"It was the eve of the 40th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic, 6 October 1989. The plan was for the youth of the GDR to salute the party and state leadership in ceremonious fashion. A torchlight procession was to be held along Unter den Linden boulevard. I wanted to observe the spectacle as a photographer, but my vocational school had declared me unworthy of being delegated there. But at least the first-aid corps welcomed volunteers.
And so I stood right by the parade route in a medic’s uniform where I just couldn’t help feeling spooked: with enormous flags, thousands of torches, and a mighty racket, FDJ kids marched through East Berlin. It left me with mixed feelings: eerily beautiful in its appeal, repulsive in its petty monumentalism, and tasteless given its historical parallels with the torchlight processions of the National Socialists."
Merit Schambach (East Berlin, born 1971)
(10 rankings) 
