A massive fortress-like structure dominating Normannenstrasse in East Berlin housed the headquarters of the East German Ministry for State Security (MfS), better known as the Stasi. It was a monument to the tasteless architecture of the Stalinist era. Passersby instinctively recoiled at the sight of the building. They could readily imagine the warren of cellblocks, interrogation rooms, and torture chambers deep inside its walls. Rumor had it that many of the cells were padded with burlap to muffle the screams of the torture victims, as well as to prevent prisoners from committing suicide by banging their heads to a bloody pulp against the concrete walls. The passersby also knew that an overzealous Stasi operative could emerge without warning to arrest and indict them for alleged crimes against the regime. Such "snoop and snatch" tactics were all part of a day's work for the MfS.
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