by Nina Willner
Interflug, 310
International Hit Parade, 262
interzone pass system, 28, 36
Iron Curtain
Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech, 88
descent of, 17–30
fall of, 326–30
use of term, xix
Italian classes, 108, 115
Italy, 108, 120–21, 309–12
Ivanov, Lieutenant, 23
Jackson, Michael, 262, 313
Jefferson, Thomas, 91
Jennings, Peter, 330
Jirkowsky, Marienetta, 230
Jugendweihe, 114, 151, 157–58, 158, 246, 362
KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), 251
Kai
childhood of, 5–6, 30, 46–47, 51, 52, 70, 77, 90, 129
death of, 195, 208
in NVA, 151–53
in youth movement, 70, 85–86, 114–15
Kallehn
death of, 138
farmstead of, 21–22, 32, 32, 35, 41, 75, 81, 138, 336
Hanna escape attempts, 31–33, 36–39, 41–42, 54, 59
Klemens’s escape attempt, 75
Soviet occupation of Schwaneberg, 21–22, 30
Kanterburg Hill, 159
Karl Marx Allee (East Berlin), 268–69, 321
Karl Marx City
Day of the Republic parade, 210–12
Heidi and Reinhard in, 177–78, 179, 192–93, 195, 210–11, 231, 282, 308, 319–20
Karlshorst, 292–94, 295–96
Kazakhstan, 79
Kennedy, John F., xvii, 140–41, 144, 146, 150
assassination of, 164
Berlin Wall and “Ich bin ein Berliner!” speech, 164, 298
Cuban Missile Crisis, 153–54
KGB, 79, 255, 259, 279
Khmer Rouge, 196
Khrushchev, Nikita, 138, 146, 153–54
Klaus, Erich, 233
Klein Apenburg, 164, 165–70, 166, 172–75, 181–85, 187, 190–91, 194, 207–8, 212–17, 246–47, 336
Klemens
appearance of, 52
childhood of, 6, 11
death of, 162
escape attempt, 75
Hanna’s final escape, 51–52
Opa’s birthday celebration and, 158–60
personality of, 52
in youth movement, 70
Knechtel, Rüdiger, 152–53
Komsomol, 69
Korean Air Lines Flight 007, 252
Korean War, 116–17
Krenz, Egon, 271–72, 324, 325–26
Kurfurstendamm (Ku’Damm), 251, 330
Lange, Johannes, 202
Leipzig, 318, 322–23
Leipzigerstrasse, 289, 354
Lennon, John, 302
Litfin, Günter, 145
London, 89
Los Angeles Olympics (1984), 267
Lucius D. Clay Headquarters Building, 256–57, 354
Lucky Strike cigarettes, 54, 58, 119
Lufthansa, 249
Madonna (singer), 262
Magdeburg, 4, 23, 50–51, 54, 304
Maggy, 175, 338
Main Department II (Counterintelligence), 256
Main Department VIII (Observation), 256
Manni
Albert’s visit, 221
childhood of, 6, 11
communist life, 162, 195
family dinner, 126
family reunion of 1990, 333–37
family reunion of 2013, 338, 339
Hanna’s final escape, 51–52
Oma and Heidi’s visit to Heidelberg, 101
Opa’s birthday celebration and, 158–60
personality of, 53
teaching career, 129, 151
in youth movement, 70, 85–86
Mao Zedong, 116–17
Marcel, 175, 338
Mari, 268, 321
birth and childhood of, 195, 199–200, 211, 212, 213, 227
at Paradise Bungalow, 236–41, 242
Marienfelde Refugee Center, 140
Mariotti, Philippe, 260, 261
Marlboro, 301
Marshall Plan, 48
Marxism, 20, 27, 30, 80, 118–19, 138
Marzahn Sports Complex, 285–89, 290–92, 294–95, 298, 299, 325
Mauerspechte, 343
McCarthy, Joseph, 117
Meier, 177, 235–36, 341
Merkel, Angela, 344
MGM-31 Pershings, 253, 254
Midsummer Night’s Dream, A (play), 103
Mielke, Erich, 80, 194
Military Academy, U.S. (West Point), 248
Military Liaison Mission, U.S. See USMLM
Ministry for State Security (MfS). See Stasi
Moscow Olympics (1980), 227–28, 267
Mueller, Rudolf, 160
Muschol, Johannes, 230
music, 232–33, 262
Nationalsozialistische Bewegung, 10
National Youth Festival, 262
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), 17, 68, 78, 253–54
Exercise Able Archer, 254
intelligence gathering, 254–60
West Germany joins, 108
Neckar River, 103
Neckar Valley, 13, 70–71
Neues Deutschland, 93, 144
Nicholson, Arthur, 260, 275, 277–78, 349
Nina
as Army intelligence officer, 245, 247
farewell dinner, 302–3
first assignment in East Berlin, 17, 248–52
Flag Tour missions, 255–60, 262–64, 264, 265, 266–67, 273–74, 288–90, 292–94, 295–96, 300–302
training, 245, 247, 248
in Berlin Marathon, 297–99
birth of, 141
departure from Berlin on Duty Train, 303–6
downfall of Eastern Bloc, 318–19, 330
East Germany’s thirty-fifth anniversary parade, 268–72
family reunion of 2013, 337–38
first awareness of grandmother, xviii–xix, 20
at James Madison University, 225–26
“99 Luftballons” (song), 262
Nixon, Richard, 192
Nobel Peace Prize, 349
Normannenstrasse, 255–56
North Korea, 116–17
North Vietnam, 117, 153, 170–71, 196
nuclear arms race, 78–79, 117, 139, 153, 252–53
NVA (National People’s Army), 108, 151, 176, 270, 347, 362
Odenwald Mountains, 13, 70–71
Olympic Games
boycott of Moscow (1980), 227–28, 267
East German sports training for, 222–23, 268, 282–92, 294–95, 347
in Los Angeles (1984), 267
in Seoul (1988), 312
Oma
applications to travel to the West, 78, 89, 98, 123, 127
border lockdown, 88–89
children and family life, 9–14, 16, 24–25, 78, 88–89, 164
death of, 216–17
deteriorating health of, 212–16
diabetes of, 184–85
end of war, 3–9, 14–16
Family Wall of, 148–49, 214–15
grandchildren of, 182–85, 184
gravesite of, 336
Hanna and
escape attempts, 42, 43–47
final escape, 50–51, 53–54, 59, 65
gift of fur coat, 122–23
Heidelberg visits, 100–106, 104, 105, 127–33, 132
letters and updates, 76–78, 83–84, 110, 111, 121, 122–23, 125, 198–99, 214
telephone call, 185–87
at Klein Apenburg, 164, 165–70, 166, 172–75, 181–85, 187, 194, 212–17, 333, 336
Nina’s first awareness of, xviii–xix, 20
Opa’s birthday celebration and, 158–60
police state and, 110, 113, 148–49
harassment by authorities, 115–16
Soviet occupation of Schwaneberg, 19–25, 30, 39, 40–41
Workers’ Uprising of 1953, 97
youth program for children, 70, 86
Opa
Albert’s visit, 219–22
appearance of, 25
applications to travel to the West, 89, 127
Berlin Wall and, 150–51
birthday celebration for, 158–60
death of, 274–75
death of Oma and, 216–17
end of war, 4, 7
family life, 9–14, 51–52, 126, 164
farmers against state and, 81–82
grandchildren of, 182–85, 184
gravesite of, 336
Hanna and
escape attempts, 42, 44–47
final escape, 51–55, 59, 64–65, 66–67, 76
Heidelberg visit, 127–33, 132, 132
letters and updates, 76–78, 83–84, 110, 111, 121, 122–23, 190–91, 198–99, 207–8, 216
telephone call, 185–87
as headmaster, 4, 9, 11–12, 25–29, 26, 26–28, 115–16
forced retirement, 163–64, 168
teaching Soviet doctrine, 26–28, 39–41, 69
at Klein Apenburg, 164, 165–70, 166, 172–75, 181–85, 187, 190–91, 194, 207–8, 215–16, 246–47, 336
police state and, 110, 113, 119, 207–8
“black marks,” 81, 82, 83, 89
defiance shown by Opa, 151–52, 154–55, 157–59, 162–63, 207
harassment by authorities, 115–16, 118–18, 133, 137–38
reeducation training, 208, 215–16
Soviet occupation of Schwaneberg, 21–22, 24–29, 30
Workers’ Uprising of 1953, 97
youth programs for children, 70, 86
Operation Rose, 142
Operation Vermin, 87–88
Ostrock (East Rock), 232–33
Oswald, Lee Harvey, 161
Paradise Bungalow, 236–41, 242, 261, 312–13, 336–37, 342
Paraguay, 138
Paris, 115
Pasternak, Boris, 226
Patrick Henry Village, 128–29
Patton tanks, 146
Peenemünde, 195
perestroika, 278–79
Pershing missiles, 253, 254, 307
pflaumkuchen, 213
Philosophers’ Walk, 103, 131
Pilatus PC-6 Porter, 257
Plato, 120
Plauen lace, 239
Poland
forced laborers under German rule, 21
Solidarity, 241, 273, 315, 316, 343
Poppe, Ulrike, 205, 349
postwar period, 3–9, 14–15
Potsdam House, 266–67, 273–74
Powers, Francis Gary, 139, 153, 274
Prague Spring, 171
Puhdys (band), 232
Queen (band), 294
Radewahn, Eike Christine, 280
Radio Luxembourg, 231
rape during the occupation of Germany, 5, 23
Rathaus Schöneberg (Berlin), 161, 298
rations, 19, 21–22, 94, 110, 159, 190, 229
Reagan, Ronald, 324, 349
anticommunist stance of, 234, 245, 252–53
Berlin and “Tear down this Wall” speech, 307–8
Gorbachev and reform, 275–76, 278–79, 307–8
nuclear arms, 252–53, 307
Strategic Defense Initiative, 252–53
Red Army, 5, 17–18, 24, 96, 117
Reforger 83, 254
Reinhard
communist life, 189–90, 191–93, 195, 224–25, 231, 236
demonstrations of 1989, 319–20, 322–23, 325
fall of East Germany, 326, 327, 330, 331–32
family reunion of 1990, 335
family reunion of 2013, 338
in Karl Marx City, 177–78, 179, 195, 231, 319–20
marriage to Heidi, 176–78
at Paradise Bungalow, 236–41, 242, 261, 312–13, 336–37, 342
update on, 341–42
Roland
Albert’s visit, 219–22
childhood of, 4, 9–14, 10, 11
communist life, 162, 195, 200, 207
death of, 314, 336
Hanna’s final escape, 51–52, 53
letters and updates, 129, 200, 214, 314
Oma’s death and, 217
Opa’s birthday celebration and, 158–60
Opa’s death and, 274–75
personality of, 52
Soviet occupation of Schwaneberg, 21–22, 24
teaching career, 26–27, 47–48, 52, 77, 151, 162, 195, 200, 207
Romania, 343
Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel, 117
Rotkäppchen champagne, 240, 335
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 218
Russian Foreign Area Officers, 260
Saale River, 9, 159
Sabine, 33–34, 42–43
Sachi, 175, 338
Sachsenhausen Special Camp, 65
Salzwedel, 22, 173, 174, 176, 219
Sandmännchen (Sandman), 192–93, 193
Schabowski, Günter, 325–26
Schandmauer (Wall of Shame), 152–53
Scharfenstein refrigerator, 189–90
Schatzi, 7
Schimmel piano, 12, 159–60, 167, 170, 183
Schmidt, Helmut, 204
Schneider family, 64, 66, 67
Schönefeld Airport, 310
Schumann, Conrad, 144–45
Schwaneberg
Opa takes a stand for farmers against state, 81–82
postwar period, 3–9, 14–16
schoolhouse, 2, 4, 6, 11–12
Soviet occupation, 18–30, 39, 40–41
Workers’ Uprising of 1953, 97
youth movement, 69–70, 85–86, 112–15
schwibbogen, 190
SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative), 252–53
Seebenau, 21, 30, 75, 93, 336
border, 33–37
Seoul Olympics (1988), 312
Siegessäule, 298
Siekmann, Ida, 145
Silly (band), 232
Sixth Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (Karlshorst), 292–94, 347
Skoda, 178, 310, 331
Snickers bar, 301
socialism, use of term, 361
Socialist Unity Party of Germany, 29–30, 69, 79, 361
Solidarity, 241, 273, 315, 316, 343
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr, 226
Sony Walkmans, 241, 311
South Korea, 116–17
South Vietnam, 153, 170–71
Soviet Sector Flag Tours, U.S., 258–60, 266–67, 273–74, 279, 288–90, 292–96, 300–302
Soviet Union. See also Cold War; and specific leaders
Afghanistan invasion, 228, 267
Cuban Missile Crisis, 153–54
declaration of sovereignty by East Germany, 107–8
dissolution of, 344
doctrine and propaganda, 26–28, 34–35, 39–41, 69, 91–92, 118–19, 226–27
Helsinki Accords, 196–97, 204
Hungarian Revolution, 117, 171
intelligence gathering, 254–60
KGB, 79, 255, 259, 279
Korean Air Lines Flight 007, 252
nuclear arms control, 139, 307
nuclear arms race, 78–79, 117, 139, 153, 252–53, 307
postwar division of Europe, 7–8, 17–18
space race, 117, 139, 171, 196–97
stripping of East Zone, 20, 23
U-2 incident of 1960, 139
Warsaw Pact, 17, 108, 171, 254, 315
space race, 117, 139, 171, 196–97
Sportsclub Chemnitz, 342
sports program. See East German sports program
Spree River, 145, 154, 203, 230
Sputnik 1, 117
SS-20 Saber, 252–53, 307
Stalin, Joseph, 5, 18, 27, 34, 78, 91
Stasi, 79–81, 87, 92, 362
after the Fall, 345–46
censorship, 107–8
charging of East Germans as foreign spies, 140
informant program, 110, 127, 137–38, 155–56, 255–56
Oma and Opa and, 127, 133, 137–38
politica
l dissidents and, 205–6
psychological torture, 203–4
Stern-Hobby, 189
Stevens, Cat, 232
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 31
Stollberg, 72, 73, 177, 231, 348, 353
Stollen, 190
Strelzyk, Peter, 230
Summer Olympics. See Olympic Games
Tag der Republik (Day of the Republic), 210–12
Tagesschau, 231, 312
TATRA trucks, 263
Taubmann, Thomas, 230
Taylor, James, 232
“Tear down this Wall” speech, 308
Tet Offensive, 170–71
Thuringian Forest, 246
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, 316
Tiele
childhood of, 6, 11, 46, 51–52
communist life, 162, 195
fall of Berlin Wall, 327
family reunion of 1990, 334–37
family reunion of 2013, 338, 339
Hanna’s final escape, 51–52
Opa’s birthday celebration and, 158–60
personality of, 52–53
teaching career, 97, 151, 185, 214
in youth movement, 70
Tiergarten, 298
Time (magazine), 157, 206
Trabant, 178, 220, 318, 333
Trabitz, 9, 159, 353 “traitors,” 65–66
Tutti
Albert’s visit, 221
appearance of, 53
communist life, 30, 195
fall of Berlin Wall, 327
family reunion of 1990, 334–37
family reunion of 2013, 338, 339
Hanna’s final escape, 51
Oma and Heidi’s visit to Heidelberg, 100–101
Opa’s birthday celebration and, 158–60
personality of, 53
in youth movement, 70, 112–14, 151
Twain, Mark, 14
typewriter, 76
Uchtspringe, 208
Ukraine, 21
Ulbricht, Walter, 74, 79, 156
Berlin Wall and, 137, 141, 148
declaration of sovereignty, 107–8
economic policy, 82–83, 93–94
Workers’ Uprising of 1953, 97, 99–100
United Nations, 138
United States. See also Cold War
arrival in Schwaneberg, 5–8, 14–16
Cuban Missile Crisis, 153–54
formation of NATO, 17, 68
Marshall Plan, 48
nuclear arms control, 139, 307
nuclear arms race, 78–79, 117, 139, 153, 252–53, 307
postwar division of Europe, 7–8, 14–16
space race, 117, 139, 171, 196–97
women in the military, 247–48
University of California, 220
Unter den Linden, 286, 299, 354
USMLM (U.S. Military Liaison Mission), 258, 260, 262–63, 265, 266–67, 273–74, 279, 301, 362
USSR. See Soviet Union
U-2 incident of 1960, 139
Venice, 121
Vietnam War, 153, 170–71
Voice of America, 230–31
VoPo (Volkspolizei), 29–30, 318, 346, 362
confiscating private land, 81–82
Hanna’s final escape, 64–65, 66–67
Walesa, Lech, 316, 343