Freedom at Any Cost—A Stasi File Tells the Story

At the end of September, Manfred Casper, former CEO of the Braunschweig Region Employers’ Association, was a guest at the Steinmühle. During his lecture on the topic “Freedom at Any Price,” he proved to be a captivating storyteller, recounting his youth in the GDR, a failed escape attempt, stints in prison, and a fresh start in West Germany.

The event, initiated by the Rotary Club of Marburg and Steinmühle and organized in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, was originally scheduled to take place in April—before a large audience at the Forum. Due to the pandemic, it was postponed by five months, and only a quarter of the originally planned audience was allowed to attend.

In his captivating talk, Casper began by recounting his happy childhood in the GDR and his family ties to the West. But during his youth, his critical and freedom-loving spirit began to harbor doubts about the regime. Using compelling examples, he explained why he hatched plans to flee across the Bulgarian-Greek border, why those plans ultimately failed, and how they led to his imprisonment.

His account of being at the mercy of a state without separation of powers and with appalling prison conditions was deeply moving. It was impressive that, under these conditions, he found the courage to apply for permission to leave the country while still in prison—a request that was ultimately granted. Manfred Casper skillfully alternated between personal accounts, excerpts from his book *Vom Wachsen der Flügel* (*The Growing of Wings*), and quotes from his 700-page Stasi file, which continued to be updated in great detail even after his departure for the West, right up until the fall of the Wall.

The audience, which included teachers from Steinmühle and 12th-grade students, appreciated Casper’s presentation style—well-informed rather than biased, objective rather than emotional, and informative rather than preachy—and thus, just a few days before the 30th anniversary of German reunification, gained an interesting and authentic insight into a chapter of inter-German history.