Ms. Birthler, you are quoted as saying: “I grew up in the GDR, but I was never ‘a child of the GDR’.” How did you and your family live in the GDR?
I come from an East Berlin family that viewed the GDR with critical detachment for as long as I can remember. That’s why I grew up with a critical attitude towards the GDR.
Did your parents speak out publicly against the regime?
No. My mother didn’t talk about such things outside the family and close circles of friends. But at home she instilled us with what you could call a love of freedom. We listened to western radio and watched western television. We watched transmissions of Bundestag debates. Our mother made it very clear that she saw the Federal Republic as a democracy where the people live in freedom. And she made it equally clear that she viewed the GDR as a dictatorship.
Wasn’t it dangerous for your family to follow the western media? Weren’t you afraid of reprisals if it became known you were doing that?
Things weren’t as bad as that. Of course, nobody talked openly about it, not at school either. But a lot of people knew from each other that they tuned in to western broadcasts. And in private people discussed things like the news, or talked about the latest crime thriller on TV. But it’s important to note that I’m referring to the later years of the regime. The situation in the GDR had changed quite a bit by then.
You became openly involved in opposition groups and risked political persecution. Did you believe at the time that the GDR could actually be overcome by political means?
In the opposition groups we were only in agreement about the things we opposed. We stood up against the existing conditions in the GDR. We wanted greater self-determination; we didn’t want other people to make our decisions for us any longer. We didn’t have any concrete ideas or visions of the future. Our top priority was to address the concrete injustices in the state. But we didn’t have any clear idea about what all this might lead to eventually.
What did you feel on 9 November 1989 when you heard about the fall of the Wall?
Naturally, I was overjoyed when the border to West Berlin opened. But the fall of the Wall was just one day in a whole series of events. It was preceded by something that actually made this historical event possible – and that was the peaceful revolution. It was crucial to developments in the GDR, and without it the Wall would not have fallen. We were incredibly relieved that the GDR came to an end in such a peaceful way and without any bloodshed.
Since the year 2000 you have been Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former GDR. Why, almost two decades after reunification, are you still involved in the reappraisal of the GDR past?
Most of all because I think it’s important for people to be clear about their own past. We have to know how dictatorships operate. And we have to know how people behave under the conditions of a dictatorship. This helps people to value freedom and democracy rather than just taking them for granted. And this is very important when it comes to shaping democracy.
Some people think that East and West will grow together better by drawing a line under this whole subject...
No. That would be an illusion. What would that really entail? We’d have to prohibit interviews such as this, or remove material concerning the GDR from schools. Drawing that kind of line is impossible in a democracy – thank goodness!
Is Germany’s way of dealing with the Stasi files a model for other countries who are also involved in reappraising dictatorships?
I tend to be careful with the idea of acting as a model. It always sounds so arrogant. But of course I do know from experience, that very many countries that are also overcoming dictatorships look closely at the way we’re dealing with things – simply because Germany was the first country to adopt this course. Other countries have developed their own approaches. But the work in Germany gave them an encouragement to face up to their own past.
Marianne Birthler
The former GDR civil rights activist was born in 1948 and has been the Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) since 2000. The records office stores the GDR’s secret police documents in its archives and provides private individuals, institutions and the general public access to them in keeping with strict legal regulations.
