Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, the German Cultural Center
“Kulturring in Berlin” Association
The Goethe-Institut in Ukraine and the “Soviart” Center for Contemporary Art (Kyiv), in cooperation with the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records (BStU), organized the exhibition “Under Arrest”—photographs and testimonies from Stasi pre-trial detention cells—by Berlin-based photographer Franziska Vu. The exhibition ran from June 3 to 27, 2010.
“Under Arrest” is a depiction of life behind the bars of an East German prison during the Cold War. Berlin-based photographer Franziska Vu approaches the topic from two angles. She invites us to view the premises through her camera lens. We experience the powerlessness, fear, and loneliness that the prisoners felt, but also a glimmer of hope. Franziska Vu’s interviews with former prisoners help us connect the visual impressions with real-life stories and allow us to hear the voices of those condemned to silence from behind the thick walls. This combination of photographic art and past reality, of artistic forms of expression and political analysis, creates a striking exhibition that makes us reflect on a part of recent German history that remains relevant today (From the press release).
BACKGROUND
Victims of the Stasi. Victims of the Stasi include individuals whose life, health, personal freedom, and property were unlawfully harmed by the measures of the Ministry for State Security of the GDR as a result of political persecution.
Stasi Prisons. The Ministry for State Security had its own pre-trial detention facilities in all administrative districts of the GDR. It also controlled the prisons. Examples include prisons in Cottbus, Brandenburg (Brandenburg-Görden Prison), Berlin (Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial), Halle (Roter Ochse), Bautzen (Gelbes Elend), Karl-Marx-Stadt (Kaßberg Prison), and Hoheneck. Victims who were held in these prisons reported conditions and interrogation methods that are classified as torture. But since no external traces of these practices were visible and the victims instead suffered psychological damage, these interrogation methods are referred to as “white torture” (Source).
WE PRESENT FOR YOUR ATTENTION:
“UNDER ARREST”
Ukrainian translation from the exhibition catalog
(interviews conducted by Franziska Vu with former prisoners):
HORST JÄNICHEN: ACTIVISTSIGRID PAUL: A MOTHER IN DESPAIR
HERBERT PFAFF: THE SECOND PASSPORT
SEE ALSO:
Yevhen Zakharov. The Stasi and the KGB: The Practice of Terror Against Dissidents
(text of the speech at the presentation of Franziska Vu’s photo exhibition “Under Arrest: Photographs and Testimonies from Stasi Pre-trial Detention Cells” on June 3, 2010)
Yevgeny Zakharov. The Stasi and the KGB: The Practice of Terror Against Dissidents
(text of the speech in Russian at the presentation of Franziska Vu’s photo exhibition “Under Arrest: Photographs and Testimonies from Stasi Pre-trial Detention Cells” on June 3, 2010)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The “Kulturring in Berlin” association (Kulturring in Berlin e. V.) expresses special thanks for their support in implementing the project to the following individuals:
Dr. Matthias Bath, Horst Jänichen, Dr. Jörg Kürschner, Sigrid Paul, Herbert Pfaff, Mario Röllig, Edda Schönherz (witnesses), Franziska Vu (photographs and interviews), Dr. Jörg Kürschner (interviews), Uta Wohlfarth (publication design), Paul Coen (translation)
Special thanks to patrons and sponsors:
Förderverein Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen e. V.
Fuji Photo Film Europe GmbH
Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial
“Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie” e. V. (Against Forgetting – For Democracy)
www.goethe.de/ukraine
www.franziska-vu.de
www.Kulturring.org
www.stasi-live-haft.de