Who is Miriam in stasiland?
Stasiland is about four “ordinary” but deeply extraordinary people who refused, under enormous pressure, to collaborate with the Stasi regime. At 16, Miriam Weber nearly succeeded in scaling the Berlin Wall. Under torture she refused to betray those who had helped her – she couldn’t, because no one had.
Why was Miriam imprisoned?
The Webers were under a lot of suspicion due to Miriam’s police record and Charlie’s journalism. Later, Charlie and Miriam were imprisoned during the visit of the West German chancellor, as the police feared that “subversives” like the Webers would try to embarrass East Germany during this period.
What was Miriams crime in stasiland?
Miriam spent a month in solitary confinement. Later, she was released to await her trial for the crime of sedition.
Who is Frau Paul in stasiland?
Frau Paul is another woman to whom Anna Funder speaks during her time in Berlin in the 1990s. Paul witnessed the rise of the East German state following the fall of the Third Reich, and in 1961, the same year that the Berlin Wall was built, she gave birth to a child named Torsten.
What happened to Miriam when she was 16 stasiland?
As a teenager, she tried and nearly succeeded to sneak past the Wall into West Berlin, but she was caught and sentenced to jail time for her “crime.” Later, Miriam’s husband Charlie was mysteriously arrested, and supposedly hanged himself in his cell.
How old is Julia in stasiland?
Aged just 20, she had to decide whether to inform on him, or, in the words of her mother, to “find someone else to marry so you can get out”.
Who is Miriam Weber?
Weber is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Rochester. Her clinical practice consists of neuropsychological assessment of adults with a variety of neurological and psychological disorders.
What happens at the end of stasiland?
At the end of the book, Miriam gives Funder a copy of a poem that Charlie wrote shortly before his death, which ends: “In this land / I have been sown / Only my head sticks / Defiant, out of the earth / But one day it too will be mown / Making me, finally / Of this land.”
Who is the protagonist in stasiland?
Anna Funder Character Analysis. Anna Funder is the Australian author and narrator of Stasiland. Beginning in 1994 and ending in 2000, she makes three trips to Berlin to work for a German TV station and, more importantly, study the way the city’s people are adjusting to the recent collapse of the East German state.
What happens at the end of Stasiland?
Is Stasiland real?
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell; shortly afterward the two Germanys reunited, and East Germany ceased to exist. Anna Funder’s bestselling Stasiland brings us extraordinary tales of real lives in the former East Germany.
Who is Herr Bock?
Herr Bock now works as a business adviser, showing West German companies how to negotiate with their East German counterparts—or, as Funder thinks, “getting the trust of his people and selling them cheap.”