The Last Summer of the GDR: Freedom and Anarchy | Der letzte Sommer der DDR: Aufbruch und Anarchie | Le dernier été de la RDA : Liberté et anarchie | ARTE.tv Documentary

Dec 15, 2024 | After the fall of the Berlin Wall, citizens of East Germany had to get used to a new way of consuming, working, and living. New-found freedoms were a breath of fresh air for many but in the chaos leading up to reunification with West Germany, the experience was also disconcerting.

The Last Summer of the GDR | ARTE.tv Documentary
Available until 31/03/2029

American Defector: Victor Grossman | East Germany (GDR) / Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) | Documentary

Jul 1, 2020 | Victor Grossman defected to the Soviets from the US Army in 1952. To this day he still lives in what used to be East Berlin.

WIKIPEDIA: East Germany.

Life on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall (2009)

Genossin Merkel in der DDR

Angela Merkel wird in einem Buch vorgehalten in der DDR als FDJ-Funktionärin aktiv gewesen zu sein. Was ist wirklich dran?

Against All Enemies: Interview: Jens Karney (2003)

Erstmals durfte Jens Karney am 24.6.2003 im deutschen Fernsehen über seine illegale Entführung als deutscher Staatsbürger am 21.4.1991 aus Berlin Friedrichshain durch Agenten eines US Geheimdienstes berichten. Aber auch damals konnte er nicht alles erzählen. Dies macht er jetzt in seinem Buch "Against alle Enemies". Nach einem langwierigen Procedere der Prüfung/Zensur des Manuskriptes durch Pentagon, NSA und die US Air Force liegt es nun - leider noch mit sehr umfangreichen Streichungen - vor und ist ab 12.8.2013 erhältlich.

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Code Name 'Kid': American Stasi Spy Tells His Story: One of East Germany's top spies was actually an American soldier. Jeff Carney defected to the Communist state in 1983 and fed the notorious Stasi with reams of valuable information. He has now written a book about his experiences. » | Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Angela Merkel Under Fire over Communist Links as New Image of Her in Uniform Is Released
MAIL ONLINE: Photo found of her as 17-year-old marching with East German officer / Released as she is forced to play down new book which alleges communist past

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced fresh speculation over her supposed links to hardline East German communists today after a photo emerged of her marching with the kommisars as a teenager.

Mrs Merkel, who was 17-year-old Angela Kasner when the picture was taken in 1972, is shown in fatigues marching with a group of friends and an East German officer as they prepared to take part in a civil defence exercise.

Her smile is easily recognisable and her forage cap is set at a jaunty angle as she strides along at the High School Hermann Matern in Templin, where she was brought up behind the iron curtain.

All children in the former German Democratic Republic had to take part in such exercises if they wanted to complete the equivalent of A-levels and go on to university. The drills included preparing for gas and nuclear attacks, how to spot enemy paratroopers and caring for wounded East German soldiers.

Not even illness or a death in the family allowed for the youngsters to skip the martial lessons - they were simply postponed but had to be completed. » | Alan Hall | Tuesday, May 21, 2013

BILD.DE: Diese junge Frau in Uniform ist heute unsere Kanzlerin: Templin – Ein Schwarz-Weiß-Foto aus dem Jahr 1972. Es zeigt Schülerinnen der 11. Klasse der Erweiterten Oberschule (EOS) „Hermann Matern“ in Templin. Sie marschieren... » | Von H. Kascha und B. Kolodziej | Dienstag, 21. Mai 2013

Le passé communiste d'Angela Merkel
LE POINT: Un livre récemment paru en Allemagne fait la lumière sur les activités de la chancelière allemande pendant l'ère de la République démocratique.

Incroyable mais vrai. Du temps de la République démocratique d'Allemagne, Angela Merkel aurait été responsable de "l'agitation et la propagande" (agitprop) au sein des Jeunesses communistes, selon un livre récemment paru en Allemagne. La chancelière n'a pas démenti lundi ces informations sur son passé révélées dans "La première vie d'Angela M." de Ralf Georg Reuth et Günther Lachmann.

Angela Merkel avait jusqu'à présent indiqué qu'elle avait un rôle culturel dans l'organisation, qui a compté jusqu'à deux millions de membres. Interrogée en 2004 sur son rôle idéologique, Angela Merkel avait répondu : "Je ne me souviens pas avoir fait preuve d'agitation d'une manière ou d'une autre. J'étais responsable de la culture." » | Source SIPA Media | lundi 13 mai 2013

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'I've Nothing to Hide': Angela Merkel Shrugs Off New Book's Claims That She Was Propaganda Secretary in Communist East Germany

MAIL ONLINE: New book revives questions over Merkel's links to Communism in her youth / Claims nothing to hide but says she's never been asked about certain things / In 2010 she admitted she still uses East German detergent and hoards food

Chancellor Angela Merkel has shrugged aside a book that suggests she may have been closer to East Germany's communist system than previously thought, saying she's never hidden anything.

The 58-year-old Merkel grew up in East Germany and entered politics as communism crumbled in 1989. It's long been known that, like many, she joined the communist youth organization. She has said she 'politically lived an assimilated life'[.]

A book appearing this week revives questions about whether Merkel was a propaganda secretary for the youth organization, which she denies, and says she was an active labor union official.

Merkel said at an event late on Sunday that she had never hidden anything about her life in East Germany, though acknowledged some things may emerge 'because no one has ever asked me about them.'

Indeed, in 2010, she admitted to a German magazine that she still does her laundry with an East German liquid detergent, prepares East German Soljanka soup - made with sausages and pickle juice - and can't fight the urge to stockpile at the supermarket.

'Sometimes I can't stop myself from buying things just because I see them - even when I don't really need them,' Merkel told SuperIllu ahead of celebrations for the 20th anniversary of unification.

'This inclination to hoard is deeply ingrained in me, because in the past, in times of scarcity, you took what you could get,' Merkel said, referring to life under communism. » | Matt Blake | Monday, May 13, 2013

SUPERillu.de: Das erste Leben der Angela M.: Die DDR-Vergangenheit der Kanzlerin schlägt derzeit hohe Wellen. Auslöser ist das Buch «Das erste Leben der Angela M.». SUPERillu traf die beiden Autoren Ralf Georg Reuth und Günther Lachmann und sprach mit ihnen über Merkels Leben vor der Wende. » | Thilo Boss | Montag, 10. Mai 2013

AMAZON.DE: Das erste Leben der Angela M. » | Von Ralf Georg Reuth und Günther Lachmann

Mehrheit der Ostdeutschen sieht DDR positiv
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Berlin - Die DDR wird von einer Mehrheit der Ostdeutschen heute positiv beurteilt. Dies habe eine repräsentative Umfrage des Emnid-Institutes im Auftrag der Bundesregierung ergeben, berichtet die «Berliner Zeitung».

49 Prozent vertreten demnach die Auffassung, die DDR habe «mehr gute als schlechte Seiten» gehabt. Weitere acht Prozent meinen, man habe damals dort glücklicher und besser gelebt als heute.

Von den befragten Westdeutschen wurde die DDR dagegen mit deutlicher Mehrheit negativ beurteilt. Befragt worden seien 1208 Menschen. Die Entwicklung seit dem Mauerfall werde im Osten eher negativ, im Westen dagegen eher positiv[.] [Quelle: BerlinerZeitung] © dpa | Freitag, 26. Juni 2009