Stasiland


Beginning as a postdoc, I developed a fascination with 20th century history, and in particular, Cold War history. It’s not just morbid curiosity, but because I believe the world we live in today is very much a relict of the Cold War and Cold War thinking.
I’ve been to Moscow twice, and to Halle Germany three times. Halle is not far from Leipzig and was part of the GDR after WWII. My friend Gunter Reuter grew up in Halle during the GDR time and has told me many stories and jokes from that time. He even owned a Trabbie, which required considerable patience. The GDR state police, the Stasi, spied relentlessly on the East German citizens, cultivating an army of informants from among the citizenry. Thus, as a GDR citizen, you couldn’t trust anyone because they might inform on your and your could lose your job and even go to prison.
The Stasi kept meticulous records, some of which have been released for people who request their files. Many more files were destroyed as the Wall fell. It is said that the Stasi compiled more pages of documents than were compiled previously in the lands of Germany since the Middle Ages.
Stasiland is a quirky set of anecdotes by Australian writer Anna Funder. She has compiled narratives by and about the victims of Stasi surveillance and punishments, as well as interviews with former Stasi, some repentant and some not. She visits former Stasi offices and prisons. She has a great ear for narrative and situates the reader with rich descriptions of places and people. She also has accounts of former East German rock musicians and of the drunks that spend the day at a local park.
Many former East Germans recall the Communist government fondly and resent their sudden immersion in western capitalism. Their gauzy nostalgia ignores the shortages of goods, the poor housing conditions and the ubiquitous Big Brother state.
I found this book engrossing. There is some basic history, but most of the book is intensely personal. I wish I’d known more about this when I visited Halle.
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