How I Found the Answer to Injustice

Life Under Communism

In those years, Mother became ill, and I had to care for her. I took an office job with the local government. Meanwhile, I came into contact with student dissidents who tried to draw attention to some of the injustices being perpetrated.   For instance, one youth was denied a university education because his father  had been a member of the Nazi party.  I knew the student well, since  we often played music together.  'Why,' I thought, 'should he suffer because  of what his father had done?' My involvement with the dissidents increased, and I decided to get involved in public protests. On one occasion I even attached leaflets to the outside staircase of the local court building. 

My sense of justice was further offended by some of the letters I had to type as a  secretary to the Regional Peace Committee. In another instance, for political reasons, the Committee planned to send Communist propaganda material to an elderly man living in West Germany in order to arouse suspicion against him. I felt so indignant at the dishonest treatment of that man that I hid the parcels in the office. As a result they were never mailed.

Next time: How I Found the Answer to Injustice - "The Worst Person in the Room" Gave Me Hope 

From the AWAKE! magazine, 2011