ABSTRACT
I looked forward to writing this chapter as the topic is close to my heart. I was born and raised in the GDR. I was 19 when the Wall came down and the popular uprising forced the SED regime to peacefully transition power. As the son of a father who, early on, devoted himself to communist ideals and also became an ideologue, I had mixed feelings. We wrote each other letters, doubting and determined ones. I remember a silent disappointment and confusion at this change but above all excitement about taking my future into my own hands. This all happened in the long summer of a short democracy between the Wende and German unification. One year later, I went to study in the West. When I returned to Berlin ten years later, there were many things that had been left behind, untouched, encapsulated in time and were now being urged forward. Since then, I’ve been trying to move closer to the black holes of my memory, cautiously, by asking questions.
