‘Stasiland’ written by Anna Funder is an account of the passionate search for a brutal history in the process of being lost, forgotten and destroyed. Anna Funder tells extraordinary stories from the underbelly of the most perfected surveillance state of all time, the former East Germany. Due to this brutal history many victims find it difficult to leave their pasts behind. The past is a difficult thing being able to heal after something tragic has happened in your life. The Stasi held so much power against people and had the ability to completely alter and ruin a person’s life. It will be a long process of healing for those who were aching sadness. Many victims who suffered major events were fighting after having being watched, for those who …show more content…
Her and her boyfriend maintained a long distance relationship when speaking by phone once a week during the two and half years they are together. This was hard for Julia because she knew that her phone calls, booked through the authorities, would be monitored. Julia mentioned “I [don’t] like it but I thought: I live in a dictatorship, so that’s just how it is. It was clear to me as a simply act of GDR-logic.” This is Julia accepting of the world in which she lived in even though it was unfair and wrong. She mentions the GDR-logic which reflects on the nature of Germans, meaning there were no questions ask, just accept and do. When her boyfriend came to visit her his visits were accompanied by intense surveillance. In our society today couples have the freedom to do what they like, there is no people controlling them or monitoring them at any time. It didn’t stop there for Julia, she noticed how black cars would follow her or park outside her home. All her phone calls are tapped and her bags were constantly searched. The Stasi has so much control over her that they crashed her dreams to become an interpreter. The regime dictated her education, sending her to a distant boarding school and ensuring she did not gain a university place despite excellent academic results. Having a career is a big thing for people and knowing the Stasi took that away from Julia is very heartbreaking. When such a big event happens in life of others its very difficult to leave your past behind. Julia is seeing a psychotherapist during the time period in which she slowly reveals her past experiences to Funder. She withdrew from the world after her imprisonment and experiences with the Stasi, as well as having to deal with the trauma of being raped soon after the fall of the Wall. Leaving her detached from the world, finding it difficult to leave her home. Her depression and anxiety escalate