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Cameras, Cameras, and More Cameras |
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Cameras, Cameras, and More Cameras |
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One
of the most common sights along the border was a border guard armed with a
camera taking pictures of Westerners. Often times soldiers on both sides
of the border stood so close to each other that they both had to back up
so they could focus their telephoto lens. For the Grenztruppen, the
GAKs had the unique privilege of being able to operate near West German
and U.S. border patrols by patrolling the area between the actual border
and the border fence. Armed with cameras, these soldiers were trained to
take photographs of anything of potential intelligence value and then
forwarded the photographs to the East German intelligence agency (Stasi) for
assessment. One former GAK estimated that he personally took about 100
pictures a month, and when multiplied by ten cameras per Border Company
throughout the Grenztruppen, the Stasi was possibly dealing with approximately
500,000 photos a month.
So, if you were on the border during the Cold War there's a good chance you were photographed and your picture was stashed away in a Stasi file somewhere in Berlin. |
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