Caught between the fronts. Youth, protest and espionage in Werder (Havel) 1949-1953

Accusation »Espionage«: In 1952, the Soviet military tribunal in the prison Lindenstrasse sentenced seven young women andmen from Werder (Havel) to death and others to 10 to 25 yearsin prison. The pupils, students and apprentices protested against the Soviet occupation and the SED by distributing pamphlets. Western organizations gave them anti-communist propaganda material for their cause and recieved information from the group – without explaining to them the risk and danger it involved. The State Security Service (Stasi) of the GDR succeeded in infiltrating the »network« with spies. In 1951, theprosecution authorities of the Stasi and the Soviet secret service NKVD/MGB decided to strike – only a few were able to escape. The studio exhibition was prepared in cooperation with students of the master’s degree Public History at the Freie Universität Berlin. The exhibition explores the background of the imprisonments and the actions of the prosecution authorities.