What would it take for a reunified Germany to thoroughly prosecute former GDR officials for their actions?

[Declan]

Pretty much what the title says.

OTL, Germany tried to prosecute officials from the now defunct East Germany for their actions over the past decades. But the movement to do so sort of lost steam almost immediately after it began. Erich Honecker, the main figure to go after, had fled the country to the Chilean embassy in Russia and stayed there for a few years. Until he was extradited to Germany, but his ill-health got the German government to release him on compassionate grounds before any conviction could happen. A few other high ranking officials were prosecuted, but they got relatively lenient terms. Never mind almost all got released after serving only a few years at most.
The pinnacle of trying to ensure accountability for these crimes were the trials of border guards who fatally shot those who fled; most were given suspended sentences and were more symbolic than anything else.

So, what would need to change in order for Germany to thoroughly prosecute the activities of the GDR. By "thoroughly" I mean the German government should:
- go after not just all major the high ranking officials of East German government, but even the mid ranking ones as well
-prosecute for more than just the border shootings and should include the various violations of human rights within the regime(East Germany had ratified several human rights accords)
-ensure that the convicted are given just punishment(like some receving life in prison), and not just a slap on the wrist.

 

[jerseyguy]

The East German leadership knew too much about the West to risk seriously prosecuting them. If Bonn seriously tries to go after Honecker and the rest of the Politburo with Nuremburg-style trials, then the former East German elite have no reason to keep any compromising information they have on Western German politicians a secret.
The extent of Stasi infiltration of the West German political system was incredible. Willy Brandt was forced to step down as Chancellor in part because one of his close assistants, Günther Guillaume, was exposed as an East German spy. 1990 is still very recent, I wouldn't be surprised if parts of the information and records that the BND *Germany's intelligence agency) and CIA inherited/acquired from East Germany are still classified.

I think this kind of thorough prosecution is only going to happen if the East Germans launch a bloody, Tiananmen Square-style crackdown that horrifies the rest of Europe. In my opinion, the East German system ended on October 9 in Leipzig, a month before the Wall fell, when people were able to assemble without this happening.

 

[marktaha]

Denazification - why not decommunisation?

 

[CaptainCalvert]

Which is more important?
Reunification, a long-sought-after goal and major task that will likely take a decade or more, or thorough decommunisation when - just as post WW2 - many people effectively had no choice but to join the party and conform to have any chance at a normal life?
Iraq provides a more recent illustration of what can go wrong if an over-zealous approach to (in that case Baath) party membership is applied.

So I think jerseyguy has probably got it right in that it would take some late-term major outrages to justify a much stronger prosecution.
The alternative of turning a blind eye to all but the worst crimes and focussing on reunification is a better use of time and resources even if it is a flawed approach.

 

[Discernible]

As

Denazification - why not decommunisation?

Better intelligence agencies and superior record keeping...

 

[Pelranius]

Removing most of the mid cadre bureaucrats (the middle ranking cadres in places like state owned enterprises, universities and various non security Ministries would have collaborated with the Stasi a lot) across the entire former GDR is going to make reunifiaction a lot more expensive than OTL.

 

[Declan]

Which is more important?
Reunification, a long-sought-after goal and major task that will likely take a decade or more, or thorough decommunisation when - just as post WW2 - many people effectively had no choice but to join the party and conform to have any chance at a normal life?

Well for starters, the fall of the Berlin Wall was the herald that the entire state of East Germany was over. There no hope of democratically keeping it alive.
So reunification was all but inevitable.
Secondly, the beginning of prosecutions would most likely start after the reunification happened. Regardless, the majority of East Germans weren't party members and wouldn't be outraged at all if the new government started going after them.

Iraq provides a more recent illustration of what can go wrong if an over-zealous approach to (in that case Baath) party membership is applied.

Not applicable here. There was no ongoing war in Germany that would create the analogue to the disastrous de-baathification process. Furthermore, as crude as this sounds, what was East was wholly dependent on what was the West to keep themself financially, and this fact can be leveraged against secessionism.

East Germany had existed in a rump state after fall of communism, waiting for reunification to happen. They had their own elected government, but Kohl was the man calling the shots since the East german equivalent of the CDU won and he campaigned for them. One way to neuter any future secessionism(if that is your concern) is to have to rump East German government to get the ball rolling, but not actually starting the prosecutions. This would entail preventing any suspects from leaving the country and publicly announcing the state is gathering evidence against the former regime.

 

[Whiteshore]

I think this kind of thorough prosecution is only going to happen if the East Germans launch a bloody, Tiananmen Square-style crackdown that horrifies the rest of Europe. In my opinion, the East German system ended on October 9 in Leipzig, a month before the Wall fell, when people were able to assemble without this happening.

So I think jerseyguy has probably got it right in that it would take some late-term major outrages to justify a much stronger prosecution.

So, basically, a more Romania-esque experience vis-a-vis the Fall of Communism in East Germany is the most likely way to get harsher punishments for GDR officials and the like?