East Germany and the value of free speech

Berlin is famous for its architecture, museums and exhibitions. The Holocaust memorial and the section of the Wall at the East Side Gallery have become some of the top sights. Less well known is a former prison in the suburb of Hohenschoenhausen, which was used by the Stasi until 1989. It is now a museum with a unique aspect to it: the tour guides are all former inmates, giving the experience a very personal and moving connection to the events of the recent past. While it is horrifying to discover what went on here, and to hear about it from someone who was imprisoned by the East German regime, there is also a heart-warming side to the experience: the lengths that people were prepared to go to in order to live in a free country.

The prison was opened by the Russians after the Second World War. Germany was divided after 1945, with the former Russian zone becoming East Germany or the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The iron curtain went up, and the GDR was established as a Soviet satellite state, with the communist party in power. At this stage, the prison was effectively run by the Russian secret police, the NKVD, and conditions were appalling. People were arrested, tortured, executed and never seen again.

This changed in 1955 when the East German secret police, the Stasi, took control of the prison. While history books in the West often lump the Stasi and NKVD together, the comparison is in fact unjustified. The Stasi was a terrible, repressive organisation, but its methods were far more psychological than the brute force of the NKVD. As our guide explained to us, the Stasi undertook all sorts of procedures in a vain attempt to acquire legitimacy. Of course it was a sham, but it distinguished them from the NKVD. Some prisoners were executed under the Stasi but far fewer, and only after a farcical trial, not unannounced in the middle of the night as before.

Our guide was arrested in August 1989, only a few months before the Berlin Wall came down. He had been active in organising demonstrations; the Stasi had been on his trail for several years, but he had been careful not to work in flagrant breach of the law. It might have been enough for the NKVD to eliminate him, but the Stasi stuck to their protocol. Finally, he was caught bringing anti-government posters and materials back from Czechoslovakia, and put in jail.

The prison guards didn't beat him up - their tone was civil. He was asked whether he would he like to take a prison uniform, or would he prefer to keep his own clothes? Naturally he opted to keep his own. The prison official said he was happy to accept the prisoner's wishes, but wanted to point out that due to security reasons, his own clothes could not be washed. Given that he could be in prison for a while, did he want to change his mind? Of course he did. So he had been given a choice, and had freely decided to take the prison uniform.

This was the sort of psychological manipulation that the Stasi used to break the spirit of its prisoners, and to instill fear among the entire population. They understood that releasing prisoners after a time could work to their advantage, and could more effectively quell public dissent than arbitrary executions.

Of course, one of the prime concerns of the Stasi was to stop people escaping to the West. East Germans could apply for permission to access the areas bordering the Wall, or to visit West Germany. If permission was granted, the Stasi wanted to make sure they would come back. One strategy was to find out if they were selling their fridge, a likely sign that they didn't intend to return. The Stasi's huge network of informants would pose as ordinary members of the public looking to buy fridges.

East Germany was the richest country in the communist block, and had the highest living standards. Provided they kept their heads down and didn't speak out against the government, East Germans had access to free education and health care, very low unemployment, and holidays on Lake Balaton in Hungary. Life expectancy by 1989 was three years below that of West Germany, they couldn't buy Western products, travel to the West or access the Western media, but they knew the Stasi wouldn't arbitrarily round them up.

Given these circumstances it is extraordinary and encouraging that so many were willing to risk their lives to escape. In total, about four million East Germans left for the West, most of them before the Berlin Wall went up in 1961. Even after this, hundreds of thousands abandoned East Germany, some using official permits, some escaping through third countries, and some by being ransomed by West Germany. Others dug tunnels, built their own contraptions to fly over the Wall, swam across lakes and rives, used maps of the sewers or risked a run across the minefields. 136 were killed in their bid for freedom, and many were arrested for trying or for assisting others.

It is a fantastic testament to human determination and endurance. The East German escapees were not fleeing certain death. They were prepared to risk everything for the freedom of speech. It was this unbreakable spirit that brought down the Berlin Wall and the East German government in 1989, and the Soviet Union shortly after.