The Race Against the Stasi: The Incredible Story of Dieter Wiedemann, The Iron Curtain and The Greatest Cycling Race on Earth

by Herbie Sykes

Cycling Book of the Year - Cross British Sports Book Awards When the `Iron Curtain' descended across Europe, Dieter Wiedemann was a hero of East German sport.ÿA podium finisher in The Peace Race, the Eastern Bloc equivalent of the Tour de France, he was a pin-up for the supremacy of socialism over the `fascist' West.ÿ Unbeknownst to the authorities, however, he had fallen in love with Sylvia Hermann, a girl from the other side of the wall. Socialist doctrine had it that the two of them were `class enemies', and as a famous athlete Dieter's every move was pored over by the Stasi. Only he abhorred their ideology, and in Sylvia saw his only chance of freedom. Now, playing a deadly game of cat and mouse, he plotted his escape. In 1964 he was delegated, once and once only, to West Germany. Here he was to ride a qualification race for the Tokyo Olympics, but instead committed the most treacherous of all the crimes against socialism. Dieter Wiedemann, sporting icon and Soviet pawn, defected to the other side. Whilst Wiedemann fulfilled his lifetime ambition of racing in the Tour de France, his defection caused a huge scandal. The Stasi sought to `repatriate' him, with horrific consequences both for him and the family he left behind. Fifty years on, and twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dieter Wiedemann decided it was time to tell his story. Through his testimony and that of others involved, and through the Stasi file, which has stalked him for half a century, Herbie Sykes uncovers an astonishing tale. It is one of love and betrayal, of the madness at the heart of the cold war, and of the greatest bike race in history.

Genres: Cycling, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Sports, Germany

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Joe Maggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sykes has to be commended for somehow uncovering such a brilliant story that, 99 times out of 100, would surely go untold. The life of Dieter Wiedemann, told through this excellent piece of long-form journalism, is so compelling because it is both ordinary and extraordinary; an extremely talented young sportsman competing at the top level in the GDR, defecting not because of politics but because of love. This is also a tragic and moving story in many parts - it is not necessarily a happy ending - but it is a fascinating read. For the cycling fan in particular it was interesting to learn just how big cycling was in the GDR - something I never knew.

[Ian O'donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant Read.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Can't believe this hasn't been turned into a Hollywood film already!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 20th century seems to have been one long conflict. The post-WW 2 era is certainly part of that conflict. In other circumstances, two young people falling in love would have been relatively simple - meet, fall in love, establish a relationship, marry, create a home, have children . . . no problem.

Unless the two live in Germany after WW 2.

The Cold War grew out of the the Allied victory in Europe in 1945 and ramified across the planet. One aspect of that spread was the division of Germany and Berlin followed by the rise of the "Iron Curtain" and the division of Berlin.

Dieter Wiedemann, born in what became East Germany, loved cycling. He eventually became one of the legion of state-sponsored "amateur" athletes who largely competed within the socialist states allied with the Soviet Union. Sylvia Hermann, born in what became West Germany had relatives in the East. On a family visit, the two teenagers meet, became pen pals, and eventually fell in love at a distance. The phrased "star-crossed lovers" comes to mind, but, instead of feud between families, they were kept apart by a feud between nations.

This is not only a story of young love but of international cycling, the effects of living in a totalitarian political state, and a window into how these things interacted to drive hundreds of thousands of Germans to flee the East. Among those fleeing was an amateur cyclist bent on uniting with his love. What he gave up and how his family, left behind, suffered for his act is the focus of this work.

Along the way I learned about the Peace Race, an annual multiple stage bicycle race held in the Eastern Bloc states of Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Poland. Billed within the Soviet Bloc countries as bigger and better than the Tour de France, the Peace Race was an "amateur" event. You'll have to go elsewhere to see discussion about the "amateur" status of Soviet Bloc athletes.

It isn't possible to talk about East Germany without recognizing the role of the Stasi - Ministry for State Security/Ministerium für Staatssicherheit - described as one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies to have ever existed. The Stasi played a large part in the drama that developed around Wiedemann's defection.

The book is a mix of oral history and translated/transcribed Stast documents related to Wiedermann. I was sceptical of this approach at first but came to find it effective and, in some ways, fascinating in a nightmarish way. East Germany seems to be a very good place to NOT have lived if one wasn't interested in wholeheartedly adopting the political views of the state.

My 4-star rating is largely a result of the book's format, as mentioned above. Clearly, that isn't a major problem and is very much balanced by the view into life in Cold War East Germany and the lengths to which humans will go for love.

If you have an interest in cycling history, post-WW 2 history, and the Cold War in Germany this is the book for you.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don't read as many cycling histories that focus on a particular rider or race (or both), I thought this would be interesting since it was so different, looking at an East German rider in the Soviet bloc organized "Peace Race" (which I had not heard of).

The author Herbie Sykes has written books about Italian bicycle racers and I suspect they take a more traditional narrative approach. This book, after an introductory chapter, is told by the participants as a collected oral history. (Some of the material is derived from other sources and not directly from the individuals.) Interspersed are relevant documents from the East German secret policy, the Stasi, that have been translated into English, as well as occasional articles (again, in English) from an East German newspaper. I was surprised; this turned out to be fairly readable.

The central figure, Dieter Wiedemann, was developing as an East German cyclist with some hope of riding in the Olympics based in part on his successes in the annual Peace Race, but met a young woman from West Germany and fell in love. He corresponded with here for some years and somehow did not attract negative attention of the Stasi. Eventually she visited East Germany briefly and Wiedemann became even more infatuated, so that after several more years of exchanging letters he planned out how to defect to West Germany in 1964. This proved worse for his parents and family left behind than he may have expected.

In West Germany Wiedemann was able to ride for a European team as a professional (as an East German he was nominally an amateur) through the 1967 season, but that team disbanded and he was unable to find a team that would pay well enough and he took on a regular job in auto parts manufacturing. Wiedemann was journeyman general classification type rider, who had some moderate success riding several times in the World Championship races and in 1967 participating in the Tour de France and finishing the entire race in 52nd position, which is a significant enough achievement by itself.

The last quarter or so of the book is about Wiedemanns's efforts to maintain a relationship with his family and others in East Germany and it bogs down a little.

[Matthew Barmack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered this book at the Stasi Prison Memorial in Berlin, which happens to have an excellent gift/bookstore including many titles on the Nazis, the GDR, and authoritarianism more generally. It's about a cyclist who defected from the GDR to the West and eventually rode the Tour de France. Interesting characterization of life inside the GDR, especially the significance of sports and the overwhelming presence of the secret police. As a cyclist, I appreciated some of the details about cycling in the Eastern Bloc. For example, I had no clue about the Peace Race, a multi-day stage race in East Germany, Poland, and Czecholslovakia, which apparently attracted more fans than the Tour. Despite the interesting subject matter, the book is a little stilted and consists mostly of interviews with the subjects and translations of their Stasi files.

[Jamie Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieter Wiedemann is an up and coming cyclist, competing in the Iron Curtain equivalent of the Tour de France, The Peace Race, but when he falls in love with a West German lady, he's prepared to commit the ultimate crime and defect. The fallout from Dieter's defection is hard on him and his family left in East Germany. This is an incredible story of life in East Germany after the war, and the growing influence of the Stasi secret police, and one man's desire to race in the Tour de France and live in a free world with the love of his life.

[Zoe Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a three and a half as interesting read but a little disjointed from the short prose from the actual people interviewed and the rather fascinating letters and Stasi documents of the state.
The story of East German road cyclist and the impact of defecting to marry at a young age a west German girl. Who knew about the peace race before this book - I certainly did not.
More could have been written on the impact of having the state tell you what to do and behave as I thought that was really interesting.
Shows you what fascinating stories can be uncovered in our own lifetime.

[Catriona · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really unusual book, written in a journalistic style, with reproduction newspaper articles alongside personal accounts from Dieter Wiedemann, his wife Sylvia and his family and racing colleagues, along with many, many Stasi reports, all coming together to paint a picture of an ordinary man trying to fulfil his passion for cycling from behind the iron curtain. I've read quite a bit about the Stasi over the years, so the most interesting thing for me was the attitudes of the ordinary German people, Dieter included, to the worlds in which they lived.
Recommended.

[Derrick Nedzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story: a big racer in East Germany after the war just wants to race bikes and marry his sweetheart. Neither is so easy in a state dominated by the secret police. It's a very interesting spy story, bike race book and history story. They also included documents from the Stasi files, so you see the story from both sides, as well as get a view into what daily life under that oppression was like. I found it an easy, interesting read.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a child of the Cold War era, I was already very familiar with stories of the East-West divide, so the story, as momentous and life-defining as it was for those involved, didn’t break new ground for me. What did appeal to me, however, was the way Sykes juxtaposes simple accounts from the people involved with Stasi papers exposing the forensic control and interference of the State in the lives of its citizens in what became a living dystopia.

[Rauno Villberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating story, let down by middling execution. Could have used a harsher editor, the "stasi reports" in particular get very repetitive and to be honest, the prose in the rest of the book is just okay. Then again, the "prose" is literally interviews with the people that took part in the story of this book, so what can you do.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a real gem. Reveals a lot about life in former East Germany. It’s a story based around cycling but you don’t need to know anything or care about cycling to enjoy it. It’s more a social and political history. The end was disappointing though, it just stops abruptly soon after Dieter starts his new life in the West.

[James Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The style of the book is somewhat challenging, but the content and Dieter’s story is compelling and gives an insight into life in East and West Germany without being politically objectionable, although you do draw your own conclusions

[Marcus Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different take. Fascinating cycling history book.

[Miles Kantolinna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the story and the interview style writing. Too many stasi letters and reports though imo, they dragged on a bit, especially towards the end

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an interesting story, but the way it is written reads like a script for a documentary. I am not sure if this is a compliment or a criticism, I found it refreshing and irritating at the same time. The book is littered with Stasi files which is really interesting. Won’t read again but enjoyed it enough.

[AlbertoDC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buena documentación y lectura rápida. No obstante se hacen algo pesadas las transcripciones de los informes de la Stasi