No pictures for this part of the story... eek! I'll try to write better.
We were driven to Geisa to meet with two 'living history' volunteers: the former leader of the inner (west) German border patrol during the decade leading to the fall of the DDR, and a former DDR citizen.
The following experience is my most treasured experience from being in Germany. It was something I would of never seen myself participating in just months ago. It made me super grateful that I can (somewhat) speak German now.
Each of the volunteers came to tell us their life stories and answer questions for an hour each. It was a lot of information to take in, especially for me in German. It would be impossible for me to remember it all and to share it eloquently. I will, however, try my best to share some of the most interesting anecdotes.
Leader of the Guard Story:
- He himself came as a refuge from the East to the West after the end of the war. They had to illegally cross the border in the night and run through the Germanys undercover. He experienced the poverty and struggle of trying to find food and work in a post-war Germany- people were kind and tried to help them make it.
- He became involved in the Border patrol at a young age and took up the assignment in Fulda because he thought it would be a great and safe place to raise his family. He laughed that had he known it was the planned location for WWIII, he would of changed his mind. He had no idea that the entire region would be where the USSR would attack, and that it would likely be nuclear bombed by NATO in the event of Soviet aggression.
- He had positive memories of living and working alongside the Americans
- There was an event where fire opened up on the border, and a DDR person was killed. He was in a leadership position, and very frightened about what would happen. They two sides of the border met armed to the tooth and decided to do nothing. He said standing there with all of the guns and uncertainty was the most scared he's been.
- The DDR citizen (from above) was killed with a bullet through the eye. The west German soldier that fired the shot was found in dead in 1998 with a bullet through the same eye. He said that such was the power of the KGB/Stasi - years after reunification he believed the old members still acted according to previous allignment.
- They witnessed people get killed at the fence on more than one occasion. After the fall of the wall, a man approached him at the museum or post (or something). He said "do you remember the boy who was killed on this day (shows article)? well, that's me" It turns out the kid wasn't killed as he tried to escape- but he was damn near killed. He went to the hospital and then prison/work-camp for his crime of trying to escape.
- Something happened in one of the Soviet Satellite countries which meant people could come to West Germany. The DDR made some strict rules about transporting people, so they had to all board a train. This man was chosen to be among those who went to get the refugees. He told a really emotional story about people being scared and hungry and that he didn't really know what to do. The first lady he met (while he was giving commands or something) said "Look here sir we would be happy to oblige but I just had a baby and right now I need diapers for my baby..." and then she starts telling him how things are going to happen. He obviously had a huge heart and did everything in his power to help these people. The lady asked him to be the babies god father- he accepted and is still in touch with the family
- As a refugee himself, he thought his calling (and the border police) was to do everything possible to help the refugees from the DDR
- other stories include the confusion of when the wall fell and when people began to flood from East to West.
Woman from DDR's Story:
She was really sweet. She came up the podium and read a statement in English she had written and then asked us for feedback- she said she's trying to get better.
Her talk was very open ended- she wanted us to ask her questions.
- Do you miss the DDR? She said knowing everything she knows now, she does not wish for it and wouldn't wish it for anyone. But at the time, life wasn't so bad. The government made sure everyone had jobs and that housing was very cheap- her and her husband paid something like 40 dollars a month for a multiple bedroom home. She went to school and was able to get letters and things to family on the other side- she didn't really think the traveling thing was so bad.
- Random memory: Saving money and making things to support the Vietnam word and the soldiers defending communism. They would meet on Sundays.
- What was the collapse of the DDR like? It was terrible. The DDR businesses went under and everyone was unemployed. Everyone went west (she included) to find work but had lots of trouble. Getting her new life started, she lost track of what her sons were doing. In East Germany, the state made sure no one got into bad things- it was impossible. But, in the free west, many eastern Germans didn't know what to do. Her son fell into drugs and she thought he'd get reprimanded and that would be the end of it. What she didn't know was that her son was doing worse and worse things and avoiding the law. In the East, again, this couldn't of happened, so she didn't really think anything was amiss. Finally the law caught up and her son was sentenced to prison. She was devastated because she was so unfamiliar with the system she didn't realize what kind of trouble her son was in. She said drug abuse and crime was something that was new to a lot of east Germans and consumed their lives. She shared a lot of personal family history just because she wanted us to understand how complicated everything was for everyone- they were all uprooted in one form or another and many people couldn't adjust.
- Did you have a Stasi File? The second this question was asked the woman's face changed dramatically- this was obviously something deeply personal. She reached behind her and pulled out her folder, which any former DDR citizen can request. She talked a lot about the folder, and what it felt like. They had intercepted random letters of hers, steamed the glue, photo-copied the contents, and then sent the mail on to its intended receiver. She never knew. The letters were harmless between family, friends, and lovers. But it still cut her deeply to even look at them in front of us, it disgusted her to think someone summarized the content of the letter on the accompanying form for every document. It was obvious, hearing within her voice, how horrendous it was for her to have the revelation she had no privacy- she was state-loving, normal secretary, yet she was still spied upon.
We were driven to Geisa to meet with two 'living history' volunteers: the former leader of the inner (west) German border patrol during the decade leading to the fall of the DDR, and a former DDR citizen.
The following experience is my most treasured experience from being in Germany. It was something I would of never seen myself participating in just months ago. It made me super grateful that I can (somewhat) speak German now.
Each of the volunteers came to tell us their life stories and answer questions for an hour each. It was a lot of information to take in, especially for me in German. It would be impossible for me to remember it all and to share it eloquently. I will, however, try my best to share some of the most interesting anecdotes.
Leader of the Guard Story:
- He himself came as a refuge from the East to the West after the end of the war. They had to illegally cross the border in the night and run through the Germanys undercover. He experienced the poverty and struggle of trying to find food and work in a post-war Germany- people were kind and tried to help them make it.
- He became involved in the Border patrol at a young age and took up the assignment in Fulda because he thought it would be a great and safe place to raise his family. He laughed that had he known it was the planned location for WWIII, he would of changed his mind. He had no idea that the entire region would be where the USSR would attack, and that it would likely be nuclear bombed by NATO in the event of Soviet aggression.
- He had positive memories of living and working alongside the Americans
- There was an event where fire opened up on the border, and a DDR person was killed. He was in a leadership position, and very frightened about what would happen. They two sides of the border met armed to the tooth and decided to do nothing. He said standing there with all of the guns and uncertainty was the most scared he's been.
- The DDR citizen (from above) was killed with a bullet through the eye. The west German soldier that fired the shot was found in dead in 1998 with a bullet through the same eye. He said that such was the power of the KGB/Stasi - years after reunification he believed the old members still acted according to previous allignment.
- They witnessed people get killed at the fence on more than one occasion. After the fall of the wall, a man approached him at the museum or post (or something). He said "do you remember the boy who was killed on this day (shows article)? well, that's me" It turns out the kid wasn't killed as he tried to escape- but he was damn near killed. He went to the hospital and then prison/work-camp for his crime of trying to escape.
- Something happened in one of the Soviet Satellite countries which meant people could come to West Germany. The DDR made some strict rules about transporting people, so they had to all board a train. This man was chosen to be among those who went to get the refugees. He told a really emotional story about people being scared and hungry and that he didn't really know what to do. The first lady he met (while he was giving commands or something) said "Look here sir we would be happy to oblige but I just had a baby and right now I need diapers for my baby..." and then she starts telling him how things are going to happen. He obviously had a huge heart and did everything in his power to help these people. The lady asked him to be the babies god father- he accepted and is still in touch with the family
I asked a friend and this was his memory: "Are you talking about how the guy was the one who welcomed the train full of refugees from the Prague (budapest?? Not sure) consulate who claimed refuge. And the DDR tried to starve them out but then finally let them go. So by the time the train full of people go to the west german boarder everyone was nervous how the refugees would react and if they'd really believe they were free. And so he was scared what would happen but the first woman through the doors was holding a baby and she basically says "I don't care where we are or what you wanna do with us but my baby's got a crap load in this dipper so let me change it and then we'll talk" and she laughed and they laughed and everyone was happy."
- As a refugee himself, he thought his calling (and the border police) was to do everything possible to help the refugees from the DDR
- other stories include the confusion of when the wall fell and when people began to flood from East to West.
Woman from DDR's Story:
She was really sweet. She came up the podium and read a statement in English she had written and then asked us for feedback- she said she's trying to get better.
Her talk was very open ended- she wanted us to ask her questions.
- Do you miss the DDR? She said knowing everything she knows now, she does not wish for it and wouldn't wish it for anyone. But at the time, life wasn't so bad. The government made sure everyone had jobs and that housing was very cheap- her and her husband paid something like 40 dollars a month for a multiple bedroom home. She went to school and was able to get letters and things to family on the other side- she didn't really think the traveling thing was so bad.
- Random memory: Saving money and making things to support the Vietnam word and the soldiers defending communism. They would meet on Sundays.
- What was the collapse of the DDR like? It was terrible. The DDR businesses went under and everyone was unemployed. Everyone went west (she included) to find work but had lots of trouble. Getting her new life started, she lost track of what her sons were doing. In East Germany, the state made sure no one got into bad things- it was impossible. But, in the free west, many eastern Germans didn't know what to do. Her son fell into drugs and she thought he'd get reprimanded and that would be the end of it. What she didn't know was that her son was doing worse and worse things and avoiding the law. In the East, again, this couldn't of happened, so she didn't really think anything was amiss. Finally the law caught up and her son was sentenced to prison. She was devastated because she was so unfamiliar with the system she didn't realize what kind of trouble her son was in. She said drug abuse and crime was something that was new to a lot of east Germans and consumed their lives. She shared a lot of personal family history just because she wanted us to understand how complicated everything was for everyone- they were all uprooted in one form or another and many people couldn't adjust.
- Did you have a Stasi File? The second this question was asked the woman's face changed dramatically- this was obviously something deeply personal. She reached behind her and pulled out her folder, which any former DDR citizen can request. She talked a lot about the folder, and what it felt like. They had intercepted random letters of hers, steamed the glue, photo-copied the contents, and then sent the mail on to its intended receiver. She never knew. The letters were harmless between family, friends, and lovers. But it still cut her deeply to even look at them in front of us, it disgusted her to think someone summarized the content of the letter on the accompanying form for every document. It was obvious, hearing within her voice, how horrendous it was for her to have the revelation she had no privacy- she was state-loving, normal secretary, yet she was still spied upon.
Author's thought:
There was obviously something about the 'physical' nature of the records that affected our speaker. Holding it in her hands was proof that people had spent effort and time to disrupt her privacy. It made me wonder: what would it be like to hold the 21st century equivalent of this?
What if someone printed out all of your personal data (in the form of cookies, search histories, emails sent, tweets, facebook, etc.) and just printed it. What would it look like? We all know it exists- a friend on facebook could go through everything I've ever done and print it- I trust them not to. Someone at Google could see everything I've ever emailed, or ever looked at- but I trust them not to. I'm writing an open blog of my thoughts that I assume nobody is collecting next to my name- but anybody could do that. I've always thought there is no need to be paranoid, because I'm not special, and it would take a lot of effort for nothing. BUT, the crazy thing is, this woman was in the exact same position- yet nonetheless her things were collected.
It is the PHYSICAL nature of it that was so appalling- digitally it is just a 'ctrl+c' and then it's all there for later. We can't see our digital footprint- and that is a crazy thought to me. If I wanted to tell someone something, and know that only they knew it, I would have to write a letter or meet them in person. Everything else goes through a company or a government data center. Sure, things are allegedly aggregated- but the fact remains the same- privacy is a very weird concept nowadays. Seeing the speaker struggle to hold and speak about her folder was an extremely powerful moment that I still haven't processed.This post is typical of the downfall of every blog. Anytime there are more paragraphs and rhetorical questions than pictures I immediately end my readership. Good luck out there!
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