Forty Autumns

by Nina Willner

  A special note to recognize dissidents and political prisoners everywhere who dare to stand up to tyranny and authoritarian leaderships that rule by fear, brutality, and oppression. Many of them often pay the ultimate price in the pursuit of freedom and truth in the name of their fellow countrymen. In that vein, we remember the victims of the East German uprising of 1953, Budapest in 1956, and Prague in 1968. Perhaps they can rest knowing that, in the end, freedom triumphed over authoritarianism.

  Special recognition must also be given to the many victims of the Stasi, including the brave women prisoners of the Hoheneck Castle.

  I will take this opportunity to thank Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, and world leaders who helped to put an end to Cold War authoritarianism in Europe.

  To Cold War warriors, to soldiers and airmen and women in the U.S. and all Allied militaries who played a critical role in helping to shape the course of a new history and whose dedication to service helped ultimately bring an end to the Cold War.

  To Opa, my grandfather, who tried his best to stand up for truth and justice. To Oma, who lit the way for me to write this book.

  And finally, I wish to thank to my husband, for his research, edits, and reviews, but even more important, for his understanding of my vision. Most of all, I am grateful for his insistence that, above all, I tell the human story within the framework of history.

  GLOSSARY

  Allied Checkpoints. Checkpoint Alpha: Helmstedt crossing point between West and East Germany; Checkpoint Bravo: Dreilinden crossing point between East Germany and West Berlin; Checkpoint Charlie: Berlin crossing point between West and East Berlin; crossing point for Allied military personnel and foreigners, including foreign diplomats.

  Allies. While this term was originally used in 1945 to identify the Four Powers administering Berlin (United States, Britain, France, Soviet Union), I use it here to denote the Western powers only.

  Berlin. Surrounded by East Germany, Berlin was divided into West Berlin, itself divided into three Allied sectors: French sector (north), British sector (center), and U.S. sector (south); and East Berlin, the Soviet sector.

  Communism, Socialism. For the purposes of this book, I use the terms socialism and communism interchangeably.

  Communist Party. The ruling party of East Germany was the Socialist Unity Party, the SED, which was formed in 1946 by forcing the Communist and Social Democratic parties to fuse into one left party, the SED, which essentially became what was known as the Communist Party of East Germany.

  East Germans. Though the citizens of the East are most accurately described before the establishment of East Germany in 1949 as Soviet or East Zone Germans, for the purposes of this book and for the sake of ease for the reader, I refer to all German citizens of the East after 1945 as East Germans.

  East Germany. Occupied by the Soviets from 1945 to 1989. From 1945 to 1949 known as the Soviet Zone or East Zone. After 1949 known as East Germany.

  FDJ. Free German Youth (Freie Deutsche Jugend), the official communist youth organization for ages fourteen to twenty-five.

  FRG. Federal Republic of Germany, known in German as BRD: Bundesrepublik Deutschland. West Germany = FRG = BRD.

  GDR. German Democratic Republic, known in German as DDR: Deutsche Demokratische Republik. East Germany = GDR = DDR.

  JP. Young Pioneers (Junge Pioniere) and Thälmann Pioneers ages six to fourteen.

  Jugendweihe. Ceremony marking entry into adulthood and, during Cold War, included swearing loyalty to the regime.

  NVA. National People’s Army (Nationale Volksarmee), the East German army.

  Stasi. Secret police, Ministry for State Security, MfS (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit). Local or regional authorities in the East = Party officials, Stasi, VoPo, or other government or security authority. For the purposes of this book, I use Stasi, secret police, police, authorities, and local authorities interchangeably because there was no way to delineate what arm of the law was active in any given situation.

  U.S. Soviet Sector Flag Tours. Operations in East Berlin.

  U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM). Operations in East Germany.

  VoPos. The East German Police, the People’s Police (Volkspolizei).

  West Germans. To keep things simple for the reader, I refer to all West Zone Germans as West Germans, even though that term was not in use until after the establishment of West Germany in 1949.

  West Germany. Administered by the Americans, British, and French from 1945 to 1989. From 1945 to 1949 known as the Allied Zone, West Zone, or Bizonia.

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