Hubertus Knabe

The Hubertus Knabe talks on the East German surveillance state explores the history of the Stasi (the East Germany secret police) and some of the methods they used to control the population. The speaker is a German historian specializing on the subject of the Stasi and is known for his work on oppressive communist states -- especially East Germany.

Born and raised in West Germany, Hubertus Knabe was involved in the peace movement for which he was named a persona non grata by East Germany from 1980 to 1987. The Hubertus Knabe speech mentions how he was smuggling books between East and West Germany.

The human rights activist currently acts as the scientific director of the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, which is a museum inside a former Stasi torture prison. Early on, the speaker also became involved with Germany's Green Party.