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Stasiland and other stories
29/06/2004 08:33 pmIckle Izzie finally finds her way to Secret Diary Land for a long overdue update. Been too busy working or chatting with serpents until four in the morning.
Last night was listening to a most fascinating interview with Anna Funder - the woman who wrote a brilliant book called "Stasiland" that has finally got the recognition it deserves but is not too popular east of the old border. (Stasi is an abbreviation for "StaatSicherheit" - state security which was the name for the snoops, spies and secret police service in East Germany and these folks literally knew when you pissed last)
Recently there was a radio version of the book, abridged and read out by herself. Never did get around to getting the greedy Izzie paws on the paper version.
Listening yesterday brought back so so many memories and Izzie had never even lived in the place but only visited on several occasions for a period of about three weeks in all but even that was enough to convey the utter interminable greyness of the place.
At the time she was mentioning the story of the 16 year old A grade student who suddenly started failing all her subjects and had to then leave school and kept getting rejection letters for every job she applied for. She then got called to Stasi HQ to explain why she was an unemployed dole bludger and burden on society (all those poor overworked Ossies with their hammers and their compasses)and was given the option of a job with them which she bravely refused.
It turned out that her crime against the state was to have a pen friend in Italy. Once the spooks had found that out, they made life hell for her.
Families from the east would very rarely be given permission to visit the west but on the rare occasion this happened, one member would always have to remain behind almost like a hostage. Not only was this total emotional blackmail but if the other family members knew that if they did jump ship then life would be made absolute hell for the poor bugger left behind.
Izzie personally knew one woman who was dying of cancer and had been allowed to the West for treatment. She told me that her son had continually requested to get a visa to visit her in West Germany but the bureaucrats always refused. Then after many years of rejected applications, he was severely injured in a car crash and for some inexplicable reason, shortly after this permission was granted.
All the stories that the writer told made the Iz think of her beloved Dolores Jane Umbridge and I was wondering to myself why that thought had not occured to me when listening to the radio adaptation. Silly Iz. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. That adaptation was broadcast over a period of three weeks some time in April or May 2003 just before Dearest Dolores graced the public at large with her presence.
But basically the so called "German Democratic Republic" was a land full of Dolores and Dementor clones. It was the most miserable, oppressive, grey and bleak place that Iz has ever had the misfortune to be acquainted with.
In fact - images of the former DDR were exactly what came to Izzie's inner eye quite often when first reading about these soul sucking hooded creatures.
So it was particularly sad to hear the writer talk of the new wave of "Ostalgie" All those Ossies longing for the good old days like in the movie "Goodbye Lenin" which the Iz would just love to see but never did get around to it.
There were some really beautiful places there that the government did not manage to suck the soul out of, although many of the buildings were in a state of neglect. Izzie's favorite was Quedlinburg in the Harz mountains. It is a medieval town and promoted itself as a haunt for witches. Everywhere were pictures and postcards of old women in hats on broomsticks. Iz was not really amused because she knew a bit about the history of the place that they were not so interested in the tourists knowing about. Imagine going to Buchenwald and finding souvenir shops full of yarmulkes and Chanukkah candelabra. Same sort of thing as Quedlinburg had a reputation as one of the worst places in Germany for witch hunts and killings of witches.
Most of the rest of East Germany - especially Berlin, looked like some sort of stage set from World War 2 movies. Someone had somehow got their Timeturner stuck way back in the mid 40's and suddenly they had the 1990's thrust upon them.
The saddest thing though is what these scheming scum did to the people. Iz used to like East Germans in general and found them very decent, honest and courageous. Did not realize of course that they were the ones with guts, persistence and initiative who were determined to get out of the hell hole.
When the wall came down and those who had stayed behind started coming over in droves, Iz soon discovered that many of them were treacherous lazy little rats and absolutely not to be trusted. In a totalitarian culture where just about everyone is spying on their neighbour and there is no reward for doing your job well and if you look happy people assume you are up to no good, folks soon learn not to bother making an effort at anything except keeping a low profile and towing the party line. Hitler only had 12 years but this lot had more than forty and they did a damned good job of turning those folks into spying and snooping soulless zombies.
Iz shared a house once with 3 of them and it was pretty horrible. Smoking seemed to be compulsory over there - a particulary pestilent variety of tobacco seemed to be their preference and they generally seemed allergic to doing any sort of work (ie housework) that did not contribute to impressing the boss. And these blond blue eyed young things had some very very scary notions about Jews, Blacks and just about any other nationality you care to mention. They were just as industrious as the western part of Germany in their contribution to the war effort and the mass murder of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and other 'filthy mudbloods' but conveniently let the west take the blame for the lot and never ever accepted responsibility for their role in any of these evil deeds.
But what really worries Izzie, having seen all this elsewhere, the government in the Land of the Rainbow Serpent (and soon to be 51st state of the USA) are now slowly going down the same path. We have dob a robber and Terrorism hotlines and even fridgemagnets and countless brochures with pictures of our Fearless Leader adorning them.
The Supreme Court in the USA has finally told King George that he is overstepping his powers but this little pompous poppinjay gets detention of suspects laws passed and bills increasing the cost of medicines to fund election campaign and even commits the country to war without going to Parliament and has got away with the whole caboodle. And that is not even mentioning the countless lies. The sense of deja vu becomes extremely uncanny.
And now he has proven beyond all doubt his alliance with the forces of evil by appearing on the front page of the paper with his trademark smirk - in the company of Bill Gates - looking like a puppy dog gazing adoringly at its Master. George will not be pleased at this act of treachery. Izzie asked one of the elves at work to keep a copy of the paper for Iz. This is a picture that's worth framing. Such a pity that Georgie boy wasn't in it too - depriving Izzie of the ultimate in S & M fanatasies.
So if there are ever any unexplained Izzie absences in the near future - you can address your postcards to Camp X-ray, Guantanamo Bay
Last night was listening to a most fascinating interview with Anna Funder - the woman who wrote a brilliant book called "Stasiland" that has finally got the recognition it deserves but is not too popular east of the old border. (Stasi is an abbreviation for "StaatSicherheit" - state security which was the name for the snoops, spies and secret police service in East Germany and these folks literally knew when you pissed last)
Recently there was a radio version of the book, abridged and read out by herself. Never did get around to getting the greedy Izzie paws on the paper version.
Listening yesterday brought back so so many memories and Izzie had never even lived in the place but only visited on several occasions for a period of about three weeks in all but even that was enough to convey the utter interminable greyness of the place.
At the time she was mentioning the story of the 16 year old A grade student who suddenly started failing all her subjects and had to then leave school and kept getting rejection letters for every job she applied for. She then got called to Stasi HQ to explain why she was an unemployed dole bludger and burden on society (all those poor overworked Ossies with their hammers and their compasses)and was given the option of a job with them which she bravely refused.
It turned out that her crime against the state was to have a pen friend in Italy. Once the spooks had found that out, they made life hell for her.
Families from the east would very rarely be given permission to visit the west but on the rare occasion this happened, one member would always have to remain behind almost like a hostage. Not only was this total emotional blackmail but if the other family members knew that if they did jump ship then life would be made absolute hell for the poor bugger left behind.
Izzie personally knew one woman who was dying of cancer and had been allowed to the West for treatment. She told me that her son had continually requested to get a visa to visit her in West Germany but the bureaucrats always refused. Then after many years of rejected applications, he was severely injured in a car crash and for some inexplicable reason, shortly after this permission was granted.
All the stories that the writer told made the Iz think of her beloved Dolores Jane Umbridge and I was wondering to myself why that thought had not occured to me when listening to the radio adaptation. Silly Iz. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. That adaptation was broadcast over a period of three weeks some time in April or May 2003 just before Dearest Dolores graced the public at large with her presence.
But basically the so called "German Democratic Republic" was a land full of Dolores and Dementor clones. It was the most miserable, oppressive, grey and bleak place that Iz has ever had the misfortune to be acquainted with.
In fact - images of the former DDR were exactly what came to Izzie's inner eye quite often when first reading about these soul sucking hooded creatures.
So it was particularly sad to hear the writer talk of the new wave of "Ostalgie" All those Ossies longing for the good old days like in the movie "Goodbye Lenin" which the Iz would just love to see but never did get around to it.
There were some really beautiful places there that the government did not manage to suck the soul out of, although many of the buildings were in a state of neglect. Izzie's favorite was Quedlinburg in the Harz mountains. It is a medieval town and promoted itself as a haunt for witches. Everywhere were pictures and postcards of old women in hats on broomsticks. Iz was not really amused because she knew a bit about the history of the place that they were not so interested in the tourists knowing about. Imagine going to Buchenwald and finding souvenir shops full of yarmulkes and Chanukkah candelabra. Same sort of thing as Quedlinburg had a reputation as one of the worst places in Germany for witch hunts and killings of witches.
Most of the rest of East Germany - especially Berlin, looked like some sort of stage set from World War 2 movies. Someone had somehow got their Timeturner stuck way back in the mid 40's and suddenly they had the 1990's thrust upon them.
The saddest thing though is what these scheming scum did to the people. Iz used to like East Germans in general and found them very decent, honest and courageous. Did not realize of course that they were the ones with guts, persistence and initiative who were determined to get out of the hell hole.
When the wall came down and those who had stayed behind started coming over in droves, Iz soon discovered that many of them were treacherous lazy little rats and absolutely not to be trusted. In a totalitarian culture where just about everyone is spying on their neighbour and there is no reward for doing your job well and if you look happy people assume you are up to no good, folks soon learn not to bother making an effort at anything except keeping a low profile and towing the party line. Hitler only had 12 years but this lot had more than forty and they did a damned good job of turning those folks into spying and snooping soulless zombies.
Iz shared a house once with 3 of them and it was pretty horrible. Smoking seemed to be compulsory over there - a particulary pestilent variety of tobacco seemed to be their preference and they generally seemed allergic to doing any sort of work (ie housework) that did not contribute to impressing the boss. And these blond blue eyed young things had some very very scary notions about Jews, Blacks and just about any other nationality you care to mention. They were just as industrious as the western part of Germany in their contribution to the war effort and the mass murder of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and other 'filthy mudbloods' but conveniently let the west take the blame for the lot and never ever accepted responsibility for their role in any of these evil deeds.
But what really worries Izzie, having seen all this elsewhere, the government in the Land of the Rainbow Serpent (and soon to be 51st state of the USA) are now slowly going down the same path. We have dob a robber and Terrorism hotlines and even fridgemagnets and countless brochures with pictures of our Fearless Leader adorning them.
The Supreme Court in the USA has finally told King George that he is overstepping his powers but this little pompous poppinjay gets detention of suspects laws passed and bills increasing the cost of medicines to fund election campaign and even commits the country to war without going to Parliament and has got away with the whole caboodle. And that is not even mentioning the countless lies. The sense of deja vu becomes extremely uncanny.
And now he has proven beyond all doubt his alliance with the forces of evil by appearing on the front page of the paper with his trademark smirk - in the company of Bill Gates - looking like a puppy dog gazing adoringly at its Master. George will not be pleased at this act of treachery. Izzie asked one of the elves at work to keep a copy of the paper for Iz. This is a picture that's worth framing. Such a pity that Georgie boy wasn't in it too - depriving Izzie of the ultimate in S & M fanatasies.
So if there are ever any unexplained Izzie absences in the near future - you can address your postcards to Camp X-ray, Guantanamo Bay
