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An Informal Collaborator / IM (or unofficial collaborator〔http://www.bstu.bund.de/EN/MinistryOfStateSecurity/UnofficialCollaboratorsOfMfS/_node.html〕 or, in German, ''"Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter"'' or, more colloquially, ''"Informeller Mitarbeiter"''’) was a person in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) who delivered private information to the Ministry for State Security (MfS / Stasi). In the end there was a network of around 189,000 informants 〔Sources differ, however.〕 working at every level of society.〔Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk: ''Stasi konkret. Überwachung und Repression in der DDR.'' Beck, München 2013, ISBN 978-3-406-63838-1〕 Before 1968 the term "Secret Informer" (''"Geheimer Informator"'') was used.〔Roger Engelmann, Bernd Florath, Helge Heidemeyer, Daniela Münkel, Arno Polzin, Walter Süß: ''Das MfS-Lexikon Begriffe, Personen und Strukturen der Staatssicherheit der DDR'' Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 9783861536277, S. 97〕 The network of secret informers, commonly known in German sources by the initials I.M., was one of the most important instruments of repression and also one of the most critical pillars of power supporting the one party dictatorship that ran the country. The terms "Informal Collaborator" ''"Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter"'' and, before 1968, "Secret Informer" (''"Geheimer Informator"'') were terms chosen carefully by the Stasi in order to distance their operations from the police vocabulary used under the previous regime, and, in particular, to avoid association with the older term used for an informant, "V-Mann" (''"Vertrauensmann)"''".〔(Bundestags-Drucksache 16/7919 ) (PDF; 113 kB), Antwort der Bundesregierung auf die Kleine Anfrage der FDP-Fraktion, 29. Januar 2008.〕 During the course of German reunification the Stasi archives were opened up: the identities of numerous IMs came to light, which opened the way for several human tragedies. At the same time many friendships, partnerships and marriages broke apart after previously concealed spying activities became known to both parties. Since the changes of 1989/90, IM and the other terms here have sometimes also been used for informers who worked for Intelligence organisations other than the Stasi. ==Numbers== The Stasi network of Informal Collaborators (IMs) covered all sections of the population in the Democratic Republic. The network provided crucial support to the country's elaborate surveillance system, and it made possible the monitoring of groups to which an identifiable Stasi officer could never have gained more direct access. There were IMs in many dissident groups and organisations, notably in artistic and church circles, so that the state was informed in particular detail about individuals defined in the official Stasi jargon as "enemy-negative persons" (''"feindlich-negativer Personen"'') During its lifetime the Stasi employed around 624,000 Informal collaborators. IM numbers rose most steeply at times of societal crises, such as the aftermath of the 1953 uprising and the construction of the Berlin Wall (which began, with the official closing of the border surrounding West Berlin, in August 1961). They fell back a little in the mid-1960s for the initial phase of the period of reduced east-west tensions between the two Germanys associated with the time in office, first as Foreign Minister and then as Chancellor, of Willy Brandt, before climbing steeply through the early 1970s to peak at a little above 200,000 during the mid-1970s. The gentle decline in the overall number of the Informal collaborators for several years in the later 1970s is associated with new guidelines, intended to increase their professionalism. By the end of 1988 the number had declined to 173,081.〔The 173,081 figures is the headcount at 31 December 1988. It ''ex''cludes HVA informers. Some sources may aggregate statistics for the two organisations.〕〔Helmut Müller-Enbergs: ''IM-Statistik 1985–1989.'' In: ''BF informiert'' 3/93, BStU, Berlin 1993, page 55〕 A more recently published study from Helmut Müller-Enbergs, published in 2010, put the number of Informal Collaborators in 1989 at 189,000. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Informal collaborators (East Germany)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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