Beyond The Berlin Wall

Synopsis

Thirty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, three former political prisoners recall their moments of violation and humiliation in the clutches of state security in East Berlin and their experiences in the then Hohenschönhausen Interrogation Centre. This documentary offers an insight into their individual experiences of this period in and out of prison, from a historical and personal point of view. The stories of Edda Schönherz, a former TV news presenter, Hans-Joachim (Akki) Lietzsche, a former window dresser, and Matthias Leupold, a fashion magazine driver at the time, will make you reflect not only about the past but also about the present.

Statements of the directors

Matthias Leupold

During the 40 years of the GDR's existence, around 200-250,000 people were imprisoned for political reasons. It took me 37 years after my imprisonment 1982 before I was able to come to terms with what had happened to me in the State Security remand centre in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen in the winter of 1982. And I met two other three innocent prisoners at this place: I was shocked by the harshness of their fate when Edda Schönherz told me for the first time, why she was imprisoned, what happened to her children and what everyday life was like in Hoheneck during the three years of her sentence. The life story of Hans-Joachim Lietsche, known as "Akki", who at the age of 20 organised an illegal counter-revolutionary group with four sixteen-year-old friends in East Berlin, who printed and secretly distributed leaflets. All of them were arrested and spent three quarters of a year or more in pre-trial detention or juvenile detention. Akki was the only one of his group to survive. Abhiroop, Marcella and Berglind and I tried to get closer to these stories, including mine. How Hohenschönhausen was experienced by Edda, Akki and me, how the officers of the State Security actually put their strategy of psychological decomposition into practice during interrogations, can certainly be seen as representative of the treatment of many other prisoners on remand.

Berglind Sóley Elstermann, Island

Stepping into the memorial of Hohenschönhausen is like walking into a library hall, filled to the brim with fascinating & unimaginable stories that most people have never heard of. From the beginning, I wanted to know more. I wanted to soak up every wisdom of the former prison’s witnesses, that I possibly could. It has been an honour to have these face to face interviews with Akki, Edda & Matthias. Their stories of oppression, endurance, resistance and bravery will always stay with me. I hope that the viewers of this film can learn from the life stories of these three contemporary witnesses who stood up for freedom and the right to autonomy.

Marcela Faganello, Brasil

The story presented by the former prisoners of the previous Hohenschönhausen prison is a documentary that provides not only a glimpse into the past, but above all into the future. The world around us and the particular one in which we live must be analyzed and constantly questioned so that we don't fall into the fallacy of making mistakes that have already been made. This moment in Germany, as in many other countries in Europe, was a unique and memorable experience in different ways for many, and it was special to have had the opportunity to hear about it through the eyes of Matthias, Edda and Akki.

Abhiroop Banerjee, India

When I first heard about Hohenschönhausen from my professor and that he had been a prisoner there under the German Democratic Republic (GDR), I was quite literally left dumbstruck. But it was not until I visited the prison, which is now a memorial, that I decided to document these untold stories that seemed to be carved on the walls like the marks of a prisoner counting his days in confinement. Even though, I had some idea about the GDR, I never knew what exactly it was like to live in East Germany in the 80’s until I heard the bone chilling life stories of this film’s protagonists. Their haunting recollections of life behind the bars, and the lasting scars, have left a significant mark in me. To know what human beings are capable of, both as oppressors and as survivors, has opened my eyes. Personally, Edda, Akki and Matthias’s stories also have given me the strength to become a more person of more perseverance and endurance. I hope this film reaches as many people as possible and inspire then with tales of utmost bravery and courage.