Virtual Exhibitions
In an effort to make our exhibitions more accessible to the general public, the Regimes Museum is proud to offer free virtual versions of a selection of our programs.
Youth Under Dictators
The Indoctrination of Children in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia
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The twentieth century saw the rise and fall of many authoritarian regimes. While each of these societies had unique characteristics, much of what they did to secure, hold, and expand their power and influence exposes certain similarities between dictatorships. One such feature shared by many ideology-driven regimes is their means and methods of controlling and indoctrinating their nation's youth. In the case of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, controlling the youth was a central part of what made these regimes so dangerous.
The Stasi
Shield and Sword of the GDR
The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Ministry for State Security/MfS), or Stasi, as it was most commonly referred to, was the secret police of the former German Democratic Republic. This notorious organization grew to be one of the most notorious and effective secret police and intelligence agencies in history. It answered only to the SED Party leadership and singlehandedly controlled all aspects of a secret police, from gathering both domestic and foreign intelligence to operating its own prisons and armed forces. In doing so, the Stasi became its own entity, a state within a state, an organization with its own culture, norms, and values. ​ The goal of this exhibit is to provide a glimpse of a notorious secret police agency whose global impact was far greater than what could have been expected from such a small country. This exhibit will take you on a tour of the MfS through the material culture it produced while juxtaposing these objects with historical information and personal accounts.
