VICTOR GROSSMAN

The US-American Victor Grossman was called up to the US Army in 1952 during the Korean War. Stationed in West Germany, Grossman fled the McCarthy-era persecution of leftists by swimming across the Danube into the Soviet zone of Austria. He then lived in the DDR for 37 years, where he worked, married, became a father, and studied — he is the world’s only holder of degrees from Harvard University and Karl Marx University in Leipzig. He became a freelance journalist and author in East Berlin, where he still lives, writes books and sends out his monthly “Berlin Bulletins”. From 1965 to 1968, Grossman also directed the Paul Robeson Archive at the Academy of Arts on the world-famous African-American actor, singer and active freedom fighter.
He described his eventful life in an English-language autobiography: “Crossing the River: A Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War, and Life in East Germany”; he collected his thoughts on the DDR and the politics of today in: “A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee”.
Two interviews were filmed on the 8th and 30th of October, 2020.
Victor Grossman on international students in the DDR
Victor Grossman on the economic baseline of the German Democratic Republic
Victor Grossman on the final years of the DDR
Victor Grossman on internationalist festivals in the DDR
Victor Grossman reflects on the integration of international groups in the DDR
Victor Grossman recalls the Rosenberg case
Victor Grossman recalls fleeing from US military persecution
Victor Grossman on the Democratic German Report
Victor Grossman on worldwide acts of solidarity
Victor Grossman on antifascist beginnings
Victor Grossman on support for Angela Davis
Victor Grossman on Allende’s legacy in the DDR