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[laughs]In the place that I was, I was the top informer. I had the feeling that I wasn’t just an ordinary spy. Of course, I told them everything.</blockquote>{{cite AV media |people=Sim, Kevin (director) |date=2009-11-07 |title=The Secret Life of the Berlin Wall |trans-title= |medium=Documentary |language=English |url= |access-date=2019-11-26 |archive-url= |archive-date= |format= |time= |location= |publisher=Diver Productions, BBC |id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote= |ref= }} |
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[laughs]In the place that I was, I was the top informer. I had the feeling that I wasn’t just an ordinary spy. Of course, I told them everything.</blockquote> |
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he told one interviewer his motive was antifascism |
he told one interviewer his motive was antifascism |
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Revision as of 00:46, 28 November 2019
Sascha Anderson
Alexander "Sascha" Anderson (born 24 August 1953) is a German writer and artist who was an influential figure in the alternative scene in pre-unification East Berlin in the 1980s. Anderson was nicknamed "the culture minister" due to his role in organising cultural events and promoting young artists.[1] In 1991, it was revealed that he had been an informal collaborator for the East German Stasi since 1975.[2]
Anderson was born in Dresden in 1953 to a theatre director father and architect mother. He trained as a typesetter and used his skills to print and disseminate political leaflets and poetry, for which he was imprisoned twice, in 1970 and 1972.[3]
In the 1960s Prenzlauer Berg had become a home to East German artists, intellectuals and the gay community; in the 1970s and 80s, the district was known as a "legendary Bohemia" which attracted artists like Cornelia Schleime and poets Adolf Endler and Bert Papenfuß-Gorek.
In 1976 Wolf Biermann, a prominent singer-songwriter in the scene, had his citizenship revoked while on a tour of West Germany; another member, philosopher Rudolf Bahro, was arrested and imprisoned in 1977 after he admitted having written The Alternative, a critique of East German socialism. These events triggered a wave of emigration in the counter-culture scene, and left what the ceramicist Wilfriede Maaß described as a "deep void".[1]
Anderson moved from Dresden to Berlin in 1981, and based himself in the Prenzlauer Berg district. He has been described by those who knew him as "fascinating", "charismatic" and "an idol"; he immersed himself in the East Berlin alternative scene, became a singer in a punk band, and quickly gained a reputation as an organiser of cultural events.[1][4] He arranged for the screening of films and publication of books and magazines, and found spaces for artists to work, perform and exhibit.[5] For some time, he lived with Maaß and her apartment and workshop became a meeting place for artists and bohemians.[5]
In 1986, Anderson emigrated to West Germany
As of 2019, he is living in Frankfurt with the writer and artist Alissa Walser.[5]
In 1991, singer-wongwriter Wolf Biermann was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize. During his acceptance speech, he made reference to a number of Stasi spies, including "the untalented babbler Sascha Arschloch [asshole]... who is still playing cool and hoping his files won't show up".[6] The announcement caused immediate outcry amongst Anderson's friends and supporters; when asked by Schleime and Endler, he had repeatedly denied working as a spy.[7]
In interviews, Anderson has given a number of reasons for becoming an informant. In 2009, when asked "how did you decide to become a spy?", he told a documentary maker:
How did you decide to be a spy?
In that situation someone comes and wants something from you and if you’re egotistical and altruistic enough then you say “Okay, let’s do it. I’ll do what I can and you’ll do what you can”. That’s fine. I’m not the sort of person who makes decisions based on an idea, so if the Devil looks good, I might say to him: “How can I help you, dear Devil?”
I sensed they wants something from me. Someone is taking you seriously and listening to you. So I offered myself up. Every gap in the conversation was a chance for me to say: “I am the right man for you”
Were you a good spy?
[laughs]In the place that I was, I was the top informer. I had the feeling that I wasn’t just an ordinary spy. Of course, I told them everything.
Sim, Kevin (director) (2009-11-07). The Secret Life of the Berlin Wall (Documentary). Diver Productions, BBC. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
he told one interviewer his motive was antifascism
Before being revealed as an informer Anderson received a number of prizes for his literary works including a residency at the Villa Massimo. Afterwards, he was ostracised by the literary community, and was described as "one of the most reviled men in Germany" for at least ten years after being announced as a collaborator. When Annekatrin Hendel's documentary Anderson - Anatomie des Verrats [Anderson - Anatomy of Betrayal] was released in 2014, there were protests at screenings.[5]
Works
Further reading
- Hendel, Annekatrin (Director) (2014). Henderson, (documentary) [German]
References
- ^ a b c Reinhardt, Bernd. ""Anderson": Artists and the Stasi in Stalinist East Germany". www.wsws.org. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- ^ "Schuld oder Sühne". www.tagesspiegel.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- ^ Kölling, Andreas (2009). "Biographische Datenbanken: Sascha Anderson". Bundesunmittelbare Stiftung des Offentlichen rechts. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Die Sphinx vom Prenzlauer Berg". www.tagesspiegel.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-11-27.
- ^ a b c d Online, FOCUS. "Der Mann, der seine Freunde an die Stasi verriet". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 2019-11-27.
- ^ Broder, Henryk M. (2002-03-04). "AUTOREN: Alle meine Entchen". Spiegel Online. Vol. 10. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- ^ Beyer, Susanne (2009-06-08). "ZEITGEIST: Freunde von früher". Spiegel Online. Vol. 24. Retrieved 2019-11-25.