A chic tailored suit, exclusive extras and a cup of martini in his hand are features of James Bond. This is a creation of an agent of Her Majesty. The realities of life in post-war Eastern Germany were, however, quite different.
The Ministry for States Security Of People‘s Republic of Germany, commonly known as the Stasi, was established in 1951. The Stasi had been training officers for spying tasks since then. In common opinion it was one of the best agencies all over the world, taking an honorable place just next to the Russian KGB and the American CIA. It‘s hard to believe this while looking at the photos.
Apparently, such a dress seems to add little to undercover work. However, this was just the look of men and women in the early post-war period. We must remember that except for gathering information, the main goal of spies is to secure themselves against exposure. On the photos below we present a few examples of dresses for the field operations.
Fur caps, leather jackets and characteristic moustache make impression of shabby ones and distinctively stand out from the crowd. However, a typical German looked just like that in those days. The agents had to embody the various roles to act within the full spectrum of social life; from a postman or a soldier to a businessman or a politician.
Stasi agents as every secret services were using a variety of tools in order to make their work discreet. A great example of a tool used by them, which is also prectised nowadays is pen with invisible ink which can be seen under UV light. This kind of ‘invisible pen‘ is available at Detective Store. Another tool which was commonly used by Stasi agents considering UV technology is a special powder is a almost invisible for a human eye, but clearly observable under UV light. It was used for objects marking in order to identify the person who had contact with the marked object. A powder, which is used nowadays is also offered by our shop.
All photos from: www.simonmenner.com