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Crossing the River: A Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War, and Life in East Germany
What could possibly impel a relatively privileged twenty-four-year-old American-serving in the U.S. Army in Germany in 1952-to swim across the Danube River to what was then referred to as the Soviet Zone? How are we to understand his decision to forsake the land of his birth and build a new life in the still young German Democratic Republic? These are the questions at the core of this memoir by Victor Grossman, who was born Stephen Wechsler but changed his name after defecting to the GDR.
A child of the Depression, Grossman witnessed firsthand the dislocations wrought by the collapse of the U.S. economy during the 1930s. Widespread unemployment and poverty, CIO sit-down strikes, and the fight to save Republican Spain from fascism-all made an indelible impression as he grew up in an environment that nurtured a commitment to left-wing causes. He continued his involvement with communist activities as a student at Harvard in the late 1940s and after graduation, when he took jobs in two factories in Buffalo, New York, and tried to organize their workers.
Fleeing McCarthyite America and potential prosecution, Grossman worked in the GDR with other Western defectors and eventually became, as he notes, the "only person in the world to attend Harvard and Karl Marx universities." Later, he was able to establish himself as a freelance journalist, lecturer, and author. Traveling throughout East Germany, he evaluated the failures as well as the successes of the GDR's "socialist experiment." He also recorded his experiences, observations, and judgments of life in East Berlin after reunification, which failed to bring about the post-Communist paradise so many had expected.
Written with humor as well as candor, Crossing the River provides a rare look at the Cold War from the other side of the ideological divide.
Mark Solomon, a distinguished historian of the American left, provides a historical afterword that places Grossman's experiences in a larger Cold War context.
A child of the Depression, Grossman witnessed firsthand the dislocations wrought by the collapse of the U.S. economy during the 1930s. Widespread unemployment and poverty, CIO sit-down strikes, and the fight to save Republican Spain from fascism-all made an indelible impression as he grew up in an environment that nurtured a commitment to left-wing causes. He continued his involvement with communist activities as a student at Harvard in the late 1940s and after graduation, when he took jobs in two factories in Buffalo, New York, and tried to organize their workers.
Fleeing McCarthyite America and potential prosecution, Grossman worked in the GDR with other Western defectors and eventually became, as he notes, the "only person in the world to attend Harvard and Karl Marx universities." Later, he was able to establish himself as a freelance journalist, lecturer, and author. Traveling throughout East Germany, he evaluated the failures as well as the successes of the GDR's "socialist experiment." He also recorded his experiences, observations, and judgments of life in East Berlin after reunification, which failed to bring about the post-Communist paradise so many had expected.
Written with humor as well as candor, Crossing the River provides a rare look at the Cold War from the other side of the ideological divide.
Mark Solomon, a distinguished historian of the American left, provides a historical afterword that places Grossman's experiences in a larger Cold War context.
312 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2003
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240 people want to read
About the author
Victor Grossman
7 books16 followersVictor Grossman (1928-2025) was an American publicist and author who defected to the Soviet Union in 1952. He studied journalism in East Germany and remained there working as a journalist and writer.
Born Stephen Wechsler in New York City, he reluctantly changed his name to Victor Grossman after defection to East Germany in order to shield his family members in the United States. As a youth, his family often summered in Free Acres, New Jersey, a community using economic philosopher Henry George's concept of single taxation. While studying at Harvard University as a member of the class of 1949, Grossman joined the Communist Party USA, whose platform claimed unequivocal opposition to racism, exploitation, and most importantly — Nazi Germany. After receiving his degree in economics, he worked in a factory. However, in 1950, Grossman was drafted into the United States Army and stationed in Germany.
In 1952, while serving in Austria, Grossman swam across the Danube into the Soviet-occupied zone of Austria, and became one of a handful of soldiers from the NATO nations who defected to the Eastern Bloc. Grossman later stated he defected because he feared prosecution by U.S. authorities for not declaring his membership in left-wing political organizations prior to his entering the army.
Following assessment by Soviet authorities, Grossman was sent to East Germany, where he continued his studies in journalism at Karl Marx University.
While in East Germany, Grossman was a good friend of his fellow US exile, the singer and actor Dean Reed. He earned his living as a journalist and as a translator.
In 1954, Grossman was recruited as an informant by the East German Ministry of State Security (MfS, or "Stasi"), codename TAUCHER ("Diver").
In 1994, the U.S. Army dropped charges of desertion against him. He reclaimed his U.S. passport and traveled to America several times, including a book tour to promote his memoir Crossing the River: A Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War, and Life in East Germany, published in 2003. Grossman was a frequent contributor to the Marxist magazine Monthly Review.
Born Stephen Wechsler in New York City, he reluctantly changed his name to Victor Grossman after defection to East Germany in order to shield his family members in the United States. As a youth, his family often summered in Free Acres, New Jersey, a community using economic philosopher Henry George's concept of single taxation. While studying at Harvard University as a member of the class of 1949, Grossman joined the Communist Party USA, whose platform claimed unequivocal opposition to racism, exploitation, and most importantly — Nazi Germany. After receiving his degree in economics, he worked in a factory. However, in 1950, Grossman was drafted into the United States Army and stationed in Germany.
In 1952, while serving in Austria, Grossman swam across the Danube into the Soviet-occupied zone of Austria, and became one of a handful of soldiers from the NATO nations who defected to the Eastern Bloc. Grossman later stated he defected because he feared prosecution by U.S. authorities for not declaring his membership in left-wing political organizations prior to his entering the army.
Following assessment by Soviet authorities, Grossman was sent to East Germany, where he continued his studies in journalism at Karl Marx University.
While in East Germany, Grossman was a good friend of his fellow US exile, the singer and actor Dean Reed. He earned his living as a journalist and as a translator.
In 1954, Grossman was recruited as an informant by the East German Ministry of State Security (MfS, or "Stasi"), codename TAUCHER ("Diver").
In 1994, the U.S. Army dropped charges of desertion against him. He reclaimed his U.S. passport and traveled to America several times, including a book tour to promote his memoir Crossing the River: A Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War, and Life in East Germany, published in 2003. Grossman was a frequent contributor to the Marxist magazine Monthly Review.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 19, 2020
AUFERSTANDEN AUS RUINEN UND DER ZUKUNFT ZUGEWANDT
August 9, 2017
Fascinating and very astute account of Grossman's 1952 flight from US Army persecution and subsequent life in the GDR. The last chapter, his analysis of the causes and effects of the collapse of the GDR, is especially useful and welcome.
May 21, 2024
A lot of leftist literature is tinged with sadness, a pining for a future that never was and maybe never will be. None hit me quite like this one did.
September 5, 2010
The Book of the Week is "Crossing the River" by Victor Grossman, published in 2003.
This autobiography tells how an American defected to East Germany during the Korean War. A very unusual story, indeed. He was brainwashed by his parents, intellectual Communists, both, in the 1930's and 1940's.
He tried to rationalize his penchant for suffering by saying that the cruel and unusual goings-on in the US actually provided a worse way for people to live, than the East Germans did. In the early 1950's, the McCarthy era was in full swing, the US had ousted the leader of Guatemala in a bloody affair, and instigated another shameful coup in Iran; there was the ugliness at Peekskill, there was still segregation; besides, the Soviets had helped defeat Germany. Comrade Stalin was a god, to the Communists.
The author argues that in 1960, the quality of life wasn't so bad in East Germany. Yes, there were severe food shortages, but everyone's medical care was paid for, and everyone had a job or was provided with necessities for survival, and assistance for finding a job, according to his own need. Of course, the people also spent needless hours every day manually washing clothes and dishes, lighting a fire in the pot-bellied stove, and patiently waiting for unreliable public transportation, or hoofing it, because they couldn't afford a car.
In the early 1960's, the East Germans kept trying to attack the integrity of the Federal Republic (of West Germany) (with good reason) by publicizing the fact that a large number of ex-Nazis (who had committed unspeakable war crimes) were working in civil service-- as judges, even(!) and in the West's armed forces. It was somewhat alarming that so many Nazis were helping Germany to re-arm, and becoming a pivotal force in NATO
In the late '1980s, the East German leaders staged a few media incidents, trying to continue to isolate the "German Democratic Republic" (the misnomer that was East Germany) clinging to power, believing that only they could be keepers of the flame. The East Germans, like the Chinese, were into self-criticism circles. They had "tutors", who bullied doubters and discouraged free-thinkers, cutting them down with questions such as, "Are you questioning the collective judgment of experienced Marxist leaders, able to assess factors far better than any individual? Could you be more correct than they are?"
It was a traumatic time for the author when Krushchev revealed Stalin's crimes in the mid 1950's. But the author continued to rationalize that his adopted homeland was still a better place to live than imperialist America. It's an excellent book anyway.
This autobiography tells how an American defected to East Germany during the Korean War. A very unusual story, indeed. He was brainwashed by his parents, intellectual Communists, both, in the 1930's and 1940's.
He tried to rationalize his penchant for suffering by saying that the cruel and unusual goings-on in the US actually provided a worse way for people to live, than the East Germans did. In the early 1950's, the McCarthy era was in full swing, the US had ousted the leader of Guatemala in a bloody affair, and instigated another shameful coup in Iran; there was the ugliness at Peekskill, there was still segregation; besides, the Soviets had helped defeat Germany. Comrade Stalin was a god, to the Communists.
The author argues that in 1960, the quality of life wasn't so bad in East Germany. Yes, there were severe food shortages, but everyone's medical care was paid for, and everyone had a job or was provided with necessities for survival, and assistance for finding a job, according to his own need. Of course, the people also spent needless hours every day manually washing clothes and dishes, lighting a fire in the pot-bellied stove, and patiently waiting for unreliable public transportation, or hoofing it, because they couldn't afford a car.
In the early 1960's, the East Germans kept trying to attack the integrity of the Federal Republic (of West Germany) (with good reason) by publicizing the fact that a large number of ex-Nazis (who had committed unspeakable war crimes) were working in civil service-- as judges, even(!) and in the West's armed forces. It was somewhat alarming that so many Nazis were helping Germany to re-arm, and becoming a pivotal force in NATO
In the late '1980s, the East German leaders staged a few media incidents, trying to continue to isolate the "German Democratic Republic" (the misnomer that was East Germany) clinging to power, believing that only they could be keepers of the flame. The East Germans, like the Chinese, were into self-criticism circles. They had "tutors", who bullied doubters and discouraged free-thinkers, cutting them down with questions such as, "Are you questioning the collective judgment of experienced Marxist leaders, able to assess factors far better than any individual? Could you be more correct than they are?"
It was a traumatic time for the author when Krushchev revealed Stalin's crimes in the mid 1950's. But the author continued to rationalize that his adopted homeland was still a better place to live than imperialist America. It's an excellent book anyway.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2007
Victor Grossman is a Harvard graduate who defected to East Germany in the early 1950s. He spent the next 30+ years living there. His book, CROSSING THE RIVER, provides a fascinating glimpse into the now-lost world behind the Iron Curtain, as seen through American eyes.
While Grossman was a true blue Red, this book isn't a valentine to Communism. He compares/contrasts Capitalism and Communism, as he experienced them, with a surprising amount of objectivity. Especially interesting was Grossman's experiences in Germany just after the nation reunited in 1990, and his trip back to America shortly afterward.
The book is marred, at times, by Grossman's efforts to justify and validate certain day-to-day realities of East German life (long lines, staple products in short supply, censorship, secret informers). But by and large, I found him to be an honest and fairly objective historian.
Most of all, I walked away from this book feeling grateful for the rights and liberties I enjoy in my country.
While Grossman was a true blue Red, this book isn't a valentine to Communism. He compares/contrasts Capitalism and Communism, as he experienced them, with a surprising amount of objectivity. Especially interesting was Grossman's experiences in Germany just after the nation reunited in 1990, and his trip back to America shortly afterward.
The book is marred, at times, by Grossman's efforts to justify and validate certain day-to-day realities of East German life (long lines, staple products in short supply, censorship, secret informers). But by and large, I found him to be an honest and fairly objective historian.
Most of all, I walked away from this book feeling grateful for the rights and liberties I enjoy in my country.
July 21, 2015
This is a wonderful firsthand account of the DDR. What makes it even more special is the American perspective. I recommend it highly!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews