Stealing the Future (24 page)

Görlitz:
Following a week of
protests the West Silesian government has lost a vote of no confidence in the Region’s parliament. The vote last night followed the exposure last week of an alleged plot by former Stasi officers to destabilise the GDR. The West Silesian Round Table has invited representatives of the Central Round Table in Berlin to negotiate terms for the full reintegration of the Region into the GDR.

Moscow:
Soviet President Gorbachev continues to consolidate his position after surviving the failed coup attempt last week. Elections for both Soviet Parliaments have been announced, and several ministers in Gorbachev’s government have been replaced. The Soviet Ministry of the Interior has announced an investigation into the role of the KGB during the crisis.

11:32

Erika, Klaus, Laura and I were sat in an ante-room in the old Party Central Committee building. We were all nervous, waiting to be called in to the Central Round Table to account for our actions. Dieter had come back from his annual leave, and was sat there with us too—there was no need for him to be there, he hadn’t been involved in the case at all, but he wanted to be with us, and we appreciated that. He wasn’t just a reassuring presence: he had helped us sort through the aftermath too. The work hadn’t stopped last week with the arrest of the Minister and Evelyn—we’d spent a lot of time analysing both the file that Schimmel had decrypted and the KGB file Dmitri had given us. Along with other papers from the Minister’s office we had more than enough information on the Stasi task force. The encrypted file was a running report, written by the Minister for the leader of the task force, GÄRTNER—a comprehensive detailing of all his actions during the West Silesian crisis. It started last year with the Minister encouraging the West Silesian League to campaign for autonomy from Saxony, channelling money from a numbered Swiss bank account into the League’s party coffers. The plan was to destabilise the GDR with the threat of West Silesian secession, making it possible to recentralise power structures, as Dmitri had predicted.

But once the Westgermans had also started pouring money and technical support into the breakaway Region the threat of secession became an all too real possibility. That would have bankrupted the GDR, leading inevitably to a full takeover by the Westgermans. Maier had spotted an opportunity to feather his own nest, and had become an overenthusiastic supporter of the plans for secession. He had started negotiating a power deal—both for political and electrical power—with the Westgermans, hoping that with their protection he could outwit the task force he had been part of. It couldn’t have been easy for Fremdiswalde to carry out the orders he had been given, to save the plan by silencing his lover. Maybe that’s why he botched it so badly, leaving the body on the tracks rather than disposing of it properly.

Dmitri’s file provided more general background detail to the beginnings of the operation. As we’d already worked out, the Minister was TRAKTOR. But BAUM wasn’t Evelyn as I’d suspected: it was none other than our secretary Bärbel, who hadn’t been seen since last Friday. Bärbel, always sitting quietly in the corner, making notes about absolutely everything, and never really noticed by any of us.

Last week I’d assumed the OibE was in position in West Silesia, but the Stasi officer in charge had actually been here at the Ministry all along, keeping tabs on the operation, and on me. Her time in Moscow had been spent preparing her to lead the task force—GÄRTNER was none other than Evelyn.

We hadn’t yet worked out who ZIEGE and Spaten were—whoever they were, they were still out there, but finding them was a job for the cops, not for us.

We’d spent a lot of time wrapping up this case, and we’d had lots of discussions about the state of our Republic. We’d had to confront some of the key issues our society faced: the way attitudes in the police force hadn’t changed since the days when they took their orders from the Party, the way Chris could be beaten up and die at the hands of prison warders. His death was more than enough proof for me that there were still connections between the current security apparatus and their ex-colleagues who had been in the Stasi.

It was ironic to think that the same police force and prison service currently had custody of Benno Hartmann and Evelyn Hagenow. I was glad that it wouldn’t be for us to decide what was to happen to them—that was a problem for the courts. Nevertheless we couldn’t help but think about what kind of punishment they might deserve: prison or exile seemed the most obvious options, but neither seemed particularly palatable. Exile was the way the old regime dealt with those it considered too troublesome; an exclusion from friends, family and familiar landscapes. Prison represented another kind of exile, an exclusion from life without actually having to take that life. A sadistic punishment wrapped up in the language of protecting the population.

“How are things with Annette?” Erika asked me suddenly.

I looked over at her. I could have answered. I could have said that I hadn’t seen Annette since that Thursday in the Rigaer Strasse. That I’d spoken to her just once, on the phone, that she’d asked me not to contact her, that she would call me when the time was right. I could tell Erika that Katrin had suggested she talk to Annette on my behalf, but that I’d been too proud to accept the offer. But I didn’t say anything.

Erika had already gone back to staring at the opposite wall, her legs and arms crossed, one foot tapping nervously, her question idle, empty, already forgotten.

I thought of Katrin. I’d seen a lot of her this last week. Somehow the events had brought us closer. I think Katrin had been glad to play some small part in what happened, it made her feel that she’d finally contributed in some way, made up for leaving the country in 1989. I think Karo and her friends had a similar sense of pride. They’d celebrated last Friday after the Minister and Evelyn had been arrested. I’d bought them a few crates of beer, and they’d partied far into the next morning, proud to be a part of this great social experiment of ours.

My thoughts returned to the present, and I restlessly flicked through my copy of the report we had prepared for the Round Table, recommending that all senior ministerial positions should be held by a committee rather than an individual. We argued that ministerial mandates concentrated too much power in too few hands, and were therefore unaccountable and open to abuse. We suggested that a small and accountable team should take responsibility for co-ordinating the work of each ministry. Other chapters of the report observed that there was an acute need to democratise the police force, recommending the presence of civilian observers in any potentially controversial operation, to be decided in each case by a standing sub-committee of the local Round Table. The problems of violence against prisoners was also addressed, and an independent investigation of Chris’s death called for. We’d discussed the need for re-education efforts in the police and prison service, but the very phrase, with its Stalinist shadows, made us hesitate to include it in the report.

The document had been signed by every single member of the different branches of the
Republikschutz
and an outline of the suggestions had been published in the newspapers.

But now we had to personally account for what we’d done. Although the files we’d found at the Minister’s office were more than enough to vindicate our actions, we were unsure how we would be received by the Round Table members—we had seriously exceeded our authority by detaining a democratically elected member of the government.

The door opened, and the five of us looked up, wondering whether we’d be called in. Instead of an usher, a Russian officer walked in—Dmitri. He smiled broadly, arms outstretched, including us all in his welcome.

“Comrades,” he cried jovially. “The naughty comrades! What a brilliant plan, an instructive subversion of authority! But, my friends, don’t look so worried, I think all is well!” He considered my anxious face for a moment, “I have given the Central Round Table of the GDR a full report on the activities of GÄRTNER and her team. I explained her links to the KGB faction which attempted to overthrow President Gorbachev last week. I impressed upon them that without your revolutionary vigilance GÄRTNER and her crew would have destabilised the GDR to the extent that Westgermany would have simply taken over policing responsibilities in the interests of keeping order. Now the Westgermans will have to find another excuse to interfere in your country.”

“But what are you doing here? How did you get to address the Round Table?” I asked.

“Well, my friend, I thought you could use a little help. After all, you very kindly took the minor problem of the OibE at the Ministry off my hands—and that meant that I had enough capacity to make my plans against the anti-Gorbachev forces here in Germany. As soon as the coup in Moscow failed I could round them up and make sure they didn’t do any further harm.” Dmitri looked very pleased with himself.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“Yes, there is.” A theatrical pause, then: “You are now looking at the senior liaison officer between the KGB and the government of the GDR. I have requested that you be my contact here in Berlin.” A little bow, “I think,
tovarishch
, that you and I will be working together again. But right now I think the Round Table is waiting for you,” and with a mock salute, Dmitri marched out of the room.

Historically minded readers will have noticed the point in time at which the narrative presented in
Stealing the Future
forks from reality. It is true that on the 4
th
of November 1989 there was the largest independent demonstration in the history of the GDR, but the
For Our Country
Statement talked about by Martin and Margrit at the communal lunch on Sunday didn’t actually make an appearance until the 28
th
of November 1989, when it was almost overshadowed (at least in Western accounts) by Helmut Kohl’s ‘10 Point Plan’ for German re-unification.

In
Stealing the Future
, however, both the Statement and the 10 Point Plan are launched on the same day as the mass demonstration.

This slight change to history resulted, in Martin’s world, in increased awareness of West Germany’s plans for a speedy annexation of the GDR, and in turn, of the issues that are considered in the
For Our Country
Statement.

The result: a continued existence for the GDR, and the grand social experiment that forms the backdrop to this book and its sequels.

More information about the point of divergence and the
For Our Country
Statement can be found on the author’s website: www.maxhertzberg.co.uk

This half-day tour visits some of the main scenes of
Stealing the Future
. The tour involves walking and using a tram so it’s worth buying a local transport day ticket or hiring a bike.

Walking distance
: 1½ Miles (2.2km) in Rummelsburg; an optional ¾ mile (1.25km) near KWO plus ¾ mile (1.25km) in Karlshorst.

Total time:
at least 4 hours.

Start
: Rummelsburg S-Bahn station.

End
: Stasi HQ, near Magdalenenstrasse U-Bahn station.

Accessibility
: Almost all of the tour is wheelchair accessible, all stations have lifts and buses and trams are either low-floor level or equipped with ramps. Further details in text.

More details
, including maps and downloadable GPX tracks (for walking and cycling) at: www.maxhertzberg.co.uk/tours

Start the tour at
Rummelsburg S-Bahn station
, exiting at the Hauptstrasse entrance. Cross the main road and tram tracks, and take one of the roads directly opposite.

Accessibility
The path along the river promenade is paved, then well packed grit. However at the Knabenhäuser the path goes down a series of shallow steps with a loose sand surface. As an alternative route leave the riverside path just before the steps and turn right into the road running parallel to the river.

The Rummelsburger See is actually a dead arm of the river Spree, which flows through the heart of Berlin. The peninsular opposite was, until the early 1990s, an industrial centre—glass and bottle making along with an asphalt works, a brewery, various factories and ship building were the main activities there. The industrial legacy on both sides of the lake has led to heavy metal and oil contamination of the water, so unfortunately bathing can’t be recommended!

Turn left, following the water’s edge south-east until you are opposite the red brick building on the far bank: the
Palm Oil warehouse
was built in 1881 to store palm oil for use in food products and to burn in power stations.

On the horizon to your right you can see the Art Nouveau
water tower
at Ostkreuz station. To the right of the water tower the
Television Tower
can be seen off in the distance.

There is a pleasant promenade along the side of the lake, but in Martin’s time it wouldn’t have been possible to walk along the shore—factories, a military camp and a prison lined the edge of this side of the lake. After less than half a mile you’ll get to a visitors’ mooring where pleasure boats can stay for up to 24 hours, and behind that the imposing yellow brick
Knabenhäuser
, the remains of an orphanage where, until 1949, orphans were held in (by today’s standards) inhumane conditions. By 1960 most of the old buildings had been cleared, and this area became the barracks of the 35
th
Border Troops Regiment, which patrolled the Berlin Wall where it ran along the left bank of the river Spree. This is the spot at which Martin sits for a while after visiting Chris Fremdiswalde in prison.

Across the water, to the left, you should be able to see the top of the
Ferris wheel
peeping over the woods of the
Plänterwald woods
.

Just a couple of hundred metres further down the promenade you’ll reach the
Rummelsburg Prison
, behind a tall row of poplars. The concrete slabs that now make up the river promenade were once part of the guards’ patrol route, with dog kennels on the river-side. The prison was originally built in the 1870s as a workhouse. Although the poor conditions improved slightly during the Weimar period they deteriorated drastically after 1933 when the Nazis gained power.

After the war the bombed-out workhouse was hurriedly repaired and converted into a prison. This place had the dubious honour of being one of the most notorious prisons in the GDR, along with Bautzen, Cottbus and Hohenschönhausen.

Almost all of the prison walls and fences have been removed, leaving only some of the accommodation and work blocks—most of the site has been converted into luxury residences, and the prison hospital is now a bijou Hotel.

You can walk through the prison, and there is an app available with information and pictures of how it looked, along with a suggested tour: www.rummelsburg-app.de/en/

Go right through the prison until you get to the main road on the other side. The old
police station
(including steel gates) can be seen along to the left. This building now lies empty, the courtyard beyond is hidden by a high wall and grey steel gate—but if you go round the back you can see in through a fence. A row of innocuous looking garages stand to one side of the gate—it was in these garages that hundreds of protesters were beaten and held in stress positions for hours during the fortieth anniversary of the GDR in 1989. The ‘Tiger Cages’ in which Chris Fremdiswalde (along with many political detainees during the history of the GDR) was held are in the basement of the police station.

Tram 21
(every 20 mins) runs along the Hauptstrasse in front of the prison. The prison is halfway between tram stops, so go either way to catch the tram towards S-Bahn Schöneweide.

The tram goes right past the Klingenberg Power Station, which still burns brown coal from the area of West Silesia (Upper Lusatia). The administration building which Martin visited is on the left, just after the tram stop.

Accessibility
Although tram 21 is low-floor, not all stops have raised platforms, and not all trams are equipped with ramps—it is therefore possible that there will be a step of up to 20cm at stops in the next section of the tour. It is possible to skip the following section of the tour (KWO) and get off tram at
Hegemeisterweg
, continuing the tour from end of the section Wuhlheide/Soviet Army Barracks.

Get off at the stop
Wilhelminenhofstr/Edisonstr
and walk down the Wilhelminenhofstrasse, past the transformer factory TRO (¾ Mile, 1.25km) to
KWO
, the cable factory where Chris Fremdiswalde was caught.

If you prefer not to walk you can catch another tram for the couple of stops down the road: tram 27 (every 20 mins) from the same stop you just got off. Alight at
Rathenaustr/HTW.

The factory is right by the tram stop. KWO, designed by the famous architect Peter Behrens, and built in 1897 by the Rathenau family, was part of the Electric Oberschöneweide movement which took industry out of the centre of Berlin. After the war KWO became the main factory and administrative centre of the Kombinat KWO “Wilhlem Pieck”. The Combine monopolised cable production in the GDR.

The industrial train track that ran down the right hand side of the road has been taken up, although remains of sidings can be seen in the transformer works next door.

Most of the KWO factory is now a Technical College, and you can freely walk around the campus. Unfortunately the paternoster lift is no longer there, but the corridor where Martin caught up with the injured Chris is now a computer museum and is open to the public.

Once you’ve had a look around KWO get any tram heading to Köpenick or Krankenhaus Köpenick and get off three stops later at the
Freizeit- und Erholungszentrum
. Walk down the main drive of the park on the other side of the road, This will take you to the open air stage, built in 1951 for the World Festival of Youth and Students. The park you are in is the
Wuhlheide
, where Nik met Dmitri. Originally a heath, now mostly wooded, but deep inside is the old
Palace of the Pioneers
(
Palace for the Children
), which still has lots of events for younger people, not to mention the narrow gauge
park railway
that goes through the park, run by children (for the benefit of both children and adults that are still young at heart).

Turn left at the stage (or go back to the stage if you’ve been to look at the Palace, then carry on in the same direction) and after about half a mile you should start seeing cycle route signs on the path. Follow these past the
Model Park Berlin-Brandenburg
. On the right hand side you’ll see a derelict patch of land—this used to be the
barracks of the Soviet Army Berlin Brigades
, including tank regiments—the same tanks that were used to crush the 1953 uprising and participated in putting down the Prague Spring in 1968. There isn’t much to see there now, just some blocks of concrete among the undergrowth, but check out the photographs, taken in 1999, just five years after the Russians left: www.berlinstreet.de/4152

Continue along the path to the main road, and catch the tram M17, 27 or 37 (every few minutes) for the couple of stops to
S-Bahnhof Karlshorst
(the stop just after you go under the railway bridge).

When you get off the tram at S-Bahnhof Karlshorst, walk back along the road a bit, turning left into Stolzenfelsstrasse. Here you can jump on the bus 296 (every 20 mins, towards S-Bahn Lichtenberg). Get off at
Museum Karlshorst
—this is the
German-Russian Museum
(
fully accessible
), which is in the building where the Germans surrendered to the Red Army in 1945. Next to the museum once stood the main Red Army (later Soviet Army) base in Berlin, where Martin met the Russian major. The site has now been turned into yet another luxurious residential project, but there are photos of the complex from 2012 at: www.abandonedberlin.com/2010/04/soviet-swansong-abandoned-military.html.

(This base shouldn’t be confused with the headquarters of the
Western Group of Troops
of the Soviet Army, based in Wünsdorf, a train ride south of Berlin. The base in Wünsdorf is also worth a visit, and has a museum).

Jump back on the bus, heading towards Lichtenberg, and it will take you to
Friedrichsfelde U-Bahn station
, where you can explore this suburb of Berlin and try to guess where Chris Fremdiswalde had his flat.

For the next stage, get the underground to
Magdalenenstrasse
for the
Stasi HQ
. Walk up Ruschestrasse and into the complex through the gate on the right hand side. This was the central Stasi base from which General Erich Mielke directed his tentacular secret police. As well as the offices of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives there is also a
museum
(entrance: €5) in the buildings. The museum documents various aspects of the Stasi, and you can visit General Mielke’s offices.

If you wish to learn more about the Stasi a visit to the Hohenschönhausen Stasi Prison is also to be recommended.