For 29 years all Andreas Laake had of his son Marko was a single photograph of him as a newborn baby.

Moments after the photograph was taken, Marko was taken away from Mr Laake’s wife by the communist authorities in East Germany and given to another couple to raise as their own.

Mr Laake wasn’t even allowed to see the baby. Armed with that solitary photograph, he spent 29 years hunting for his son. In 2009, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he found him.

Most people would consider that a hard enough struggle for a lifetime, but Mr Laake’s work was only just beginning. 

From this tiny office, Mr Laake and a few other volunteers are now forcing Germany to confront the hidden crimes of…