Joachim Gauck
Director of the Federal Agency for the Stasi Archive Files from 1990 to 2000.
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(Rostock, Germany, 1940). A former Protestant pastor in the days of the GDR, he was head of the official organism responsible for the Stasi files from 1990 to 2000. In 1989, he became spokesperson for the dissident group "Neues Forum" (New Forum) and was one of the leaders of the Rostock demonstrations in opposition to the government, in which he always spoke out for non-violent change. After reunification he was appointed State Ombudsman for the Documents of the Former East German State Security Service (Stasi), position that he held until 2000. Afterwards, he was elected president of the association "Gegen Vergessen - für Demokratie" (Against Forgetting - For Democracy).