New Lives (89 page)

255. This turn of phrase, which T. has used before (cf. the letter of May 5, 1990), can also be found in a slight variation on the next page. It is thus quite probable that T. has put these words into Michaela's mouth.
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256. T. surely ought to have expected as much from a refugee family like the Paulinis.
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257. At least on the basis of the version printed here (
Titus Holm: A Dresden Novella
), I cannot second T.'s judgment regarding the quality of his novella.
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258. The last local elections in the GDR, held on May 7, 1989, marked the first time that fraud was ever proved, because in many precincts the counting of votes was observed by civil rights groups. The official tally showed 98.77 percent of votes cast went to the “candidates of the National Front.”
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259. In January 1988.
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260. T. has failed to provide any basis for such statements. Why should cool observation be purest kitsch?
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261. Cf. the story “Voting,” in the appendix.
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262. June 4, 1989.
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263. Required reading in school. A novel about a member of the youth organization Komsomol who became a Hero of the Soviet Union during the Russian Civil War.
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264. In the GDR women in their early thirties were considered almost too old to be bearing children.
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265. “Black and Blond” will be introduced later. At this point all that needs to be noted is that this had to do with “the two men in the white Lada” that T. thought he had seen at the accident on March 7th (cf. the letter of March 9, 1990). The reason behind T.'s question must have been just as incomprehensible to Johann Ziehlke. The explanation is revealed in letters to N. H. that follow.
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266. In his letter of April 10, 1990, T. wrote that Jörg had asked him to “keep working on his article on Piatkowski.” It was therefore originally T.'s assignment to write the article.
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267. One of the most popular chants at the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig.
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268. The help-wanted ad for a South African paper factory appeared on p. 1.
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269. Johann Ziehlke reports that T. often called Leopold Bloom, the central figure in
Ulysses
by James Joyce, the “patron saint of the advertising business.” In T.'s opinion, then, Marion's “mistake” lay in not immediately being reminded of Leopold Bloom, who was anything but a “wretched character.”
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270. Manuela, “the blond waitress,” who by this time had become a sales rep.
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271. According to V. T., a very exaggerated version of a letter that has not survived.
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272. On September 11, 1989, Hungary opened its border to Austria. By the end of the day approximately ten thousand citizens of the GDR had fled to the West.
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273. Play by Christoph Hein (1944–). Johann Nepomuk Nestroy (1801–1869), Austrian playwright,
Freiheit in Krähwinkel
[Freedom in Gotham] (1849).
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274. Painter, cofounder of the New Forum, one of the best-known civil rights advocates.
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275. Albert Ebert (1906–1976), a master of small-format paintings and graphic works.
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276. They could have stored their purchases in the car.
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277. Applicants for exit visas to leave the GDR.
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278. They had driven through Leipzig on the way from Halle back to Altenburg.
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279. The fortieth anniversary of the founding of the GDR.
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280. At the end of September, Egon Krenz, chairman of the National Defense Council of the GDR and Erich Honecker's crown prince, had visited China and congratulated our Chinese comrades on having “restored order and security by deploying armed force.”
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281. A neighborhood in Leipzig.
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282. Other demonstrators claim that the slogan was, “March with us!”
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283. It is possible that this slogan came from the demonstrations of '68. “Don't just stand there, make a fuss, come on friend, join with us!” (Suggestion by N. H.)
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284. He means the imprint left by the cap.
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285. The name in this passage appears to be T.'s invention. He uses it both in his letter about his army days (April 23, 1990) and in his story “Hundred-year Summer.” Surely no coincidence.
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286. Whether intentionally or not, T. says nothing about the fact that the confrontation between the demonstrators and the police that day came to a head and ended in violence. For a more precise account of what occurred later, cf. Martin Jankowski,
Rabet oder Das Verschwinden einer Himmelsrichtung
[Rabet, or the disappearance of a point of the compass], p. 155 ff., including, among other things, why and under what circumstances the chant of “We are the people” was first taken up at this same demonstration.
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287. Oct. 3, 1989.
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288. Saturday, Oct. 7th.
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289. It is possible that T. means the
Stabat Mater
by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–36).
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290. Now Olbricht Platz.
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291. Now Albert Platz.
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292. Now Stauffenberg Allee.
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293. Johann Ziehlke,
Dresden Demonstrators
(Radebeul, 1990), pp. 9–23; cf. also Eckhard Bahr,
Sieben Tage im Oktober
[Seven days in October] (Leipzig, 1990), pp. 80–88.
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294. Now Strassburger Platz.
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295. A somewhat remarkable confession in a letter to a woman who was to become his fiancée.
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296. On May 22, 1990, the Democratic People's Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) united with the Arab Republic of Yemen (North Yemen).
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297. This patriarchal attitude is said to have been typical of T. in his later enterprises as well.
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298. Now the Augustus Bridge.
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299. It's remarkable that in May 1990, T. can still call Michaela's brave conduct “madness.”
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300. And here as well, one would like to know: Why?
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301. The entrance to the Gewandhaus is at ground level; there are no steps.
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302. An appeal made by the “Leipzig Six” (the secretaries of the district leadership of the Socialist Unity Party, Kurt Meyer, Jochen Pommert, Roland Wötzel; the conductor Kurt Masur; the theologian Peter Zimmermann; and the cabaret artist Bernd-Lutz Lange): “We all need a free exchange of opinions about the continued direction of socialism in our country.” The appeal, which was read by Masur, ended with: “Our urgent plea is that you act with prudence so that peaceful dialogue can be possible.”
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303. T. heard the slogan a week after it was first chanted.
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304. A description easily identified as an exaggeration.
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305. Jörg Schröder vigorously disputes T.'s description of this event—and of those that follow. They had neither said anything derogatory about T.'s articles, nor, as T. would later repeatedly claim, had they asked him flat out to give back his share. They had merely reminded T. that his share of the newspaper had been given to him gratis. And he should keep that in mind, in case he no longer wished to work together with them.
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306. This idea, which will increasingly take up more room in his thoughts, already stands in contradiction to T.'s assurance to Johann that his sole purpose is to save the
Weekly.
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307. In the original: “He who obeys no law is one in power with him who has no law.”
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308. T. is presumably using this gesture to denounce Jonas as a “Lenin monument.”
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309. It is difficult to discover any logic in T.'s actions. Previously in this same letter he claimed he had now found reasons “why I don't want to be part of it all.”
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310. Crossed out: “We were just introduced.”
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311. It was merely a lectern, not a pulpit.
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312. Usually the two telephoned each other.
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313. At the time T. and V. T. were in Monte Carlo.
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314. T. never mentioned in his letters to Johann and N. H. that he had moved out of the apartment with Michaela and Robert and was now subletting a room from Cornelia and Massimo until the building C. von Barrista had bought was fully renovated.
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315. This characterization of Nikolai differs substantially from the version T. offered N. H.
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316. This statement marks T.'s break with the
Weekly
and the beginning of his dubious entrepreneurial career. T.'s claim that he had no other choice cannot be left unchallenged. Jörg Schröder: “I finally yielded to Enrico's dogged persistence and, despite my wife's opposition, was prepared to join with him in founding a free paper. But I was unwilling and unable to agree to Enrico's stipulation that he alone would have ultimate decision-making power over this new publication.”
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317. Given this statement, one wonders if the “hardware people” had in fact ever intended to buy the building, as C. von Barrista claimed.
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318. World Soccer Cup in Italy (June 8 to August 8, 1990). Germany's first game was on June 10th against Yugoslavia, which Germany won 4 to 1.
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319. T. fails to mention that Michaela had gone to Leipzig alone.
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320. T.'s relationship with the civil rights movement remains unpredictable and enigmatic.
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321. A Free German Youth shirt. Egon Krenz was for a long time the first secretary of the central committee of the Free German Youth.
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322. One was allowed to place telephone calls to West Berlin from East Berlin.
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323. It is rather improbable that T. wrote this long letter in just one single morning.
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324. This letter suggests that Johann Ziehlke had paid a visit to Altenburg. How the situation to which T. refers actually came about cannot be determined.
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325. Presumably Michaela found some of the carbon copies T. had made of his letters to N. H.
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326. This project was not realized until 2001—to international acclaim. Cf.
Claritas: The Main Altar of the Cathedral of Siena after 1260: The Reconstruction,
Lindenau-Museum (Altenburg, 2001).
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327. Female employees recently hired by T.
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328. Crossed out: “and complete authority.”
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329. The reference is to one-year contracts for weekly, fortnightly, or monthly placement of ads.
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330. This paragraph seems to suggest that these are T.'s own words, but he is in fact only repeating more of the baron's speech.
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331. The meaning of this sentence remains inexplicable.
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332. Cf. the letter of Feb. 27, 1990. The “revolutionary orator” also appears in the letter to Johann Ziehlke dated Jan. 18, 1990, as the “loudmouth” at the meeting of the New Forum.
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333. T.'s expertise came from the fact that from age eleven to fourteen he trained for the Olympic rapid-fire pistol competition at the District Training Center in Dresden. Cf. the letter to N. H. of March 13, 1990.
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334. Consulted policemen declare it would have been impossible to “stuff” all the bullets into a matchbox.
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335. Georgi Dimitrov (1882–1949), leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party, after 1946 prime minister of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. In 1933 he defended himself in a trial related to the burning of the Reichstag, with the result that he had to be released.
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336. The literary level of this story casts a telling light on T.'s literary ambitions.
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337. In Bavaria the “welcome money” was normally set at 140DM, rather than the usual 100DM.
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338. This scene remains inexplicable unless one recalls the farewell scene on the occasion of Vera's departure. In his letter to N. H. of May 10, 1990, T. insinuated that there was some connection between V. T. and State Security. He had thought his mother was alluding to that.
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339. T.'s suspicions proved to be totally unfounded.
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340. Cf. the prose piece “Voting” in the appendix.
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341. This passage seems too carefully constructed, which makes it rather difficult to believe. Presumably a “tall tale.”
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342. The main tower of the Kremlin in Moscow, also called the “Savior Tower.”
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343.
Foucault's Pendulum
(Munich, Vienna, 1989).
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344. The grocery stores in the GDR usually had handbaskets, but no shopping carts.
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345. Youth Consecration is a rite of initiation intended to mark the transition from youth to adulthood. It is a nonecclesiastical alternative to confirmation in the Protestant church or the sacrament of confirmation for Roman Catholics. Its origins lie in the ninteenth century. In the GDR it was officially promoted by a decree of the Soviet government in 1953. It is rather surprising that E. T. and his life partner observe this ritual without any pressure from the state, although such behavior is still quite common today in the eastern states of the Federal Republic.
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