Abstract
Reviewed by: Jeff Hayton, Wichita State University, USA
In the twenty-five years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of state socialism in East Germany, Hester Vaizey contends that two competing narratives exist uncomfortably side by side in the public understanding and memory of the GDR. On the one hand, there is the ‘damningly negative’ depiction of the GDR as a ‘Stasi-land’ oppressed by the SED and secret police, while on the other hand, there is the ‘rosily positive’ version of socialist utopia which supporters defend (161). Born in the GDR seeks to bridge the gap between these two extreme positions and show how life was lived as a combination of accommodation, restricted choice and acceptance, and to explain why after 1989 Easterners can ‘simultaneously feel both freer and frustrated’ (12). Attempting to offer a more complex explanation for why many Easterners feel a sense of loss at the passing of the GDR lies at the heart of this investigation.
In her introduction, after a succinct background discussion of post-war German history and the collapse of communist Eastern Europe, the author makes a number of valuable points about the process of transition from communist East to capitalist West that should be kept in mind when examining this subject, and the usefulness of oral testimony. Vaizey focuses on those born after 1961, with the justification that they had not experienced anything other than living under socialism (though she then comments frequently about Easterners watching Western television and receiving Western visitors and packages). Thirty interviews were conducted with individuals who responded to advertisements, and each were asked how they experienced the following: life in the GDR; the fall of the Wall and reunification; and life in reunified Germany. From this material, the author selected eight life stories (supplemented with material from the other interviews) to study how former Easterners have understood their past and present.
The eight lives offer a variety of perspectives on the Wende period: Petra, a politically active reformer who would represent the PDS during the 1990s; Carola, a student who fled the GDR while on a tourist visa to the West a few months before the Wall fell; Mario, a homosexual who spent a traumatic period in prison after a failed escape attempt; Katharina, a young woman who experienced discrimination for her religious beliefs; Robert, the son of an FDJ functionary who is upset that East Germany is only remembered for its limitations. In these stories we see what frustrated Easterners about living in the GDR (travel restrictions, censorship) but also aspects of life in the East which help to foster nostalgia for it nowadays (job security, social services). The Stasi do not seem to have played a large role in the lives of many of these individuals. But neither did the West seem particularly appealing: when Peggy finally had a chance to eat some Hanuta chocolate, she was disappointed because it did not taste heavenly (149).
In her conclusion, Vaizey agrees with other commentators in suggesting that while reunited, Easterners and Westerners remain quite divided. Despite the new opportunities that they have gained, the former Easterners under discussion have fond memories of growing up in the GDR. At points in their lives, they bumped up against the restrictions of the state although only Mario and Katharina seem to have been terrorized by the regime, and none of them seem to have been terrorizers (probably on account of their age). And despite the limitations of ‘actually living socialism’, most seemed satisfied with their lives in East Germany, accepting of the restrictions but also eager to take advantage of those opportunities which did present themselves. And perhaps here is the key to explaining the stability of the GDR and the longing for it since its collapse: that citizens, even if they did not love the GDR, nonetheless appreciated what it did offer them. Indeed, much of the disappointment with reunited Germany expressed by former Easterners is not only due to the fact that what was promised to them has not materialized, but, as importantly, that union has been such a one-sided affair. As the individuals repeatedly expressed, the GDR – its buildings, its values, and its culture – has been completely erased and denigrated in reunited Germany. As Vaizey points out and is certainly correct, the phenomenon of Ostalgie is not about yearning for a return of the political system or consumer products, but concerns the sadness felt for the loss of a whole way of life, and the fears produced by having unknowns replace those certainties which ‘day-to-day routines had been built’ upon for forty years (173).
It is for these reasons that the best audience for this book will be advanced undergraduates, especially those seeking to understand why the transition from socialism to capitalism has been difficult, and how the memory of the GDR has evolved since 1989. The individual stories have enough compelling detail to appeal to readers, while the argumentation is tight if not overly challenging or particularly new. It is for this reason that more advanced students and scholars might not profit as much from this account. The methodological parameters of the study (those born after 1961, 30 interviews, eight biographies) mean that although the stories are different, there is a certain homogeneity to their concerns and experiences (none were older than 30 when the Wall fell and some were teenagers), which limits its broader usefulness, as the author well recognizes. Those who love reunified Germany are moreover less likely to participate in a project focused on the GDR. Further, there is also a certain self-fulfilling aspect to this study: by selecting a number of different if representative stories, how can one fail to highlight the ways in which the past has been experienced differently? Despite these caveats, this is a useful contribution to the period that will add to our knowledge about how the Wende has been experienced. More than anything, Born in the GDR will help students to see why and how East Germans accommodated themselves to the system, for the most part did not feel oppressed, and at the same time, took advantage of those choices given to them, with the result being that the GDR is not universally despised, even if it is not exactly lauded by its former citizens.