. Then I was sitting in the car, blindfolded. There was someone sitting next to me, someone across from me, and two jokers were in front, and we drove and drove and drove.

Then the car stopped, and both Stasi men got out with me and I instinctively thought: “Now they’re going to shoot me, and then it will be lights out for good.” But they took off my blindfold. I was totally dazed, everything was blurry. Then someone said: “Don‘t turn around. We’re leaving. You’re free to go now.” I was standing in the middle of a forest. No road, nothing. I didn’t know where I was. This could be Moscow or someplace else, I thought. And then came the fear that someone was standing behind a tree. I walked forwards, listening carefully for any sounds. Anything besides the chirping of birds. It turned out that I was in the woods in Köpenick, near the Müggelsee, in East Berlin.

How did your parents react when you suddenly showed up back home?

They were of course very happy. Then came the question: “Where have you been, son?” My answer: “Oh, I met a fantastic woman. Her name is Hannelore.” I was afraid. After what had happened to Walter Linse, I could see that these gangsters were even prepared to kidnap people from West Berlin. The Stasi had threatened me: “We are everywhere. We’ll get you, wherever you are, if you break your promise and talk about what happened!” I kept my mouth shut for three years. And when I finally told people where I had been, nobody believed me. Not even my family. But my mother had been suspicious: “Son, you were somewhere else. I can see that you’ve changed. At night you wake up drenched in sweat and screaming.” And I said to my mother: “Come on, that’s nonsense. What you call screaming is me calling out for Hannelore.”

What did you do after your release?

I swore that I’d pay them back. I joined groups that I more or less knew were against the GDR. For example, the Fighting Group against Inhumanity (Kampfgruppe gegen Unmenschlichkeit – KgU). An important turning point for me was August 13^th, 1961, the day they starting building the Berlin Wall. That’s when things really got rolling. From West Berlin, we sent balloons, leaflets, and rockets with flyers over to East Berlin. But that wasn’t enough for me. I brought my work colleague, his wife and their two children across the border. Word got around West Berlin about that. As a result, four weeks later I was approached by two gentlemen from the West Berlin State Security Police. They asked me if I was interested in helping people defect to the West. And that’s how I got involved. I said yes. I knew exactly what would happen to me if they got their paws on me again. That didn’t stop me, though. Not in the least. I was given a recommendation, and I started working for the German Red Cross in West Berlin.

As a Red Cross worker, I was placed at the West Berlin border pass offices. My brother-in-law – today I can talk about this – worked in the Bundesdruckerei. That’s where identity cards were issued. And that’s when I got the big idea. I had up to 50 blank ID cards in my pocket. The photos and names of the people who I helped get out of East Germany were put on these IDs. The IDs had already been issued with a West Berlin address. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have received the border passes. They were even stamped by an administrative office as real documents. Afterwards, I applied for border passes, and I received them. I was able to smuggle 46 people across the border into West Berlin.

How were you arrested?

On November 2^nd, 1964, the trap was sprung at the Friedrichstrasse railway station. As a Red Cross worker, I had a permanent border pass for East Berlin. Wearing my uniform, I was able to move about freely in the East. At the Friedrichstrasse station, right on the border, I always had to go through a special checkpoint, which was also reserved for East Berlin railway workers who worked in the West. Suddenly, a man stood in front of me and said: “Mr. Pfaff, Ministry for State Security, If you don’t mind, we’d like to ask you a few questions.” I immediately thought, “Well, it looks like you’re headed straight back to the same old hole.”

How could the Stasi prove that you had helped people defect to the West?

After eight months, my interrogator was confident that he had an open-and-shut case. He threw my applications for the defectors onto the table: “Look, none of these people are still here with us. This report proves that it’s your handwriting. You filled out these things yourself. You can’t deny it.” I hadn’t reckoned with that. I’d thought these thugs would destroy all the documents afterwards. Shit, my applications were piling up all along in Hohenschönhausen. There was nothing I could say.

How long were you imprisoned?

I was convicted and sentenced on June 17^th, 1965, the day that West Germany celebrated as the “Day of German Unity”. The district attorney said maliciously, “Go ahead and look out the window, today is a holiday where you come from. Now here’s another holiday for you, two years and six months in prison.” And that was that. I was given “only” two years and six months imprisonment because the district attorney felt that the Ministry for State Security (Stasi) was mainly to blame for the whole thing. They should have recognized that these were new identity papers. If they had, they wouldn’t have issued any more border passes. That was a stroke of luck for me. But I had to serve the entire two-and-a-half- year sentence, right up to the very last day.

How were you treated compared to the “submarine”?

I didn’t get slapped around. They kept saying: “We’ve got time – plenty of time.” They questioned me in a more “humane” manner, at least compared to earlier. There was no physical abuse. But abuse doesn’t have to be physical and violent, it can also be psychological.

How were you abused during your second prison term?

Two days before I was sentenced, I was taken to my interrogator. He tried to “break it to me gently,” as they say: “I’m not quite sure how to tell you this. Your wife and child have died in an accident in West Berlin. I’ve already talked with the comrade general about it.” My ex-wife and my daughter, who has already given me three grandchildren, are still alive today.

Were you betrayed?

I had no idea at the time that there were also Stasi agents in West Berlin. There were informants. It wasn’t until I saw my Stasi files that I found out that the head of the Red Cross in West Berlin had been a Stasi informer. He’s the one who blew the whistle on me. He said that one of his workers was issuing border passes, one right after the other.

Have you spoken to him about it?

At first I was stunned. I went to see him six weeks later. The first question he asked me was: “Oh, you found out?” He had been blackmailed. His mother had died and left him a lot of cash. His sister lived in Plauen, East Germany. He met his sister on the transit road to hand over her share of the inheritance. They were photographed and filmed. As he was entering West Berlin at the Dreilinden checkpoint, they pulled him aside and showed him the photos. They told him: “There are two possibilities. Either we put you up in a hotel with metal bars for ten years, or you stay with the Red Cross. We haven’t been able to get a man inside yet. You would be the first one. Think of your sister in Plauen. If you don’t do as we say, she’ll also end up in prison.” Then he signed up and became an informer for the Stasi.

How do you feel about him today?

Well, it’s no big surprise that I never want to see the man again. On the other hand, he’s just a poor bastard. I know from other people who are in contact with him that he’s horribly tormented by the whole business. But right now I’m going to be real severe and say that he suffers far too little.

What are your hopes for the future?

Me and the future? I’m 72 years old. At the very least, I’d like to see the Stasi files remain open, and not closed to the public at the end of the year as planned. The entire world should know what kind of dictatorial, tyrannical system ruled here, and the methods that were used to blackmail and break people. And I’m going to stay here in Hohenschönhausen until I keel over.