Auslander

In this true story, the author describes his life growing up as a biracial boy and young man in the German Democratic Republic. Even though racism contradicted the communist ideology, the author found himself confronted with it on a daily basis. He lets the reader know how difficult it was for him to cope with this situation, and the high price he had to pay for his often aggressive and reactionary response. After a failed escape attempt to the West and a subsequent prison break, he felt the full brunt of East German law. Being locked up in the notorious Bautzen II prison, he learned the hard way how the communist justice system treated prisoners who were considered enemies of the state. It was also brought home to him that as far as the Stasi was concerned a prison sentence was only the beginning of the punishment. The book also offers the reader an insight into the events surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall through the eyes of the author and their impact on his life.