Roland Jahn
Encyclopedia
Roland Jahn is a German
journalist and former East German dissident who took office as Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives in March 2011.
from East Germany to West Germany
. He then worked as a transport worker at the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena. Jahn became active in protests opposing militarization and censorship in East Germany, resulting in multiple arrests until he was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment in 1982 for displaying a flag of the forbidden Polish non-communist trade union Solidarity. He was released after several weeks following international protests, formed an activist group and continued to demonstrate. Jahn was arrested and forcibly extradited to West Germany via train on 8 June 1983 under order of the Minister of State Security Erich Mielke
. Jahn's East German lawyer Wolfgang Schnur was later revealed to have worked for the Ministry for State Security
(Stasi).
Jahn's East German citizenship was revoked in 1983 and he began to work as a journalist in West Berlin
. Jahn continued to support East German dissidents, smuggled cameras to them, and relayed their activities to West German media. His reports were broadcast on West Berlin television and illegally picked up by East Germans; a smuggled camera allowed broadcasting footage of the Monday demonstrations in East Germany
. Jahn was politically active in West Germany and demonstrated against rearmament, resulting in a 30 days prison sentence in West Berlin in December 1985. Jahn remained a target of Stasi spying until the German reunification
in 1990 and he documented the following downfall of the former East German government and social change as a journalist. He is employed as a journalist for the public Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting
program Kontraste since 1991 and received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1998.
in the Federal Diet of Germany
. His nomination was approved on 28 January 2011 by a majority of the Federal Diet. Jahn's term of office will last five years and he will be charged with public access and administration of the Stasi archives. Jahn stated that he does not intend to use his position for retribution and instead "want[s] justice".
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
journalist and former East German dissident who took office as Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives in March 2011.
Education and activism
Jahn began to study economics in 1975 but was forced to end his studies in 1977 after he criticized the extradition of singer-activist Wolf BiermannWolf Biermann
Karl Wolf Biermann is a German singer-songwriter and former East German dissident.-Early life:Biermann's father, who worked on the Hamburg docks, was a German Jew and a member of the German Resistance....
from East Germany to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. He then worked as a transport worker at the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena. Jahn became active in protests opposing militarization and censorship in East Germany, resulting in multiple arrests until he was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment in 1982 for displaying a flag of the forbidden Polish non-communist trade union Solidarity. He was released after several weeks following international protests, formed an activist group and continued to demonstrate. Jahn was arrested and forcibly extradited to West Germany via train on 8 June 1983 under order of the Minister of State Security Erich Mielke
Erich Mielke
Erich Fritz Emil Mielke was a German communist politician and Minister of State Security—and as such head of the Stasi —of the German Democratic Republic between 1957 and 1989. Mielke spent more than a decade as an operative of the NKVD during the rule of Joseph Stalin...
. Jahn's East German lawyer Wolfgang Schnur was later revealed to have worked for the Ministry for State Security
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
(Stasi).
Jahn's East German citizenship was revoked in 1983 and he began to work as a journalist in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
. Jahn continued to support East German dissidents, smuggled cameras to them, and relayed their activities to West German media. His reports were broadcast on West Berlin television and illegally picked up by East Germans; a smuggled camera allowed broadcasting footage of the Monday demonstrations in East Germany
Monday demonstrations in East Germany
The Monday demonstrations in East Germany in 1989 and 1990 were a series of peaceful political protests against the authoritarian communist government of the German Democratic Republic that took place every Monday evening.- Overview :...
. Jahn was politically active in West Germany and demonstrated against rearmament, resulting in a 30 days prison sentence in West Berlin in December 1985. Jahn remained a target of Stasi spying until the German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990 and he documented the following downfall of the former East German government and social change as a journalist. He is employed as a journalist for the public Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting
Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg
Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg is an institution under public law for the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, situated in Berlin and Potsdam...
program Kontraste since 1991 and received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1998.
Federal Commission for the Stasi Archives
In 2010, Jahn was nominated as Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives by the Christian Democratic UnionChristian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
in the Federal Diet of Germany
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
. His nomination was approved on 28 January 2011 by a majority of the Federal Diet. Jahn's term of office will last five years and he will be charged with public access and administration of the Stasi archives. Jahn stated that he does not intend to use his position for retribution and instead "want[s] justice".