Stasi Museum (ASTAK Research and Memorial Site)

The Stasi H.Q. in the Lichtenberg district of Berlin is a giant complex of buildings around Normannenstrasse, which became synonymous with East German state security. Following a demonstration on Jan. 15, 1990, an angry mob stormed the H.Q. of the Ministry of State Security, the infamous and ubiquitous "Stasi." The demonstrators discovered enormous quantities of documents, many of which were destroyed by the mob. A citizen's committee was set up to prevent any further destruction so that the documents could be saved for later study. One week later the Round Table decided to set up a body to research violation of human rights in the GDR. This body became known as ASTAK, an abbreviation of the German for "Anti- Stalinist Action