Could you live a life without freedom? Imagine your world is being watched. Every conversation, every movement, every minute being tracked and logged. There's no way out and no way to rebel. Every mistake you make could have you interrogated, imprisoned, or worse.
For the people of East Berlin, this was the reality of life. The Government monitored the streets, the offices, and the homes. They tapped into phone calls and inserted hidden cameras to track individuals. Over 300,000 informants, many of them regular people, were hired part-time. Who could you trust?
In Stasiland (2003), Anna Funder brings us the true stories of people who lived during the tyranny of East Germany. Let's look at the meaning of the title and the context that surrounds its narrative.
Stasiland: meaning
The title of Funder's account, Stasiland, refers to East Germany, the region where the 'Stasi' operated between 1947 and 1991.
The Stasi, formally known as the 'Ministry for State Security', were the secret police that controlled the German Democratic Republic throughout the communist regime in East Germany.
The Stasi were infamous for their interrogation, intense surveillance operations, and fearmongering. Their main role was to gather intelligence on the general population, meaning that any threat of an uprising could be stopped before it started.
It was estimated that 1 in 6 Germans were Stasi. Every East German workplace, neighbourhood, or block of apartments had a Stasi informant. Stasiland seems a perfectly apt description for the German Democratic Republic at the time.
Stasiland: contexts
Let's look more closely at the context you need to know to understand Stasiland.
The Cold War
Stasiland depicts real narratives from people that lived in East Germany during the Cold War.
The Cold War was a major rivalry between the United States, the Soviet Union (a Russian-dominated confederation containing fifteen republics at its peak), and the respective allies of each nation. Although the starting and ending dates of the war are disputed, it is generally considered to have lasted from 1947-1991.
Although there were times that direct conflict could have occurred, the Cold War never lead to fighting between the two superpowers, largely because each nation feared the nuclear retaliation of the other, which would lead to both sides being destroyed. This resulted in a stalemate.
Despite this, both nations used propaganda, economics, and control of land to gain political traction.
The Cold War led to extreme conflict within countries. The Korean War and The Vietnam War were both civil wars fought between the North and South, with one half allying themselves to the ideology of Russia, and the other half to the ideology of America.
One of the key factors that led to the Cold War was a difference in ideology.
America was, and is, a capitalist society, meaning private individuals own goods, the Government intervenes a limited amount, and the price of goods is based on supply and demand.
Soviet Russia was a communist society. Communism means that private ownership is replaced by public ownership. Everything is theoretically shared equally, and the Government controls production, education, and agriculture.
Neither country agreed with the other's worldview, and both wanted to push their ideology as the correct way to manage a society. In Stasiland, communism is a frequent topic of discussion, and at the time of writing, there were still many Germans advocating the communist worldview.
The Berlin Wall
After losing World War II, Germany was divided between four winning countries (United States, Great Britain, France, Soviet Union). Once the Cold War began, three of these countries (United States, Great Britain, and France) formed the Western allies and occupied West Germany. The remaining country (The Soviet Union) established the German Democratic Republic and occupied East Germany. The dividing line between East and West Germany ran through Germany's capital, Berlin.
The Soviet Union's communist Government was controlling and cruel. Hearing that conditions were better in West Germany, over two million East Germans crossed the boundary between 1949 and 1961.
In 1961, to stop people defecting to the West, East Germany constructed the Berlin Wall, a barricade that alternated between 5-metre high walls and electric fences. Soldiers guarded the walls in East Germany to prevent people from crossing. Almost 200 people were killed as they tried to cross the wall, and thousands more, including Miriam Weber, were imprisoned in their attempts to escape.
Fig 1. - The Berlin Wall was an infamous divide between East and West Germany
The Berlin Wall stood until 1989 when the German Democratic Republic was forced out of power. In the final days of the Government, millions of Stasi documents with secret information regarding the citizens of East Germany were destroyed.
It is these documents that are being painstakingly reconstructed in Stasiland. They could offer answers to many affected German citizens, such as helping Miriam Weber resolve what happened to her husband, Charlie.
Stasiland: summary
In this non-fiction account of life within the communist state of East Germany, Anna Funder, the book's author, travels from her home in Australia to Berlin to understand the lingering impact of the Berlin Wall and its collapse. Funder is interested in the Stasi – those tasked with surveilling the masses to keep track of movement and communication within the city.
The East Germans are regularly credited with creating the most advanced, sophisticated surveillance system of all time.
Funder first speaks to Miriam Weber, a woman who was imprisoned for attempting to escape East Germany as a teenager. She explains that her husband, Charlie, was also sentenced to jail time at a later date and supposedly committed suicide while imprisoned. The death was under suspicious circumstances, and Miriam believes the Stasi murdered Charlie, though every attempt she has made to find the truth has been fruitless.
Funder releases an advert for former Stasi officers so that she can see the story from another viewpoint. Many come forward, including Herr Winz, an ex-Stasi who shows little remorse for his actions and still fully believes that communism is the only justifiable political outlook.
Funder also meets Julia Behrend, a woman who was unable to find work because she was dating an Italian. This threatened the seclusion of East Germany, leading to pressure from the Stasi for the couple to break up.
Funder continues to speak to a range of ex-Stasi, including Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler, the former narrator for The Black Channel, Hagen Koch, who helped to build the Berlin Wall, and Herr Christian, who guarded East Germany's main nuclear bunker. All men have varying opinions on the severity of the regime and its lasting effects.
The Black Channel was a political propaganda channel. It would be broadcast weekly and feature television shows from Western Germany that had been edited to include East German commentary.
Funder interviews Frau Paul, a woman who was separated from her sick child, Torsten, as he needed medical attention. She attempted to escape East Germany repeatedly in the hopes of finding him. After being caught by Stasi guards, they offered her the chance to inform on the allies in return for the chance to see her son, to which she refused.
After interviewing Herr Bohnsack, a former Stasi agent from the top secret 'division X', Funder returns to Australia as her mother is dying. It is not until 2000 that she returns and is surprised to see that the city is vastly different, with museums that remember the history of the regime replacing headquarters and government buildings.
Funder acknowledges that the events of East Germany still have a lasting impact on many lives.
Does the conversion of former Stasi headquarters into museums celebrate a new Germany free from totalitarian control, or does it wrongfully push the story of the East German regime into the past – even though the effects of its tyranny still psychologically impact millions of people?
Funder reconnects with some of the interviewees from her previous visit. Hagen Koch is a tour guide for the Berlin Wall, and Miriam is still searching for the truth about her husband's death.
Funder also visits Nuremberg, where people are attempting to reassemble the documents that were shredded by the Stasi before they fled. It will take close to four centuries to complete the project. The book closes with a poem that Miriam gives to Funder, written by her husband Charlie, which reflects on the dangers of speaking out against the East German regime.
Stasiland: themes
Let's take a closer look at some of the defining themes within Stasiland.
East German control
Throughout the book, Funder shows the detrimental effect that the German Democratic Republic had on its people. She portrays the state as brutally authoritarian and emphasises how corrupt the regime truly was.
Even when those she is interviewing try to undermine how bad the Stasi truly were so that they themselves are seen in a better light, Funder reminds the reader that everything she says about the East German Government is true. She reiterates that they caused limitless pain and anguish for Germany through their tyrannical regime, using fear as a tactic to maintain control.
Control through fear was essential for East Germany. Propaganda did not succeed in convincing the vast majority of citizens to support the East German Government, which is why surveillance, imprisonment, and fear, were the chosen methods to keep everybody in line.
The courage of individuals
Although Funder's primary intention is to show the tyranny of the German Democratic Republic, she also displays the genuine heroism of many of the individuals living in East Germany. At a time when rebelling against the Stasi could cost you your life, many interviewees are seen standing up to the authoritarian control of East Germany.
Watch out for bias! It's worth noting that the people who were most likely to agree to Funder's interviews were also the people most likely to both dislike the East German regime, and have an interesting story to tell about it.
However, Funder also shows that this bravery is often a matter of necessity. Many people, like Julian Behrend, who cannot get a job, and Miriam Weber, who is facing imprisonment, have little left to lose and know that their treatment will be poor if they stay in East Germany. While refusing the Government and attempting to flee are seen as brave things in themselves, Funder acknowledges that it also shows the recklessness for one's life that only arises out of pure desperation.
The pain of history
In Stasiland, Funder doesn't just provide a historical account of the Berlin Wall; she attempts to show the lasting impact these traumatic events have on the individual.
Each person Funder interviews deals with grief differently. Some deny the severity of the state's control, while others refuse to acknowledge the events entirely. This can either be a way to forget or to preserve credibility.
While some try to forget, others confront the experience directly. Miriam Weber, for example, continues to hunt for the truth about her husband, using the possibility of new information as a means to cope with the intense pain of her loss.
Stasiland - Key takeaways
- Stasiland is a non-fiction book which brings to light the harrowing true stories of surveillance, interrogation, and imprisonment in East Germany.
- The Stasi were the secret police that controlled East Germany during the regime of the German Democratic Republic.
- Stasiland is set during the time of the Cold War, when America and the Soviet Union were in a complex ideological war, with Capitalism vs Communism at the centre of the dispute.
- The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 to prevent citizens from defecting from East to West Germany.
- Some of the key themes that Funder addresses are: East German control, the courage of individuals, and the pain of history.
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