Stasiland: Quick Character Summaries Flashcards
Who is Julia?
Funder’s landlord
Pro-GDR
She was under surveillance because of her relationship with the Italian boyfriend
She was raped after the wall fell
Who is Miriam?
Opposed GDR by handing out flyers criticising the GDR
Married Charlie
Continually pestered the Stasi to find out the truth about her husband’s suspicious death in prison
Who is Frau Paul?
Separated from sick, newborn son, Torsten, due to the wall
Didn’t reunite with her son until he was 5
She refused a deal to see her son because she didn’t want to inform on her friend Michael Hinze
She was imprisoned for 4 years for aiding an escape attempt
Who is Klaus?
“Bad boy of East German rock ‘n’ roll”
Sung about “rebellion, poignancy and hope”
He was banned from performing by the government
Who is Von Schnitzler?
“Grumpy old puppet”
GDR fanatic
Presented anti-democracy stories on “The Black Channel”
Believes that the wall was “humane” and “necessary to defend a threatened nation”
Who is Anna Funder?
Author of the book
Wondered “long and hard [about] what went on behind that wall”
Inspired to write after hearing Miriam’s story
Interviewed ex-Stasi and victims of the regime
Lost her mother to cancer
Who is Hagen Koch?
“A lone crusader against forgetting”
Raised by a pro-socialist father who modelled him into the “poster boy for the new regime”
Joined the Stasi
Marked the location of the wall
Lost faith in the GDR due to their treatment of him when he tried to leave the Stasi
Who is Herr Christian?
Joined Stasi for their sporting club
Considers his time at the Stasi as amusing
Has “an acute sense of duty to obey the law”
Demoted for keeping his affair a secret from the firm
Who is Herr Bock?
Taught “the science of recruiting informers”
Pro-GDR
Uses Stasi tactics in interview
Who is Herr Bohnsack?
“Outed himself” after the wall fell
Not secretive about his experiences with the Stasi
Has no friends
Who is Charlie?
Miriam’s husband
Wrote an anti-GDR poem
Got imprisoned for swimming out too far
Died suspiciously in prison
Who is Herr Winz?
Wants “to set the record straight” about the Stasi
Pro-GDR
Believes in “the second coming of socialism”
Reluctant to share about his past
Wants Funder to promote socialism in Australia
Who is Torsten?
Frau Paul’s son
Born with severe internal injuries
Separated from mother by the Berlin Wall, he was in a West Berlin hospital and she lived in the East
Raised without a parental figure
Who is Mayor N?
Man in charge of interviewing Julia in room 118
Knows everything about Julia
Who is Herr Raillard?
Director of Stasi File Authority
Oversees the 31 “puzzlers”
