Until 1989, the Ministry of Security of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) held a reign of terror over its citizens. It is estimated that one out of every seven citizens spied on each other on behalf of the Stasi, a German acronym for State Security Service. Files, stretching 100 miles in length, were kept on all of its 17 million citizens. They tried to destroy those files in '89, but the shreds are currently being put back together again.
Those who tried to escape the Socialist Utopia of Erich Honecker were liable to be shot on sight. This was official policy, although denied to be in existence. 1,425 were killed on the frontier. Hardly any of the 91,000 former Stasi employees have been called to account, let alone punished for their deeds.
I visited eastern Germany in 1995, six years after the Wall came down. I came with a coach party, crossing the former frontier between east and west a couple of miles outside Magdeburg. The strip of no-man's land was still visible, and the contrast between the states of Brandenburg to the east and Lower Saxony in the west was startling.
I stayed in the town of Eberswalde, 40 miles northeast of Berlin, and was advised that an orphanage existed nearby. It was callously referred to as the Anne Frank house. At it were kept the children of those accused of activities deemed to be subversive to the state. The children had been taken from their parents as punishment to the adults. The people I stayed with had links with Russia, gathering goods for the residents of Charkov, eastern Ukraine, and would drive 1,500 miles to get there.
I have previously told the story of East German radio, broadcasting on a longwave frequency, giving weather reports for skiing and summer resorts in other socialist paradises, like Poland and Russia.
I know people who are still believers in communism, and two communist states are left in the world: China and North Korea. But how anybody can still claim that communism ever did any good?
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Very interesting read!!! I don't read political news much, so I often wondered if any of the Stasi leaders were ever brought to justice... very sad that they have not!! I was in west Germany in the early '80's, I thought it was beautiful. I do remember a co-worker, at the time, being ecstatic when the wall came down, she had an aunt behind the wall that she hadn't seen in 40 years, and was very excited at the possibility of bringing her to America. Never heard if she was able to do that, though. What a historical experience that you got to stay in Eberswalde!!
ReplyDeleteJoann
Plenty of people TALK a lot about things they actually know nothing about. I've had people sitting near me who think one article in Newsweek & they know the ways of the world. Embracing ignorance is easy. I say that as the daughter of a Socialist & THAT I have read a lot about. ~Mary
ReplyDeleteInteresting....Bob was in Germany last year. He found it delightful but was only there for a few days. I know thousands suffered when the "Wall" went up. Seperated from family and friends with little hope of ever seeing them again. The wall has come down but how many people passed on without ever seeing their loved ones again? Linda in Washington state
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