Submission + - New software will reconstruct Stasi files
vorlich writes: Just prior to the re-unification of Germany the DDR's secret police, the Stasi began shredding their files. However in the surreal environment of the communist party losing all control, the people's shredders were not up to the demands of 45 million documents and the Stasi operatives were reduced to tearing up the files by hand — producing approximately 60 million pieces. The shredded files in 16,250 sack-loads ended up being confiscated by the unified German authorities and have been held in storage. Now the Frauenhofer Institute has developed software to re-construct the files. The files contain highly sensitive information on Stasi informants and victims and is believed to hold material on a large number of well-known individuals, especially West Germans. From the BBC- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6643855.stm and you can always check to see if the Stasi had a file on you at www.bstu.de where you can download the application form (and dude, it's in German) but perhaps you might want to wait a few years for when the Fraunhofer institute have finished the giant jigsaw puzzle.
