← Back to topic list
as others said, for most people i'd say life was normal and the way it was - even those that weren't 100 % conform with the system... the majority wasn't confronted with such issues, or only on a smaller scale, and it was just the way things were. i asked my mom once how the thought was of not being able to travel, of not being allowed this or that, whether she hoped the ddr would end soon - she said that thought didn't cross her mind that often, the life that mattered was more the private life - family, a circle of friends in which you kind of knew some might be informants (and later learned at least about some who were, and from who she never heard again then), but in which you created your own little freedoms. some things were scary at the time and kind of bizarre in retrospect, some things were probably annoying...
as to what happened to the informants, i suppose it depends. most people don't live in small villages, and in bigger towns and cities you probably just continue living, most people won't know you were an informant, or won't care if they weren't the ones you informed on... of course some cases of people more in the public light quite went to the media, and it was always a strange mixture of disappointment (oh, him/her too?) when they were someone you liked, and a bit of shrugging (seems like almost everyone was an informant) at the same time.
Well, as most people didn't really answer to my OP question (which was: what happened after the wall fell to the people who were on the right side before)
I made some searches and was amazed to read/learn that in fact, those who were working for the administration ( which was something finicky, it's an euphemism...) carry on their life in it (fair enough) and those who were mostly working as employees in the industry (which was strong in the DDR) a great deal of them, lost their job. it is therefore sociological paradox; those who were suffering the most (rememberer uprising in 1953) and demonstrated for a better life didn't really profit of it after all.. I now better understand why some " east Germans" regret DDR when they see the "new east Germans" and their standard of living.
Thanks all for your contribution , I think i am going to dig the post collapse German wall aftermaths as it seems there isn't much studies on the subject ( maybe in 30 years when some people will be dead)
← Back to topic list
32
haven't seen the movie, but here are my (somewhat unordered) thoughts...as others said, for most people i'd say life was normal and the way it was - even those that weren't 100 % conform with the system... the majority wasn't confronted with such issues, or only on a smaller scale, and it was just the way things were. i asked my mom once how the thought was of not being able to travel, of not being allowed this or that, whether she hoped the ddr would end soon - she said that thought didn't cross her mind that often, the life that mattered was more the private life - family, a circle of friends in which you kind of knew some might be informants (and later learned at least about some who were, and from who she never heard again then), but in which you created your own little freedoms. some things were scary at the time and kind of bizarre in retrospect, some things were probably annoying...
as to what happened to the informants, i suppose it depends. most people don't live in small villages, and in bigger towns and cities you probably just continue living, most people won't know you were an informant, or won't care if they weren't the ones you informed on... of course some cases of people more in the public light quite went to the media, and it was always a strange mixture of disappointment (oh, him/her too?) when they were someone you liked, and a bit of shrugging (seems like almost everyone was an informant) at the same time.
33
Thanks Rikita for your contribution.Well, as most people didn't really answer to my OP question (which was: what happened after the wall fell to the people who were on the right side before)
I made some searches and was amazed to read/learn that in fact, those who were working for the administration ( which was something finicky, it's an euphemism...) carry on their life in it (fair enough) and those who were mostly working as employees in the industry (which was strong in the DDR) a great deal of them, lost their job. it is therefore sociological paradox; those who were suffering the most (rememberer uprising in 1953) and demonstrated for a better life didn't really profit of it after all.. I now better understand why some " east Germans" regret DDR when they see the "new east Germans" and their standard of living.
Thanks all for your contribution , I think i am going to dig the post collapse German wall aftermaths as it seems there isn't much studies on the subject ( maybe in 30 years when some people will be dead)
