Stasiland Characters Flashcards
Who is Anna Funder
- Anna is the author but also a crucial character in the book
- She has had many experiences with the German culture growing up, such as learning German in school
- She reacts t the physical environments of the places she visits
- Her reactions to characters range from sympathy, to uncomfortablility and hate
Who is Miriam Weber
- MIRIAM IS AGES AND IN HER MID FORTIES
- Miriam lives alone in an apartment that makes her feel secure “from here you could see anyone coming”
- She became an enemy of the state at 16 when she attempted to escape east berlin but was caught and imprisoned
- She suffered torture
- After her release she Married charlie who later died in Stasi custody
- Has spent decades seeking answers to his death
How does Funder describe Miriam (provide quotes)
“She is brave and strong and broken all at once”
She had a slight and fragile body but a big voice
“she still has scars on her hands from climbing the barbed wire”
Funder captures the pain in her voice
What themes apply to Miriam
Interrogation and torture - Torture from her courage over the state
love and connection - Charlie
courage and resistance - Resistance against the regime
Propoganda - Being lied to about Charles death
who is Julia Behrend’s
Julia is annas landlord
she believed in the GDR and had no wish to leave
she is mistrustful and anxious
unable to submit to authority
What is Julia’s experience with the GDR
- black cars followed her and asked outside her home
- becomes an enemy of the state and closely monitored when she begins a relationship with an italian man
- The stasi covertly control her education and employment
- julia was raped just after the wall fell
- she resists the stasi by calling their bluff
“She leaves her past in a box but then comes to collect it” “full of things she cant leave but can’t look at either”
Still feels “Totally exposed and invaded”
What themes apply to Julia
Surveillance and informers
love and connection
courage and resistance
Who is Charlie Weber
- Sports teacher working part time as a life guard
- Became an enemy of the state when they were presumed with wanting to leave when they swim near a Swedish boat during a Baltic sea holiday, presumed to “leave the country”
- Like Miriam, does not want to subject himself to the authorities of the regime
- Miriam and him apply to leave, scrutiny become even more intense
- arrested August 26 1980
- apparently died in his cell october 14
- was actually murdered
How are Miriam and Charlie impacted by the events of their time in the GDR
- Miriam continually wanted to know what happened to her husband, which keeps her from moving on
- Miriams torture and surveillance causes some paranoia, as she can see anyone coming from her apartment
Who is Erich Honecker
A german politician who was General Secretary of Socialist union party
led the GDR from 1971 until the weeks preceding the fall of the Berlin Wall
Who is Klaus Renft
- Anna’s drinking buddy and companion
- heavy drinker
- Was apart of the Klaus Renft Combo
- was one of the GDRs most popularkar rock groups
What was Klaus Renft and his bands experience in the GDR
- banned by the stasi in 1975 when they started singing about ‘holy things’ of the GDR, the army and the wall
- they wanted to “scratch the GDR at its marrow”
- Klaus realised the lies
- summoned to the ministry of culture and told they no longer existed
- Klaus recorded this and stated if anything happened to the band members, it would be played on western radio
- Funder paints an orwellian picture of the overnight dissapeareance of all evidence of the Klaus Renft Combo
- has a lack of intent in punishing the stasi, which Funder describes as a “victory”
- Klaus provides a contrast to miriam and Julia
Who is Karl-Eduard Von Schnitzeler
- 79 year old and frail
- bullishly aggressive
- “Most hated face of the regime”
- served hitlers army
- was a POW in england where he made broadcasts for the BBC
- painted as a bully
What was Von Schnitzelers role in the GDR
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Who was Herr Winz
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