In addition the MfS had almost a paranoid fear that the Western intelligence services might recruit a refugee and then send him back to East Germany to accomplish some unsavory task. Up to the construction of the wall in 1961 many East Germans did in fact return again to the East for personal reasons, but also due to some very unrealistic expectations that they had of the West. The sixth volume will require more time as it desribes one of the most important and most productive agent that the MfS had. So far more than 50 volumes of MfS records have been evaluated. The first three volumes exist already as working copies.
Work is presently in progress on the fourth volume.
The Marienfelde Refugee Center opened its doors in 1953. This occurred at a time when an unprecedented number of East German refugees arrived in the West. A total of more than 305,000 refugees were registered that year in West Berlin. In 1952 the East German government had sealed its Western border facing the Federal Republic of Germany. It was now very difficult for East German refugees to escape across this border.