Further Media
One of the first things Hans and Christel Nieske bought in the West was a radio. It was expensive and had to be paid off in monthly installments – but as an information source for forming free and open opinions, it is well worth the price.
Christel Nieske remembers:
“Being able to form our own opinions meant the world to us; we were so inquisitive and hungry for news that we pounced on old newspapers and devoured the illustrated magazines. We had a lot to catch up on; too much had been withheld from us in recent years.”
They followed the news especially closely in July 1953.
Christel Nieske remembers:
“The uprising of June 17, 1953 occurred when we were working as farmhands at Esperke and we followed the events with great interest on our new radio and in the newspapers. From the very start, we never indulged any hopes that this might change something for us or that an upheaval might make it possible for us to return.”