Zeitzeuge

Hannelore Schneider

Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz
* 1950

Freedom is different from what you imagine it to be when you live without it!

Biografie auf Deutsch
Themen
  • Kirche
  • Opposition/Bürgerrechtsbewegung
  • Kunst/Kultur/Literatur
  • Ausreise/Ausbürgerung
Sprache
  • Englisch

Biographical information

1950 Born in Hoske (Upper Lusatia)
1968 Abitur in Hoyerswerda
1968–1972 English and German studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin
1969–1970 Spokesperson of the Catholic Student Community of East Berlin
1972–1977 Teacher at the polytechnic secondary school (POS) in Cottbus
1977–1981 Theatre consultant
1981–1986 Teacher in Cottbus (Abitur classes)
1986 Application for an exit visa; subsequent dismissal from teaching
1986–1989 Copy editor at the St. Benno publishing house in Leipzig
1987–1989 Participation in the ecumenical working group ‘peace’, sub-group ‘justice’
1989 Departure from the GDR, new place of residence: Essen
1989–1991 Speeches and presentations on conditions in the GDR
1991–1992 Teacher training and second state examination as a teacher in Oberhausen
1992–2001 Teacher
2001–2008 Vice-principal of a comprehensive school (Realschule) in Mainz
Since 2008 Vice-principal of the comprehensive school (Realschule) in Nierstein

Profile

Working as a teacher, I realised very quickly that my Christian worldview and my pronounced sense of justice would not stand a chance against the dominant monolithic ideology, and yet I always tried to encourage a free exchange of opinions among my students, albeit with little success. An important period in my life was my work with the environmentalist group in Cottbus from 1987 to May 1989. We exposed the fraud in the Cottbus local elections and officially filed a criminal complaint citing electoral fraud. The group’s leadership, myself included, was expelled from the country within three days. We had hosted meetings on human rights issues in the Evangelical (Protestant) churches of Cottbus – secretly attended by the Stasi, as well. My educational and awareness work in various seminars, including at the University of Cottbus, certainly helped me come to terms with the harm I received from representatives of the old East German state.

Zeitzeugeninterviews

Auf der Plattform www.zeitzeugen-portal.de sind Videointerviews mit Hannelore Schneider verfügbar, in denen die Lehrerin u. a. die Umstände der schulischen Erziehung in der DDR und die Methoden der Stasi schildert.