WITHIN WALLS

Pivate life in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) is often seen as having been virtually non-existent, simply another East German commodity forever in short supply. In part this had to do with the common perception that private life and state socialism were at o dds by definition, to the extent that the private person has no legal identity or political standing outside the socialist community . The East Germany regime's infamous surveillance techniques, best illustrated in the notorious exploits of the state's sprawling se curity fo...[Read more]