1

3 - In Kirchmöser / Brandenburg in an old and empty hospital. Other shots in Ahrenshoop / Meckemburg Vorpommern and at the station in Schneidlingen / Sachsen Anhalt

2

Thanks

3

I've not seen the film, but it is good that films portraying the reality of life in the DDR are being made, particularly when there is an air of "ostalgie" among some former inhabitants. One of the more unlikely episodes was in a film "Die Frau von Check Point Charlie" which I think was a TV not a cinema film, concerning the sale of political prisoners to West Germany to earn hard currency for the regime, and which I understand is based on true stories. As to the informants, those that were identified mostly found it uncomfortable to remain in the same area as the people they informed on, but remember 1 in 6 East German citizens either voluntarily or was pressured into being an informer, and I believe in a few cases there was sympathy for the position such people were put in by the authorities.

4

I haven't seen the film either. I get it though what "ostalgie" might mean.
Myself, I spent half of my life in Poland, next to DDR. Although I wasn't aware of what was going on in East Germany, and frankly I wasn't that much interested, I didn't think life was that bad. I'd visted EastGermany several times.
On the other hand, there was much more freedom in Poland, at least we could travel, there were no cultural restrictions to what was shown on tv and at the cinemas, or what music was played on the radio.
The stories of Stasi and invigilation among East German citizens look horrid to me though. DDR was the buffer zone, and it had West Germany as their counterpartner to compete with.
I presume, like in Poland, in DDR too, there were several aspects of everyday life that were better then than they're today, even though the system as a whole was entirely wrong, and, at least in my view, without future.
Describing the past of East Germany as living in horror and being watched by stasi would be very misleading. Most people lived normal lives.
'Good bye Lenin' was another production in the same genre.

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'Good bye Lenin' was another production in the same genre.

Also, 'The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)' was/is another outstanding film on the same subject...the only time I've been at a film that got a round of applause at the end...

Describing the past of East Germany as living in horror and being watched by stasi would be very misleading. Most people lived normal lives.

Quite true, I'd say...people just adapt to whatever circumstances they are surrounded by and grow up with...future generations may look back in horror at our times and wonder how we put up with many 'privations' that we just take for granted...I remember traveling in the old Yugoslavia in communist times (communism-lite, I accept) and being very impressed by the life force of the people we met and how satisfied they were with their lives...

On the other hand, there was much more freedom in Poland, at least we could travel, there were no cultural restrictions to what was shown on tv and at the cinemas, or what music was played on the radio.

That's interesting to hear, Fieldgate...does that mean you could travel back and forth to the likes of US and the UK, for example, or do you mean travel within the old Warsaw Pact bloc?...

6

I think DDR had two problems - (1) it was headed in turn by ardent USSR supporters (particularly Ulbricht) or lackeys (Honecker) who thought the role as a "buffer state" with the west increased their importance and (2) apart from eastern Saxony virtually the whole country had access to western radio and tv and was informed about the "other side of the story". Fieldgate and WHJ are right about accepting the circumstances you're given , but with in the DDR a belief you couldn't do much about it even though you had some idea what you were missing.

By the 1970s when DDR pensioners were allowed more or less free access to West Germany, the empty suitcases they took with them came back filled with the goodies they couldn't get at home, paid for of course by their western relatives, but reminders of what they and the rest of their families were going without. And DDR citizens could only visit Czechoslovakia and Poland without a visa. I only visited Poland once in communist times, and people's attitudes seemed much more buoyant and adventurous than those in the DDR - whether that's the difference between Germans and Poles, or the reaction to differences in the communist regimes I couldn't say

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WaterhazardJack #5

Yes, we could travel back and forth, but that wasn't easy. Every time we'd have to apply for passport. Not like today when I keep my passport in my wallet. Then, there were visas, practically required by every country. The few exceptions that I remember were Sweden, Denmark, Finland, west Berlin, and of course the Eastern Bloc.
One major obstacle were the money. I can't describe in detail - that would be too long. We needed in the 70s minimum of US$ 130 to be allowed to travel. That was quite a lot for a student. That amount was sufficient for two weeks at the most. It was necessary to find a job - necessary to stay for two-three months, and to bring some cash back home.
Anyway, I travelled four times to Sweden, visitng also Denmark and West Berlin (no visa requirement). MY girlfriend, later my wife, went to Australia for a gap year. She had a friend in Sydney, and a place to stay. At that time, mid 70s, a flight was out of question - too expensive. She travelled on a cargo boat, and around Africa (Suez Canal was closed) and the voyage took two months, one way only. On her return trip, ten months later, the Suez Canal was open again and the voyage took "only" five weeks.
I made one trip on a cargo boat to the Mediterranean, when I finished university. I visited only Algeria and Greece, but the entire trip took 50 days, with 35 days at sea.
I'm writing this from Gdansk where I arrived last Wednesday from Stockholm, having paid SEK 98 for return flight ticket (plus bus to Skvasta airport SEK 249 return).

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mike9

That age group made it look bizzare at the border crossings. First time I was crossing the border at Friedrichstrasse there was a big crowd of 80-100 elderly people. Then there was only one Italian guy plus myself, both about 40 years younger.

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Good explanation above in #7, Fieldgate...now I have some idea as to how Chicago became the de facto capital of Poland...))

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Jack, Chicago became one of the biggest Polish population centres before Communist times. There was a lot of economic emigration from Poland before WW2, much of which went to Canada and the States. And like today, people tend to go where they already know somebody who might help them find a job or a place to stay.

To add to what Fieldgate said about travelling. I have cousins in Poland who told me that in the 1970s, if you wanted to travel and needed a passport, you had to vote. If you decided to abstain because you didn't want to vote for the party list, you didn't get a passport. And you also needed access to dollars, which was difficult for many people unless they had relatives abroad or connections.

And I add another recommendation for The Lives of Others -- a wonderful film.

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I hadn't realised Poles could travel to West Berlin - that's more than East Germans could do. The voting qualification is interesting too - you're saying that in Poland if you didn't vote the "right" way you lost your travel priveleges, whereas in DDR a wrong vote could mean you lost your job. As no one was "unemployed" if you lost your job you would be given something menial such as a cleaner or manual work, regardless of any qualifications, and would be subject to more reports to the stasi.

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Mike9 -- I believe it was just a question of voting, the right way or not. Not that there were any opposition lists, so not voting was considered a form of opposition. But Fieldgate would know more about this than I do.

I had a great aunt who used to write religious slogans on her voting bulletin. Since she lived in a small place, the vote counters knew exactly who it was but nothing ever happened to her. Mind you, she was in her 70s at the time.

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mike9 & bjd
Entering West Berlin was unrestricted for Polish citizens if they had passport. There was no visa requirement for West Berlin, as opposed to West Germany, where visa was needed.
Passports were in two versions, one for East Bloc countries and another one for all countries. Actually the latter had two sub-versions: for all countries of Europe and for all countries of the world.
At some stage for travelling to DDR only id was required, which meant everone could visit freely.

Voting wasn't an exciting event. In theory, it wasn't obligatory, but as it used to be called, to vote was "a civic obligation". The authorities did everything to enable all citiezens to vote. If someone were sick in bed or very old, they could ask for a voting civic servant to collect their vote at their home. That meant that in practice there was no reason not to vote.
Even though the voting was by secret ballots, the choices were very limited, if any.
There were three parties, but the system was constructed in such a way that ensured the Polish United Workers Party stayed on top. The results were unsurprising and obvious to the general populace. That lasted until the Solidarity movement in 1980, when ten million Poles joined the opposition, within a few months.

Another important thing was being a member of the communist party (Polish United Workers Party). Generally, if you wanted to pursue an unobstructed career, you would become a member. At the same time, that was seen as an opportunistic way that was widely accepted. Anyway, no-one in my family was a memeber of the communist party, and none in my wife's family either.

14

I might be wrong, but I think that there was relatively more freedom in Poland at the time than in some of the other fraternal countries. More cultural freedom certainly, with theatre production and movies suffering much less censorship than elsewhere. I was told that, on the other hand, there was less in the stores than in countries like Czechoslovakia, where the stores had more goods and food but the people had less intellectual freedom.

Of course, this freedom was curtailed if you openly opposed the government.