Inventory to the GDR Oral History Project Interviews
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2001, 2014
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: GDR Oral History Project interviews
Date (inclusive): 1990-1994
Collection Number: 94066
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
German
Physical Description:
8 manuscript boxes, 9 card file boxes
(5.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Sound recordings and transcripts of interviews of East German government and Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands leaders,
and East German dissidents, relating to political processes and policymaking in East Germany from 1945 to 1990. Project directed
by A. James McAdams, and sponsored by the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace and other organizations.
Creator:
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace
Creator:
McAdams, A. James
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
Photocopying limited to two pages per transcript without permission of Archivist. (use request for extra photocopies) For
copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1994.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], GDR Oral History Project interviews, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library
& Archives.
Introduction
by James McAdams, Principal Investigator
In 1994, the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University opened a major new archive, a collection
of over 80 oral histories of leading politicians and policymakers from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). The GDR
Oral History Project was initiated in 1990 by Professor A. James McAdams of the Helen Kellogg Institute for International
Studies at the University of Notre Dame. It was made possible largely through the financial assistance of the National Council
for Soviet and East European Research. Other supporters included the Center for German Studies at the University of California,
Berkeley, and the John Foster Dulles Program in Leadership Studies at Princeton University. The Hoover Institution supported
the transcription of all of the interviews in the collection.
The aim of the GDR Oral History Project was to record on tape some of the still vivid memories of the former leaders of East
Germany, so that in 50 or 100 years (the amount of time Socialist Unity Party [SED] general secretary, Erich Honecker, predicted
the Berlin Wall would last) future students of German history would have a unique source for assessing the driving motivations
of the individuals who once made up the country's dominant political culture. Of course, no series of interviews alone can
realistically relate the entire history of a state. Nevertheless, the researchers felt they could preserve for posterity a
segment of that experience by interviewing a select group of individuals who could reasonably be characterized as the East
German political elite.
In particular, the Oral History Project chose to interview four types of politically significant individuals. In the first
group, we emphasized well-known representatives of the SED, such as former members of the ruling politburo and central committee,
like Kurt Hager, Karl Schirdewan, Günther Kleiber, Herbert Häber, Werner Eberlein, Egon Krenz, and Gerhard Schürer. The second
group was broader, comprised largely of members of the party and state apparatus. In this case, our goal was to identify a
sample of policy implementers, from diplomats to department heads. Thus, we focused on key departments of the SED central
committee, such as Agitation and Propaganda and International Affairs, and sections of state ministries, such as the foreign
ministry department charged with East German-Soviet relations. Our third group of interviewees was comprised of so-called
policymaking intellectuals. This disparate group, with representatives ranging from economist Jürgen Kuczynski to socialist
theoretician Otto Reinhold, primarily included individuals who had some tangential relationship to policymaking; we particularly
emphasized former members of SED policy institutes, such as the Academy of Social Sciences and the Institute of Politics and
Economics. Finally, as the Oral History Project grew, we decided to develop a fourth group of interviewees in order to cast
light upon the transition from the GDR to unified Germany. This category was drawn from former dissidents who became politicians,
including such wide-ranging personalities as Markus Meckel, Lothar de Maiziere, Jens Reich, and Wolfgang Ullmann. [Footnote:
Since the opportunity arose to conduct interviews with individuals in the former Soviet party apparatus who had dealings with
the GDR, we also conducted several interviews in Moscow. However, the Soviet-East German relationship never evolved into a
formal interview category.]
From the beginning of the project, the organizers were confronted with a question that all oral historians face: how to find
an appropriate balance between the competing norms of "richness" and "rigor." Rigor involves the kind of rigidly-structured
interviews that will lend themselves to social scientific generalization and even quantification; richness, in contrast, favors
the unique political and personal story of each individual to be interviewed. On the side of rigor, we provided all our interviewers
with a concrete set of core questions to guarantee that the interviews would not be entirely random. Nearly everyone interviewed
was asked previously formulated questions about their family background and social class, their particular path to political
engagement, their views on the German national question, their perceptions of the outside world, and their personal experience
with policymaking in the GDR.
Yet, if we leaned in any particular direction in developing the project, it was in favor of richness. Clearly, we did not
have the resources to interview the number of representatives of the GDR elite that would have been required for quantitative
social-science analysis. We also found that it was best to tailor many of our questions to the individuals' own experiences,
since we were dealing with very different sorts of people, with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Some, for example, had
worked closely with major figures like Walter Ulbricht; others had been uniquely positioned to understand major events, such
as the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. We did not want any of these memories, however idiosyncratic, to be lost to future
historians. Finally, we believed that after the formal questions were posed, it was crucial to let our discussion partners
speak for themselves about what mattered most in their lives. Sometimes they took the interview in directions that we could
not have anticipated.
Not surprisingly, we initially approached our interviews with certain guiding preconceptions about how our discussions might
progress and what we might discover. As the Oral History Project developed, some of these assumptions were borne out; but
provocatively, others were not. In every case, however, our successes and failures turned out to be enormously revealing about
the nature of the project itself and about East German history.
Our first preconception was that we might have a hard time getting some of the most senior SED officials to talk openly about
their past. This concern turned out not to be serious; in the majority of cases, they seemed to speak freely about their experiences,
particularly when we assured them that we were not interested in "sensationalist journalism." With only a few exceptions-primarily,
those facing criminal prosecution-it was quite easy to gain access to these former leaders, even to individuals who had granted
no other interviews to westerners. We had an unexpected advantage: for the most part, we were Americans, indeed Americans
from the well-known Hoover Institution. In the perception of many of our interviewees, we were worthy victors. Many were actually
thrilled to welcome representatives of the "class enemy" into their living rooms, provided that we would not turn over their
interviews to one of the "boulevard newspapers," like the Bildzeitung. Three eastern German social scientists also conducted
interviews for us. They had the advantage of knowing how to speak the "language" of their former leaders. On balance, our
main advantage seemed to be that no members of the Oral History Project came from former West Germany, which was still regarded
by our interviewees with suspicion.
In retrospect, the readiness of these individuals to speak with us should probably not have been so surprising. After all,
by depositing their thoughts in a major archive, we were assuring them that we were taking their experiences seriously and
perhaps even guaranteeing that their lives had not been lived in vain. This is no mean consideration in view of what happened
to the GDR. Naturally, future scholars will have to come to their own conclusions about the honesty and sincerity of each
interview. Occasionally, we detected moments of outright dishonesty. Sometimes our interviewees simply refused to talk about
embarrassing moments in their lives (e.g., association with the Stasi). There was also a recurring tendency for younger individuals,
or those lowest in the old hierarchy, to portray themselves as something they were not before 1989-such as, closet reformists
or enthusiastic supporters of Mikhail Gorbachev. There were also frequent problems with memory; some older interviewees could
remember the "anti-fascist struggles" of the late 1920s with absolute clarity, but could not recall the 1950s at all.
These sorts of problems afflict all oral histories. Yet, there were many moments when we could not help but be struck by the
candor of our interviewees. Many showed a surprising readiness to talk about issues that we expected to be embarrassing to
them. The best example of this was the Berlin Wall, which they nearly always defended in animated terms. From the first days
of the interview project, there was also a telling recognition among the leading representatives of the SED elite that they
had lost the battle with the West and that they were beginning to accept this reality. Thus, there was none of the crazed
rambling and denial that one found in previously published interviews with Erich Honecker. Among several interviewees, there
was even a notable respect for their former opponents, such as East German dissident, Bärbel Bohley, and the late West German
Green, Petra Kelly. Undoubtedly, there were many points where one wanted more self-criticism from our discussion partners.
Yet, some of our interviewers wondered whether this same quality would have been available from comparable politicians in
the West. As one eastern German interviewer reflected: "Any political elite has to confront issues involving moral integrity
in the daily course of its activities, and each individual must make his peace with truth as he can."
Our second preconception was that we could use such interviews to uncover new facts about the GDR. No doubt, anyone listening
to the hundreds of hours of tapes in this collection will encounter a number of interesting facts about distinct events in
the East German past (for example, about the mysterious death of planning minister Erich Apel in 1965, about the lack of East
German involvement in the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and about the banning of the Soviet publication, Sputnik, in
1988). Moreover, the interviews also serve to undermine many of the stereotypes that scholars have cultivated about some of
East Germany's best-known politicians; sometimes the "good guys" turn out to be not so good in the recollections of their
former associates, and the "bad guys" not nearly so bad.
Yet, one of our most interesting findings is how little most policymakers, including many members of the SED's highest circles,
actually knew about some of the most important events and controversies of the East German past. We feel that this says a
lot about the nature of politics in the GDR. This really was a system that kept all politically significant facts restricted
to very few people. We discovered that even at politburo meetings, leaders discussed very little of substance. The most important
decisions were frequently made by two or three individuals walking in the woods on a weekend. In these instances, expertise
rarely played a major role.
Even if we did not acquire the full stories about some of the events in the East German past that interested us most, the
opportunity to discuss such issues as the construction of the Berlin Wall or the SED's opposition to Gorbachev was unique.
Indeed, future scholars may find that these interviews provide a natural complement to the mountains of written documents
that have recently become available to us in such collections as the Central Party Archives in Berlin. For in the latter case,
we have huge new reservoirs of historical facts, but we frequently lack the personal perspectives necessary to interpret them.
A third preconception was that we would learn much more about policymaking processes in the GDR. This turned out to be true,
although not for the reasons we envisioned. Initially, we thought that by interviewing individuals at different levels of
the decision-making apparatus of the SED, we would be able to construct a rough flow chart of authority, showing how decisions
moved upward, downward, or outward in a complex hierarchy. Not only did we never encounter such structures, but we received
constant affirmation that, but the 1980s, no well-established hierarchies existed at all. As we have already suggested, absolute
power was concentrated in very few hands, and all other expressions of political activity took place on a highly informal
and personalistic basis. Even the SED politburo had the character of a rubber stamp; to the extent that there were differences
among its members-and these did exist on some questions-they were only expressed on a private basis over the lunch table at
the ruling body's Tuesday meetings. It is striking that even those who might have been considered personal cronies of SED
General Secretary Erich Honecker did not feel that they controlled very much. They, too, felt like cogs in the socialist wheel.
In contrast to this image of a faceless, even amorphous policymaking culture, there was also provocative agreement in many
of the interviews that politics in the GDR had not always been so uniform and that it had changed particularly since the 1950s.
Those individuals who were politically active in East Germany's first decade were practically unanimous in conveying an image
of policymaking during that period that is conspicuously more collegial than anything later experienced in the GDR. Among
them, there was a consensus that East Germany's first leader, Walter Ulbricht, was only a primus inter pares in the early
1950s, and that those around him could and did oppose his views on a regular basis. These findings seem to concur with the
written records of the Central Party Archives.
Finally, we came closest to meeting our fourth preconception: that we could record our interviewees' views on the great issues
and great debates of the GDR past. In this case, we were listening to people's perceptions that they could remember, regardless
of how well they know the details of an issue. They could say what was important to them, and what was not. Many spoke passionately
about matters that had once been life or death questions for their country. This was, above all, true of the long-disputed
German national question. In contrast to some Western scholarship, which has held the GDR's national policy to be little more
than a tactical diversion, all of the interviews conveyed a strong sense that, at least until the early 1960s, if not later,
the SED leadership really did believe that it was offering a valid German path to socialism. Walter Ulbricht emerges as practically
obsessed with the issue, and much of his downfall in 1970-1971 can be explained in terms of this obsession.
Similarly, the Oral History Project offers a very nuanced perspective of the complex relations that existed between the GDR
and its superpower ally, the Soviet Union. It will not surprise anyone to hear that some differences existed between East
Berlin and Moscow. But future scholars may be impressed by the extent of these differences, as recorded in the interviews,
and by how far back they reach in East German history (e.g., in Ulbricht's efforts to push through the economic reforms of
the New Economic System in the 1960s, despite manifest Soviet opposition). Additionally, the Oral History Project affords
a unique perspective on the East German-Soviet conflict that emerged in the 1980s with the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev's reformist
leadership. Standard Kremlinological approaches to the study of communist leadership might lead one to expect the East German
politburo to have been divided into factions of "Gorbachev opponents" and "Gorbachev supporters," with comparable divisions
existing with the Soviet leadership over policy to the GDR. But aside from a few slight exceptions, we were surprised to find
almost no evidence of factional divisions over the GDR's relationship with Moscow.
Of all the great issues of the East German past, the interviews offer a very clear picture of the evolution of East Berlin's
relations with the Federal Republic of Germany. They depict an exceptionally close relationship between the two German states,
in fact, one that defies all assertions that the essence of West German policy was to hold the German question open for some
future resolution. With German reunification now an accepted fact, future scholars may be intrigued to hear, form the eastern
German perspective, how seriously Bonn took the leaders of the GDR and how much of West German policy was based upon the assumption
that the Berlin Wall would remain in place for "50 or even 100 years."
In sum, while the GDR Oral History Project does not presume to offer a complete or unbiased perspective on East Germany's
history, we believe it is a valuable source of information and interpretations for future scholars to use as they seek to
make sense of the GDR's past. We are not aware of any comparable, publicly accessible projects on the GDR's history, particularly
in Germany itself, although much smaller interview collections on the history of inter-German relations in the 1960s and the
roots of the East German revolution of 1989 are being assembled. Nor do we know of any similar efforts to capture the memories
of comparable political elites in other East European states, although the Hoover Institution is now beginning a similar interview
project on the old Soviet elite. Therefore, we hope that the Oral History Project will serve as an inspiration to researchers
seeking to lay the foundations for future scholarship on countries as diverse as Poland, Romania, Hungary, and the former
Czechoslovakia.
The GDR Oral History Project would not have been possible without the generous assistance of a number of experts on the history
of the GDR. Aside from A. James McAdams, interviewers for the project included Thomas Banchoff, Heinrich Bortfeldt, Catherine
Epstein, Dan Hamilton, Gerd Kaiser, Jeffrey Kopstein, Olga Sandler, Matthew Siena, John Torpey, and Klaus Zechmeister. Elena
Danielson of the Hoover Archives played a central role in the project, cataloguing all of the interviews and arranging for
their transcription.
All of the interviews in the collection are equally accessible to any interested scholars, provided that interviewees have
not previously requested copyright restrictions on the use of the material. For further information on the collection, contact
the Hoover Archives.
For background information, contact: Professor A. James McAdams, Helen Kellogg Institute of International Studies, University
of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiotapes
Germany (East) -- Politics and government
Dissenters -- Germany (East)
Communism -- Germany (East)
Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands
Lev Bezymenskii interview by Olga Sandler
1992 June 25
Scope and Contents note
Regards Soviet-German relations. Narrator is a journalist.
box 1
Transcript (in Russian) and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000086
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 9, Tape 1.
Lothar Bisky interview by Heinrich Bortfeldt
1933 April 6
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is head [?] of Zentralinstitut für Jugend-forschung; Kultursoziologe at the Akademie für Gesellschaftswissenschaften;
Rektor der Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000088
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 9, Tape 2.
Siegfried Bock interview by A. J. McAdams
1992 May 18
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a diplomat; Envoy to the European Conference of Safety and Cooperation in Helsinki and Geneva; ambassador to Romania.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000089
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 9, Tapes 3-4.
Bärbel Bohley interview by John Torpey
1993 April 2
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is an artist; co-founder of the oppositional group Neues Forum; co-founder of Frauen für den Frieden.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000091_a01 and 94066_a_0000092_a01
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 9, Tapes 5-6. Audio quality is poor.
Joachim Böhm interview by A. J. McAdams
1990 December 5
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is deputy director, ZK Dept. Regards relations with socialist countries.
box 1
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000091
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 9, Tapes 7-8.
Michael Brie interview by Matthew Siena
1991 December 23
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is professor für sozialphilosophie at the Humboldt-University, Berlin.
box 1
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000092
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 9, Tape 9.
Manfred Buhr interview by K. Zechmeister
1992 December 2
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a philosopher; director of Zentralinstitut für Philosophie at the Academy of Sciences; vice president of the International
Hegel-Society; co-editor of
Philosophisches Wörterbuch.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000093
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 9, Tapes 10-11.
Peter-Michael Diestel interview by Bortfeldt
1992 December 15
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is dr. jur.; co-founder of DSU; member of the Volkskammer DDR-Innenminister; president of the CDU-Fraktion im Landtag
Brandenburg.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000094
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 9, Tape 12.
Stefan Doernberg interview by Bortfeldt
1992 November 10
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a historian; Generalsekretär des DDR-Komitees für europäische Sicherheit; director of the Institut für Internationale
Beziehungen (Potsdam-Babelsberg). Transcript and cassette tape for interview conducted on January 15, 1993 are missing.
box 1
Transcript (not literal) and CV
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000095
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 9, Tapes 13-14.
Stefan Doernberg interview by Gerd Kaiser
1993 July 27
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000096
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 9, Tape 15.
Fred Ebeling interview by Torpey
1991 August 23
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a member of Demokratischer Aufbruch.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000097
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 10, Tapes 16-17. Audio has some echoing, but is understandable.
onsite digital
Fred Ebeling interview by Torpey
1992 January 28
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000098
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 10, Tapes 18-19. Audio has some echoing, but is understandable.
Werner Eberlein interview by Torpey
1992 February 2
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a member DDR Politbüro 1983-1989; son of KPD co-founder Hugo Eberlein; member of the editorial board of Neues
Deutschland; Russian interpreter for Ulbricht & Honecker.
box 1
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000101
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 10, Tapes 20-21.
Konrad Elmer interview by Thomas Banchoff
1991 December 5
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a SPD member, Bundestag.
box 1
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000102
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 10, Tape 22.
Rainer Eppelmann interview by Dan Hamilton
1991 November 9
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a pastor; co-founder of Initiative Demokratischer Aufbruch (DA), its candidate for Berlin in 1990.
box 1
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000104
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 10, Tape 23.
Rainer Eppelmann interview by Banchoff
1991 December 5
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000105
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 10, Tapes 24-25.
Oskar Fischer interview by McAdams
1993 March 9
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a party official; Minister of Foreign Affairs.
box 2
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000106
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 10, Tapes 26-27.
Peter Fischer interview by Siena
1991 December 23
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is an engineer and economist; assistant at the Hochschule für Ökonomie, Berlin; assistant of Sigmund Rothstein, Verbandsprasident
der jüdischen Gemeinden in Berlin; friend of Biermann and Irene Runge.
box 2
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000107
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 10, Tapes 28-29.
Peter Florin interview by McAdams
1994 March 10
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a government official; member of SED-ZK; representative of GDR by UN in New York; chairman of UNESCO committee;
ambassador to CSSR.
box 2
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000120_a01, 94066_a_0000121_a01 and 94066_a_0000122_a01
Scope and Contents note
3 sound cassettes located in Box 10, Tapes 28-29.
Hans-Dieter Fritschler and Landolf Scherzer interview by Kaiser
Scope and Contents note
Narrators are SED leaders in Thüringen. Scherzer is a writer and author of
Der Erste, an account of Fritschler's political work, published by Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch in 1986.
box 2
Transcript and newspaper clippings
Scope and Contents note
Includes 2 newspaper articles (with photos of Fritschler and Scherzer): (1) · Peter Pragal, "Jetzt kocht 'Der Erste' auch
mal Kaffee für die Partei," in
Berliner Zeitung, May 16-17, 1992, p. 61; and (2) · Landolf Scherzer, "Das letzte Gefecht," in
Die Zeit, January 2-5, 1990, pp. 9, 10, 12.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000109
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 11, Tape 33.
Joachim Gauck interview by Torpey
1993 April 23
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is Bundesbeauftragter für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen DDR; Pastor, co-founder of
Neues Forum.
box 2
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000111
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 11, Tapes 34-35.
Lea Große interview by Kaiser
1992 February 13
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a communist since 1927 who was sentenced to 5 years in prison in 1935 for communist underground activities; Programmleiter
beim Sender "Freies Deutschland" in Moscow, hefredakteurin beim Rundfunk Dresden.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000112
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 11, Tape 36.
Gregor Gysi interview by Bortfeldt
1993 July 6
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a lawyer; one of the few to have defended oppositionists; advocate of Neues Forum; leader of the renewed SED-PDS.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000113
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 11, Tape 37.
Klaus Gysi interview by Siena
1900 January 3
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a government official; Head of the Department of Publishing House Volk und Wissen; minister of Culture; ambassador
to Italy; secretary of state for church matters.
box 2
Transcript, CV, and photographs
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000114
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 11, Tape 38.
Klaus Gysi interview by Siena
1991 December 28
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000115
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 11, Tapes 39-40.
Herbert Häber interview by McAdams
1990 March 19
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a party official; Member DDR Politbüro.
box 3
Transcript, CV, and photographs
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000116
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 11, Tapes 41-42.
Herbert Häber interview by McAdams
1993 March 8
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000117
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 11, Tapes 43-44.
Kurt Hager interview by McAdams
1990 December 3
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a government official; leading ideologist; member of the ZK of SED, secretary responsible for the ZK für Kultur
und Wissenschaft.
box 3
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000118
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 11, Tapes 45-46.
Kurt Hager interview by McAdams
1991 July 11
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000119
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 11, Tapes 47-48.
Kurt Hager interview by Catherine Epstein
1993 August 6
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000120
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 12, Tapes 49-50.
Erich Hahn interview by Bortfeldt
1991 February 28
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a professor of Marxist and Leninist Philosophy; candidate of SED-ZK since 1976.
box 3
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000121
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 12, Tape 51.
Brunhilde and Helmut Hanke interview by K. H. Plagemann
1991 July 22
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is Mayor of Potsdam since 1961; member of the Staatsrat.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000122
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 12, Tape 52. Beginning of the interview is missing.
Wolfgang Harich interview by McAdams
1990 December 1
box 3
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000132
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 12, Tapes 53-54.
Wolfgang Herger interview by Torpey
1991 September 16
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a party official; member DDR Politbüro.
box 3
CV and photograph (no transcript)
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 84066_a_0000133
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 12, Tape 55. Audio quality is poor with echoing.
Wolfgang Herger interview by Torpey
1992 January 30
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000134
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 12, Tapes 56-57.
Frank-Joachim Herrmann interview by McAdams
1994 March 11
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a mitarbeiter des ZK der SED; editor-in-chief of the
Berliner Zeitung.
box 4
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000135
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 12, Tapes 58-59.
Uwe-Jens Heuer interview by Banchoff
1991 November 14
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a professor of law; was advising the ZK in questions concerning Staats-und Wirtschaftsrecht at the Zentralinstitut
für sozialistische Wirtschaftsführung.
box 4
Transcript, CV, and election brochure
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000136
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 12, Tape 60.
Stephan Hilsberg interview by Banchoff
1991 June 14
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a computer scientist; co-founder of the SPD (East); member of the Bundestag.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000137
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 12, Tape 61.
Gustav Just interview by Torpey
1991 July 14
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a member of Gruppe Harich, SPD member Brandenburger Landtag.
box 4
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000138
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 13, Tape 62.
Gustav Just interview by Torpey
1992 February 1
box 4
Article, "Die Schüsse im Leben des Gustav Just" by Hanno Kühnert,
Die Zeit, p. 16
1993 April 16
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000139
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 13, Tapes 63-64.
Dietmar Keller interview by Banchoff
1991 November 25
Scope and Contents note
Narrator held various positions within the Kultur-ministerium; minister of culture in 1989, open to reforms.
box 4
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000140
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 13, Tape 65.
Karl-Heinz Kern interview by McAdams
1992 May 22
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a chemist; diplomat; GDR ambassador to Great Britain.
box 4
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000141
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 13, Tapes 66-67.
Günther Kleiber interview by Zechmeister
1992 November 26
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is an electrical engineer; various party positions linked to the fields of Elektrotechnik, Elektronik, data processing;
Stell-vertretender Ministerprasident der DDR; Minister für Allg. Maschinen-, Landmaschinen-und Fahrzeugbau.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000142
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 13, Tapes 68-69.
Gerd König interview by McAdams
1993 March 9
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a diplomat; ambassador to the CSSR.
box 4
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000143
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 13, Tapes 70-71.
Ernst Krabatsch interview by Banchoff
1992 March 25
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a diplomat; member of the GDR delegation to international conferences on various occasions.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000150
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 13, Tape 72.
Egon Krenz interview by Bortfeldt
1990 May 31
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is General Secretary and head of Staatsrat after Honecker's retirement; chief executive of the country during the
transition period (October 18 - December 3, 1989); expelled from the SED in January 1990.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000151
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 13, Tapes 73-74.
Jürgen Kuczynski interview by Bortfeldt
1991 January 10
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is an old communist; economist; professor of Economic History at Humboldt University, Direktor des Instituts für
Geschichte der Wirtschaftswiss. der Akad. der Wissenschaften.
box 5
Transcript, CV, and note announcing Kuczynski's new book:
Ein hoffnungsloser Fall von Optimismus: Memoiren 1989-94, Berlin: Aufbau Verlag
1994
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 13, Tape 75.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000152
Manfred Lötsch interview by Torpey
1991 February 27
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a reform-oriented sociologist at the Academy of Social Sciences, Berlin.
box 5
Photograph (no transcript)
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 13, Tape 76. Sound quality is bad.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000153
onsite digital
Manfred Lötsch interview by Torpey
1992 January 28
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000154
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 13, Tapes 77-78. Audio is OK in the beginning. Transcript is missing.
Lothar de Maizière interview by Hamilton
1991 November 12
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a lawyer; becomes head of the CDU of the DDR in 1989; last Prime Minister of the GDR.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
3 sound cassettes located in Box 14, Tapes 79-81.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000155
Lothar de Maizière interview by Bortfeldt
1992 November 4
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 14, Tape 82.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000156
Moritz Mebel interview by Bortfeldt
1991 February 27
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a Chefarzt für Urologie an der Charité.
box 5
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 14, Tapes 83-84.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000157
Markus Meckel interview by Banchoff
1991 June 10
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a pastor; co-founder of the East German Social Democratic Party; foreign minister of the DDR (April - August 1990).
box 5
Transcript, CVs, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 14, Tape 85.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000158
Daniil Efimovich (Melanid) Mel'nikov interview by Sandler
1992 July 1
Scope and Contents note
Regarding German-Soviet relations. Narrator worked at TASS and for the SovInformbiuro.
box 5
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette (in Russian) located in Box 14, Tape 86.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000159
Hans-J. Misselwitz interview by Bortfeldt
1993 June 3
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a biochemist; pastor; Parlamentarischer Staatssekretar (SPD) beim Außen-ministerium (under de Maizière).
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 14, Tape 87.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000160
Hans Modrow interview by Bortfeldt
1993 March 17
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a PhD in Wirtschaftswissenschaften; within the SED for democratic reforms; on November 13, 1989, elected head
of the DDR- Ministerrat, successor of Stoph; proposes gradualist unification plan in February 1990.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 14, Tape 88.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000161
Claus Montag interview by McAdams
1991 July 9
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is Head of Abteilung Außenpolitik der USA des Inst. für internat. Beziehungen an der Akademie für Staats- und Rechtswissen-
schaft der DDR. Publications on East-West relations. Botschaftsrat.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 14, Tape 89.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000162
Erwin Müller interview by McAdams
1992 May 21
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a schlosser. Journalist. Editor-in-chief of
Was und Wie.
box 5
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 14, Tapes 90-91.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000163
Harald Neubert interview by McAdams
1990 December 4
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a professor of history. Leiter des Instituts für internationale Arbeiterbewegung an der Akademie für Gesellschaftswissenschaften
beim ZK der SED.
box 5
Transcript and photographs
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 14, Tape 92.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000164
No commercial use without permission.
Erich Nickel interview by McAdams
1994 March 12
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a librarian. Historian. Author of
Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. In the GDR published under the title:
Die BRD. Ein Überblick. Emigrated in 1989.
box 6
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 14, Tapes 93-94.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000165
Boris Orlov interview by Sandler
1992 June 23
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a historian at the Academy of Sciences in Moscow (Institut nauchnoi informatsii po obshchestvennym naukam). Special
interest: German Social Democrats.
box 6
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette (in Russian) located in Box 14, Tape 95.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000166
Rainer Ortleb interview by Banchoff
1991 December 19
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a mathematician. Since 1968 member of the LDPD, then LDP. Head of the LDP (February 2, 1990).
box 6
Transcript, CVs, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 15, Tape 96.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000167
Karl-Ernst Plagemann interview by McAdams
1990 November 17
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a mitarbeiter am Institut für internat. Beziehungen an der Akad. für Staats-und Rechtswissenschaft der DDR, Potsdam-Babelsberg.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 15, Tape 97.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000168
Jens (and Christian in English) Reich interview by Siena
1989 December 28
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a microbiologist. Co-founder of the protest movement Neues Forum.
box 6
Transcript (for Jens only), CV, and photographs
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 15, Tape 98. Side A: Christian (in English), Jens (in German and English), and Christian (in
English). Sound quality is OK. Side B: Christian (in English).
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000169
Jens (and Christian in English) Reich interview by Siena
1991 December 23
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 15, Tape 99.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000170
Klaus Reichenbach interview by Banchoff
1992 May 6
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is an engineer. Lawyer. 1990 Landesvorstand der CDU Sachsen. Member of the Volkskammer. GDR minister.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 15, Tape 100.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000171
Otto Reinhold interview by McAdams
1990 March 23
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is Director of the Academy of Social Sciences [Akad. für Gesellschaftswissenschaften].
box 6
Transcript with errata sheet and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 15, Tapes 101-102.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000172
Otto Reinhold interview by Bortfeldt
1991 January 29
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 15, Tapes 103-104.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000173
Rolf Reißig interview by McAdams
1992 May 19
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a professor at the Academy of Social Sciences.
box 6
Transcript with errata sheet and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 15, Tapes 105-106.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000174
Irene Runge interview by Siena
1991 December 19
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a sociologist, anthropologist, and journalist.
box 6
Transcript and photographs
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 15, Tapes 107-108.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000175
Hans Schindler interview by McAdams
1991 October 3
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a Dipl. Staatswissenschaftler, Fachrichtung Außenpolitik (Potsdam/Babelsberg). Secretary at the embassy in Moscow.
Stellvertretender Botschafter in Bonn (1979-1985). 30 Jahre Mitarbeiter Karl Seidels.
box 7
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 15, Tapes 109-110.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000176
Karl Schirdewan interview by McAdams
1991 July 9
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is an old communist. Member of ZK Politbüro. Together with Wollweber dismissed for opposing Ulbricht. Then Leiter
der Staatl. Archivverwaltung der DDR in Potsdam.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
3 sound cassettes located in Box 16, Tapes 111-113.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000177
Gregor Schirmer interview by McAdams
1993 March 7
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a government official, Deputy Minister of Education.
box 7
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 16, Tapes 114-115.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000178
Gerhard Schürer interview by McAdams
1991 July 10
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a member of ZK. Head of Staatliche Plankommission.
box 7
Transcript with errata sheet and CV
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 16, Tape 116.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000179
Karl Seidel interview by McAdams
1991 July 8
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a diplomat. Botschaftsrat in Moscow. Leiter der Abteilung BRD im Ministerium für Auswärtige Anglegenheiten.
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 16, Tape 117.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000203
Wolfgang and Regina (called "Lotte") Templin interview by Torpey
1991 August 29
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is Wiss. Mitarbeiter am Zentralinstitut für Philosophie der Akademie der Wissenschaften. Co-founder of Initiative
Frieden und Menschenrechte (IFM). 1988 arrested and expelled. 1989 Sprecher der IFM am Runden Tisch. (Lotte: IFM activist.
Arrested together with Wolfgang).
box 7
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 16, Tape 118.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0000204
Wolfgang and Regina (called "Lotte") Templin interview by Torpey
1992 February 3
box 7
Transcript (Tapes 119-120)
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
3 sound cassettes located in Box 16, Tapes 119-121. Lotte is on Tape 121, which also has poor audio quality (it is late; contains
Wolfgang telling jokes).
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0010873
Ferdinand Thun interview by McAdams
1993 March 10
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is Foreign Ministry Chief of Protocol.
box 8
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Conditions Governing Access note
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0003441
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 16, Tapes 122-123.
Wolfgang Ullmann interview by Banchoff
1991 November 12
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a doctor of theology, pastor, Dozent für Kirchen-geschichte. Delegate of the movement Demokratie Jetzt to the
Round Table. Minister under Modrow.
box 8
Transcript, CVs, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 16, Tape 124.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0010881
Manfred Uschner interview by McAdams
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is mitglied des Politbüros des ZK der SED. For 14 years Hermann Axen's personal referent.
box 8
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 17, Tapes 125-126.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0010884
Manfred Uschner interview by Zechmeister
1993 March 10
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 17, Tapes 127-128.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0010890
Hans Voss interview by McAdams
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a diplomat. Consul in Burma and Cambodia, ambassador to Romania and Italy.
box 8
Transcript, CV, and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
2 sound cassettes located in Box 17, Tapes 129-130.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0010897
Günther Wirth interview by Zechmeister
1992 December 2
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a member of the Hauptvorstand der CDU der DDR, editor-in-chief of the journal
Standpunkt.
box 8
Transcript and postscriptum by Wirth
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
3 sound cassettes located in Box 17, Tapes 131-133.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0010901
Vincent von Wroblewski interview by Siena
1991 December 17
Scope and Contents note
Narrator is a philosopher, interpreter (French), and editor of the
Rowohlt Sartre-edition.
box 8
Transcript and photograph
onsite digital
Sound recording
Scope and Contents note
1 sound cassette located in Box 17, Tape 134.
Access
Use copy reference number: 94066_a_0010908