The Stasi identified itself as a revolutionary organ, with a
tradition that dated back to the 1917 foundation of the
Bolshevik security service, the Cheka. Many Stasi officers were
members of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and some had
even worked for the Soviet Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti
(KGB). In correspondence with these and other secret police
ministries, the Stasi saw itself as the shield and sword of the
single Communist Party. This was clear from the beginning. The
Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD), after having
defeated Adolf Hitler's forces, took full control in the Soviet
Occupation Zone (SBZ). Together with German communists, they
began to build a secret police organization as early as the
spring of 1945. This department (K-5) of the Kriminalpolizei was
headed by Erich Mielke, a confirmed party soldier. But not until
the founding of East Germany in October 1949 was a ministry of
secret service instituted. On 8 February 1950 a proclamation was
made creating the Minist