Mielke spent more than a decade as an operative of the nkvd during the rule of joseph stalin. What are some good books to read on the stasi, the kgb. Mielke and honecker grew up fighting the real evil of nazism. Stasiland study guide from litcharts the creators of.
In a country where the headquarters of the secret police can become a museum literally overnight, and one in 50 east germans were informing on their countrymen and women, there are a thousand stories just waiting to get out. Mielke ran the feared stasi from 1957 until the fall of the berlin wall in 1989. Wilhelm pieck 19571960 walter ulbricht 19601973 friedrich ebert 1973 willi stoph 19731976 erich honecker 19761989. In 2004 stasiland won the bbc samuel johnson prize, the most prestigious nonfiction award in the united kingdom. What are some good books to read on the stasi, the kgb, and. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Stories from behind the berlin wall, which has been published in twenty countries and translated into sixteen languages. The secretarygeneral of east germany for most of its existence, and, with erich mielke, the most influential figure in its tyrannical, police state structure. Anna funders bestselling stasiland brings us extraordinary tales of real lives in the former east germany. Decided to try and escape to west germany sees a good. Erich mielke was the minister for state security, and one of the most influential figures in making east germany the rigorous police state that it was. Mielke was born in wedding, a district in the northern part of berlin, on december 29 1907. Stasiland summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. The problem if it is one with reading history, is that it can get very technical and makes for a heavy read, this however is beautifully written and a triumph in. I came across anna funders book stasiland while researching germany in particular berlin from 19451990 and i have to say it is one of the best books i have read on any subject. The baddies erich honecker and erich mielke head of state and minister of state security respectively are brought to life and seen as real people with real personalities rather than just faces on posters and posed photographs.
For anyone to understand a regime like the gdr, the stories of ordinary people must be told. The wicked reality of communism has, over the past twentyfive years, been deliberately erased from western education and, more broadly, from the western mind. But mielke had the entire first floor renamed the mezzanine, so that his office number could be 101. In this gripping narrative, john koehler details the widespread activities of east germanys ministry for state security, or stasi.
He was one of the perpetrators of the great purge as well as the stalinist. Report eines leipziger pfeffermullers german edition by hoerning, hanskarl and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Claire tomalin, guardian books ofthe year annafunder delivers a prizewinning and powerfully rendered account of theresistance against east germanys communist dictatorship in these harrowing,personal tales of life behind the. Stasiland gives a great emphasis to real peoples stories both from inside and outside the force but with 1 in 7 people in berlin connected to the stasi in the 70s there werent that many people out side of it and as well as accounts gives detailed notes on various major events in the. Stasiland by anna funder is published by granta books. During the first world war, the neighborhood was known as red wedding due to many residents marxist militancy. The generic status of anna funders stasiland 2002 is uncertain, but it is clear from. Anna funder, the author and narrator, travels to berlin from australia in 1996. The strongest story by a long distance is miriam, a young woman who got into trouble for political activity. Funders research centers around the stasi, the east german secret police and surveillance force.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but it sure did surprise me. Heinz gerlach, heinz gerlach halle, heinz gerlach akkordeon, heinz gerlach aschaffenburg, heinz gerlach bad arolsen, heinz gerlach medien ag, heinz gerlach durchbruch bei stalingrad, dekan heinz gerlach, heinzdieter gerlach, heinz gerlach tanzende finger, heinz gerlach frankfurt, heinz gerlach flachsmeer. For the most part the party leaders were saxons a revenge on prussia for its earlier domination of germany. True stories from behind the berlin wall and over 1. Stasiland demonstrates that great, originalreporting is still possible. This was a regime ruled by dour old men marxistensenilisten. In his books which, like stasiland, are hard to categorize, blending elements of the novel, memoir, and personal essaysebald deals with themes of memory, guilt, and trauma, often set against the backdrop of 20thcentury german history. The untold story of the east german secret police by. Chaptercharacter summaries flashcards from emily sagoljs class online, or in brainscapes iphone or android app. A native of berlin and a secondgeneration member of the communist party of. In a handwritten biography written for the soviet secret police, mielke described his father as a poor, uneducated woodworker, and said that his mother died in 1911.
I once saw a note on a stasi file from early 1989 that i would never. Claire tomalin, guardian books ofthe year annafunder delivers a prizewinning and powerfully rendered account of theresistance against east germanys communist dictatorship in these harrowing,personal tales of life behind the iron curtainand. The puzzlers 32 list the minor characters in stasiland. Army intelligence officer and an ap correspondent for 28 years including a stint as berlin bureau chief, koehler does much to illuminate the workings of. Sebald, especially the emigrants 1992 and austerlitz 2001. Stasiland study guide from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. After 1989 he was put on trial and served a few years of a token sentence. The stasi is an internal army 5 hagen koch, general honeckers personal cartographer. She meets miriam, who tried to escape to west berlin as a sixteenyearold. Stories from behind the berlin wall anna funder written by charles the wicked reality of communism has, over the past twentyfive years, been deliberately erased from western education and, more broadly, from the western mind. Chapter 6 page 56 mielke was an invisible man, but honeckers picture was everywhere. Shes there to work for a german tv station and research the state of the country following the fall of the berlin wall in 1989, and the ensuing collapse of the communist east german state.
She was tricked into admitting what she did and then released to await her trial chapter 3. Aug 24, 2000 on may 26 erich mielke, who for years had headed the east german secret police, or stasi, died aged 92 years in an east berlin old peoples home. The ruling classes and social tastemakers in the west at the time that communism fell, and for decades before and. Finally id recommend two books already listed here. His parents helped found the communist party of germany kpd, and mielke was very active in the party. The spys the limit guardian first book award 2003 the. For decades, the stasi, headed by erich mielke, conducted surveillance on an astonishing number of eastern german people, and sponsored a substantial network of informants. Erich mielke, who headed the former east germanys secret police, the stasi, for three decades, has died in berlin at the age of 92. By bernd pulch in bernd pulch, documentary, erich mielke, mord, murder and executions, stasi, video november 8, 2016 july 15, 2017 628 words send to email address your name your email address cancel. There were almost 100,000 stasi employees, with an additional 173,000 fulltime informers. Erich mielke sa nascut intro casa inchiriata in berlin, regatul prusiei, imperiul german, pe 28 decembrie 1907.
You have to look at how normal people manage with such things in their pasts. In order to understand the extent of the personal damage and despair suffered by people on a daily basis, funder interviews a. Towards the end of his life, mielke found out that he was followed as well by the stasi. In the final days of east germany, honecker tried to prosecute and incarcerate demonstrators, but to no availrevolutionaries tore down the berlin wall and prosecuted honecker himself. He was a berliner, wanted since 1931 for shooting a policeman. At the point when the divider fell, the federal republic of germany immediately subsumed its eastern partner. A reallife east german stasi officer who sabotaged his own deadly operation historianshistory tags. The first time i met erich mielke, the notorious chief of the communist east german secret police, was in february 1965, during a reception for alexei n. Check out the top books of the year on our page best books of maybe there are a lot of people who didnt deal with what went on in the ddr. Wilhelm zaisser was the first minister of state security of the gdr, and erich mielke his deputy. Under mielke, the stasi became one of the most powerful surveillance forces in history. Jun 07, 2003 an exception was erich mielke, the head of state security. Berlin wall, stasi, richard schmeing, siegfried leibholz.
Claire tomalin, guardian books ofthe year annafunder delivers a prizewinning and powerfully rendered account of theresistance against east germanys communist dictatorship in these harrowing, personal tales of life behind the iron curtainand. In order to understand the extent of the personal damage and despair suffered. An exception was erich mielke, the head of state security. The character of erich mielke in stasiland from litcharts. Inside the real room 101 anna funders tragicomic tale of secrets and lies in the east german spystate has won britains top nonfiction prize. Stories from behind the berlin wall kindle edition by funder, anna. Stasiland bears an interesting resemblance to several of the works of w. I usually like to include a quote from the books that i feature in the book of the week series. In order to understand the extent of the personal damage and despair suffered by people on a daily basis, funder interviews a range. Heinz gerlach, heinz gerlach halle, heinz gerlach akkordeon, heinz gerlach aschaffenburg, heinz gerlach bad arolsen, heinz gerlach medien ag, heinz gerlach durchbruch bei stalingrad, dekan heinz gerlach, heinzdieter gerlach, heinz gerlach tanzende finger, heinz gerlach frankfurt, heinz gerlach flachsmeer, ferienwohnung heinz gerlach zingst. Army intelligence officer and an ap correspondent for 28 years including a stint as berlin bureau chief, koehler does much to illuminate the workings of the stasi, the much feared east.
Erich fritz emil mielke december 28, 1907 may 21, 2000 was a german communist politician and minister of state securityand as such head of the stasi of the german democratic republic between 1957 and 1989. Stasi eldredge books, stasi east germany, stasi eldredge quotes. Chapter 6 page 57 erich mielke all this blithering about to execute or not to execute, for the death penalty or against all rot, comrades. Stasiland by anna funder private lives in the shadow of the secret police by.
On may 26 erich mielke, who for years had headed the east german secret police, or stasi, died aged 92 years in an east berlin old peoples home. Funder speaks with a lady named miriam weber, that attempted and also cannot sneak out of east germany when she was still a teenager. Mar 02, 2012 mielke was born in wedding, a district in the northern part of berlin, on december 29 1907. Erich mielkethe career of a german stalinist world. Mielke ran the stasi surveillance force, and was responsible for ordering the surveillance of tens of thousands of german citizens, to the point where stasi employees numbered almost 100,000. In an interview, funder notes that mielkes office was on the second floor of his headquarters building, so the office number normally would have started with a 2.
Erich mielke was born in a tenement in berlinwedding, kingdom of prussia, german empire, on 28 december 1907. Erich mielke, east german government minister born dec. Erich was the head of the stasi before the fall of the wall of berlin. Berlin officials confirmed a report in fridays kurier newspaper that mielke had died in a nursing home earlier in the week. May 25, 2000 erich mielke, who headed the former east germanys secret police, the stasi, for three decades, has died in berlin at the age of 92. After the fall, erich was tried and imprisoned for his actions erich is mentioned by many characters in the book who criticize him and talk about his influence. In stasiland, anna funder recounts the horrors faced by the east german citizens under the control of the german secret police known as the stasi.
The stasi, which infiltrated every walk of east german life, suppressed political opposition, and caused the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of citizens, proved to be one of the most powerful secret police and espionage services in the world. And they kept on fighting the west, which they saw as nazisms successor, for fortyfive years after the war ended. Zaisser, who tried to depose sed general secretary walter ulbricht. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading stasiland.