Gaslighting is the manipulation of someone into questioning their perception of reality. The term derives from the 1944 film Gaslight and became popular in the mid-2010s.
Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, and Joseph Cotten in the 1944 American film version of Gaslight
Zersetzung is a psychological warfare technique first used by the Ministry for State Security to repress political opponents in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. Zersetzung served to combat all
Gaslighting
…harassment techniques used in East Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. The techniques were used as part of the Stasi's (the state security service's) decomposition methods, which were designed to paralyze the ability of hostile-negative (politically incorrect or rebellious) people to operate without unjustifiably imprisoning…
The writer Jürgen Fuchs was targeted with Zersetzung methods. He described them as an 'assault on the human soul'. He died of a rare form of leukemia which he believed was caused by the Stasi's use of weaponised X-ray devices on him.
Directive No. 1/76 on the Development and Revision of Operational Procedures, which outlined the use of Zersetzung in the Ministry for State Security
The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany was an early display of open political opposition to the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.
Rudolf Bahro was persecuted by the Stasi using Zersetzung methods. Like other dissidents, he died of a case of cancer which is suspected to have been caused by weaponised X-ray devices.