The complete account
Chronology
My story begins long before my arrest. This chronology brings together personal memories, historical context and documents from my Stasi files.
- 01
Mario is here
In the early 1970s, the GDR’s guiding phrase was the “unity of economic and social policy”.
- 02
Walter Ulbricht, my godfather
Walter Ulbricht left a deep mark on German history as an architect and enforcer of a dictatorial regime.
- 03
My first day at school in East Germany
The school year in East Germany always began on 1 September or on the following Monday.
- 04
Fashion and my dream of Paris
During my training as a tailor, my designs were published in Junge Welt and won an award at its readers’ fashion show. This success strengthened my dream of Paris and a free life.
- 05
My arrest
As I worked, my gaze kept drifting towards the street, where the early daylight was slowly breaking through the winter greyness.
- 06
Stasi identification procedures
The Stasi’s identification procedures during an arrest combined police and intelligence methods that went far beyond normal legal boundaries.
- 07
Top secret: my case in the Stasi daily report
Just one day after my arrest, my planned journey to freedom was recorded centrally in a top secret Stasi daily report.
- 08
Stasi surveillance of gay people
“Obst is homosexual.” This note represents the East German Stasi’s treatment of homosexual people.
- 09
No secret — yet still on file
I came out to my school class at 14. Years later, the state apparatus recorded my homosexuality in a single sentence: “Obst is homosexual.”
- 10
The verdict: in the name of the people
As early as 1988, like many others before him, he drew up an escape plan to reach West Germany.
- 11
The East German state: my case
The Stasi, East Germany’s secret police, played a central role in the surveillance and conviction of citizens.
- 12
Reviewing grounds for refusing emigration
In June 1989, the East German state apparatus examined whether there were objections to releasing me from prison and allowing me to emigrate permanently to the West.
- 13
Emigration directly from prison
Although I had never applied to emigrate, the Stasi reviewed and approved my permanent departure for West Germany directly from prison in June 1989.
- 14
How the Stasi managed its information
This document dates from autumn 1989, the final phase of the GDR.
- 15
Until 20 October 1989
While I sat in isolation in Karl-Marx-Stadt, my release directly to West Germany had long been prepared on paper. On 20 October, I learnt of it — without explanation and under guard.
- 16
My rehabilitation
On 21 April 1993, Erfurt District Court overturned the 1989 judgment against me. Five documents show the process leading to my rehabilitation.