I think it's far more important to destroy the resources and apparatus that enables totalitarianism than to punish the people who participated in a previous pol

I think it's far more important to destroy the resources and apparatus that enables totalitarianism than to punish the people who participated in a previous police state after it's already collapsed. After the DDR fell, Mielke wasn't going to be operating the Stasi any longer. Going after people like him might bring some emotional closure to people persecuted under the regime, but if the regime is gone, that's all it can do: there's no argument for deterrence. If a new police state emerges, it's not likely to be administered by the same individuals who ran the old one. Keeping the resources used by the old police state on hand, and acting to cultivate public trust in the new government seems like a combination to be wary of. The corruptability of human institutions demonstrated by the existence of previous police states should caution us against putting excessive trust in any institutions.