Defending the Legacy of East Germany's Peaceful Revolution | DW News

Oct 3, 2024 | Every year on October 3, Germany celebrates its reunification. But even decades after reunification, Germany remains politically divided. The right-wing populist, anti-immigration AfD is on the rise, especially in the east. Former civil rights activists are outraged.

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.

An Evening with a Socialist Defector: Victor Grossman aka Stephen Wechsler

Oct 5, 2019 | An American journalist, writer and popular speaker, who defected to the USSR in 1952, Victor Grossman has since lived in East Germany, then the reunified Germany, chronicling life, politics and humanity.

Victor's latest book is published by Monthly Review Press and titled "A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee": [Click here.]

Recorded at Der Rote Laden, Friedrichshain, Berlin on 3 October 2019.


Please note that I am posting this video for educational purposes only. I have no liking for that economic system. Not at all. However, I am interested to know what day-to-day life was like behind the ‘Iron Curtain’. Furthermore, Victor Grossman is a rather fascinating character. – © Mark Alexander

Related video here.

LGBT Rights in East Germany

Dec 6, 2023

Please note well that the mere fact that I am posting this video here should not be in any way misconstrued. I am not posting it because I have any liking for the then GDR, communist East Germany; rather, I am posting it for educational purposes. I, for one, had absolutely no idea that the GDR was progressive in matters gay rights.

Truth to tell, I have trouble understanding why others have trouble with two people of the same sex loving each other anyway. Many people’s attitudes would point to them being in some way pious, whereas, in actual fact, they are usually most certainly not. And how many of those homophobes eat shellfish or have tattoos? Lest we forget, these two things are STRICTLY FORBIDDEN by the Bible. Check out Leviticus! And how many of us mix fibres when we dress ourselves in the morning? Or transgress when it comes to the many other dietary laws and restrictions — the many proscriptions clearly set out in the Bible? – © Mark Alexander

A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee

Jul 16, 2019 | Victor Grossman defected to East Germany while serving in the US military in the 1950's. His latest book recounts his assessment of life in the US, in East Germany, and in the united Germany. We discuss the book with the author

How East German Voters Fuelled Far-right's Parliament Breakthrough

"We Wanted to Transform East Germany“ | DW News

He was a dedicated Communist who chose to live in East Germany. He became a dissident and the regime later revoked his citizenship. In the DW interview Wolf Biermann talks about his break with Communism and his conviction that you have to speak out.