Cosy slippers

Stasi prison April 15, 1985

My first full “routine day”.
I guess.
Feels like.
Speaking of which: cosy slippers.
All day.
No other shoes.

Original pair of slippers as used in the Stasi pretrial prison facilities in Leipzig.

Washed myself in the morning with ice cold water in the cell.
No shower. 
Refused food in the morning.
And the rest of the day.
Drank water when offered.

First interrogation started around 8am.
Personal history. Boring. And:

“What do you want to achieve?”
“I want out, I have no future here.”
“You can have a bright future if you take the right decisions.”

Schubert tells me about (very weird) his upbringing and his service to society.
It sounds like a propaganda statement to join the party or army to protect the state from the imperialists in the West.

“You have no future for me here. You are not the future.”
He tries to hide that he’s pissed with me.
But he behaves.

I decide to test him but gradually.
He drags on with my life stages.
This can last forever.
And it does.

2 hours break in the afternoon.
Back to the cell.
In cosy slippers.

Upon return I ask Schubert about my parents.
“I don’t know.”

And again:
“What do you want?”
“What do YOU want?”
-Silence.

He realizes that I start pushing him.
His surprise move to show me my place:
“It is up to you whether you stay here for a very long time or whether there is progress.”

“Progress for WHAT?! Holding me back from exercising a human right? You know that you are on the wrong side of history.” -he doesn’t.

Ignores me but writes down every word.
Lousy typing skills.
Soft hands.
Baby face.

I need to break the long typing spells:
“Do you have a shower cabin in here?”
“Shower is Thursdays.”
“Do you only shower once a week?”
-Silence

“Why won’t you eat?”
“I don’t want your food - I want out.”
“We can forcefully feed you.”
“I don’t doubt it, be my guest.”

Schubert tries to stay on protocol to progress with recording my life history.
We are on page 20 or so and at age 6.
It drags on into the night.

One more shot at Schubert for today:
“What do you like about your job?”
“I ask the questions.”
“I’m tired.”
-Silence

“Will you eat?”
“No.”

There is food in my cell at night.
It looks better.
I ignore it.

15min light flash intervals.
Sucks.

*Testimony -> Start. This blog entry is part of a linear narrated testimony of the contemporary witness Jens Thieme who was imprisoned 1985-1986 as a political prisoner in various GDR prisons by the GDR Ministry of State Security. Stasi prison, Stasi jail, Stasi detention.