Authors Interviewing Characters: Tamar Shapiro
RESTITUTION
As children in Central Illinois, Kate and Martin were never told much about their mother’s childhood in East Germany. And they rarely asked questions. Decades later in 1989, when the Berlin Wall falls, Kate and Martin are faced with a difficult decision: Should they try to reclaim the house in East Germany from which their grandparents fled in the 1950s?
Kate and Martin return to their grandparents’ village where they meet Greta and Klaus, the couple who have lived in the house ever since Kate and Martin’s grandparents left. Now Greta and Klaus are faced with the prospect of losing the one place that still feels like home in a post-1989 world that is becoming unrecognizable around them.
As Kate and Martin get to know Greta and Klaus and dig deeper into their grandparents’ lives, they discover family secrets that drive them apart just as divided Germany is coming together. Against the backdrop of German reunification, Restitution asks urgent questions that resonate today. What remains when people leave entire lives behind? What happens when personal histories are erased? And what – if anything – can heal these wounds?
Interview with Greta Schultz, Grimma, Germany, October 2000
Interviewer: Thank s for agreeing to this interview. As you know, this is part of a reporting series on “German Reunification Ten Years On.” Regular people whose lives were changed reflecting back on that time.
[Greta rubs her knees nervously.]
Greta: I’m not sure I have much to contribute. Everyone’s life was changed, don’t you think?
Interviewer: That’s true. But we’re simply trying to make a mosaic of snapshots…
Greta: To be honest, I wouldn’t have agreed if my grandson, Arno, hadn’t asked me to. He’s a historian you know. Or studying to be one. He asks me so many questions about that time, but sometimes it’s hard to talk to someone so close. He thought it might be easier for me to talk with you. I’m not so sure…
[Greta tilts head apologetically.]
Interviewer: We’ll take it slow. I know there are things that must be difficult to talk about. Like your husband. We don’t need to talk about the hard things yet. Maybe if you feel comfortable later—
Greta: Maybe. I mean, it’s not so fresh anymore. Still, I have always been a private person.
[Greta pauses, clasps her hands together.]
Greta: No, actually. I don’t want to talk about Klaus.
Interviewer: Okay, let’s start with the house then. You’d lived in the house for a long time, right? And then a claim was filed by the previous owners?
Greta: Klaus was already living there. I moved in after we got married. I remember the day we built the trellis out back. That night, Klaus counted the splinters—seven on my left hand, ten on my right. Can you imagine? He pulled them all out. I can still see him, the way his reading glasses slipped down his nose. He tried so hard not to pinch my skin… But there I go, talking about Klaus.
[Greta waves her hand, dismissing the thought.]
Interviewer: Okay, it might be difficult to avoid talking about him altogether, but let’s try. Let’s start with all the changes. The Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, and just under a year later, in October 1990, East and West Germany were reunified.
Greta: Yes, we didn’t see it coming at all, but then it happened so fast. We felt lost, Klaus and I.
Interviewer: Lost?
Greta: Well, things we had counted on forever were suddenly gone. Like our jobs. The factories shut down. Not viable. Uncompetitive. That’s what they said. Maybe they were right. I’m not an economist. But, you know, it felt like they weren’t just talking about the factories. It felt like they were talking about us. Not viable. Uncompetitive. Everything we’d learned, everything we knew—it all suddenly meant nothing.
Interviewer: You talk about “them.” Can you say more?
Greta: To be honest, Klaus and I, we didn’t always feel the same. I wanted to give everyone a chance. It was an exciting time too. But Klaus—he resented all the “Wessis” right from the start. The people from the West. At the time I didn’t know why, but now…
Interviewer: What is it you know now?
Greta: Nothing. Never mind. It’s just that—Klaus trusted no one. I trusted everyone. But I’m not sure who was right, because then those people showed up—
Interviewer: You mean the family that used to live in the house?
Greta: That’s right. I knew who they were as soon as they showed up. I’d heard the stories— Other families trying to reclaim their old homes. I served them tea, told them all about the house. I wanted them to see how well we’d cared for it, how much it meant to us. But the truth is, I also liked them. The two sisters who grew there, but especially the young woman, Kate. The daughter of one of the sisters. She had this sadness about her. She’d lost… but no, that’s not my story to tell. She just seemed to need a hug, so I hugged her. To show her I understood. Woman to woman. But she was so hard and bony, nothing like me.
[Greta chuckles, gestures down at herself.]
Interviewer: You felt betrayed?
Greta: Well, yes. I still think about her sometimes. I really wanted to believe they’d let us be. But her brother, well… I felt for him too, you know, but I couldn’t understand him.
Interviewer: When did you first think they might file a claim?
Greta: Klaus told me one night. You watch, they’re going to do it. It made me dizzy. I felt that way a lot during those years. You know those kaleidoscopes we had as kids? Everyone loved them. I mean, the colors were pretty. And the changing shapes. But sometimes looking through that lens made me feel sick—all that chaos. That’s what those years were like. Everything was new and shiny and shifting. To some people, it was beautiful. To others, it was terrifying.
Interviewer: And to you?
[Greta looks down, pauses. Finally, she lifts her head again.]
Greta: It’s hard to say really. Some of it was shiny. All the things we could buy. The places we could travel. If we’d had the money. But what I really wanted was to be on solid ground. That’s why the house was so important. I’m still not sure what was right—I mean, who was owed what. But I know we needed that house, Klaus and me, so we wouldn’t be thrown into that kaleidoscope. Who would recognize us? Who would we even be? At least we still had each other, but then—
[Greta covers her eyes. The interviewer hands her a handkerchief.]
Interviewer: Let’s take a break. That was enough for today.
Greta: I don’t want to inconvenience…
Interviewer: It’s no problem. I’m coming back tomorrow anyway.
Greta: Thank you. That’s very kind… But before you go, I need to say one more thing. I don’t want you to think I’m one of those people, the ones everyone talks about. They say all we do is complain. I’m not like that. I don’t feel anyone owes me anything. Especially now that I know…
[Greta stops suddenly, shakes her head, then starts talking again.]
Greta: Anyway, I’m glad those vicious old men who ran our country got what they deserved. I’m glad young people have more chances. To study whatever they want. To go abroad. I mean, look at my grandson. He’s hoping to go to America. Who would have thought? I just—maybe there could have been a different kind of change. Maybe even—maybe we could all have learned from each other. I think that sounds marvelous. But look at me. I’m just an old woman. Who wants to learn from me?
Interviewer: Well, I do. That’s why I’m here.
[Greta laughs, hands back the handkerchief.]
Greta: You’re very kind… Tomorrow, I will have tea ready. Or coffee. Whichever you prefer. And cake. Zupfkuchen. Everything’s always easier with cake, don’t you think? Always.
BUY HERE
Tamar
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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