“I am never returning to the GDR!” Bewildered Inge Krausbeck receives her husband’s sudden announcement through the telephone that he will not be returning home from visiting his family in West Germany in February 1988 – she also has no immediate answer to his question: “Will you follow me?” Inge Krausbeck likes living in the GDR. As she files an application for departure she primarily wants to keep the family together. Three denied applications, twenty months and numerous harassments later the doctor is beginning to see her home country in a very different light and now only sees one solution: The West German Embassy in Prague. It is the summer of ’89… Inge Krausbeck’s memories, excerpts from her Stasi files and letters from family members have formed “Abschied von der DDR (Goodbye to the GDR)” vividly and full of suspense.

Inge Krausbeck: Ausreisezeit. Abschied von der DDR.
ISBN: 978-3-937772-15-8, paperback 172 pages, 14,90 Euro

“We tried squeezing through the huge crowd of people towards the issuing authority. All of a sudden nothing moved anymore. We were told that everything would be handled at a later point, now Genscher was up! The meaning of these words only found their gravity in hindsight. Right now I was thirsty and my feet were sore. It must have been 6.30pm by this time and dusk was setting in. A calm had swept across the crowd and all were waiting patiently. There was a microphone attached to the balcony of the embassy, spotlights had been set up and people were coming and going. After almost an hour it was finally time: Foreign Minister Genscher stepped out onto the balcony and an incredible rejoice rang out from the crowd. Then, his first words: “Dear fellow countrymen, I stand here before you today, in order to inform you that your departure…” It was not even possible to hear any more, all was drowned in cries of joy and elation. People were rejoicing and falling into each other’s arms, tears were flowing. It was one of the most moving moments in my life: Our departure had finally been granted!

Letters, almost forgotten, lay amongst the documents as Inge Krausbeck pulls her Stasi files from her letterbox in 2002 – the past has caught up with her. 348 pages of copies of letters, transcripts, protocols and communications. Publisher Ruth Damwerth from Münster was intrigued. “Abschied von der DDR” is a vivid and suspense-ridden combination of excerpts of Inge Krausbeck’s Stasi files, letters from family members and her own recount.

Altmarkzeitung, 10.28.2009, on “Inge Krausbeck: Ausreisezeit. Abschied von der DDR“