Just as the Revolutionaries and the criminal underworld relied on their own network known as the deep web, the Directorate maintained an intelligence system of equal, if not greater, reach.
During the reign of the painter, this responsibility fell to the Gestapo, whose operatives embedded themselves into nearly every corner of German society. Their influence was so pervasive that, for a time, they controlled nearly all of the nation's informants.
They built their web from ordinary citizens registered as IM, Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter, or informal collaborators. These were not trained law enforcement officers or government employees. They were neighbors, coworkers, shopkeepers, students, and even family members.
Anyone could've been an IM, and because of that, everyone was a suspect.
