In 1981, I (then 12 years old) traveled by train with my grandmother from Nuremberg via the Hof border crossing to Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) to visit relatives there. One day, we spontaneously decided to have lunch at a very well-known hotel. My grandmother was seated at a different table than me. I didn't understand why. Grandma said to me: "Here, you get whatever seat is available. Please be quiet and don't complain; we'll be together again after lunch." I realized that here, you just have to accept things. And I sensed my grandmother's anxiety.
that I might be getting too outraged about it. In the afternoon, we went shopping at a Westmark store. Too much of many things. The saleswoman asked my grandmother why she was buying so many things and whether she was trying to steer me away from the right political path. My grandmother denied it. And yet I sensed fear in her voice. That evening, we discussed things. I was 12. I had questions. My grandmother and our relatives explained things to me as best and as understandably as possible. And I immediately realized how limited the freedom of the GDR citizens was.
