INTERVIEWS
Interviews are an important part of the IF DDR’s research. This page features an interview archive, which will grow continuously alongside the research projects of the IF DDR. The individual videos feature thematic excerpts from the interviews.
It is possible to sort the videos by topic or by person.
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann on the composition of the student body
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John Green recounts reporting on the conflict in Ireland
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Helmut Dunkhase’s critique of market-oriented reforms in socialism
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Wolfgang Herrmann reflects on internationalism
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John Green recounts how he came to study in the DDR
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Hans Watzek on the objective of the 1945/46 land reform
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Dr. Rüdiger Feltz on the basics of prophylaxis in the DDR
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Dr. Rüdiger Feltz — “from patients to customers”
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Uwe Trostel explains the economic planning process in the German Democratic Republic (GDR)
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Sigrun Lingel remembers schooling in Tanzania and Zanzibar
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Dr. Rüdiger Feltz on ensuring an adequate distribution of doctors in the DDR
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Jörg Roesler on Walter Ulbricht’s thesis of socialism as a “relatively independent social formation”
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John Green reflects on his work and the social struggles he reported on
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Victor Grossman on internationalist festivals in the DDR
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Jörg Roesler on the GDR’s economic solidarity
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John Green on the DDR’s international film traineeship
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Victor Grossman recalls fleeing from US military persecution
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann on the emergence of the polyclinic in the DDR
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann on the medical brain drain from the DDR
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Victor Grossman on international students in the DDR
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John Green describes increased political stringency in DDR television in the 1980s
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John Green describes his childhood and early interest in film
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John Green describes reporting on everyday life in West Germany
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Helmut Dunkhase explains the problem of price formation in socialism
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Hans Watzek on the Peasants’ Mutual Aid Association and Machine-Tractor Stations
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Salam Abou Mjahed on the emergence and objectives of the national liberation movement in Lebanon
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann on the political responsibility of the doctor
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Jörg Roesler on the phases of the DDR economy
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Victor Grossman on Allende’s legacy in the DDR
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Regina Klein recalls health care in the workplace
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann on the DDR’s health insurance system
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Uwe Trostel explains the role of trade unions
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Wolfgang Herrmann on his tasks as a party advisor to the Sandinistas (FSLN)
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Chile, the coup and the GDR — An interview with Gudrun Mertschenk
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Victor Grossman on worldwide acts of solidarity
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Uwe Trostel on trends in the rate of accumulation and consumption
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Hans Watzek recalls te post-war years and land reform in East Germany
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Wolfgang Herrmann discusses advising the Sandinistas on writing a new constitution
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John Green remembers DDR solidarity with Mozambique
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Sigrun Lingel reflects on the DDR apartment buildings in Zanzibar
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann answers: “What could have been done better in the DDR’s health policy?”
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Victor Grossman reflects on the integration of international groups in the DDR
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Uwe Trostel describes his path to the GDR’s state apparatus and coming to appreciate the communists
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Victor Grossman on support for Angela Davis
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Helmut Dunkhase on the necessity of centralisation in a planned economy
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Sigrun Lingel contrasts DDR solidarity and West German aid
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Hans Watzek on the collectivisation of agriculture in East Germany
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Salam Abou Mjahed explains the roles of Israel, Lebanon, and Syria in the Middle East
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John Green describes reporting on Namibia’s liberation struggle
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Uwe Trostel describes the starting conditions and trajectory of the GDR’s planned economy
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann on the central elements of the DDR’s health care system
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Victor Grossman on the Democratic German Report
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Hans Modrow on the initiation of economic planning in East Germany
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Monika Strauß on women in leadership
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Helmut Dunkhase describes the origins of market-oriented reforms in the socialist states (1950s/60s)
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John Green describes why and how he worked as a covert reporter
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann on health protection in the workplace in the DDR
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Wolfgang Herrmann describes how he became a party advisor to the Sandinistas
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Helmut Dunkhase summarizes the difference between market and planned economies
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Hans Watzek on the role and development of the Democratic Peasants’ Party (DBD)
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Victor Grossman recalls the Rosenberg case
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Monika Strauß contrasts the standing of women in East and West Germany
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John Green recounts beginning to work for DDR television
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Jörg Roesler on moral (non-material) work incentives
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Victor Grossman on the final years of the DDR
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Uwe Trostel describes pricing problems
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John Green recalls reporting on Portugal’s Carnation Revolution
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Salam Abou Mjahed on the origins and development of the Lebanese Civil War (until 1983)
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Helmut Dunkhase on alternatives to market reforms in the real socialism of the 20th centrury
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Hans Modrow on socialist democracy
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Helmut Dunkhase describes the debate on pricing in the GDR during the 1960s (the law of value)
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Jörg Roesler on the “New Economic System” (NÖS)
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Hans Modrow on the unrest of 17 June 1953
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann discusses the DDR’s approach to vaccinations
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Wolfgang Herrmann remembers the arrival of the Red Army
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Uwe Trostel describes the basic character of the GDR’s planned economy
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Victor Grossman on the economic baseline of the German Democratic Republic
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Sigrun Lingel on shortcomings in the DDR’s solidarity
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Victor Grossman on antifascist beginnings
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Dr. Heinrich Niemann recounts his post-war childhood
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Wolfgang Herrmann reflects on socialism
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John Green describes his team’s production method
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Hans Modrow on the “New Economic System of Planning and Management”
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Sigrun Lingel on colonialism and the DDR’s self-perception
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