Her father had told her what to do if she were ever approached by the Stasi: ‘All you have to do is say that you wouldn’t be able to keep it to yourself.’ She applied this advice when, as a student in Leipzig, she was approached by two Stasi operatives. Having listened to them set out the reasons she should consider working for them as an informant, she replied: ‘You know, I have been deeply affected by what we’ve discussed here. I’ll have to tell my husband right away …
