Life in the forbidden zone at the East/West German border (249)

Cold War Conversations

A young Claudia Bierschenk lived at the edge of a world called the GDR, in a village surrounded by hills, valleys and thick forests.

Her great uncle lives in the Forbidden Zone, the area where the East German border is a few metres away from West Germany. This is where the villages are like ghosts towns and inhabitants need special permits to enter.

Claudia provides a vivid and unique description of entering the Forbidden Zone for the first time after being granted special permits to visit her Great Uncle on his 80th birthday. His house is the last house before the final border fences and Claudia describes up close to the fences, while her grandfather tells her about “rabbit discos”…

We also hear more of her life in this isolated area, including strange sports activities and Claudia’s experience of being trained as a 12-year-old Para medic.

We end the episode talking about how she and her family experienced the momentous events of 1989 when the border opens, and East Germans are free to cross into West Germany.

Claudia has distilled these stories into a book, Never Mind, Comrade, published by Tangerine Press

Don’t miss our previous episode with Claudia here https://pod.fo/e/137f1e

0:00 Introduction

1:00 Life and experiences in East Germany featuring Claudia Biashek

10:07 Claudia's family history during World War 2

17:10 Claudia's journey to the restricted zone and first sight of the Berlin Wall

25:35 Claudia's family decision to emigrate and the fears associated

34:35 Claudia's experience during the opening of the borders and crossing into the West

44:27 Adaptation to life in the West

46:00 Introduction to Claudia's book, "Nevermind Comrade"

46:24 Acknowledging financial supporters of the podcast

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I am delighted to welcome Claudia to our Cold War conversation…

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Radio GDR

If you are interested in East Germany we can highly recommend our friends over at Radio GDR.

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