Verrat verjährt nicht: Lebensgeschichten aus einem einst geteilten Land (usually translated as Betrayal Never Dies: Life Stories from a Once Divided Land) by Christhard Läpple (ISBN: 978-3-492-25467-0) retells the stories of East Germans from a few different standpoints. The author, after studying many accounts in the archives, chose a few that seemed extra compelling and reached out to people to see if they would be willing to tell their stories. A few were, and they are recorded in this book. There is a former Stasi spy; a regular guy who wasn’t part of any resistance movement, but still fought the regime; a woman who wrote fiction and hoped to have her views published in the West; and a brother and sister who ended up on opposite sides of the wall after she fled to the West and he stayed in the East. Each chapter in the book tells the story of one of these members of East German society from their standpoint. The spy told of his craft. He worked in academia and reported on his colleagues and students. He seemed to not feel much remorse for this. The man who made several attempts on his own to flee and the authoress whose efforts to see her work published in the West seemed the most sympathetic. They despised the system that suppressed the basic urges of all mankind to be free. The story of the brother and sister was another one where the reader hopes for the storybook, happy ending, but it never comes. The sister hated the East and got out when she could thanks to some human traffickers that it took her a while to extricate herself from once she got to the West. The brother was a true believer in the East and remained so for quite some time. The Stasi asked him to spy on her, which he did. The author did not lay blame on anyone but the Communists running the awful system and just let the subjects tell their stories. At the very end is a rather extensive timeline of events pertaining to East Germany, from its formation to its fall.
The book, available only in German (and I admit I spent a bit of time in the dictionary to get through it), was a very interesting read. It had a raw and truthful feel. Läpple let the subjects of his interviews do the speaking. Their desperation, indifference, disgust, and yearning were tangible. It was interesting to read about the pervasiveness of the security apparatus that spied so heavily on its own people. It was obvious while reading, just as it was to 1980s me, that a system that requires so much overhead just to keep its own people in check is not a system that respects people and has clearly taken away their God-given rights. I was surprised to learn that people weren’t always summarily shot for making attempts to get to the West. The bravery and courage required to stand up the evil of communism are always inspiring, and this book provides a clear contrast between those who yearned for freedom and those who actively chose to suppress the freedom and potential of others. I also found the timeline at the end of the book to be fascinating. As a non-expert in East German history, there were a lot of events that were new to me. It was also depressing to read about how few of the high-level Communists and security service officials were brought to any kind of justice in this world. Most ended up serving either light or no sentences, including some who fled to Russia or South America. The lack of culpability in high-level government officials seems to be an oft-repeated problem.
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Red-handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win by Peter Schweizer (ISBN: 978-0-06-306114-9) chronicles corruption among American elites as it pertains to China. The book shows how many facets of American society are compromised because of their deep, corrupt financial ties to China. Both major political parties (already for decades) have been selling out to China along with big business, the green lobby, the American entertainment industry, and even America’s sports leagues. While the Clintons and the Bidens headline the political corruption, the Bushes and Mitch McConnell are also exposed. Politicians and diplomats consistently use their time in office to make connections with high-ranking Chinese, then cash in on public service, brokering Chinese access to American halls of power. Some, like the Clintons, Bidens, and McConnells, don’t even bother waiting until they’re out of office. The worst part about it from an American security standpoint is that many of the deals involve dual-use technologies, defense industry, and hi-tech products that, when protected, protect America’s edge and advantage in the world. The NBA has sold out to China for the billions of dollars it can make there. In turn, players, coaches, executives, and even fans are prevented from expressing certain views. The same holds true for Hollywood, where anti-American messages are de jour, but the studios must walk on eggshells when it comes to China, Taiwan, and Tibet. A short section at the end talks about what can be done and passes out a little praise to the few to whom it is due. Ultimately, American political discourse is constrained, and American national interests are subjugated to a country that does not, according to the statements of its own leaders, believe in a positive-sum game, but a zero-sum game, and it’s willing to do what it takes to be the one on top.