Explore Branch 235, a notorious location linked to Assad’s regime. Uncover hidden documents and hear stories from former prisoners.
- Sect 235 exposes Assad’s monitoring activities.
- Uncorrupted documents, eerie verse inside cells.
While it is true that the Stasi Museum was once the headquarters of the secret police, it now serves as a memorial and educational institution to educate visitors about the oppressive tactics used during that time.
The museum’s purpose is to shed light on this dark period of history and promote awareness, rather than glorify or support the actions of the Stasi.
Actual detention cells and offices housing records of millions of East German individuals are open to the public.
As one strolls through these corridors, it’s impossible not to imagine the setting where the masterminds of a terrifying police state plotted and executed their methods of surveillance and intimidation.
Branch 235 of Syria’s intelligence services had a similar incident on Friday in Damascus, Syria. Not only did this branch snoop on civilians, but it also spied on other branches of the government.
Instilling widespread paranoia among state personnel was a key component of the Assad regime’s power structure.
Up until its downfall, the dictatorship maintained complete obedience from its subjects since no one could be trusted and anybody may be arrested at any moment.
We discovered a chamber with complete papers detailing the regime’s monitoring operations among the rubble of this destroyed structure.
I accessed a file pertaining to a Syrian army colonel by use of an uncomplicated green document wallet.
Suspicious activity warrants ongoing surveillance, according to the cover note. Experiencing this in real life was like being a spy in a book. This one person was the subject of page after page of informant reports in the 2015 file.
We uncovered a plethora of more files, each including meticulous notes on specific troops. As a result of the subsequent looting and burning, most of the proof of Assad’s atrocities was lost, and the government collapsed soon.
This one room, however, which escaped the flames, revealed Assad’s system of terror. We saw Mohammad in the courtyard; he was a former inmate who had gone back to his old cell twelve years earlier.
We were led to the basement, where he revealed the cramped, coffin-like rooms that housed the four guys.
Inmates were passing the time by carving verses from Arabic poetry into the back of a door, playing games like Tic-Tac-Toe, or scratching out basic games into the walls. One of the doors had the words, “I’m scared to die, my love, without seeing you again.”
Mohammad grinned and said, “I can breathe now,” when I inquired about his feelings about returning. This trip gave a clear, first-hand look at the Assad regime’s harsh methods of monitoring and repression.
While the personal experience may have been impactful, it is important to remember that one individual’s perspective does not necessarily represent the entire reality of a situation.
It is possible that Mohammad’s feelings of relief upon returning could be influenced by a variety of factors beyond just the conditions in the prison.
