Quoted By:
>Guideline 1/76, "On the Development and Handling of Operational Cases"
>The German word Zersetzung can be variously translated into English as corrosion, decomposition, breakdown, disintegration, annihilation, demoralization, undermining, or subversion. Zersetzung measures were aimed at opposition groups or individuals and used psychological manipulation on an individual or group basis in an effort to influence attitudes and convictions, with the ultimate aim of limiting or eliminating the effectiveness of dissidents. Guideline 1/76 lists a range of specific methods for "corroding" a target: discrediting his or her public image; orchestrating professional failures or problems in his or her social sphere; undermining convictions and sowing doubts about his or her personal perspectives; setting up personal rivalries and mutual suspicions in groups; assigning a remote job; circulating compromising photos, letters, telegrams or similar material; spreading malicious rumors (...) All of these measures were conducted covertly so as to keep State Security off the map, unlike its intentional displays of power. These undercover activities could be combined with official measures, however, if it meant the difference between success and failure - temporary arrests, interrogations, and warnings, as well as psychological terror in the form of violence or threats.
>-The History of the Stasi