The Fraunhofer Institute found a way to read the documents after shredder

German scientists learned how to recover files destroyed by the shredder using complex computer algorithms and thus decided to restore the secret documents of the East German secret police.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and it became clear that the East German regime was over, the Stasi staff attempted to destroy all the intelligence materials with the help of a shredder.

About 16,250 bags containing about 45 million documents destroyed by the shredder were discovered and confiscated after the reunification of Germany in 1990. Work on the restoration of documents began 12 years ago, but 24 people were able to restore the contents of only 323 bags. With such a pace, the restoration of all documents 30 people would be engaged from 600 to 800 years.

Scientists hope that they will be able to recover documents from 400 bags in 2 years, using the new computer technology proposed by the Fraunhofer Institute.
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If the search project, in which the state allocated $ 8.53 million, is successful, then scientists will be able to restore the contents of all the bags in four or five years.

Using an algorithm developed 15 years ago that helps decipher barely legible lists of victims of Nazi concentration camps, each cut strip will be scanned from each side. After that, the data will be transferred to a computer for decryption using color recognition, structural analysis, shape recognition, machine and graphological expertise.

Hand-torn documents are not expected to pose any special problems for recognition, because pieces of paper can be put together according to shape, as is done in puzzles.

Connecting shredder documents requires an analysis of the handwriting on the surface of the fragments. The institute has already successfully collected together documents damaged by the same method for the German tax administration.