The woman who jumped the Berlin wall from the east side (History club)- Lifestyle Monday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
On Friday, I went to this history club at school where you pick up an extract of any historical book on the topic you're learning about and find out more about the people who lived at the time. In history, we're currently learning about the Berlin wall and Germany's split after the defeat of Hitler and the Nazis in the Second World War. Consequently, the extract I picked up at lunch was about a 16 year old girl, who tried to scale the Berlin wall from the East side and I thought it would be a good idea to talk about it here on my blog today. This will hopefully happen on my blog every Monday but with a different extract. Enjoy!
Blurb:
Miriam was born in Leipzig in the DDR in 1952. In 1968, when she was 16, she and a friend wrote and distributed leaflets complaining about the way the police had broken up a protest about the closure of a church. As a result, she was arrested by the Stasi.
She was awaiting trial when she decided to travel to Berlin and escape to the West.
My review:
I was shocked by the shear determination and bravery of this young 16 year old girl. I'm 14 now, and I simply cannot imagine trying to do what Miriam had attempted, in 2 years time. At 16, Miriam took a 2 hour train from Leipzig to Berlin to visit the wall and perhaps seek out any rare or possible holes in the wall to climb on. She got close to the wall and surprisingly so, since the eastern guards were on close patrol but, unfortunately, there were no holes in the wall and it would be impossible to scale it anyway.
She took the train back and as she did so, it took a while for her to realise that the pleasant view had changed since it was dark. Suddenly, she was passing a high wire mesh fence. She thought West Berlin must be on the other side. Later, she looked up on the Bornholmer Bridge street map; she had heard of it and thought it might have been one of those places where East and West Germany exchanged spies. Although West and East German train lines rarely divided, here in Bornholmer, the western train line still swoops down from northwest to southwest. She studied the land beside the wall and saw in front of it was a hectare or so of fenced-in garden plots with each of its own little sheds. Miriam climbed through and over the fences separating the gardens to get closer to the wall. She stole a ladder from a tool shed and put it against a hedge to have a look around. She explored with her eyes what was over the fence.
Later, she had tried to climb the wall, crawling on her front and crouching to not be seen by the eastern guards. She was caught by a German shepherd dog out on patrol, but the dog didn't bark and eventually walked away. I was stunned by her ability to hold her nerve. She stayed so still to ensure that the dog would not make any noise. She was so close to Western Germany that she decided to run the last bit to get to the other side. Unfortunately, she stepped on a tripwire and alarms sounded everywhere. She was taken back to prison.
She was taken back to Leipzig where a Stasi officer questioning her said that they contacted her parents and didn't want anything to do with her. However that was highly unlikely that that was true. I asked my dad about this and he said that they probably denounced their daughter to protect her, since visiting her would be more risky than not. I also thought that the Stasi officer did this to mentally degrade Miriam. However, Miriam was smart enough to know that that was not true.
She was interrogated every 2 weeks by Fleischer, a Stasi officer. This was between the hours of 10pm and 4am. She was only aloud 2 hours of sleep before that. The rest of the time, an officer would look through a peephole into her cell and bang on the wall every time she nodded off. Eventually, Miriam made up a story about how she was part of a secret group who tried to smuggle her out of East Germany. She did not give a name, but they believed her and this earned her the right to sleep for an entire fortnight before they eventually caught onto her story. This just goes to show how difficult life in a prison in East Germany was. Some of the methods used on these prisoners were used on POWs in Vietnam, according to my dad.
In the start of chapter 4, Miriam recites to her friend on her time at Hoheneck, a women's prison. She was told to undress and take in her hands a blue and yellow striped uniform. She was led to a room with a deep tiled tub in it where they were going to perform the Baptism of Welcome. It was the only time she ever thought she was going to die, says Miriam. They held her under the water for a very long time and when they brought her up again they cursed and insulted her. I was shocked to read about such a young girl having to go through this. Her friend recalls her voice being scratchy as she talks about this, indicating that she was so traumatised by the events.
What do you think about Miriam's story? Does it indicate that life was better or worse after the Second World War? Let me know in the comments below and i'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette
Articles on Miriam Weber:
The Independent
Penguin books
My channel trailer:
My channel trailer
My social media handles:
My Instagram
My YouTube channel
My second blog:
The Book Hub
On Friday, I went to this history club at school where you pick up an extract of any historical book on the topic you're learning about and find out more about the people who lived at the time. In history, we're currently learning about the Berlin wall and Germany's split after the defeat of Hitler and the Nazis in the Second World War. Consequently, the extract I picked up at lunch was about a 16 year old girl, who tried to scale the Berlin wall from the East side and I thought it would be a good idea to talk about it here on my blog today. This will hopefully happen on my blog every Monday but with a different extract. Enjoy!
Miriam Weber in Stasiland, by Anna Funder
Chapter 3 and beginning of 4
The story is told by her friend who heard about her story
Blurb:
Miriam was born in Leipzig in the DDR in 1952. In 1968, when she was 16, she and a friend wrote and distributed leaflets complaining about the way the police had broken up a protest about the closure of a church. As a result, she was arrested by the Stasi.
She was awaiting trial when she decided to travel to Berlin and escape to the West.
My review:
I was shocked by the shear determination and bravery of this young 16 year old girl. I'm 14 now, and I simply cannot imagine trying to do what Miriam had attempted, in 2 years time. At 16, Miriam took a 2 hour train from Leipzig to Berlin to visit the wall and perhaps seek out any rare or possible holes in the wall to climb on. She got close to the wall and surprisingly so, since the eastern guards were on close patrol but, unfortunately, there were no holes in the wall and it would be impossible to scale it anyway.
She took the train back and as she did so, it took a while for her to realise that the pleasant view had changed since it was dark. Suddenly, she was passing a high wire mesh fence. She thought West Berlin must be on the other side. Later, she looked up on the Bornholmer Bridge street map; she had heard of it and thought it might have been one of those places where East and West Germany exchanged spies. Although West and East German train lines rarely divided, here in Bornholmer, the western train line still swoops down from northwest to southwest. She studied the land beside the wall and saw in front of it was a hectare or so of fenced-in garden plots with each of its own little sheds. Miriam climbed through and over the fences separating the gardens to get closer to the wall. She stole a ladder from a tool shed and put it against a hedge to have a look around. She explored with her eyes what was over the fence.
Later, she had tried to climb the wall, crawling on her front and crouching to not be seen by the eastern guards. She was caught by a German shepherd dog out on patrol, but the dog didn't bark and eventually walked away. I was stunned by her ability to hold her nerve. She stayed so still to ensure that the dog would not make any noise. She was so close to Western Germany that she decided to run the last bit to get to the other side. Unfortunately, she stepped on a tripwire and alarms sounded everywhere. She was taken back to prison.
She was taken back to Leipzig where a Stasi officer questioning her said that they contacted her parents and didn't want anything to do with her. However that was highly unlikely that that was true. I asked my dad about this and he said that they probably denounced their daughter to protect her, since visiting her would be more risky than not. I also thought that the Stasi officer did this to mentally degrade Miriam. However, Miriam was smart enough to know that that was not true.
She was interrogated every 2 weeks by Fleischer, a Stasi officer. This was between the hours of 10pm and 4am. She was only aloud 2 hours of sleep before that. The rest of the time, an officer would look through a peephole into her cell and bang on the wall every time she nodded off. Eventually, Miriam made up a story about how she was part of a secret group who tried to smuggle her out of East Germany. She did not give a name, but they believed her and this earned her the right to sleep for an entire fortnight before they eventually caught onto her story. This just goes to show how difficult life in a prison in East Germany was. Some of the methods used on these prisoners were used on POWs in Vietnam, according to my dad.
In the start of chapter 4, Miriam recites to her friend on her time at Hoheneck, a women's prison. She was told to undress and take in her hands a blue and yellow striped uniform. She was led to a room with a deep tiled tub in it where they were going to perform the Baptism of Welcome. It was the only time she ever thought she was going to die, says Miriam. They held her under the water for a very long time and when they brought her up again they cursed and insulted her. I was shocked to read about such a young girl having to go through this. Her friend recalls her voice being scratchy as she talks about this, indicating that she was so traumatised by the events.
What do you think about Miriam's story? Does it indicate that life was better or worse after the Second World War? Let me know in the comments below and i'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!
See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette
The Independent
Penguin books
My channel trailer:
My channel trailer
My social media handles:
My Instagram
My YouTube channel
My second blog:
The Book Hub
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