Stasiland quotes Flashcards
a woman holding onto notes on her own life’
Frau Paul writes ‘a short biographical note’, telling Anna that it will help her to avoid departing ‘from the theme’. It is a two-page account which she titles ‘The Wall Went Straight Through my Heart’. It is worth noting that many characters feel the need to hold on to artefacts or documents, as though these papers and photos are evidence of what really happened to them in the past.
in less than one generation this scar will be invisible’
As the years go on, physical evidence of the Wall is being covered up. However, the memoir seems to suggest that though the physical wound is not evident there is still damage that needs to be addressed.
a soul, buckled out of shape forever’
Despite the courage of many, the torture that some received at Hohenschonhausen appears too much for some to withstand. Funder notes the permanent damage that has been done to Frau Paul and her inability to build a new life for herself.
Not one of the torturers at Hohenschonhausen has been brought to justice’
Funder writes this, on a standalone line, immediately after detailing the horrors faced by Frau Paul. It appears shockingly unjust.
the picture she has of herself is the one that the Stasi made for her’
Funder finds this to be ‘the sorriest thing’ about Frau Paul. Frau Paul’s perception of herself as a criminal reveals how pervasive the control of the Stasi was - they were able to get inside their victim’s heads and they remain there, years after the fall of the Wall.
Mauer im Kopf’
This is a German phrase that reveals that ‘the Wall and what it stood for still do exist’, in that many of the ex-Stasi men hope for the possibility of a ‘Second Coming of Socialism’ and the victims that endured the GDR live in terror of it returning.
fallen between two stools’
Funder describes Herr Bohnsack as a man who is direct, with a ‘warm smile’, nothing ‘to prove’, ‘relaxed’ and ‘the only Stasi man [she] ever met who outed himself’. He is the most pitiful of the Stasi men and knowledge that he has no place in present day Germany seems unfair considering both his remorse and his likability.
living with too many things from the past that could come find [her]’
Julia’s story ends with her having moved to Sans Fransisco. While it is, in some ways, a way of moving on for Julia, it is also an escape and a realisation that the past has damaged her so much that she could never truly feel ‘at home’ in her own country. She felt that the past was always lurking and ready to harass her while she still lived in Berlin.
campaigning for compensation for victims’
While at the conclusion of Frau Paul’s story she is seen to take an ‘active’ role in remembering the past and in fighting on behalf of those who were wronged by the GDR, in doing this she is forced to relive the horrors of the regime and is unable to focus on building a new future. Funder notes that Frau Paul simply ‘will not let it go’.
history, airbrushed for effect’
Funder feels concern when she sees the how a preserved section of the Wall appears to be a ‘Disney’ version. She does not see how this way of remembering the past will have any benefit for the survivors and for those who seek to understand the reality of the GDR.
the wall is a thing that defined him, and he will not let go of it’
Hagen Koch has found meaning and purpose in reliving the past by taking tours for tourists. His good friend, Gerd, works along side him - selling pieces of the wall that Funder doubts are genuine.
the Stasi were also manipulated’
One of the puzzle workers has sympathy for the Stasi men, insisting that it is ‘the system’ that is to blame, because ‘it drove’ desperate people to do cruel things.
an almost totally symbolic act’
It would take the puzzle workers, with the current resources that they are allocated, over 375 years to piece together all of the Stasi files that they have. Funder realises that those who seek answers for the ‘torn-apart pieces’ of their lives will most likely never receive them.
securely roped off and under press-button control’
Funder is frustrated to see the past ‘behind glass’ in museums, feeling that this act is an attempt to control the past and to distance present day Germany from the GDR. However, the people that she interviews are still deeply effected by their experiences in their day-to-day lives.
since morning the trees have deepened their green and are making darker shadows’
In Chapter 25 we see Funder return to Berlin in the Spring of 2000. She is momentarily charmed by the lush, green trees of springs and feels that there may be hints of ‘kinder times’ in the hope of Spring. However, as she continues to journey around Berlin she sees that the dark past of the GDR still lingers. The shadows of the tree can be seen as symbolic of this. By Chapter 28 the motif of green returns to representing sickness and abnormality.
the lines in her face are much more deeply drawn’
Despite the peace and freedom suggested by Miriam’s white flowing clothing when Anna meets her for the last time, Anna sees that the past still has an effect on her friend. Though Miriam lives in a new apartment which is suggestive of new beginnings, the apartment is still on the top floor - which is evidence that her old fears still haunt her.
