Comments on: Mary Fulbrook, “The People’s State” (Review part 1) http://germanhistoryblog.com/peoples-state-fulbrook/ German and Austrian History commentary and resources Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:16:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Bill Dawson http://germanhistoryblog.com/peoples-state-fulbrook/comment-page-1/#comment-288 Bill Dawson Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:02:47 +0000 http://www.germanhistoryblog.com/?p=734#comment-288 Thank you for a very interesting comment. I love these kind of personal memories of westerners who were in East Germany at one time or another. I'm not sure if you noticed, but I posted the <a href="http://www.germanhistoryblog.com/the-participatory-dictatorship-fulbrooks-the-peoples-state-2/" rel="nofollow">second part of my overview of this book</a> right at about the same time you were leaving this comment. Have a look if you are interested. Thanks a lot for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment. Best, Bill Thank you for a very interesting comment. I love these kind of personal memories of westerners who were in East Germany at one time or another.

I’m not sure if you noticed, but I posted the second part of my overview of this book right at about the same time you were leaving this comment. Have a look if you are interested.

Thanks a lot for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment.

Best,
Bill

]]> By: john lewis grant http://germanhistoryblog.com/peoples-state-fulbrook/comment-page-1/#comment-287 john lewis grant Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:23:48 +0000 http://www.germanhistoryblog.com/?p=734#comment-287 I spent about 6 months in the East as a child (1960) and can recall quite vividly what life was like from the standpoint of a 7-year-old boy. I went from a posh life in one of Canada's richest neighbourhoods to something rather spartan. No fruit, for example, or at least very little of it. I also recall being mistaken for a Russian, since the only non-German-speaking kids in the East at that time probably were Russian. There were, in fact, Russian soldiers everywhere. They were not welcome, but I do recall that they seemed (to me at least) very friendly. My German classmates were a pretty tough bunch, as I recall. I also remember bullet holes in every building. Many build still had significant bomb damage. I returned to Canada completely fluent in German, which fluency I have completely lost! I'm looking forward to reading this book. My vague recollection of the place was that there were, in fact, quite a few Germans who were committed to the socialist model. That, of course, would have changed significantly in the years prior to unification. I spent about 6 months in the East as a child (1960) and can recall quite vividly what life was like from the standpoint of a 7-year-old boy. I went from a posh life in one of Canada’s richest neighbourhoods to something rather spartan. No fruit, for example, or at least very little of it. I also recall being mistaken for a Russian, since the only non-German-speaking kids in the East at that time probably were Russian. There were, in fact, Russian soldiers everywhere. They were not welcome, but I do recall that they seemed (to me at least) very friendly. My German classmates were a pretty tough bunch, as I recall. I also remember bullet holes in every building. Many build still had significant bomb damage. I returned to Canada completely fluent in German, which fluency I have completely lost!

I’m looking forward to reading this book. My vague recollection of the place was that there were, in fact, quite a few Germans who were committed to the socialist model. That, of course, would have changed significantly in the years prior to unification.

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