gardinen wohnzimmer 2016

welcome to deafmedia.de! for the "german deaf culture days" 2012 in erfurt, we wasproduced a 120 min documentary called "the dddr" : dddr (= d-gdr) means, east germany:"deaf german democratic republic" exciting anecdotes of deaf and hearing witnessesand the truth about the gdr. besides, we had produced a 40 min bonus-dvd called :"the escape of the schoenfeld family" . from this dvd, we want to show you today some segments!be ready! - always ready! a film by marco lipski (director/realisation)and christina & uwe schã¶nfeld (producers). christina’s studies(schã¶nfeld vs. krenz) our life story, and how i grew up,is very strange. when i first met uwe...

he was strongly oriented towards the gdr,while i dreamt of a life in west germany. over the years though we swapped our positions:he wanted to go to the west, and i wanted to stay. it began like this: at that time i wasstill working as a dental technician. then i started hating my job!i wanted out of there. every day spent... sitting hunched at a table fumbling about?no, i wanted to work with people! i wanted to be a teacher! or an educator!?both were impossible for the deaf. the gdr didn’t allow it, as it hadnever happened before. we protested! we wanted to make it happen! so uwe telephonedwith the municipal authorities... right? - exactly, for teachers and educators! - yes, right!so uwe rang them up and asked whether it...

would be at least possible as a trial experiment,for me to become a teacher or educator. it was rejected right there on the phone!immediately denied!!! reasons: my deafness! it wasn’t wanted.uwe shouted and ranted back! and hung up angrily! 10 minutes later they suddenly rang usback and gave us an appointment! we thought: "all of a sudden? aha!"the appointment was only 1 week away. and so we went.it was a large and noble institute. specifically for "teaching & education" –exactly! we went in and waited. and who came? the manager herself!in person! ohhh this woman...

even at first glance: that was a beautifulwoman! black hair, leather skirt which... only accentuated her figure! painted fingernails,feather boa collar... and she was charming: "welcome! please take a seat!"this sight: i was in raptures!!! then we started a lively conversation.uwe told her all about deafness. he proposed himself as an accompanying interpreterand this way i would be guaranteed to get through it. with him as my interpreter, they shouldgive me the chance at this experiment. the woman listened to all of this, thoughtfor a moment, and accepted the proposal! hooray! yesss! so, after the entrance exam, i was accepted.but everybody just spoke about...

this woman! we heard things like: she wasa person commanding respect! who was she??? it was frau krenz! she had absolutelyno reservations! she took my hand, ... patted and hugged me...- excuse me!? may i please explain... to the public who frau krenz is!?some do not know the wife of egon krenz. and egon krenz was the final successor oferich honecker (who they threw out!). egon krenz came as the grinning saviour ofthe gdr nation. he took over the gdr... for only the last days (7 weeks, 1989):"i will lead the gdr into the future!" and that was it! then he went under.full stop. and that was his wife! - yes! - most of the people today don’t know who they were!- exactly, that was them!

(erika & egon krenz with son karsten, 1990) step by step, i got through my studiesand uwe was my interpreter. but not "just" in sign language,he also acted as transcriber. especially at my oral examination on thesubject of "psychology". it worked! and i got very good marks! everything was great!- but now, of all... times, uwe wanted to flee!!! they had even already arranged abig celebration! and it was specially... ... for christina! even the people from theapprentice home eagerly helped organise it. everything was perfect! egon krenz had rsvp’dthe party: "yes, my wife and i are coming!"

mr. and mrs. krenz wanted to givechristina her graduation diploma personally! because she was the first deaf teacher-educator. everything was planned! shortly before our escape, mrs. krenzvisited me again in the apprentice home. she drove up in a luxury car. security werestanding everywhere and making space. mrs. krenz climbed out of the car with a hugebunch of flowers. everyone was amazed! - even the...head...what was he called?- the director? headmaster? the home-director marvelled: such a variety ofcolourful flowers are unheard of (in the gdr)!!! everyone was very excited: "for christina?"- "ahhh!" - and the home’s employees??? they had spent the whole week preparingthe home for her visit by cleaning and cleaning!

everything was decorated, even a big banquet wascooked, and it was said: "she pays for everything!" i was amazed and embarrassed:"oh god!" - then: 1-2 weeks later... ...we ran away!!! the schã¶nefeld family’s escape "why didn’t you flee earlier?"lots of people have always asked me. "jumping over the border isn’t thatdifficult!?" honestly: i was a scared cat! i knew: you can get shot at the border!officially in the gdr there was... no firing orders!but there was one!!! and everybody knew it!!!sorry, but i just couldn’t do it.

i wouldn’t have run away alone anyway.only with wife and child! but should i take this huge risk?fleeing with a child? and then they shoot? or the bloodhounds bite? or we stepon a landmine and fly through the air? my answer was: "no!" so we patientlywaited for an escape through hungary. when was the very first time i thoughtabout escaping from the gdr? and about a life in the west???as long as i can remember: always!!! quite simply because we always kept ingood contact with our relatives in the west. they brought us over worldpolitics, clothes, and foods! it was affecting! it was overwhelming, becausethere was simply nothing to buy in the gdr.

that is why i always wanted tobe in the west i personally, however, was neverin a rush to come to the west. none! i was bought up a socialist.especially by grandma and granddad. my parents were perfectly ordinary parents.but me? i wanted to help build this... land! forwards to a new future.sure, i knew the west had its charms! i knew about the west from television.we had no relatives there. i never had contacts in the west! "they have every-thing there? yes, and? i don’t care!" was my motto. i didn’t need anything, apart from to eatand to drink. everything else was trivial. my life was good! i was satisfied.well, that changed abruptly,...

...when i met my wife!!! all she evertalked about was the west, west, west! i always just thought: "aha! i see i see! hm hm!"and had to swallow. over time, little by little,i consciously changed my mind we got to know each other andbecame a couple. he was a real sergeant,and had countless rules to follow. there were countless things thatwere forbidden to him! one example: a friend of mine from west germanycame to visit in his west german car. i think he was driving an opel!i said to uwe: "come on, get in!" and he: "oh no! i can’t do that!i would get in trouble! for god‘s sake!"

"what would happen if a stasi spy saw me?no! you drive and i will go by foot!" i said: "man, don’t be like that!it’s raining! just get in!" "heavens! no!!!" he refused. so we droveand uwe walked alongside in the rain (uwe`s military identification card) afterwards we had a real relationshipcrisis conversation at home: "how can this go on with us? do we reallywant to marry? or should we split up, because you believe in communism & socialism?and i in the politics of the west?" i said: "maybe splitting up would be best!?"uwe recognised the conflict and thought about it: one day later he came to me and said:"love is stronger than anything in the world!!!"

and i: "oh? really???" one day the time was ripe:the date fixed. we wanted to marry! all well and good. we now beganextensive planning of the wedding. which relatives are we going to invite?what will there be to eat and drink? we listed everything, as well as whichevening programme we would like, etc. then uwe said: "couldn’t we pleaseinvite my company and the officers?" i refused: "no, they have nothing to dowith our families! work colleagues??? no! only family and friends are allowedto be there!" but uwe said: "i have already told them aboutthe wedding! and they said:

if you invite us, we will pay for everything!"- not everything! just all new uniforms! true, all the uniforms! pah! no!!!a wedding filled with uniforms? i refuse! just imagine: everyone standing there,and uwe next to me in uniform? refused! no, i wanted to have uwe in a suit, andwe would scrape together the expenses. my mama, my papa and my auntsupported us a little financially. that had to suffice! for us anda modest wedding celebration. just the way it should be. end of discussion.final!. and how did the company react? mad? - sure, they were mad! i didn’t care though.it was only important to me for one reason: that they would financially support us!but: you said no, so we refrained.

that was a pity of course,but i just did what you told me! my escape plan began just at the momentwhen i had had enough of the gdr: i couldn’t change anything about orin this country! absolutely nothing!!! because of the army. the professional army threwme out! why? i had had contact with the west. (stasi file: contact to west berlinersthrough the centre for the deaf!) in the end it was because: christina‘sfather had a birthday, and i was there! christina’s father’s 60th birthdayin the centre for the deaf the next day i received a letter: i shouldimmediately report to chief of staff! so i went to his office, where two people(officers) were already waiting for me.

with the chief of staff and these officers,i asked, "what's going on?" the chief of staff began counting out my offenceson his fingers! they knew everything!!! they knew everything that had happenedyesterday at the party in the clubhouse. the day before a deaf person had told me:"strangers have looked in here several times!" they had watched and spied uponthe entire party! and that was it... they knew the names of all those present,had inspected all the visitors cars. they had notes about my car, notes aboutthe cars of our relatives. everything! (stasi file: about the 60th birthdayof the father in law, 1983) (notes about the visitors and their cars)

i listened to the accusations against me.denial was useless: "yes, that's right!" i was arrested immediatelyand sent to prison. and even while they led me away,the following suddenly became clear: i had tried to live here in the gdr. i also tried to change some in thegdr. things i did not like. but that had been completely pointless! another reason why i hated thegdr more and more was: all these stasi people disgusted me,because they were all against... people who like the west!while on the other hand:

they were allowed to buy everything fromthe west, for example levis jeans... bananas... peaches...everything imaginable! anything that they wished for in life:they were allowed, and they got it too! i found that stupid!!! ministry for state security (stasi) so in the year 1982/83... i travelled with my theatre groupto a pantomime festival in brno (cz). there deaf from all over the world romped about.but: especially the italians... they were the real focal pointof the whole affair.

their whole demeanour was a pure spectacle!they totally stole the show!!! sure, other nations were also interesting,but the italians especially! anyway, not important! i didn’t go over to the italians anyway,but stayed with my troop. but then: the italians came to us:"do you have time tonight? for a meeting?" we said: "yes, sure! why not?!" and among these very people,were some very special people! we told them all about the gdrand i told them about my life. they were totally amazed!they had had no notions of life in the gdr. they said:"we will visit you in half a year!"

half a year later i was busy cleaningthe apartment. it was a... totally average saturday! i cleaned anduwe was watering the flowers on the windowsill. then he said to me"interesting! look, there’s an italian car!!!" me: "really?" and also looked out the window.then the memory came back to me: "shit!" and i thought: "did they really keeptheir promise??? ... oh, shit!!!" i sprinted down the stairs,opened the front door and gestured: "how can you just show up here unannounced?look at me: in an apron!?" i told them they should come back another time!anytime, just not today! the italians said: "oh, it’s not so bad!"brushing off my concerns! then uwe also gestured:

"welcome! come in!"that was awkward for me. hmm. we sat and talked. they asked whetherthey could stay with us. me: "no!" and "that is totally out of the question!you’re sleeping in west berlin, not here!" friends from italy (stasi file about the italian visitorsof the schã¶nfeld family.) we became great friends and theystarted visiting us every month. they were interested in simply everything!anything that had to do with our lives. once they even called me (excuse me?):"you're a simple girl!" what is that supposed to mean?am i a bit too ugly?

i thought to myself, "my legs are totallyhairy! maybe that had shocked them? " aren‘t i pretty? should i shave my legsor something? or what do you mean? they said: "no! we mean you live here narrowminded and extremely devoid of culture!" "you just don’t know enough! you have toexpand your horizons! in the west? ... you can experience so much there! and dowhatever you want! it is an arrogant world, but you can do anything there..." to the german-italian friendship!dear italians, we wish to invite you! i hope we in the gdr and you italiansshall remain friends forever, until death. (uwe shows the italians histrabant for the first time!)

one day we were driving the trabi,and the italians were following behind. when i suddenly realised that a thirdcar was behind us the whole time. i tested it! i stopped. the italians stopped.and the third car stopped as well. i acted as if i was opening the bonnet,and i tried to see who they were. "oh, never mind!" i thought, and we drove on.not long after, the police appeared! they huddled us off the motorway.i think it was near reimsdorf. well, it doesn’t matter anyway!they simply barred our way and herded us off! they then sped ahead of us andordered us to stop: "get out! license!" then? they simply disappeared with all our papers!left us standing there for over an hour.

then they came back and said: "here youpart your ways! the italians will drive south... and you back to the north! no discussion!"just like that!? well, that was something! (original video of the story!) after this experience, i said:"to continue living here is senseless!" we had no freedom of opinionand certainly no freedom of choice!" everything went down the drain. then our italian friends seized the initiative: they placed an application for an exitvisa at the italian embassy for us. they paid for it and then some time laterwe actually received permission!

(the italian exit-visa ofthe schã¶nfeld family.) yes, like that! the stasi must have said:"let’s leave the schã¶nfelds in peace!... they have ties to erika and egon krenz!we’d better just leave them alone!" if we had had no contact to krenz, then ourvoyage would’ve never been allowed! now that you mention it ... i have never thoughtabout it before, but that’s how it would’ve been! (the italian exit permits were applied for by:) already in the spring before, the pressure onme was growing! the stasi had... started visiting me ever more at work!giving me instructions and commands! and then they really started!i should kindly help them.

i should tell them everything the peoplesaid! i should monitor the phones! i should do all of this and give themreports. i should this, i should that, etc. they really put a lot of pressure on me!they came to see me at work every week. i said: "leave me alone! i am not going to dothat!" and from then on it just got worse! suddenly some of my colleagues startedwatching me and behaving differently. i said to christina: "i can‘t take thismuch longer!" i was fearful of... what was still coming to us! do i continueto refuse!? am i going to end up in jail!? what was really awaiting me?the people all began to talk about me! i begged christina:"please, let's go, i want to get out!"

(original stasi files ofchristina & uwe schã¶nfeld) (release by the special representativeof the federal government) - and then it was our daughter’s birthday!?- exactly! it all started with her birthday. (left, birthday girl:madelaine schã¶nfeld) - we partied that evening with...!?- with our family, relatives and friends! work colleagues were also there! we celebratedwildly and no one suspected what we were up. "your camera is off, or you have no film in it!" then, while we all sat there, we women went tothe kitchen and i poured everyone schnapps! hello! today we will share a drink.probably for the last time.

in about one week i won’t be...well... cheers! ... don’t talk nonsense!otherwise i will cry. - we, my friends and my mother...- your mother didn’t notice anything!!! my mother doesn’t know.nobody. only she knows. so we drank a toast. next to me, my mother,who didn’t know what we planned. i just... ... didn’t want to hurt her! but then my friend who knewstarted to cry terribly. the guest were shocked and wanted to know whatwas wrong? some realised what was going on. my father looked at me piercingly:he immediately knew something was up.

- and then what? – and then we sat in the plane,but it didn’t start! no start. nothing. we had already started moving,but then turned back and simply stood still. i thought: "what is going on here?" andthen suddenly the military machine entered!!! they all just walked onto the plane...and directly towards us!!! i thought:"my god! please, please..." the soldiers spoke to someone sitting directlybehind me: "stand up!" - "what is it?... “do not argue! stand up and comeoutside!" and then they took them! no sooner were they outside then the doorsclosed and we took off! phew! - whew! (original plane ticket of the journey)

as soon as we arrived in hungary,we visited a local there. a very good friend of our italianfriends. she lived in budapest. a single woman. i rang on her belland inside a curtain was pulled back: her face appeared behind it and she recognised us!the italians had informed her of everything. (the family with the friends in budapest.) our daughter said: "where are the children here?you promised there would be playmates!" uwe caught on immediately!he went alone with her into the living room. he wanted to have a private conversation with her.i didn’t join. i was too excited. and then?what did you say to her?

i just explained to her:"we are not going back to the gdr!" that was an odd situation. i told our daughter:"we’re never going back!" first, she whined, "how is this possible?what about all my friends in the gdr?" then christina came and said:"we want to go to the west! it’s a better life there!" here the strange situation began!christina saw how sad our daughter was. then our daughter said:"i don’t want to go to the west!" christina: "what? you don’t want to go?fine. that’s it. we won’t go to the west!" christina's fuses blew: "basta! we will go backto the gdr immediately!" "our daughter is crying? that hurts me!!!we are going straight back to the east!"

the chaos broke loose! i stood rooted to the spot.the discussion went back and forth, back and forth! it went on till our daughter was fed up:"ok! that’s enough! we are going to the west!" christina was all confused. but our littlegirl said: "we are going now to the west!" "why else did we come?and all the effort?! nah! no arguments!” christina said: "no, my child! i don‘t wantyou to be sad! we will go to the ddr." and our daughter: "what? you wanted to go tothe west, and that’s what we have now decided!" ..."here we are! here we stay!that’s final!" then we tried to call her granddad.the grandparents. the first attempt... was simply broken by a third party inthe middle of the greeting hello!

the same occurred on the second attempt: as soonas we were connected we were immediately out! then we waited a couple of days.the last attempt worked! we and our daughter then toldgranddad: "we are staying!... ... and will try with timeto escape to the west!" (stasi forms concerning this phone call) “we are doing well. we want to tell you we are not coming back.please notify the company and the home”. then the call ends. finally we arrived at a refugee camp. i, the old social worker, immediately madecontacts with the maltese service.

zugliget church - gdr refugee camp,budapest 1989 i honestly have to say (i haven’t forgotten to thisday): they were great and respectful people! they rolled up their sleeves, worked nonstop,helped with everything... – they were great! - ... for hours!!! they walked about,organising food for the refugees... ... they provided clothes for everyone...they provided everything for us!!! the maltese service did it all very well! this camp was the first and only ofthis type there. but there was a problem: a house directly across belonged to the stasi!on the entire road stasi types were stood. we all knew it! the stasi even hadcaravans standing in our field...

they clutched at people and tried to convincethem: "please come back to the gdr!" they even kidnapped (if they were leftalone) the children of us refugees!!! they blackmailed the parents: “well, we haveyour child! return immediately to the gdr!” we were warned several times! from then onchristina kept a constant eye on our daughter. she tore herself away and wanted to play atthe fence! i caught up with her and grabbed her by the hand again. she tried to get free!"mama! you’re annoying me!" she screamed at me. my hands were wet with sweat.but we stayed hand in hand. but we were also very gratefulto the hungarian residents. a lot of older hungarian pensioners came to us.

they had little to eat themselves,but brought us apples and many other foods. they gifted us east germansagain and again with food. please bear in mind: that was natural food!wild grown apples, f. e., with worms, etc. or just with light scratches and marks.these they gifted to us east germans. and what did they do? they took the applesand just threw them into the dustbin. the hungarians seethed with anger! they wereso arrogant and just wanted food from the west. therefore only food that the maltesersprovided for us from the west. this food was "clean". "we don‘t want thisdirty stuff from hungary. get lost!" simply throwing their gifts into the garbage???the poor old hungarians! who does that???

i had never seen anything soungrateful! i didn’t like it at all! we were completely confused! we were all gdrcitizens. gdr citizens among themselves! whether in the gdr or here:i thought this fact alone, we were all united! we did have the same collective mentality! sure?no! in hungary everyone behaved differently! we were shocked: the gdr citizens herewere becoming more and more aggressive!! they sought conflict! provoked anyone andeveryone! revealed their envies. drank all day! they began to brawl, etc.the tensions grew and grew! "i want to go the west!" -"no! i am first!" a volunteer came to me and said:"you see that car there?"

- what was the name of the brand???- lada! a white lada. - whether it is white or blue isn’t importantto me now...- the lada came from rostock! - rostock??? - yes, it came from rostock!- oh dear, those poor rostockers! "dear rostocker, if you are randomly watching this:i apologise sincerely for the car damage!" this car was just sitting there and thevolunteer said: "just take this car!... ... the owners already left for thewest! so, just take it!" me: “but i don’t have a key!”volunteer: “well, you’ll manage somehow!... ... drive around a bit with the family! enjoy it!until the wall falls or the border opens up!” “very well,” i thought,“what the criminals on tv did, i could do too!”

on tv they would always use some wire on the doorand ‘hey presto’ the door would open! childs play! if they could do it so easily, it wouldn’t be aproblem for me! – i started to have a fiddle! i tried and tried ... uh!after over half an hour it somehow worked. finally! so i sat down in the lada,bent down to the cables and ... suddenly there was a knock on the window!!startled, i slowly looked up. there stood the pastor of the zugliget church!!!(church in budapest / hungary) he was the highest authority of this camp!he had set the camp up in front of his church. so he knocked (and he even spoke german):"what are you doing there???" i calmly answered: "i want to drive!"the pastor: "and who gave permission???"

he took me to the top office of the church.before me stood his entire staff of employees. i just sat there. then the pastor came withfinger raised at me and said: "you! you wanted to steal inmy in my camp!!!... ... and i do not allow stealing herenot at all!!!" i defended myself: "i didn’t want to steal anything!they told me the owner of the car is gone! ... i should enjoy my time with my wife and children,drive around and then come back! ... ... i didn’t want to steal it tomake money or anything!" the pastor said: “we consistently send people like youback to the gdr! i am sorry“ s-u-d-d-e-n-l-y we all heard a hugenoise, followed by a wild clatter.

i was bored so i was lying in the sun.then my daughter came to me and said, gesturing: "i heard that papa is in the church!he is at the very top of the church!" i said: "yes, so!? let papa be!maybe he is visiting someone, or praying!" my daughter disagreed:"no!!! papa is in big trouble! ..." ... papa is a criminal!!!"me: "pardon me??? ... ... are you crazy! you have him mixed up withsomeone else! papa is fiddling with a car!" my daughter started to lose it:"no! it is papa! really papa! papa! papa!" this outburst alone shocked me so muchthat i immediately started running! i gave my daughter into somebodies care:"she remains here! watch her!" and i ran!!!

i looked ... and found the door, where 2 menwere watching: "do not disturb! there is a meeting!" i pushed the men aside with force andliterally burst the door open! suddenly the doors were flung open!two huge, solid wooden doors!!! and who was standing there???christina, my wife! i stood there angrily and yelled:"where is my husband???" with a voice that made your hair standon end! she briefly looked around... and forced her way through thepeople till she reached me! i didn’t give a damn about these people!i saw only one thing: uwe was crying! - i had never seen him cry!you really cried! - it is possible.

- i ran to him... and then i hugged you!??- yes! what happened? the priest blessed us and"painted" with his thumb crosses on our foreheads. strange situation! first he said, "you criminal!"and the next moment he blessed us. the problem was easily solved because thevolunteer had confirmed my statement. three maltese had recommended to take the car.the idea did not come from me. pastor imre kozma received for his refugee camp, amongother things, the great cross of the order of the maltese etc pp. then a church employee cameto us and said: "listen!" "there is a particular border.it is 2 hours by train from here... we call it "the green border"!there you can simply walk over...

and you're in austria! but shhh!don’t tell anyone. i will show you the way!" how did we look? packed and dressed with:backpack, scarf, hat and gloves!!!! - no!!! - yes! of course!!!- not with gloves! - of course! - you exaggerate! - the people...- we were heavily laden! nothing more. - but not with hat & gloves!?- yes!!! the people were laughing at us!!! - it was 30Ⱐoutside! they laughed...- okay, we had coats on! but no hats. exactly! we walked there in the heatwith a jacket, backpack, winter boots! the woman said, "stay invisible!" and we?we were packed to the gills, like packhorses. of course! i was very scared! what was awaitingus in the west? would we get clothes there?

i was very worried that we wouldn’tget any clothes in the west! therefore, i simply had to pack everything.the risk was too great! maybe we would be poor over there?then i'd rather poor and warm. brilliant! without those clothes you wouldn‘tgo over to the west! and because ... of this clothes we couldn’t get over at first!!!- without knickers!? - then the police came!!! they surrounded us from all sidesalong with the military! in a split second! they just appearedfrom the ground! - that was your fault! you reckless men simply spread out a map!!! - they laid the map out wide open on the grass!- hikers also have maps!

no! that’s exactly why noticedus with their telescopes!! that 's enough for today! are you disappointed?that was exciting, right??? was it goes well? can escape the familiyor do they remain trapped in hungary? that probably keen interest for you, yes !? do you wantto know the truth about the life of the deaf in the gdr? then we recommend you to buy our dvd set!there is 2 dvds for the price of one! the first dvd is our 120min docu "the dddr" (= the deaf gdr; the life ofthe deaf in east germany) with interviews of approximately 25 witnesses. the second dvd is our 40min documentary "the escape of the schoenfeldfamily " - from today, you were interrupted abruptly! all dvds are subtitled in 5 languages!!!if i ask you now: "are you ready for this purchase ?" normal, you all must scream the answer:"always ready!!!" ... ciao!

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