Ostalgie

I thought the video interview with Ina was very interesting. One thing that struck me as surprising was the different emotions associated with looking back at the DDR and East Germany. On one hand there were terrible memories of an abusive school system and police attempts to recruit family members as spies, but on the other hand there is nostalgia or “Ostalgie” for a simpler time. It makes me wonder how similar nostalgia is to a different emotion, such as longing. I do not know if people who formerly lived in the DDR would be longing to go back, but rather just fond of previous experiences they had.

I was also curious about the transition away from communism and the old school system after the fall of the DDR, and what happened to all the old teachers and secret police officers, because the fall of the Berlin wall was quite recent in the grand scheme of history.

In summary it was very eye opening to hear Ina’s first person account of life in the DDR, and it made it seem much more real than doing something like watching a documentary or reading a book.