Way to make me feel old. ;) You're welcome though, glad you enoyed it. :P p.s. There is some other interesting Cold War content here you might enjoy in ~humanities.history, under ?tag=cold_war,...
Way to make me feel old. ;) You're welcome though, glad you enoyed it. :P
This was in the recommendeds, also a pretty good watch! Some chilling interviews of former Stasi officers: The Stasi and the Berlin Wall | DW Documentary
This was in the recommendeds, also a pretty good watch! Some chilling interviews of former Stasi officers:
Finally had a chance to watch it. Thanks, that was interesting! And I especially enjoyed seeing all the historical footage and photos interspersed all throughout. The Stasi was scary though,...
Finally had a chance to watch it. Thanks, that was interesting! And I especially enjoyed seeing all the historical footage and photos interspersed all throughout.
The Stasi was scary though, goddamn. I actually didn't know a whole lot about them before the doc, other than their portrayals in fictional movies as evil, heartless, generic bad guys... but as it turns out, that probably isn't far from the truth. I wonder if any of those former Stasi officers who were interviewed ever felt guilty about the horrible shit they did. Given how so many of them were smiling or almost looking nostalgic when recounting things on camera, I doubt it. Evil assholes.
The Minister in charge of them all, Erich Mielke, was something else entirely though. I don't believe in hell, but if it exists I have no doubt there is a special place in it for men like him. Disappointing to read on Wikipedia that he only spent 5 years in prison though, and even got to experience 5 more years of freedom before he died.
You are welcome! I went through their channel and they have a ton of free documentaries available. I trawled through almost all their uploads and bookmarked a bunch that interested me - posting...
You are welcome! I went through their channel and they have a ton of free documentaries available. I trawled through almost all their uploads and bookmarked a bunch that interested me - posting the Cold War ones here in case they interest you too (haven't seen them yet though).
The Stasi was scary though, goddamn. I actually didn't know a whole lot about them before the doc, other than their portrayals in fictional movies as evil, heartless, generic bad guys... but as it turns out, that probably isn't far from the truth.
I mean it's practically brainwashing, isn't it? And not having a choice.
I bet you've seen Das Leben Der Anderen (The Lives of Others) recommended before. It is almost always brought up whenever something about DDR is posted anywhere on the internet. But it is a truly great movie, an incredible portrayal, and very humanizing (but not too much) of the Stasi. I would highly recommend it if you haven't already seen it.
I wonder if any of those former Stasi officers who were interviewed ever felt guilty about the horrible shit they did. Given how so many of them were smiling or almost looking nostalgic when recounting things on camera, I doubt it. Evil assholes.
They do seem without remorse. Just speaking so matter-of-factly about these things. One of them saying he would have started shooting into the large crowd of protesters if they came near the wall. Thank fuck they didn't..
Yeah, I've watched a ton of DW documentaries over the years. They're usually pretty good. Not quite BBC quality, but close! I haven't seen any of the ones you linked to yet though, AFAICR, so I...
Yeah, I've watched a ton of DW documentaries over the years. They're usually pretty good. Not quite BBC quality, but close!
I haven't seen any of the ones you linked to yet though, AFAICR, so I will add them (and The Lives of Others) to my watchlist. Thanks for the extra recommendations! :)
I mean it's practically brainwashing, isn't it? And not having a choice.
Eh... there is always a choice, IMO. And I find it hard to sympathize with anyone that chooses to work for organizations like that, even if they were brought up to think they were doing good by hunting down, torturing, and killing people for trying to leave their country.
Hmm, maybe it's better to say that there was the illusion of not having a choice. They go a little bit into how they wanted to make sure that there were informants everywhere. So even if you tried...
Hmm, maybe it's better to say that there was the illusion of not having a choice. They go a little bit into how they wanted to make sure that there were informants everywhere. So even if you tried to not work for the state, or even work against it, you were likely going to get snitched on by that neighbor you thought was a nice person, or maybe by a coworker who was afraid they themselves would see consequences if they didn't snitch. They governed by fear more than anything (in my relatively uneducated guess).
But yes, there is no question that Milche and the Stasi was monstrous.
As someone born in the early 90's, the Cold War and especially the division of Berlin is so very fascinating. Thanks for posting, interesting stuff!
Way to make me feel old. ;) You're welcome though, glad you enoyed it. :P
p.s. There is some other interesting Cold War content here you might enjoy in ~humanities.history, under ?tag=cold_war, and ?tag=soviet_union
This was in the recommendeds, also a pretty good watch! Some chilling interviews of former Stasi officers:
The Stasi and the Berlin Wall | DW Documentary
Finally had a chance to watch it. Thanks, that was interesting! And I especially enjoyed seeing all the historical footage and photos interspersed all throughout.
The Stasi was scary though, goddamn. I actually didn't know a whole lot about them before the doc, other than their portrayals in fictional movies as evil, heartless, generic bad guys... but as it turns out, that probably isn't far from the truth. I wonder if any of those former Stasi officers who were interviewed ever felt guilty about the horrible shit they did. Given how so many of them were smiling or almost looking nostalgic when recounting things on camera, I doubt it. Evil assholes.
The Minister in charge of them all, Erich Mielke, was something else entirely though. I don't believe in hell, but if it exists I have no doubt there is a special place in it for men like him. Disappointing to read on Wikipedia that he only spent 5 years in prison though, and even got to experience 5 more years of freedom before he died.
You are welcome! I went through their channel and they have a ton of free documentaries available. I trawled through almost all their uploads and bookmarked a bunch that interested me - posting the Cold War ones here in case they interest you too (haven't seen them yet though).
1949 - One year, two Germanies
German reunification – a short history
The end of a superpower - The collapse of the Soviet Union
I mean it's practically brainwashing, isn't it? And not having a choice.
I bet you've seen Das Leben Der Anderen (The Lives of Others) recommended before. It is almost always brought up whenever something about DDR is posted anywhere on the internet. But it is a truly great movie, an incredible portrayal, and very humanizing (but not too much) of the Stasi. I would highly recommend it if you haven't already seen it.
They do seem without remorse. Just speaking so matter-of-factly about these things. One of them saying he would have started shooting into the large crowd of protesters if they came near the wall. Thank fuck they didn't..
Yeah, I've watched a ton of DW documentaries over the years. They're usually pretty good. Not quite BBC quality, but close!
I haven't seen any of the ones you linked to yet though, AFAICR, so I will add them (and The Lives of Others) to my watchlist. Thanks for the extra recommendations! :)
Eh... there is always a choice, IMO. And I find it hard to sympathize with anyone that chooses to work for organizations like that, even if they were brought up to think they were doing good by hunting down, torturing, and killing people for trying to leave their country.
Hmm, maybe it's better to say that there was the illusion of not having a choice. They go a little bit into how they wanted to make sure that there were informants everywhere. So even if you tried to not work for the state, or even work against it, you were likely going to get snitched on by that neighbor you thought was a nice person, or maybe by a coworker who was afraid they themselves would see consequences if they didn't snitch. They governed by fear more than anything (in my relatively uneducated guess).
But yes, there is no question that Milche and the Stasi was monstrous.
Link to neo's East Germany balloon escape and interview with Günter Wetzel video:
https://nebula.tv/videos/neo-the-balloon-escape