It arrested 250,000 people as political prisoners during its existence. One of the Stasi's main tasks was spying on the population, primarily through a vast network of citizens-turned-informants, and fighting any opposition by overt and covert measures, including hidden psychological destruction of dissidents ( Zersetzung, literally meaning "decomposition"). Erich Mielke was the Stasi's longest-serving chief, in power for 32 of the 40 years of the GDR's existence. The Stasi motto was Schild und Schwert der Partei (Shield and Sword of the Party), referring to the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany ( Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED) and also echoing a theme of the KGB, the Soviet counterpart and close partner, with respect to its own ruling party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). The Stasi was headquartered in East Berlin, with an extensive complex in Berlin-Lichtenberg and several smaller facilities throughout the city. It has been described as one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies to have ever existed. From 1950 to 1990, the Ministry for State Security ( German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MfS, German: ( listen)), or State Security Service ( Staatssicherheitsdienst, SSD), commonly known as the Stasi ( German: ( listen)), was the official state security service of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany, GDR).
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