Commie Dearest

I think that Ostalgie is an important movement because whether East German life gave an oppressed experience or a happy experience, it was regardless, a human experience. It is the duty of youth to remember and celebrate the life of their heritage and country and keeping alive these memories will undoubtedly add to Germany’s culture as a whole.

The reason so many people felt so inclined to remove remnants of the GDR so quickly from their lives was because life behind the wall was nowhere near as fun as the Ost Hotel bloke makes it out to be - I know, I was born there. There certainly wasn't a blind acceptance of the regime as he makes out and the dissenters weren't necessarily a minority, they were just the people with the courage to speak out. Both my parents were imprisoned by the stasi and the number people who from the age of 16 onwards who spent a huge proportion of their lives as political prisoners is still largely underestimated and those people still find it incredibly difficult to talk about; it's all still rather raw.

Anna Funder makes a very good point in the conclusion of her book, Stasiland, that the DDR's history is still alive; it's too early to put it behind glass cases and much like the post-Nazi era it'll be quite some time before the full brutality of the DDR will be fully appreciated.

The stories of oppression as well as the psychological and physical torture experienced by my family and their friends is not necessarily that unusual and whilst I understand the appeal and existence of Ostalgie, there is something about it that I find uncomfortable - and equally something I've been part of; when I was 18 I moved briefly to (the former East) Berlin and found work at an Ostalgie bar called Mauerbluemchen ("Wallflower") in Pankow where the tagline was "Warm Beer and Cold Soups" and there were Ossie Burgers and the like, mimicking the terrible bad food of the DDR (bananas were an incredibly exotic treat!)

And I suppose that's just it; whilst it's fun to remember the bad food, bad clothes, bad haircuts etc let's not forget that you don't have to delve deeply at all to find that life behind the wall was, for many, terrible.

This is a great pod, though, and I'd love to see more on the subject on Current.

This is awesome. It's always of great worth to preserve knowledge, even if its of bad times. In fact, it's particularly important to remember the horrific and painful times of humanity, because to forgot them is to permit their recurrence. GREAT POD!

i thought this was interesting, and i'd like to know more... does anyone know any places where i can find more information?

hitler mustache!

i think this piece is very special. it's one of my favorite vc2 pieces of all time.