Reflection on Ina’s Interview

I am very grateful for Ina’s dedication to telling her story growing up in East Germany. Her story really intrigued me as it reminded me of a book I had read as a child called Fahrenheit 451. It was a story of a man in a dystopian society where books were completely banned, and it reminded me of the caution and secrecy that Ina and her family had to take in order to live in East Germany just as that book had alluded to as well. This is fascinating to me because growing up, a world like in the book I read seemed so scary to me and almost unreal like it would never actually happen but hearing Ina speak from her first-hand experiences really shifted my perspectives on the realities of the world.

Something that really stood out to me in Ina’s childhood experiences was the underground bartering her family had with the local grocery store. The idea of having a child be the parcel to receiving items that weren’t allowed was so clever yet so sad to hear that children had to be used to maintain a living. It was also shocking to hear that these methods were needed for mundane things that we easily have access to in our daily lives such as coffee. I really wish to understand the psychology of this nature and growing up in a world where such lengths need to be taken to receive the bare minimum as we see it now. I really wonder how this effected Ina mentally and if she sees any of these effects manifesting into her life even now.

The idea of Ostalgia was also so interesting for me to hear about from the lens of Ina. To her, it was just her childhood, it was just like how we felt when we saw something like a candy we indulged in our childhood. It was wholesome to see her looking at the positives of her childhood and being able to put aside the scary moments and look at the simple joys. Ostalgia is a very intricate concept that shows me that no matter what a human goes through, we are still very much the same. Ina, just like us, reminisces and wonders about the joys of her childhood whether it’s how her living room used to look or a special milk she loved even though it was drastically different than a lot of people’s lives. It is a bit disheartening to realize that, yes, having a society like that relinquished or changed up for the better is good, but it also erases the very valid and good experiences that people have had within it especially when they were forced to grow up in it.

Ostalgia can affect the sustainable development of Germany in many ways. Firstly, I believe that it can maybe create a narrative where nostalgia can be so strong that many want to preserve the old communist ways of Germany which can heavily affect the development of that region. This can effect things like one’s values and make someone more close-minded to West German or modern ways. Furthermore, the allocation of resources is a huge issue. There is a clear divide in development between the East and West whether it is education, employment, or even infrastructure. Ostalgia can also have good effects on the sustainable development in Germany. Many of those living in the GDR faced hardships and understand that they need to develop. Many moved to the East for better education and jobs and made better livings for themselves. Contrarily, this causes a divide from West and East Germany as people see the West as a land for more opportunities to grow and become something more while leaving the East behind to be neglected. This divide causes sustainable development to be imbalanced in Germany as both the East and West had faced sort of their own different worlds, and the fall of the wall caused a unification that needs more attention to make both sides equal through looking at making it more equitable. More resources and work need to be done so East Germany does not lag behind.