Stasiland Flashcards
(32 cards)
In the GDR, …Stasi officer… - Forms of Control
“In the GDR, there was one Stasi officer or informant for every three people”
It’s hard… society… subordinate - Julia, Forms of control
“It’s hard to live in a society if you can’t subordinate yourself to authority”
GDR forced… position… enemy - Some dark-haired man, Forms of control,
“The GDR forced people into a position… either you are for us or an enemy”
When I… prison… human - Miriam, Persecution
“When I got out of prison, I was basically no longer human.”
You could… administrative… Stasi - Miriam, Persecution/Withholding Information/Forms of Control
“You could walk in thinking you were going to clear up an administrative quirk and suddenly find yourself in a room being interrogated by the Stasi.”
I became… enemy - Miriam, Persecution/Forms of Control
“I became, officially, an Enemy of the State at sixteen.”
This linoleum palace… (propaganda/withholding information)
“This linoleum palace continues to contain all the necessities for life, at the same time as it refuses to admit a single thing… of beauty or joy. In this, I think, it is much like East Germany itself”
GDR… religion - Hagen Koch, Propaganda
“The GDR was like a religion. It was something I was brought up to believe in”
By no fault… Julia… gap - Propaganda
“By no fault of her own, Julia Behrend had fallen into the gap between the GDR’s fiction and its reality.”
In the GDR… one… three - Surveillance
“In the GDR, there was one Stasi officer or informant for every three people”
But looking back on it… worst - Julia, Surveillance
“But looking back on it, it’s total surveillance that damaged me the worst.”
65% of the church leaders… - Herr Bock, Surveillance
“65 percent of the church leaders were informers for us,”
I think… information… observation - Surveillance
“I think at the end the Stasi had so much information… that they thought everyone was an enemy, because everyone was under observation.”
For Miriam… past stopped - Love/Hope
“For Miriam, the past stopped when Charlie died.”
At… moment… world - Hagen Koch, Love/Hope
“At that moment my world broke apart.”
She knew… (love/hope)
“She knew only that, if she accepted, they would have her then, her soul bought with a visit to her critically ill son.”
Which is healthier? - Mayor, Memory
“To remember or forget - which is healthier?”
Opened or burnt? - Memory
“Stasi files. Should they be opened or burnt?”
To understand a regime like the GDR, whose stories must be told? - Julia, Memory
“For anyone to understand a regime like the GDR, the stories of ordinary people must be told. Not just the activists and the famous writers.”
Those good memories, she is what? - Memory
“memories where she (Miriam) is a we”.
Memory, like so much else… - Memory
“Memory, like so much else, is unreliable. Not only for what it hides and what it alters, but also for what it reveals.”
What was the one thing that got clearer to Miriam? - Power
“The only thing that ever got clearer was that they had the power”
What can von Schnitzler do with frightening ease? - Propaganda/Withholding info/power
“He can switch from one view to another with frightening ease. I think it is a sign of being accustomed to such power that the truth does not matter because you cannot be contradicted.”
What did von Schnitzler notice relatively early? - von Schnitzler, propaganda
“I noticed relatively early that we would not be able to survive economically.
