Deputy Head of UK Mission in East Berlin – Part 1

Colin Munro was the British Deputy Head of Mission in East Berlin from 1987 to 1990. Although the UK did not recognise East Berlin as part of the GDR in 1973 it established an Embassy “to” the GDR (not in the GDR) in East Berlin to provide a diplomatic presence. As Deputy Head of Mission … Read more

Stasi Infiltration of the East German Church

  When the Berlin Wall came down, the files of the East German secret police, the much-dreaded Stasi, were opened and read. And among the shocking stories revealed was that of the Stasi’s infiltration of the Church.  The Lutheran Church was the only semi-free space in East Germany, where those who rebelled against the regime … Read more

A British Communist Working in East Germany

  John Tarver was born into a middle-class family. He joined the British Communist Party on his 18th birthday in 1948 because he felt the Soviet Union had made the most effective resistance to fascism. He worked as a party activist in Britain and made several trips to the GDR where he would get a … Read more

The Last Days of East Germany

Michael Paterson first visited East Germany just after the fall of the Berlin Wall and provides a vivid account of its subsequent decline and fall during the move to reunification with West Germany. Michael is a military historian, author, researcher and illustrator. He began his career on the military magazine ‘Battlefields Review’ as a writer … Read more

Gillian – A US Student at the opening of the Berlin Wall

  Gillian Cox visited the GDR as a student in October 1989 just before the Wall came down. In this episode you will hear her eyewitness of account of what she saw ion that momentous night of 9th November 1989. Before we start the episode I wanted to thanks everyone who is supporting the podcast … Read more

Voices of the Berlin Wall 30th Anniversary

Our interview today is in a different format. Cold war Conversations is working with the Imperial War Museum on a project called Voices of the Wall. We will be capturing personal testimonies of people’s experiences of the Cold War which will later become part of the podcast. Therefore, this episode is a composite of previous … Read more

The opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989

    Cold War Conversations worked with the Imperial War Museum on a project called Voices of the Wall to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall. We captured new  personal testimonies of people’s experiences of the Cold War which later became part of the podcast. You can enjoy all the … Read more

The Berlin Wall – Frederick Taylor

James spoke with Fred Taylor, a historian who has written several books on Germany, about his book ’The Berlin Wall 1961 – 1989’ which will shortly be reprinted to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of The Wall.  James and Fred spoke about the origins of The Wall and the division of Germany and … Read more

Dean Reed, the Red Elvis, a US music star behind the Iron Curtain – Episode 2

Ramona Reed continues the story of her father who was Dean Reed an American actor, singer and songwriter, director, and Socialist who became a huge star in Latin America and the Eastern Bloc. The previous episode is available here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode97/ Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts Now if you like the podcast … Read more