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Claudia Rusch
Meine Freie Deutsche Jugend
S. Fischer Verlag, July 2003. 157 pp. 'In the twenty-four chapters that make up this short book, Claudia Rusch provides a humorous account of growing up under Communism in East Germany. Rusch spent her childhood surrounded by family and friends who were critical of the regime, and she recalls her awareness of how her life differed from that of her contemporaries. In each chapter, Rusch describes a separate incident, with stories ranging from her earliest experiences to her adolescent feelings and her obsession with leaving the country. Rusch evokes the problems and contradictions of growing up in the GDR with a gentle humour that allows the pain to show through. Her stories are comic, revealing and touching. One sketch hinges on the derogatory name given to the Stasi -- 'cockroaches'. As a child, Rusch was unaware that the term could also be applied to beetles, and so was astonished to hear a friend complaining about the cockroaches living in his kitchen. Another such misunderstanding had the potential to end very badly. Rusch remembers being taken to a fair as a small girl. She nags her mother to buy her a toffee apple, and starts eating it on the crowded train home while seated on the lap of a policeman. Encouraged by his friendly appearance, she soon starts regaling him with a string of anti-Stasi jokes. Her mother intervenes: 'I can't think where you heard such things, and … if you don't stop this instant, the nice policeman will take out his notebook, write down your name and address, and tell Comrade Honecker what you've been saying.' Rather belatedly, the young Claudia picks up on the coded message. Jokes about bananas -- they weren't allowed in the GDR and had to curve their way around it to reach other destinations -- alternate with more melancholy cameos. The final episode is particularly poignant. Claudia decides that she would gladly marry any foreigner in order to make her escape, but holds back because of the pain she might cause her family. Later she discovers that they knew her feelings all along and had been taking steps to help her.
This is an extraordinary account of an almost normal childhood experienced under abnormal conditions. Rusch's light touch, humour and frankness make this a fascinating read.
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