On January 15, 1990, thousands of demonstrators in East Berlin stormed the headquarters of the Stasi, the much-feared secret police of the communist government, and saved a mountain of records documenting Stasi operations from destruction.

The headquarters, which now serve as public archives and a museum on the Stasi, held a special festival with historical lectures and free tours of the facility to commemorate the occupation.

Marianne Birthler, head of the archives, said the festival was a time of joy and relief and praised the popular movement against the Stasi.

"It was the work of the East Germans themselves that saved the files from destruction," she said.

The celebrations were moved from Friday to Saturday and Sunday to ensure a large public attendance.

A daunting task

The Stasi archives are now open to the public and have attracted some 2.6 million applications for review since 1991.

The work involved in reviewing the documents and investigating crimes committed by the Stasi is enormous and nowhere near finished, Birthler said.

Among the records are some 39 million index cards, 1.44 million photos, 164,000 audio files and 7,800 electronic data carriers like floppy disks. If laid side-by-side, the documents would stretch about 112 kilometers (69.6 miles).

The records are still highly relevant. Late last year, two Left party politicians in the eastern state of Brandenburg resigned after records revealed they had both spied for the Stasi.

Open doors

Germany's openness with the GDR's secret police records contrasts with policies of many Eastern European countries, which have kept their records sealed for fear of bringing up old hatred between dissidents and their betrayers.

But confronting the dark past of East Germany is essential to moving forward in the future, Birthler said in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

"Even in the initial years after 1990, there was a desire to close the curtain and not worry about all this," she said. "But this changed when it was realized that keeping secret files closed could be more dangerous than opening them."

acb/epd/dpa/AFP
Editor: Toma Tasovac