Remember when Russia was that pesky geopolitical force who’s own constant secrecy and subterfuge brought about the downfall of its imperial ambitions? Whether you do or don’t, you’re likely more than aware of where the country is now and how America is currently serving as a pawn in Vladimir Putin’s efforts toward world domination. No matter what you know and where you stand on the matter though, Jamie Coughlin Silverman and Gabriel Silverman’s part-historical/part-investigative documentary “The Spies Among Us” proves a vital resource in understanding how these global conflicts can reach into the home, pitting neighbor against neighbor and even brother against brother.
For those who haven’t seen Steven Spielberg’s “Bridge of Spies” or the Academy Award-winning German drama “The Lives of Others,” Germany was split in two after World War II, with the West controlled by the Western Allies, including America, and the East under the purview of the Soviet Union. From 1950 to 1990, East Germany and its people were controlled by the Ministry of State Security, or Stasi, which resembled how the KGB operated in the USSR in that its goal was less about protection and more about maintaining its own authority. Outside of bugging homes and offices, as well as torturing and imprisoning individuals, one of the main ways the Stasi went about doing this was by forcing citizens to act as informants. Typically, people were pushed into it as a result of blackmail, but the use of homegrown spies became so rampant in Stasi-controlled East Germany that it’s estimated there was at least one in every formal group, whether it be family or friends.
This is the realization faced by Stasi victim Peter Keup, the focus of “The Spies Among Us,” as well as our guide to Germany’s history with communist dictatorship. Keup was imprisoned for attempting to escape East Germany, but ultimately had his freedom bought by the West, where he went on to own and operate a successful dance studio. By the time he hit his 50s however, Keup couldn’t keep dancing his way through life, but instead needed to re-open old wounds that, it turns out, never fully healed. He went on to become a historian, with a focus on the Stasi’s time in power, a period that has been carefully pored over despite many officials working to destroy important documents amidst the fall of the Berlin Wall and breaking up of the USSR. Today, Keup and others are even able to retrieve what remains of the files kept on them by the secret police, thereby illuminating the true depths plunged in the name of “security.”
Unfortunately for Keup, what he discovers in these documents just creates a new mystery for him to solve, but whether he actually manages to do so by the end of the documentary remains a largely subjective opinion. Though he had long suspected it, in reading through his files, Keup finds out that his own brother was an informant for the Stasi, but as his sibling is no longer alive, he is unable to question him directly as to what information he turned over and why. Instead, his only remaining option is to seek out those in charge of fostering the system that led to his brother’s betrayal. This, as expected, is no easy task, especially considering that of the hierarchy within the Ministry at that time, there is only one General still alive who can speak to the orders that were handed down, a man by the name of Heinz Engelhardt.
Sadly, in agreeing to participate with this documentary, it seems Engelhardt’s true motives are to exculpate himself of any wrongdoing, as exemplified by the hat he’s wearing when we first meet him, which simply reads, “Whatever.” What’s worse is that Engelhardt still believes his actions were righteous and proper despite the generational harm presented right to his face by Keup. In his eyes, the Stasi were a response to Nazism and formed with the intent of never allowing fascism to rise again, but when faced with the question of whether the ends justified the means, Engelhardt refuses to face the philosophical or moral quandaries that might give way to him taking some form of accountability. His presence is a frustrating, but necessary, addition to the dialogue Keup and the Silverman’s are trying to create around the East/West conflict that persisted for almost half of the 20th Century.
Counter to this, Keup also confronts a Stasi educator who trained legions of officers in the subject of psychological warfare, but is now, in the twilight of his life, trying to accept responsibility for the terror that was wrought under his tutelage. He’s even willing to go to the prison where Keup spent nine months and hear him recount in detail the agony he was put through. Why? As we come to find out, the educator’s son now helps save refugees from drowning during dangerous crossings, forcing his father to wonder why he worked so hard to create borders when his progeny finds more value in breaking them down. He may not understand why his child would risk his life for others in this way, but it has made him question his own actions enough to want to at least confront the error of his ways. The same cannot be said of Engelhardt, who even after multiple interviews over various years, still seems to be doling out the company line of, “We did what we had to do.”
All of this digging, for Keup, was to ascertain the truth of how family could be turned against one another, but the longer it goes on, the more it becomes about finding someone to carry the blame and desperately wanting Engelhardt to fill that void. Somewhat ironically, it is only when another family member, Keup’s husband, calls out the power a man like Engelhardt still holds over Keup that he is able to accept and forgive his brother for falling into a trap set by men only out for their own power and vanity. In a somewhat twisted reveal towards the end of the documentary, we also learn that after the Stasi were ousted, Engelhardt left Germany for a period to become a tour guide around the world, traveling throughout Africa, Asia, and elsewhere. Must’ve been nice for a man who spent decades putting walls up around his people to have the luxury of living a life without borders. In Keup’s husband refusing to grant this hypocrite any credence, we are reminded of the value of relationships and family and how when they serve one another, a beautiful world can be opened.
In the end, Keup does earn a symbolic win over Engelhardt. Hired to work at the Stasi Museum, which is housed in what used to be the official headquarters for the organization, Keup comes to discover that his new office is now directly above Engelhardt’s old one, a space that now highlights and educates others on the misdeeds enacted by this man. It’s the perfect example of the arc of history bending toward justice, but also a timely message to others who face oppressive regimes: Division is the point and can only be upended by coming together and using our history to light the way. Or as Keup puts it more succinctly at the film‘s conclusion, “A mad system creates mad people.”
Grade: B+
“The Spies Among Us” premiered at the SXSW 2025. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
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