4. Operation Vermin conducted forced relocations of East German citizens
As part of his forced Sovietization, Ulbricht authorized and Stasi conducted what became known as Operation Vermin in 1952. Citizens designated by the SED to be “unreliable” and their families were removed from the regions along Germany’s Inner Border which delineated the division between East and West. Unreliable referred to an individual’s perceived lack of loyalty to the SED. One could be could be deemed unreliable simply for having family or friends in the West. Regular attendance at church could signify unreliability. Farmers who failed to meet their quotas, regardless of the reason, were deemed unreliable. Denunciation by informants provided sufficient reason for Stasi to designate a citizen unreliable, subject to forced relocation. Those who protested against the measures being conducted on others found themselves subject to the same treatment.
Relocation was immediate. Individuals and families, with their personal belongings, were shipped via buses and trains to destinations deeper in the GDR. They were assigned housing at their destination, and identified as criminals to their new neighbors. The authorities did not reveal the nature of their crimes, placing them under suspicion in their new homes. Sent to destinations unknown by them at the time of their departure they left behind friends and in some cases extended families. Even the Soviets found the practice unnecessarily oppressive, citing it as one of many contributing to the instability in the GDR in early 1953. Ulbricht defended the measures as necessary to better secure the Inner Border and reduce flight from the GDR to the West. After securing his power in the 1950s, Ulbricht authorized similar operations in October, 1961, with the approval of Khrushchev and the Politburo.