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The Wall Through my Heart Berlin: a Baby Between Two Worlds
In the noose of the Stasi: from
Dommitzsch to the secret Stasi-Prison of Hohenschönhausen
Sigrid Paul was born in 1934 in Dommitzsch, on the River Elbe. After the war the town was occupied by the Red Army and became part of the new communist state of East Germany. Sigrid's father died in a Soviet prison camp. The family's pottery works was sequestered and became state property. Faced by the loss of the bread winner, Sigrid's widowed mother fought a desperate battle for survival with her three children.
In 1957, she married and moved to East Berlin, where in 1961 her son was born: a traumatic experience. Baby Torsten was severely handicapped. Only an immediate transfer to a better-equipped hospital in West Berlin could save his life. Meanwhile the Wall was built, and East Berlin's notorious bureaucrats cut back on the exit visas needed to visit him. A sequence of events began that led to Sigrid being arrested by the Stasi secret police and sent to prison. Even after she was released, her trial and tribulation did not end.
Dommitzsch to the secret Stasi-Prison of Hohenschönhausen
Sigrid Paul was born in 1934 in Dommitzsch, on the River Elbe. After the war the town was occupied by the Red Army and became part of the new communist state of East Germany. Sigrid's father died in a Soviet prison camp. The family's pottery works was sequestered and became state property. Faced by the loss of the bread winner, Sigrid's widowed mother fought a desperate battle for survival with her three children.
In 1957, she married and moved to East Berlin, where in 1961 her son was born: a traumatic experience. Baby Torsten was severely handicapped. Only an immediate transfer to a better-equipped hospital in West Berlin could save his life. Meanwhile the Wall was built, and East Berlin's notorious bureaucrats cut back on the exit visas needed to visit him. A sequence of events began that led to Sigrid being arrested by the Stasi secret police and sent to prison. Even after she was released, her trial and tribulation did not end.
153 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2009
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January 1, 2023
What a wild story. Poor Sigrid just wanted to see her sick child while he was in the hospital and for all that ensued is just mind blowing. The lack of proof the Stasi had and yet still abused their power against the citizens is amazing. To think if the Berlin Wall wasn't erected this story would have never been.
Displaying 1 of 1 review