East Germans
Behind the Wall
East Germans are people from the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany), the Soviet-aligned state that existed from 1949 until German reunification in 1990.
The term now refers either to people who lived under that regime or to residents of Germany's eastern states: Many East Germans still feel like second-class citizens.
The distinction between East and West Germans persists in cultural and economic discussions decades after reunification.
Early Germanic Briton settler
Cold War partition
- escapeFlight from captivity
- defectorsThose abandoning allegiance
- checkpointInspection station on route
- border guardsPersonnel controlling entry points
watchtowers · barbed wire · no-man's land · Checkpoint Charlie · death strip · flee · tunnels · smuggling
Cold War's political divide
- espionageCovert intelligence gathering
- GDREast Germany abbreviation
- Warsaw PactSoviet-led military alliance
- propagandaBiased information for influence
ideology · bloc · KGB · superpowers · containment · détente · Soviet occupation · proxy conflict
Systematic observation of subjects
- secret policeClandestine state security apparatus
- informantsPeople providing secret intelligence
- filesStored data collections
- wiretappingCovert phone surveillance
interrogation · dissidents · IM · monitoring · repression · denunciation · operatives · recruitment
Longing for the past
- memorabiliaCollected items of significance
- retroEvoking recent past
- collectiblesItems people amass
- identityWho someone is
Orderly waiting arrangements
- shortagesInsufficient quantities available
- allotment gardensRented cultivation parcels
- ration cardsPermits for limited goods
- collective farmsJointly worked agricultural land
Wholeness through cohesion
- integrationCombining into a whole
- economic transitionShift between economic systems
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
- privatizationState sells public assets
Saxon
Early Germanic Briton settler
Berlin Wall
Cold War partition
- escapeFlight from captivity
- defectorsThose abandoning allegiance
- checkpointInspection station on route
border guards · watchtowers · barbed wire · no-man's land · Checkpoint Charlie · death strip · flee · tunnels · smuggling · refugees
Iron Curtain
Cold War's political divide
- espionageCovert intelligence gathering
- GDREast Germany abbreviation
- Warsaw PactSoviet-led military alliance
propaganda · ideology · bloc · KGB · superpowers · containment · détente · Soviet occupation · proxy conflict · Radio Free Europe
surveillance
Systematic observation of subjects
- secret policeClandestine state security apparatus
- informantsPeople providing secret intelligence
- filesStored data collections
wiretapping · interrogation · dissidents · IM · monitoring · repression · denunciation · operatives · recruitment
nostalgia
Longing for the past
- memorabiliaCollected items of significance
- retroEvoking recent past
- collectiblesItems people amass
queues
Orderly waiting arrangements
- shortagesInsufficient quantities available
- allotment gardensRented cultivation parcels
- ration cardsPermits for limited goods
unity
Wholeness through cohesion
- integrationCombining into a whole
- economic transitionShift between economic systems
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
privatization · wage gap · brain drain · October 3 · assimilation
- German peoplesBavarians, Saxons, Hessians, Rhinelanders, Berliners
- demographicspopulation density, population growth, age distribution, population, gender ratio