sexsounds from the former GDR ?

[Spanner]

Something I sometimes think about: in the former GDR, people were often monitored with microphones. Even in their bedrooms. Surely such recordings still exist somewhere? They can't have deleted everything!

[sndprv]

If they do still exist, they're sitting on some shelf, or on some hard drive, inside a room in Langley,
Virginia, USA.

The Central Intelligence Agency took away and kept all the Stasi files after the fall of the
Berlin Wall.

[joshzeiss2021]

Haha probably. Yeah it has made me think, the biggest sex sound archive probably exists somewhere perhaps in Cuba? Since they bug everywhere overthere

[sndprv]

Haha probably. Yeah it has made me think, the biggest sex sound archive probably exists somewhere perhaps in Cuba? Since they bug everywhere overthere

I think we have to assume that almost every civilian/military intelligence agency/organisation,
in every country, has these kinds of recordings.

I remember reading an article in the UK Guardian (or maybe it was the Observer) about 25 years
ago. It mentioned how a British military intelligence unit in Northern Ireland had bugged the home
of a member of the Provisional IRA, and that they had an audio recording of him "entertaining" his
girlfriend on the sofa.

[sndprv]

And let us not forget how 'cyber-security' companies, set up and/or backed by
intelligence agencies, can easily hack into smartphones in any country, and then
obtain audio recordings from those.

I've just seen this article about Greece:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/1 ... h-d15.html

[AshenElm]

It's a funny thing to think about going through piles of government documents for entirely different reasons.

[sndprv]

It's a funny thing to think about going through piles of government documents for entirely different reasons.

The reason I would be sifting through those files would be to see what it was the CIA wanted kept hidden.
The CIA went through a LOT of trouble to steal those files; just think of all the bribe money that was paid.

I can, for example, think of one motive.

I asked Google AI the following question: Did the East German Stasi know about Operation Gladio?
(Operation Gladio is still officially classified by the CIA, even though some researchers have written
entire books about it.)

Here's the answer I got:

Yes, the East German Stasi was aware of West Germany's "stay-behind" network, which was part of the larger NATO Operation Gladio.

Stasi cryptologists in Department XI, the Central Cryptology Agency, were able to intercept and decode encrypted radio communications from West German intelligence agencies, including orders sent to members of the clandestine Gladio group.

After the fall of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), when the West German branch of Gladio was being dismantled, it was discovered from Stasi files that their entire network had been known to the East German secret police from an early stage. The West German government later recruited some of these highly trained Stasi cryptographers to prevent their skills and knowledge of Western encryption methods from falling into the hands of other potentially hostile nations.
Operation Gladio involved a network of secret, anti-communist, "stay-behind" armies established by the CIA and MI6 in various Western European countries to prepare for potential Soviet invasions. The existence of these networks was kept secret from the public, most government members, and even parliaments in the respective countries until the Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti confirmed the existence of the Italian branch ("Gladio") in 1990.

[AshenElm]

It's a funny thing to think about going through piles of government documents for entirely different reasons.

The reason I would be sifting through those files would be to see what it was the CIA wanted kept hidden.
The CIA went through a LOT of trouble to steal those files; just think of all the bribe money that was paid.

I can, for example, think of one motive.

I asked Google AI the following question: Did the East German Stasi know about Operation Gladio?
(Operation Gladio is still officially classified by the CIA, even though some researchers have written
entire books about it.)

Huh, this is a reverse of the frequent situation where I mean to set off on an intellectual pursuit on the Internet, and get distracted by erotic material on the way. Operation Gladio was not something that I came across before, and that lead to an interesting Wikipedia dive. Some of the things the U.S. did immediately following WWII were truly stomach turning. At least this want as bad as Operation Paperclip.

Still, that thought of those tapes is very enticing. A bunch of warm analog recordings catching people's daily life in the background is like a voyeur's dream. Hell, I wonder if the sex sounds that would be on them would be materialy different than the things we pick up in hotels today. For instance, I wonder how different the average person's sex life in the 1950s would be. Having the Internet, and therefore an unlimited amount of pornography or sex education materials in our pockets has to change would the average person would think to get up to. And that's not even getting into the great changes in the balance of power between the sexes that has occurred since then, one would think that would show up in the bedroom to some extent as well.

[sndprv]

Huh, this is a reverse of the frequent situation where I mean to set off on an intellectual pursuit on the Internet, and get distracted by erotic material on the way. Operation Gladio was not something that I came across before, and that lead to an interesting Wikipedia dive. Some of the things the U.S. did immediately following WWII were truly stomach turning. At least this want as bad as Operation Paperclip.

You might also be interested in looking up the Gehlen Organisation in post-WWII West Germany,
if you've never heard of it.

I would say that the formation of "stay-behind organisations" in Europe was far worse than
Operation Paperclip, given that Western intelligence services were using literal neo-fascist
terrorists to carry out murders, bombings and false flag events. The Brabant killings, for
example, coincided at a time when there was mass opposition by the Belgian people when
the United States was deciding to station nuclear weapons on Belgian soil.

Still, that thought of those tapes is very enticing. A bunch of warm analog recordings catching people's daily life in the background is like a voyeur's dream. Hell, I wonder if the sex sounds that would be on them would be materialy different than the things we pick up in hotels today. For instance, I wonder how different the average person's sex life in the 1950s would be. Having the Internet, and therefore an unlimited amount of pornography or sex education materials in our pockets has to change would the average person would think to get up to. And that's not even getting into the great changes in the balance of power between the sexes that has occurred since then, one would think that would show up in the bedroom to some extent as well.

Apparently, the Stasi had an archive of about 28,400 audio recordings! How many of those recordings
contained sex sounds, I wonder? And given that the Stasi had files on roughly one-third of the
population, and the fact they had tens of thousands of informants, you can imagine the paranoia
that prevailed in that society. Think of how that affected their sex lives, combined with the
possibility that a person's very own spouse (or girlfriend/boyfriend), was secretly working as an
informant against that very same person. Some East Germans were even forced to report
on the activities of their own sons and daughters to the authorities.

[yeppie]

Apparently, the Stasi had an archive of about 28,400 audio recordings! How many of those recordings
contained sex sounds, I wonder? And given that the Stasi had files on roughly one-third of the
population, and the fact they had tens of thousands of informants, you can imagine the paranoia
that prevailed in that society. Think of how that affected their sex lives, combined with the
possibility that a person's very own spouse (or girlfriend/boyfriend), was secretly working as an
informant against that very same person. Some East Germans were even forced to report
on the activities of their own sons and daughters to the authorities.

I have just read a very interesting novel on this subject, ‘Was Du kriegen kannst’ (What You Can Get) by Clemens Böckmann. It is about a woman who is assigned by the Stasi to work as a prostitute and informal agent, mainly targeting businessmen from the West.
The novel consists of Stasi reports, conversations with the author and the main character's memories, and is set in the period from the 1950s to around 2014.
A lot of listening devices were used back then, so there must also be a large number of sex tapes... all fictional, but based on true events.

[sndprv]

I have just read a very interesting novel on this subject, ‘Was Du kriegen kannst’ (What You Can Get) by Clemens Böckmann. It is about a woman who is assigned by the Stasi to work as a prostitute and informal agent, mainly targeting businessmen from the West.
The novel consists of Stasi reports, conversations with the author and the main character's memories, and is set in the period from the 1950s to around 2014.

Coincidence, because I'm currently reading the classic novel "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold"
by John Le Carre.

Israel's Mossad used a female agent when they abducted Israeli whistleblower Mordechai
Vanunu from Italy in 1986.

A lot of listening devices were used back then, so there must also be a large number of sex tapes... all fictional, but based on true events.

Yeah, I read somewhere the Stasi archived countless reels of film as well.