Stasi Files Go Online

Germany's federal agency in charge of the files of the Stasi, the former East German secret service, has begun publishing documents from the months leading fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 on its Web site. The files detail hectic attempts by the East German government to restore order in the country, including one document, a meeting protocol, which includes statements from Stasi Minister Erich Mielke, complaining that East German soldiers had failed to fatally hit people escaping across the border. Marianne Birthler, the agency's director, said she hopes the documents will help to get younger people interested in the events that led to the fall of the wall.