Case Study Talk. AOPK “Cousin”: A Failed Escape Through Bulgaria

Conversation with an Eyewitness

Die Cousins am Flugzeug Juli 1988.

In 1988, a teenager named Uwe Mälck attempted to flee to the West across the Bulgarian-Greek border. The attempt failed. Bulgarian security forces apprehended him and sent him back to Schwerin in the GDR. There, as a political prisoner, he was immediately placed in Stasi custody. It was only after the Federal Republic of Germany paid his ransom that he was able to make a fresh start in freedom.

The State Security Service documented details and the results of its investigation in the operational personnel file “Cousin.” The file, reproduced faithfully to the original, has recently been made available in the sample file collection of the Stasi Records Archive. Visitors to the permanent exhibition “Insight into the Secret” can read approximately 50 unabridged and largely unredacted Stasi files there.

On September 28, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., Uwe Mälck will speak at the “Sample Files Talk” about the events of that time: What motivated him to flee the GDR? How did he withstand the pressure of the interrogations at such a young age? And how does he look back today on growing up in the GDR and starting over in the West?

Corinna Kalkreuth (Federal Archives) will provide historical context.

Prior to the event, at 5:00 p.m., there will be an express tour of the permanent exhibition, including a look into the archives.

Registration is requested and can be made at: or by phone at 030 18 665-6770.Translated with DeepL

Price info: Registration is requested and can be completed at: or by phone at 030 18 665-6770.

Next date:

• Date Monday, 28/September/2026 18:00 bis 19:30
• Venue Stasimuseum - Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Normannenstraße
• Address Ruschestraße 103, 10365 Berlin-Lichtenberg