‘I thought, “You people want an underground escape organization? Well, I'll give you one then.”’
Miriam was the first person Anna talked with about the Stasi and their regime. Miriam told Anna about the time when she was tortured by the Stasi who wanted her to give them the underground organization that helped her escape. Miriam tells Anna that she was not helped by anyone but that no one was willing to believe her because they could not believe a teenage girl escape without being helped. Under pressure, Miriam fabricated an underground organization and told her tortures everything they wanted to know, just to leave her be. This quote shows just how much power the Stasi had and how far they were willing to go to get what they wanted from the people they were torturing.
"All the courage I had is in that plate."
Another character interviewed by Anna is Hagen, who even helped at the construction of the Wall. Hagen did not believe in the communist ideology and he left the Stasi on numerous occasions because of different reasons. The last time he left, Hagen took with him a plate that was in the office. Unfortunately for him, the people in the office quickly realized the plate was missing and they insisted he brings it back, even threatening him to throw him in jail. Nothing happened to him and the late remained as a reminder for Hagen, making him remember the courage he manifested then and how he reacted in the face of danger. The quote is also important because it makes the reader understand how tough the times were and how desperate the people were to have enough courage to succeed in life.
“It would remind me that it could come back. That everything that’s happened might be reversed.”
Torsten was the son of Frau Paul. As a child, he was extremely sick, so he traveled often over the Wall to receive medical treatment. Because of this, he was used as a smuggler and over the years he was pressured both by the general population and by the Stasi to do their bidding. After the Wall was tore down, Torsten uttered the words from above. Even though he was able to travel freely between one side and the other, Torsten was still happy to see the Wall tore down. The reason why he was happy to see the Wall go is because the Wall represented a painful memory for Torsten and for other people. Even though the two parts were no longer separated, for them it was also important to see the Wall tore down because as long as the Wall still existed, they felt as if they could not feel truly free.
