Stasi Agent Spied On Solidarity

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An agent working for communist East Germany's feared Stasi secret police spied on Poland's communist-era Solidarity opposition during the 1980s, Polish Television TVP reported on Sunday.

"He was a student, a photographer - he identified himself as an oppositionist," Christian Boos of Germany's Gauck Institute told TVP.

The man's true identity has not yet been established.

Boos said that the agent, code-named Josef, managed to access Solidarity's most inner circle to gather information on Solidarity trade union leaders Lech Walesa and Bogdan Borusewicz.

"I even think I may know who it is. But I cannot say I do because I'm not 100 percent sure," Solidarity's legendary leader Walesa said.

"The photos and information of Josef were very helpful to the secret police," Boos said.

Germany's Gauck Institute officially retains all Stasi files and documents. It has promised to forward a portion of the files pertaining to agent Josef to Poland's Institute for National Remembrance (IPN) prosecutors for World War Two and communist-era crimes.

"Until today we still don't know exactly how many Stasi worked in Poland. We are always finding some new materials. It is the same with our knowledge regarding spying on Solidarity. This is why we must cooperate with the IPN," Gauck Institute head Marianne Birthler told TVP.

Birthler and IPN chief Leon Kieres are due to sign an agreement allowing the Gauck Institute and IPN to share communist-era files from Poland and East Germany.

Source: DPA

June.7.2005



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