Thousands of Ex-Stasi Still Work for German Civil Service

Tens of thousands of former Stasi employees are still working for the German civil service, a respected newspaper has revealed. Experts say that background checks on civil servants were often cursory, while civil rights activists are calling for the ex-secret police to be dismissed.

The issue of former members of the East German secret police, the Stasi, occupying positions in German public life has long been a hot topic in post-Cold War Germany. Now it turns out that the civil service in the states of the former East Germany is apparently riddled with former Stasi employees.