82
| SUNRAYS JANUARY 2015
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
Manfred Reimann’s
Escape from
East
Germany
By Edna Heard
F
or many, the Berlin Wall could not
be more distant – a crumbled relic
froma period long since passed. But
for Sun City resident Manfred Reimann,
memories of a life divided remain crystal
clear.
Born in Berlin and raised in East Germa-
ny, Manfred came of age in an era when
Communismwas gospel. In every school,
in every grade, every curriculumpreached
the glories and achievements of the Soviet
Union. Professional skills were heavily
emphasized, and topics with the potential
to reach beyond the prescribed nationalist
ideology were heavily restricted – foreign
languages, for example, were limited ex-
clusively to Russian or Latin.
It was not only difficult to stray from these
norms – it was dangerous. The Ministry
for State Security (commonly referred to
as the Stasi) employed plainclothes offi-
cers to intimidate and monitor every citi-
zen, regardless of age or status. Despite
the risk, Manfred’s father arranged for
him to learn English through secret les-
sons. Through books smuggled in from the
West and by listening to the British and
American Forces Networks on the radio,
Manfred was able to further improve his
English language skills.
Following completion of his basic educa-
tion, Manfred studied marine electron-
ics at one of the oldest universities in the
world, Rostock University (est. 1419),
graduating with a degree in engineering
(Dipl.-Ing.). During his 18 month draftee
service in the National People’s Army, he
operated a radar station – an experience
which proved helpful in his professional life
as a test-engineer operating from the Port
of Rostock on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
As one of very few English-speaking em-
ployees, Manfred became his company’s
technical translator, dealing with West-
ern companies who wished to sell their
electronics to the Communist state’s mer-
chant and fishing fleet. It was a good job,
but Manfred’s language skills and fre-
quent interactions with Western-based
industries had an unintended side effect:
it brought him to the attention of the se-
cret police.
The direct successor to Hitler’s Gestapo, at
its height, the Stasi had officers planted in
apartment buildings, hospitals, universi-
ties, and every major industrial plant. As
many as one in every thirty people worked
for or reported to the Stasi. The Stasi be-
haved as a law unto themselves, and they
Manfred Reimann aboard the CS
Neptun
, US Navy base Subic Bay, Philippines
Summer 1967
