Themen
- politische Haft
- Flucht/Fluchthilfe
- Freikauf
Sprache
- Englisch
Biographical information
1963 Born in Freiberg/Saxony, grew up in Gotha and Erfurt
1979 Not admitted to higher secondary education, left school with a basic secondary school leaving qualification (comparable to British O-levels)
1979–1981 Apprenticeship as a garment worker
1981–1983 Worked as an assistant nurse, Abitur (equivalent to High school diploma or A-levels) at evening school, not accepted to study medicine despite being delegated (i.e. selected by the party)
July 1983 Attempted escape via Hungary, arrested, subsequently tried at Erfurt district court and convicted to 16 months in prison; term served in Dessau
June 1984 Release/Freedom purchased by the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
1985–1990 Studied law at Freie Universität Berlin, final state examination in 1993
Since 1994 Worked first as a lawyer, now as a civil servant for a federal ministry
Profile
As a daughter of academics who dreamt of studying medicine and was never shy of speaking her mind in school, I was apparently not suitable to be awarded an Abitur. Immediately after getting my Abitur at evening school, I decided, while on a trip to Hungary, that I was not going to return to the GDR. I made this decision for various different reasons: despite working in the medical field, I was not allowed to study, and I simply wasn't up for being silenced all the time, while I was extremely curious to learn more about other countries. Unfortunately, the escape attempt failed. So, following my arrest and me submitting an application for an exit visa, I pinned all my hopes on being released as part of a deal between the West and East German governments. And, at long last, after being held in custody in Erfurt and Weimar and being imprisoned in Dessau and then Hoheneck prison hospital, that is just what happened. I then had a brief stay at the emergency refugee shelter in Gießen, before moving to West Berlin. Although I didn't get a place to study medicine there either, I embarked on a law degree – which had never caught my interest in the GDR as it was a discipline too closely associated with the regime. Except for a few breaks in between, I have remained in Berlin to this day, and it is here where I saw and celebrated the Fall of the Wall. To me, after my release in return for payment, freedom meant being able to decide for myself what I wanted to be, the way I wanted to live, where I would travel... and being responsible for my own successes or failures. Nowadays, I'm doing just fine!
Podiumsgespräch mit Ines Drechsler: Spuren im Leben – politische Haft und Zwangsarbeit im DDR-Strafvollzug
Was waren Gründe für politische Haft in der DDR? Unter welchen Bedingungen fand der Freiheitsentzug statt und welche Rolle spielte verpflichtende Arbeit? Welchen Gesundheitsrisiken waren Gefangene in der DDR ausgesetzt und inwieweit wirkt die Haft nach? Auf welchem Stand ist die Aufarbeitung, insbesondere hinsichtlich der Zwangsarbeit im Strafvollzug? Diese und weitere Fragen wurden im Podiumsgespräch am 13.11.2025 in der Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung diskutiert.