Sins of Stalinist Past Haunt New E. German Deputies

East Germany’s week-old democracy is being battered by allegations that dozens of newly elected members of Parliament, including the top candidate for prime minister, Lothar de Maiziere, collaborated with the notorious secret police.

While some see the murky charges as the dangerous start of an East German “witch hunt,” others view them as a disappointing reminder that sins from the country’s Stalinist past cannot be easily forgotten, or forgiven.

Although the dread Stasi security apparatus has been almost completely dismantled since East Germany’s peaceful revolution last November, the stench still seems to linger and even pervade many segments of a society where officials say up to 85,000 people informed on each other. Tons of Stasi files now sealed by prosecutors and guarded by citizen committees are said to name about 40% of all adults in East Germany.

Separating victims from perpetrators is proving to be a complicated and painful process for the fledgling democracy.

Although De Maiziere, who announced his candidacy for the job of prime minister Friday, is the only Parliament deputy singled out by name so far, up to 10% of the 400-member chamber have reportedly been implicated in a rash of mostly anonymous allegations.

The Christian Democratic Union, whose center-right alliance won 48% of the vote in last Sunday’s general election, was once a loyal partner of the Communist Party during its hard-line reign here.

De Maiziere is largely credited with helping the CDU break Communist ties and win public trust as a separate party. It campaigned on a popular platform of speedy reunification with West Germany and was backed financially and strategically by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s own Christian Democrats.

Werner Fischer, chairman of the citizens’ panel overseeing the dismantling of the Stasis, said that charges of Stasi collaboration “must be taken seriously.”

He said that 40 of 56 deputies from the Erfurt district are named in Stasi files, although it is not yet clear who might have been collaborating and who was merely a target.

Fischer told the boulevard tabloid Cologne Express in today’s editions that sources said De Maiziere worked under the code-name “Scerny.” He acknowledged that it is possible the allegations are part of a “deliberate campaign” to smear De Maiziere.

De Maiziere, a 50-year-old chairman of the Christian Democratic Union, has steadfastly denied working as a Stasi informant. He stressed that he never signed any agreement with the Stasis, accepted any money from them or enjoyed any privileges.

“My contact with the Stasis did not go beyond the realm of my activities as a lawyer,” he told a press conference Friday in East Berlin.

He did not say whether any attempt had ever been made to recruit him as an informant and declared that he would “give no further explanation.”

De Maiziere, a human rights lawyer, used to defend conscientious objectors, church members and asylum-seekers--people considered prime targets of the security police.

The atmosphere of distrust is still evident in East Germany, despite people’s general eagerness to express opinions and denounce the corrupt Communist regime toppled last fall.

When, for example, Kohl’s microphone briefly went out during a campaign appearance in East Germany earlier this month, the crowd spontaneously cried, “Stasi, heraus!” (“Stasi, get out!”) People still half-jokingly mutter “Stasi” when phone lines don’t work.

More seriously, there were pre-election jitters that Stasis would use their multiple identity papers to stuff ballot boxes. The Election Commission and independent observers have since ruled the election clean.

De Maiziere’s alliance triumphed at the polls despite the election-eve embarrassment of having one of its three lead candidates unmasked as a former Stasi spy. The candidate, Democratic Awakening chairman Wolfgang Schnur, admitted that he had been a paid informant and dropped out of the race.

Fischer said there were indications that the same tipster who exposed Schnur was among those now implicating De Maiziere.

The Christian Democrats denied knowledge of any additional Stasi links within the alliance.

“After 40 years of being watched over and followed, you can’t suddenly forget this fear,” said Stephan Bertheau, a spokesman for the Christian Democrats in East Berlin.

“There are some who want the lists of Stasi informants published,” he added, warning that such a step could lead to vigilante justice.

“It should come down to people who got paid for informing,” he said, “not all those who were blackmailed. Many people had some Stasi involvement; the Stasis had their fingers in everything.”

“We cannot have a witch hunt,” Bertheau added. “Any investigation should be done legally and fairly.”

The attorney general’s office announced Friday, however, that it would not get involved in any such probe.